That's right—only two pulsations.
In the original timeline, after Toneri Ōtsutsuki transplanted Hanabi Hyūga's Byakugan, it underwent several stages of refinement before evolving into the Tenseigan. However, that process was incomplete—Naruto Uzumaki interrupted him during the final phase, preventing the Tenseigan from fully stabilizing.
But Kawaki Aoba felt something different. His Byakugan only needed two pulsations before transforming into the Tenseigan. The time between each pulsation…
Feeling the rapid depletion of chakra within his body, Kawaki Aoba smiled. Just a matter of energy, huh? He had more than enough.
With a casual gesture, a glowing blue chakra restoration vial materialized in his hand. Tilting his head back, he gulped it down.
One bottle not enough? Then we'll drink a few more.
The Byakugan in his sockets seemed to sense its master's lavish nature. After receiving the influx of chakra, it began greedily drawing on Kawaki Aoba's reserves without restraint.
As an enormous amount of chakra was absorbed, the Byakugan's pupil power surged with each pulse.
With a steady flow of energy, the first pulsation quickly completed. The previously pure-white eyes now shimmered faintly with azure light.
Soon after, the second pulsation began.
Unlike the first, this one consumed chakra like a starving beast—as if it realized its master was a bottomless well of energy.
And the truth was, he was. After consuming an unknown number of chakra vials—each one packed with life force—and exhausting chakra equivalent to tens of thousands of calories, the second pulsation finally waned.
The Byakugan in Kawaki Aoba's eye sockets had successfully evolved into the Tenseigan—and not just any version, but one that had awakened at full maturity.
Tens of thousands of calories of chakra—what kind of scale was that?
It was equivalent to gathering the chakra of the entire Shinobi Alliance and draining them several times over.
Hashirama Senju's legendary reserves? Against the Tenseigan's hunger, even he was lacking.
After stabilizing his evolution, Kawaki Aoba stood still for a moment. Once he was sure the transformation was complete, he calmly severed the resonance link with the Giant Tenseigan, without a shred of sentiment.
It was like tossing aside a used tool.
If the Giant Tenseigan had consciousness, its goodwill toward Kawaki Aoba would've dropped into the negatives.
But it didn't. It was merely a vast eye—a construct of chakra and spiritual energy, lacking true will. Even now, it continued to emit resonant pulses, seeking connection.
Kawaki Aoba ignored them. He was satisfied with his own Tenseigan. The Giant Tenseigan itself had consumed a significant amount of chakra in the process.
While Kawaki Aoba had provided most of the chakra, the key essence—the core soul energy required for evolution—had come from the Giant Tenseigan.
That little fragment of Ōtsutsuki heritage was more valuable than all the chakra he had poured into the ritual.
In high spirits, Kawaki Aoba looked at the sealed Ōtsutsuki clan members nearby. Somehow, they felt easier on the eyes now.
With a flicker of intent, Kawaki Aoba re-established a minimal connection between the Giant Tenseigan and the sealed Ōtsutsuki, granting them a faint sense of the outside world.
He hadn't cut off control—only the synchronization between his new Tenseigan and the Giant one.
As soon as their minds reawakened, the Ōtsutsuki members perceived Kawaki Aoba's presence—and what he had become.
The reaction was instant.
Among them, Ryūki Ōtsutsuki was the most shaken.
"That fluctuation… That's the Tenseigan! Impossible! The Giant Tenseigan shouldn't have accepted you!"
His voice trembled in disbelief. But despite his words, he believed it—he had no choice. The Tenseigan's chakra signature was unmistakable to an Ōtsutsuki.
After his initial shock, Ryūki composed himself and spoke in a grim tone.
"You're from the Hyūga clan of the ninja world. Was your earlier request for help merely a ruse to steal the Tenseigan? No… Wait. At that time, the Giant Tenseigan hadn't even been formed. Then… could this all just be a coincidence? Damned Hyūga—what are you scheming against our clan?"
Even Kawaki Aoba had to hand it to him—Ryūki's paranoia was impressively thorough. If Kawaki weren't the one behind it all, he might've thought the same.
At that moment, the only woman among the sealed Ōtsutsuki spoke up.
"Since you are a child of the Hyūga, perhaps it is heaven's will that we fell into your hands. But as descendants of Hamura, we share the divine duty of cleansing the impure ninja world…"
Cleansing the impure world? Kawaki Aoba's expression turned strange.
Even now, they were trying to brainwash him?
Naive or just dumb…?
And then it hit him.
This woman—she was pregnant.
Wait… Pregnant? Then she's carrying—Toneri Ōtsutsuki.
He turned his gaze to the Giant Tenseigan, still glowing dimly after expending so much energy.
Kawaki Aoba's eyes narrowed, his thoughts turning ever deeper.
Toneri Ōtsutsuki—there's no need to say much about his talent or potential. In the original timeline, he was the only known being in the ninja world capable of awakening the Tenseigan.
If others of the Ōtsutsuki branch family had possessed this qualification, they wouldn't have resorted to gouging out their own Byakugan and preserving them in the Giant Tenseigan. By their own admission, their bloodline was too diluted to awaken such power on their own.
Although Kawaki Aoba's Hyūga bloodline is impure, his Byakugan is a rare exception. It possesses an abnormal level of purity. Once such a Byakugan emerges in the world, the Giant Tenseigan on the moon will resonate with it instantly—almost submissively—offering itself up without resistance.
As a woman continued rambling in front of him, Kawaki Aoba cut her off impatiently:
"Enough. I don't want to hear any more of your delusions. Your stubborn ideology can't be changed, and your intention to wipe out the shinobi world is reason enough for me to kill you.
The only reason you're still alive is because you've given me something truly valuable.
Enjoy the rest of your life on the moon. That's the greatest mercy I can offer."
His gaze lingered on her swollen belly.
"As for the child you're carrying, once you die, I'll take him to the world below. I'll give him a better life."
"You want to use Toneri? Impossible! He's the last hope of the Ōtsutsuki clan. I'll never hand him over to you," the woman snapped, fiercely protective of her unborn child.
But Kawaki Aoba responded coolly, "Oh? What if I help him awaken the Tenseigan?"
Her words caught in her throat.
From the side, Ōtsutsuki Ryūichi raised his head, his expression dark. "Would you truly help our child awaken the Tenseigan? Aren't you afraid of what that power could become?"
"Don't mistake my motives. I'm not doing this out of kindness. I simply won't waste talent. If he can become someone who stands on his own, then so be it.
And as for fear—why should I be afraid? Strength aside, I've done nothing wrong. I arrived on the moon by chance. You were the ones who attacked me first.
Everything after that was just me defending myself. Even this accidental awakening of the Tenseigan—it was a coincidence.
Hatred? What grudge could I possibly have with an unborn child? If anything, I'm doing him a favor. Without me, who knows what kind of twisted worldview you'd raise him with."
Ryūichi clenched his fists. The child was his, and yet Kawaki Aoba spoke as if he already owned him.
Ryūichi didn't believe Kawaki's so-called "coincidence" for a second. He assumed that Kawaki had somehow detected Toneri's bloodline potential before birth—something only the Ōtsutsuki were known to do. Why else would someone of Kawaki's power take interest in an unborn child?
Kawaki Aoba could more or less guess what Ryūichi was thinking.
But even if he could explain the future, would Ryūichi believe him? No. More importantly, he had no obligation to explain anything.
After a long silence, Ryūichi finally said:
"Fine. The child of our Ōtsutsuki clan can be entrusted to you—but only after we are dead."
Kawaki Aoba frowned. "After you die…" The others wouldn't last long, but Ryūichi… he still had a few years in him.
And in those years, who knew how Toneri might be molded? While Kawaki could forcefully reshape Toneri's beliefs in the future, he wasn't eager to waste time on such efforts.
Ryūichi seemed to sense Kawaki's hesitation. His tone grew firmer.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry—I won't live long. I just want to see my child born. Is that so much to ask? Or are you that petty? If so, just kill us all now."
It was a provocation, and Kawaki Aoba knew it. But he didn't care.
Whatever secret schemes Ryūichi might have, they were meaningless before overwhelming strength. Kawaki Aoba had absolute confidence in that.
Still, a strange feeling tugged at him. Was he really playing the villain here?
Taking a child from his biological parents… wasn't that what villains did?
But in his mind, he was doing it for the child's sake. If the father had been a bit more reasonable, things wouldn't have come to this.
In the end, Kawaki Aoba decided not to pursue the thought further. He would wait until the child was born.
Judging by the woman's belly, the pregnancy had just begun.
That alone made Ryūichi sigh in relief.
He did have a backup plan. Toneri wasn't just his child—he was the last hope of the entire lunar Ōtsutsuki clan. Ryūichi wouldn't give him up easily.
So, he resolved to use the last of his remaining life for one final gamble.
If Kawaki Aoba didn't want Ryūichi's influence over Toneri, then Ryūichi would erase himself. He would seal his chakra into Toneri's subconscious—just as Minato and Kushina had done for Naruto.
Toneri would grow up unaware, but when the time came, Ryūichi's chakra remnant would guide him.
Ryūichi believed that Kawaki Aoba saw Toneri as a tool—a weapon to mold. And he hated the ninja world enough to believe the worst of it.
To Ryūichi, the world created by Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo—the Sage of Six Paths—was a failure. He saw Toneri's birth as a chance to correct that failure, to create a perfect world free from shinobi.
Someday, he would reveal this truth to Toneri.
He believed Toneri would make the right choice.
To destroy the flawed world shaped by Hagoromo—that was the mission Ryūichi had decided for his son.
Of course, such a delusional belief could only be born in a broken environment.
On the moon, they were all prisoners. Kaguya was sealed within, and the rest of the Ōtsutsuki clan were trapped by their own dogma. They could leave the moon at any time, but their minds were chained.
Generation after generation, their thoughts grew narrow, poisoned by fanaticism and fear. They no longer understood what it meant to be truly human.
Kawaki Aoba had already left the chamber, giving them time to themselves.
He began to wander the moon in silence.
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