Oh, you're too kind! I'm nothing special!

Having decided to help Hanabi awaken her eyes, Uchiha Yi wasted no time and took her straight to the moon.

But it was her first time seeing the sights of the Moon Palace, and she could hardly take it all in. She spent several days playing before finally urging Uchiha Yi to get down to business.

For Uchiha Yi, the process was actually simple. He made Hanabi his familiar and left everything else to the system.

And just like that, Hanabi became Uchiha Yi's fourth familiar.

Once the system got to work, it extracted Otsutsuki Toneri's bloodline and chakra and poured them all into Hanabi.

To guarantee her evolution, Uchiha Yi also brought out all the Byakugan he had collected from Otsutsuki Tsukiya and others in parallel worlds. He had the system refine the purest eye power and Kekkei Genkai energy from them, then fed it all into Hanabi.

Only when Hanabi's little face turned pale and she could barely endure any more did Uchiha Yi stop, converting all the excess eye power into proficiency for his limit Sharingan.

In the end, Hanabi successfully awakened the Tenseigan.

Uchiha Yi had actually noticed from the start that Toneri's bloodline alone would leave Hanabi just short of awakening the Tenseigan. Fortunately, he had collected enough Byakugan, and their refined eye power filled the gap. Otherwise, it really could have gone wrong.

Even after awakening the Tenseigan, Hanabi still needed time for her eye power to settle. Fortunately, that period was far shorter than Uchiha Yi's.

Speaking of which, Uchiha Yi's own limit Sharingan had been stalled for a month or two. During this settling phase, he could just barely open both eyes.

He tried channeling chakra and discovered that his perception had actually surpassed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He could even see through things like the Byakugan, yet his eyes still looked completely ordinary, without the slightest change.

As soon as Hanabi's embryonic breathing stabilized, Uchiha Yi used his ordinary eyes, with no bloodline ability activated, to perform the Sharingan's exclusive Dōjutsu.

Even advanced Dōjutsu like Amaterasu and Kamui came smoothly to him. He had thought he might be able to use Susanoo in another few days.

That made him all the more eager for the fully developed transmigration Rinnegan. But that day, tragic news from Konoha forced him to return. The Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had passed away.

Even the Yin and Yang Release chakra he had previously given Hiruzen Sarutobi to sustain him had ultimately failed to keep him alive. He had passed peacefully, reportedly with a smile still on his face. Many people gathered in Konoha for the funeral to see the old hero off.

The Third had given more to Konoha than anyone else. The First founded the village, the Second Hokage expanded its territory, and the Third protected it, ensuring that its people wanted for neither food nor clothing. He took the Hokage position at thirty-eight and held it for exactly thirty-two years, until Tsunade succeeded him as the Fifth Hokage.

Over those thirty-two years, he led Konoha from turmoil to its golden age and became a symbol of the entire village. Though he had done plenty of unsavory things behind the scenes, no one could deny that he had been a capable Hokage.

Before the grave, Uchiha Yi stared at the inscription recounting Hiruzen Sarutobi's life. With a wave of his hand, earth surged up, and a new stone tablet rose into place.

The commotion startled everyone present. Someone was about to speak, but Asuma stopped them. Watching Uchiha Yi work, Asuma also caught sight of the words on the new tablet.

After carving the final stroke, Uchiha Yi turned and left. Only then did everyone see the line inscribed on the new tablet: "Wherever leaves dance, fire will burn. The fire's shadow illuminates the village, and new leaves will sprout." It was signed Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third.

The Third's death left Konoha steeped in grief, but just as the new tablet said, the village soon rallied. Before Uchiha Yi had recovered, however, another piece of devastating news struck: Jiraiya was dead.

In the Hokage's office, Uchiha Yi looked at the grief-stricken Tsunade before him and asked, "Didn't I specifically tell you not to let him investigate Kumogakure too deeply?"

Tsunade sniffled and replied, "He'd always wondered whether the Akatsuki leader was Nagato. When he heard that Kumogakure might be the Akatsuki's lair, he couldn't resist investigating."

Uchiha Yi had never felt particularly strongly about Jiraiya, but after spending time with him, he had found him genuinely dependable. Fearing that Jiraiya would fall at his own student's hands, he had specifically warned him to stay away from Kumogakure. Yet he had gone anyway and died just as he had in the original story.

Uchiha Yi couldn't quite understand it. He had explained Nagato's situation and warned Jiraiya that Nagato was no longer the person he once knew, yet in the end... Forget it. Seeing Tsunade like this, Uchiha Yi said nothing more and turned to leave.

First the Third, then Jiraiya. Two generations of heroes had departed one after another. Konoha had truly suffered one disaster after another lately. Perhaps... it was time to meet Nagato.

The thought arose in Uchiha Yi's mind. According to the timeline, Nagato would soon send the Six Paths of Pain to attack Konoha. Uchiha Yi already regarded Konoha as his own territory, and he would never allow the Akatsuki to wreak havoc there. Besides, Nagato was far too extreme for his liking.

He didn't have Naruto's gift for talking people around, so he would show Nagato no mercy. Besides, according to the original plot, whether Nagato lived or died made no difference to Obito and Black Zetsu's plans. Before that, though, there was still one matter he hadn't settled.

What should he do about Itachi? By his calculations, Sasuke would fight Itachi within the next few days-or rather, Itachi would willingly hand over his eyes. That was the final step Sasuke needed to obtain a complete Mangekyo Sharingan.

In the woods, Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi walked side by side, with the Four-Tails Jinchūriki bound to Kisame's Samehada. As for the other Tailed Beasts lately... Uchiha Yi had already worked it out. He had obtained chakra from five Tailed Beasts, and there would be no activity at the Moon Palace for a while. There was no rush to go there. He might as well finish things here first, then extract all the remaining Tailed Beast chakra at once.

They had not gone far before both men suddenly stopped.

"Right on time," Itachi said.

After speaking, Itachi formed hand seals alongside Kisame. A moment later, their chakra fluctuations carried them into a special space-the Magic Lantern Body Technique.

The vast, dim space resembled an underground plaza. As soon as Itachi and Kisame's chakra avatars appeared, they saw five chakra avatars already waiting inside.

"You're way too slow!" an irritated voice rang out.

"We were capturing the Four-Tails Jinchūriki," Kisame said. "We spent quite a while tying him up so he wouldn't escape. That's what delayed us." Itachi said nothing.

"All right, everyone's here," said a figure with the Rinnegan, his voice formed from chakra.

"Huh? Wait a minute!" Kisame suddenly frowned. "Hidan and Kakuzu aren't here?"

"They're dead," Nagato said, his voice flat.

"Who did it?"

Nagato fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "I don't know."

His answer surprised everyone present.

Nagato didn't dwell on the matter. Instead, he said, "There's something else. Orochimaru is dead too."

Everyone froze at those words.

Deidara sneered and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That snake-dependent bastard died too? Who did it?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," Nagato replied. "Itachi, watch yourself. Your little brother has gathered a few people, and it looks like he's coming after you."

But Itachi remained silent. Instead, Deidara spoke first.

Deidara turned to Itachi, looking curious. "Oh, so it was Itachi's little brother? Now that's interesting."

Deidara leaned closer. "Itachi, want me to take care of that brat for you?"

Itachi gave no answer, and Deidara kept talking. "If you don't object, I'll go slaughter your little brother. I'm sick of your Uchiha Clan. I can't lay a hand on you, so I'll kill your brother to vent my anger."

He grinned and added, "Right, isn't there another one? Wasn't the Uchiha Clan practically wiped out? How are there still more of them?"

That piqued Obito's interest. As Tobi, he turned to Deidara. "There's another one named Uchiha Yi, but he seems pretty ordinary. Nothing special about him."

Obito muttered inwardly that something was off about Uchiha Yi. Kisame had mentioned him before without going into detail. Now there was a chance to sound him out.

Obito kept those words in mind, pondering how suspicious Uchiha Yi seemed. Something was wrong with the man.

Deidara let out a couple of strange laughs, his face full of anticipation. "Oh? Really? Then I'll find a chance to slaughter this Uchiha Yi first, and deal with Sasuke Uchiha afterward."

Deidara gave another couple of strange laughs, looking eager to get started.

"Enough. Stop the idle chatter," Nagato interrupted. "It's time to get to work."

Everyone immediately fell silent. Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and began absorbing the Four-Tails' chakra.

Uchiha Yi was somewhat concerned about Itachi giving away his eyes. He had previously left a trace of eye power resonance on Sasuke, and the instant that power was triggered, he sensed it.

He knew the little-brother-obsessed fanatic had already "started fighting" his disappointing older brother.

In that case, he had to go take a look.

Uchiha Yi smiled faintly. Though he hadn't marked Sasuke or Itachi with a Flying Thunder God Formula, he could use that trace of eye power to activate Flying Thunder God and reach the nearby area.

Flying Thunder God activated, and Uchiha Yi appeared in a patch of woods. He immediately sensed raging chakra nearby. Itachi and Sasuke were fighting.

It seemed their battle had already begun.

Uchiha Yi smiled and started to head over for a look.

Just then, however, he raised his head to look at the space before him. A slight distortion appeared, and two figures emerged.

It was Obito Uchiha, and... Deidara?

Uchiha Yi was a little surprised to see Deidara. How come Sasuke hadn't killed him? No, wait-why wasn't he dead yet?

Deidara patted Obito on the shoulder and laughed loudly. "Well, well, there really is someone here! Tobi, your sensing ability's pretty good."

Obito played the fool. "Hahaha! Oh, you're too kind! I'm nothing special!"

Inside, however, Obito was utterly shocked. He had recognized Uchiha Yi.

After Kisame mentioned Uchiha Yi, Obito had investigated him, but all his records in Konoha were classified. Stranger still, Uchiha Yi was apparently involved with the Hyuga Clan's next clan head. A marriage between the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan? Was that even possible?

But if it was true, Uchiha Yi was definitely no ordinary man. And his appearance here at such a critical moment made Obito feel that something was wrong.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Uchiha Yi. In that case, he would let Deidara test him out.