As soon as this topic was brought up, even Sento, who usually liked to oppose Tenko, fell silent and put away the teasing smile from earlier.
Tenko's gaze shifted to a small photo frame in the living room. In the frame was a man with short hair wearing a security department uniform. His face had a very unnatural expression, as if he was attempting to smile for the first time.
Beside him was a woman dressed in a kimono, smiling happily while holding a child. These were Obito's parents, and this was the only photo of Obito with his parents, taken when Obito was so young that he couldn't even remember it.
After the photo was taken, his parents went to the northern part of the Land of Fire to fight against the Cloud Ninja who were constantly invading and harassing. It was during this war that Obito's parents were killed by Cloud Ninja while protecting the inexperienced Tenko on the battlefield.
After returning from the battlefield, Tenko awakened the Two Tomoe Sharingan. Tatsuma was the first to know about this and had the most understanding of the situation.
However, this matter was not a secret. After Minato and Sento learned that Tenko had awakened the Sharingan, it wasn't difficult for them to figure out the reason with just a bit of logical thinking.
At this moment, Tenko had awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. The reason was simple and could even be said to be driven by the same emotions from that event.
Tatsuma looked at Minato and said, "Minato, I need a place that's secure enough."
"Alright."
Minato didn't ask why, or rather, he knew what Tatsuma wanted to do. He formed hand signs and then placed his hand on the ground.
"Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison!"
The ground seemed to ripple, and then the four of them suddenly fell. Tatsuma and Minato, adjusting their positions mid-air, were unaffected by the constantly changing scenery and found solid ground to stand on.
Sento and Tenko weren't as fortunate, only reacting suddenly when they neared a bubbling pool of acid. Sento grabbed Tenko mid-air.
"Return!"
All of his chakra points instantly opened, and the chakra within him was about to burst out.
"Shikigami Jutsu: Bridge of Oblivion."
Tatsuma threw out an unsealed scroll, and the white paper that exploded from it formed an arched bridge between the two landing points. Sento and Tenko he was holding fell directly onto the bridge, which slightly rebounded a few times, completely absorbing the impact.
"Let go of me!"
Tenko gritted his teeth, trying to pull his head out from Sento's arm, but didn't dare use too much force. Sento, after all, was skilled in both Strong Fist and Gentle Fist techniques, and Tenko's fragile neck couldn't withstand Sento's strength.
Sento realized this too and quickly released Tenko, jumping up from the bridge. The veins around his eyes bulged as he observed the surroundings with his Byakugan, a look of astonishment on his face as he asked:
"Where is this? Why can't I see the outside world?"
Prompted by Sento's reminder, Tenko set aside his irritation and activated his Three Tomoe Sharingan, continuously scanning the peculiar surroundings.
Although the sensing ability of the Sharingan is not as strong as the Byakugan, its direct visual insight is not inferior, and in terms of dynamic capture, it is even superior.
Despite one pair of Byakugan and one pair of Sharingan, neither could discern the mysteries of this place. The two, who had been slightly pleased with their own progress, quickly turned their attention to Minato.
Minato explained, "This is the belly of the toad gourd from Mount Myoboku, a naturally formed barrier. Simply put, this is a place completely isolated from the outside world, making it an absolutely secure location."
"Truly remarkable."
Sento, still not convinced, used his Byakugan to scan the area again, but found nothing new and eventually withdrew his gaze, the veins around his eyes smoothing out.
Tatsuma also jumped onto the bridge and said to Tenko, "Now you can speak freely."
Tenko nodded and said, "That person's name is Tsuyui. I only learned of his identity after seeing the intelligence. After the war ended, he became a strong contender for the next Jonin leader of Hidden Cloud Village."
The term "Jonin leader of Hidden Cloud Village" carries a significance and status equivalent to that of a Jonin Squad Leader in Konoha. In Konoha, the Jonin Squad Leader is Shikato Nara, and the next in line, barring any surprises, would be Nara Shikaku.
Such a ninja is extremely important to their village, and the expressions on Tatsuma and Minato's faces grew serious.
They initially thought that Tenko's target for revenge was just an ordinary Jonin from Hidden Cloud Village. If it were a regular Jonin, an ambush and assassination wouldn't lead Hidden Cloud Village to expend significant resources on a thorough investigation.
However, a Jonin leader is different—not only in terms of how much Hidden Cloud Village would be willing to invest in retaliation but also in terms of strength and talent, far surpassing that of an ordinary Jonin. Avenging oneself against such a target would be extremely difficult.
Fortunately, this person named Tsuyui is only a strong contender for the position of Jonin leader, not the actual Jonin leader yet, so there's still a chance.
Tatsuma asked, "This Tsuyui, I have some impression of him, but hasn't he been quiet recently? Or has the Security Department uncovered something new?"
Tenko nodded and replied without hesitation, "That's right. As I just mentioned, the Security Department discovered information about him, which is related to the mission you and Minato undertook in the Land of Lightning."
"To be precise, it's related to your motive."
"Kushina?!"
Minato, who hadn't planned to step onto the bridge to avoid putting extra strain on it, frowned and instantly appeared behind Tatsuma, his eyes intensely focused on Tenko.
Tatsuma also frowned. Their mission in the Land of Lightning was widely known due to Hidden Cloud Village's public disclosure, but the motive behind the mission was a classified matter.
However, Tatsuma quickly understood how Tenko could have come to know about it. After all, in the process of investigating Hidden Cloud Village spies, interrogation and questioning were inevitably involved. It made sense that they would have learned about Hidden Cloud's intention to abduct Kushina from those spies.
But...
Tatsuma narrowed his eyes. It would be one thing if Uchiha merely knew about Hidden Cloud Village's intention to kidnap Kushina. However, if they had also deduced that Kushina was the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, that would be problematic.
Raising his hand, Tatsuma gestured for Minato to stay calm, then seriously asked Tenko, "Tenko, let me ask you a question. Do you know the identity of Kushina Uzumaki?"
"What you're really asking is whether the Uchiha know, right?"
Tenko, with his Sharingan activated, seemed to be thinking more sharply. Seeing Tatsuma nod, Tenko continued, "Some people know, but not everyone.
The interrogation of the Hidden Cloud Village spies was personally overseen by the Clan Head. The matter of Hidden Cloud Village attempting to abduct Kushina, along with the reasons behind it, is known by only a very few even within the Security Department.
I found out... by chance."
"Chance huh... It seems we really should find some time to treat your Clan Head to a meal."
Tatsuma glanced at the bewildered Sento out of the corner of his eye and then turned back to Tenko, saying, "Alright, tell us about Tsuyui. How is he connected to this? In the village's previous investigation, the person in charge on Hidden Cloud's side wasn't Tsuyui."
"It indeed wasn't. According to the Security Department's investigation, at that time, Hidden Cloud Village had two plans. Besides Kushina, there was another plan, targeting a different person for abduction.
But because Tsuyui wasn't the Jonin leader yet, his plan was rejected."
As Tenko spoke, he glanced at Sento with a peculiar look. Sento, feeling uneasy under Tenko's gaze, suddenly shivered, goosebumps rising on his skin. He glared at Tenko and said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You were the target of the other plan, the one Tsuyui had in mind."
"What?! Why me?!"
Sento instinctively tightened his collar, his expression a mix of confusion and discomfort.
"Sento, don't forget, you're from the Hyuga main family. There's a possibility that your Byakugan could be lost," Tatsuma said, looking at Sento with a serious expression. "Even if Hidden Cloud Village couldn't fully control you, you could still pass on your lineage. Besides, there might be other things in your head that Hidden Cloud Village would be interested in."
"What things? I haven't been exposed to any village secrets."
Sento quickly denied it. His life had been simple for many years, and the biggest secret he held was that he had long accepted Tenko as a friend deep in his heart. But what would Hidden Cloud Village want with that kind of secret?
"Before I went on the mission to Hidden Cloud Village, I actually learned a few things about them. Hidden Cloud Village has an interesting technique, one that I've faced before—a very powerful technique.
The principle behind it is to release chakra through every chakra point in the body, forming a protective layer of chakra on the surface. Does that sound familiar to you?"
"Revolving Heaven?"
Sento was taken aback but quickly added, "No, it should be... Lightning Release Chakra Mode? But if Hidden Cloud Village already has this technique, why would they still want Revolving Heaven?"
"Releasing chakra through the chakra points is an extremely difficult skill, and there's no formal learning system for it. Even for a Jonin, they can only release chakra through a limited number of chakra points in the body."
As he spoke, Tatsuma demonstrated by launching a Vacuum Palm, a technique of the Hyuga Clan, and then continued, "I learned to release chakra with both hands because you used your Byakugan to precisely locate and map out my chakra points."
"But even so, I had to spend a lot of time practicing. As for you? You can easily make chakra flow through your chakra points. I think it's not just because of the Byakugan, right?"
"Is it really that difficult for you to achieve this?"
Tenko scratched his head and said, "Aren't chakra points supposed to allow chakra to pass through? The difficulty with Revolving Heaven is just about balancing the chakra output from each point."
"Of course not. So, you understand the value of your Hyuga Clan's body for the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, right? It greatly reduces the learning threshold for Lightning Release Chakra Mode. When combined with the Byakugan, which can see through chakra points and meridians, the effect is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Moreover, Lightning Release Chakra Mode is not without its drawbacks. I've used Rasengan against the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Armor. Although it didn't damage the armor, it still caused some deformation.
And the deformation of the Lightning Release Armor, which is in close contact with the skin, can harm the skin and underlying tissues. If the deformation is significant enough, even if it doesn't break the armor, it can severely injure or even kill the person wearing it."
"This is what I mean by something in your head that Hidden Cloud Village is concerned about."
Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Sento realized and said, "Are they trying to use Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven to improve their own techniques?"
"It's not a matter of whether they want to, but whether you can. Of course, the most direct concern is still your Byakugan and your ability to reproduce."
"You put it so crudely, making me sound like a breeding pig."
After Sento's complaint, his expression turned extremely serious as he said, "So, if one day Tsuyui becomes the Jonin leader of Hidden Cloud Village, it's very likely he would take action against our Hyuga Clan?"
"It seems you're not foolish to the point of no return."
Tenko looked at Sento with his arms crossed. Sento's expression shifted and he said, "Such a person cannot be allowed to continue living. Tenko, you shouldn't hold it against me if I end up killing the person you want to kill, right?"
"Each to their own abilities."
"Alright, it's settled then. Each to their own abilities."
Sento nodded and then extended a hand toward Tenko, saying, "Give me a detailed report on Tsuyui."
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