189. Don't Touch It

"Boom!!!"

After years of silence, the moon’s surface finally resonated with sound. A massive bulge rose from the hard ground, followed by a pair of enormous butterfly wings breaking through the surface, scattering layers of lunar dust.

"Thud!"

Otsutsuki Akemi, who had burst out from beneath the moon, wasted no time. Before Otsutsuki Tsukihime in her arms could retaliate, she tossed her onto the moon's surface.

Cough "Otsutsuki Akemi, have you lost your mind?"

Otsutsuki Tsukihime, who was now covered in dust, climbed to her feet, brushing herself off, her blue eyes flaring with anger.

"I'm not crazy. Only here can I have a chance to defeat you."

As she landed gracefully with her butterfly wings, Akemi's gaze was full of determination. She extended her pale hands in a stance of the Otsutsuki's technique.

"It seems you've been brainwashed by that thief. I have to knock some sense into you!"

Seeing someone who she thought as her sister, who had turned against her over a man, Tsukihime clenched her teeth, her chakra cloak solidifying, though the blue in her eyes dimmed a bit.

"Hmph! What's so great about that scoundrel, anyway? He’s just a little handsome."

"Ah-choo!"

Uchiha Gin, munching on sunflower seeds in the dark, sneezed, wiping his nose with a puzzled look, thinking,

"I've only been out a few days, and the people on earth already miss me?"

Watching the two Otsutsuki women clash, Uchiha Gin noticed the artificial moon radiating immense ocular energy and began to form a plan.

"Time is tight, and the task is heavy! Looks like I need to wrap this up and get back to my easygoing life."

Tossing the seed shells on the ground, Gin's narrowed black pupils turned blood-red, with three mysterious tomoe spinning rapidly, merging into his Mangekyo Sharingan.

The eerie aura unique to the Uchiha clan filled the entire castle. At that moment, a hidden black presence that had been lurking also stirred, drawn by the surge in energy, racing toward Otsutsuki Tsukihime's castle.

“This time, you won’t escape my grasp! Stay still!”


---

Steps to gain control of the Tenseigan:

1. Ascend to the moon.


2. Open the moon.


3. Extract the Tenseigan.


4. Close the moon.



"Whew! What a complicated process. I must demand a raise from Uncle Ancestor for this workload!"

Feeling a sense of relief, Uchiha Gin, after finalizing his elaborate plan, wiped his brow (imaginary sweat) and muttered to himself as if solving a monumental problem.

“Now, how am I supposed to reach the moon?”

Staring at the distant moon with his Mangekyo Sharingan, Gin scratched his head in frustration.

"Hey, maybe I could use the butterfly Jutsu to fly up?"

Excited by the thought, he clapped his hands, but recalling Akemi's enormous wings, he quickly dismissed the idea.

"No way, too conspicuous. I need to keep a low profile."

“Should I summon susanoo?”

“No, no! The completed form with wings would be even flashier!”

While Gin was lost in thought, a familiar light shone down, casting black shadows across the ground.

"How could I forget Shadow Realm!"

Seeing the shadows, Gin smacked his forehead, a new plan forming.

A perfect equilateral triangle appeared in his vision, with shadows now emitting a homely aura, like a gateway awaiting his arrival.

"Heh heh~"

Gin cheerfully slipped into a random shadow. The moment he disappeared, the black presence arrived, sensing his familiar aura and lingering in confusion.

"Huh? He was just here—where did he go?"

The black presence didn’t give up, moving towards another shadow, which happened to be the entry point where Gin had slipped into the Shadow Realm.

"This feels like my Heavenly Body technique..."

After touching the shadow, the black presence thought suspiciously, "Seems he escaped to another realm. Hmph!"

With her sights set on Uchiha Gin, now infused with the aura of the ancient Otsutsuki, the black presence didn’t hesitate.

She dove into the Shadow Realm, determined to capture her defiant son.

"Did some trash get in here?"

Floating within the Shadow Realm, Uchiha Gin's eyes itched, alerting him to the presence of an intruder.


However, after scanning for a while, he didn’t sense any life force, so he guessed that some debris or rubble might have accidentally fallen through the entrance he had just opened. Deciding not to investigate further, he turned and flew toward the moon within the Shadow Realm.

"Who is that kid? Where has Hagoromo gone?"

The black presence following him, merging seamlessly with the surrounding space and using expert stealth techniques, managed to evade Uchiha Gin's sight and perception. Seeing the black-haired figure floating in mid-air, the black presence, who had been convinced it was her eldest son, was stunned, her eyes filled with confusion.

Could he be a descendant of Hagoromo?

"But the aura is unmistakable! It’s identical to that of Hagoromo... wait, is that Hamura’s scent too?"

As she continued to probe the scent of Uchiha Gin’s bloodline, the black presence grew more and more surprised. If she had a jaw, it would have dropped in shock by now.

This kid's aura was exactly like that of the original Otsutsuki clan—not Hamura's, but her own lineage from the home realm.

"Interesting, so very interesting!"

Seeing that a descendant with an ancestral bloodline had emerged from her two rebellious sons, her eyes sparkled as if she had found a rare treasure.

Gazing at Uchiha Gin floating above, she thought he could be nurtured into a new Otsutsuki, a reliable ally should family members from her homeland return to challenge her.

"Hah! This one kid is leagues above those hundred thousand plant people!"

The black presence, growing fonder of Uchiha Gin by the moment, decided to keep a close watch on him, observing his potential and considering him as a possible assistant to counter her kin from the homeland.

"If it works out, those rivals won't stand a chance!"

As the moon came into view, Uchiha Gin, practicing his Tenseigan control technique, suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Goosebumps rose all over him as an eerie sense of being watched crept into his mind, making him shrink back instinctively. He glanced around suspiciously but saw nothing out of place.

"Was that just an illusion? This realm does make my head feel a bit foggy after a while."

Scratching his curly hair in confusion, Uchiha Gin shrugged off the feeling, attributing it to the Shadow Realm's disorienting effects. He then flew up toward the artificial moon.

"Heh heh~ let’s just punch a hole right here!"

Staring at the giant moon, his mind, slightly drained by the Shadow Realm’s strange effects, was ready to force an opening. Luckily, a last trace of reason pointed him to a prominent entrance, causing the green glow in his hand to dissipate.

"Whew! What was that? I feel like I almost lost my wits back there."

Emerging from the Shadow Realm, Uchiha Gin felt his intelligence returning as he squinted in thought. However, with time running short, he decided to save his questions for later, once he was back home.

Refocusing, he followed the visible ocular energy, stepping into the entrance of the moon.

"This space is perfect for hiding, and I can monitor him anytime. If only there were a physical host, it would be flawless!"

Since Uchiha Gin was the master of the Shadow Realm, it remained connected to him, allowing the black presence to observe him even as he left the realm.

Through a long hallway, Uchiha Gin followed the trail of ocular energy, eventually arriving at a large door engraved with his clan's emblem.

"Everything’s going smoothly; onto step three~"

He reached out, feeling the door’s weight. With a surge of green light and superhuman strength, he effortlessly pushed open the several-meter-thick stone door, which revealed a massive, radiant orb bathed in golden light.

"This is the Tenseigan’s core? Doesn’t seem as impressive as my cousin's special eyes~"

Despite the orb’s powerful ocular aura, which sent waves of visible energy through the vast space, Uchiha Gin's keen perception sensed that this enormous Tenseigan was merely a weapon with formidable destructive power.

Excited to be close to finishing his task and returning home, he stepped forward to touch the golden sphere, hoping to test the technique he had spent years practicing.

But before he could make contact, a strange voice echoed from within the sphere:

"Outsider, if you don't wish to be obliterated, do not touch the Tenseigan."