Naruto: Uchiha Survivor Forced to Save the Shinobi World

The Otsutsuki branch family's unchanged defenses meant that the infiltration strategy Shinji used last time could work again.

Wasting no time, he followed the same playbook. Lurking in the forest, he seized the moment during a shift change of Tenseigan puppets, hijacked one, and used its Tenseigan chakra to slip inside the protective barrier.

"Looks like the chaos from my last breakout actually helped cover my infiltration tracks…"

Inside the castle, Shinji used the Byakugan controlled by Susanoo Tomoshibi to scout the interior while quietly counting his blessings.

His previous battle with the Otsutsuki branch family elder had damaged parts of the castle. Those ruins likely obscured any traces of his infiltration, making it hard for the Otsutsuki to pinpoint how he'd snuck in.

This could explain why they hadn't bothered altering their guard deployments.

While sneaking through the castle's corridors, Shinji began mapping its layout.

His Byakugan revealed that the massive, multi-tiered castle had underground sections entirely dedicated to puppet transit routes.

Floors one to ten were puppet activity zones.

His last visit had been rushed, so he'd only skimmed the surface. This time, with careful observation, he noticed the castle's puppets were diverse.

Some were designed for combat, others for servitude.

Each type had strictly designated activity zones. For instance, the puppets patrolling outside the castle were confined to the underground areas, while those guarding the castle's interior operated only in specific sections.

Hiding in a corner, Shinji pulled out a notebook and jotted down the castle's layout and the approximate ranges of the various puppets' activities.

Snap.

Closing the notebook, Shinji mused, "Looks like the Otsutsuki branch family's clansmen probably live above the tenth floor."

For some reason, his Byakugan couldn't directly observe the areas above the tenth floor, as if they were shielded by some force.

From this, he deduced that the remaining Otsutsuki clansmen likely resided there.

This forced him to abandon any plans for a surprise attack on the upper floors. He knew nothing about that area—how many enemies were there? Where were they positioned? Rushing in blindly could turn his ambush into a suicide mission.

Scrapping the idea of raiding the Otsutsuki, he shifted gears, deciding to check out the shrine housing the massive Tenseigan.

Carefully sneaking out of the castle, Shinji reached the floating debris belt connecting to the shrine.

He'd already memorized the patrol routes and schedules of the aerial puppets, so after waiting about four hours for a shift change, he used the shadows of the debris belt's underside to silently make his way to the shrine.

The shrine was unchanged.

Clearly, after sealing the passage between the moon and the shinobi world, the Otsutsuki branch family never imagined anyone could infiltrate again.

Whoosh.

With a leap, Shinji landed on the platform before the massive Tenseigan, gazing at the radiant, star-like artifact.

As he stared, he couldn't help but reach out, drawn to touch the powerful, mesmerizing Tenseigan.

But he quickly restrained himself, stepping back to the platform.

The massive Tenseigan was the Otsutsuki branch family's ultimate treasure. Let alone an Uchiha like him, even the Otsutsuki main family couldn't bypass the branch family to control it.

The soul of Hagoromo Otsutsuki entrusting Neji with saving the shinobi world indirectly showed that even he, the progenitor of the moon's Otsutsuki clan, likely couldn't override the branch family's control over the Tenseigan.

So, while the treasure was magnificent, it could only be admired from afar, not touched.

If Shinji had given in and touched it, triggering a reaction, it would've instantly alerted the Otsutsuki branch family. His painstaking infiltration would be for naught, and his escape would be uncertain.

"Just retreat like this?"

On the platform, Shinji hesitated.

Reckless action was unwise, but leaving without doing anything felt unbearable.

After some thought, he decided to experiment.

Since the massive Tenseigan was an aggregate of Byakugan, he activated the Byakugan chakra in the pair he controlled via Susanoo Tomoshibi and cautiously approached the Tenseigan.

His goal was to test whether his controlled Byakugan had any connection to the massive Tenseigan.

The high-purity Byakugan he wielded came from an Otsutsuki branch family elder. Though unlikely, he wanted to see if it could grant him control over the Tenseigan.

As he carefully moved to within a meter of the Tenseigan, he froze, his face flashing with disbelief.

The Byakugan he controlled through Susanoo Tomoshibi was resonating with the massive Tenseigan!

"It actually works!?"

Ecstatic, he immediately tried to manipulate the Tenseigan.

But after prolonged efforts, he slumped in defeat. While his Byakugan could resonate with the Tenseigan, it wasn't enough to grant him control.

Just as he felt dejected, his gaze sharpened with a new discovery.

As his Byakugan resonated with the Tenseigan, he found he could absorb a small amount of Tenseigan chakra from it.

Tenseigan chakra, though of an exceptionally high level, wasn't very useful to him as an Uchiha. But this realization sparked an idea about someone else.

Indeed, Shinji was thinking of none other than Neji, who also possessed a pair of Byakugan!

If his controlled Byakugan could absorb Tenseigan chakra through resonance, Neji could likely do the same.

While Tenseigan chakra might be useless to Shinji, for Neji, a Hyuga, it was a priceless treasure.

More crucially, Shinji had been concerned that the chakra Kimimaro supplied to the 'biological exoskeleton' far outstripped Neji's in both quality and quantity, preventing a balance.

If Neji could absorb Tenseigan chakra to bridge that gap, the balance issue would be resolved.