Wen Lan's confirmation left everyone present breathless.
"I knew it! I knew the Byakugan was the strongest dōjutsu in the ninja world!" the Fifth Elder blurted out excitedly—then immediately froze, remembering Wen Lan was an Uchiha. His face flushed awkwardly.
Wen Lan merely smiled.
"The Byakugan and the Sharingan are rightly called the two great dōjutsu of the ninja world. That's beyond dispute.
Think about it—if the Byakugan's ultimate evolution is the Tenseigan, then what about the Sharingan?"
Minato hesitated. "Isn't it the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"No." Wen Lan shook his head gently. "It's the Rinnegan."
"Rinnegan?!" Shock rippled through the room.
Even Minato exclaimed, "But Nagato isn't from the Uchiha clan!"
"When did I say those eyes were Nagato's?" Wen Lan replied calmly.
Minato frowned. "Weren't they awakened the night his parents died?"
"They weren't his eyes," Wen Lan said. "They belonged to Uchiha Madara."
"Madara?!" the elders gasped. "He's alive?!"
These were founding-generation figures. They had seen Madara and Hashirama with their own eyes.
"The Valley of the End—wasn't he killed by the First Hokage?" one elder began—
"He survived," Wen Lan interrupted. "Using Izanagi."
He explained calmly.
A forbidden Sharingan technique that rewrites reality.
It can nullify even death.
At the cost of one eye permanently going blind.
"Madara used Izanagi to survive. He bit off a piece of Hashirama's flesh. To awaken the Rinnegan, you need the chakra and blood of Indra and Asura's reincarnations. Madara was Indra. Hashirama was Asura."
The elders were stunned into silence.
The First Elder, however, grasped the implication.
"If the Rinnegan requires such extreme conditions… then the Tenseigan—?"
"It's simpler," Wen Lan replied.
"Two conditions.
First: the Byakugan.
Second: Ōtsutsuki chakra."
He continued.
"The Hyūga descend from Hamura Ōtsutsuki. But your bloodline has diluted over generations. Unless there's an ancestral reversion, even pooling your entire clan's blood wouldn't be enough.
Black Zetsu carries Kaguya's chakra. If someone fused that with a Byakugan… Tenseigan awakening would be possible."
The elders fell silent.
Their brief hope of a clan ascension faded.
Wen Lan intentionally omitted one detail—
That mass Byakugan aggregation could also trigger Tenseigan evolution.
He would not allow the Hyūga to grow ambitions that threatened village stability.
Some powers were too dangerous.
Back to the Underground Chamber
The battlefield was cleared.
Wen Lan and Minato returned to the underground birthing chamber.
Kushina lay weakly against the bed, holding baby Naruto.
A soft, radiant smile illuminated her exhausted face.
Minato brushed her hair gently.
Wen Lan asked lightly, "Have you chosen a name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," Minato said with a smile. "We decided he'll carry Kushina's surname."
Wen Lan paused.
He had half-expected "Namikaze Naruto."
But Minato had no obsession with building a clan legacy.
And the Uzumaki lineage still held hidden foundations.
More importantly—
This showed how deeply Minato loved Kushina.
A Drop of Blood
Wen Lan hesitated, then spoke softly.
"Aunt Kushina… I need a drop of the child's blood."
She looked at Minato.
He didn't object.
Trust.
Kushina gently pricked Naruto's fingertip.
Wen Lan collected the droplet into a vial with extreme care.
Then he looked at the newborn.
Complex emotion flickered in his eyes.
After a long pause, he asked quietly:
"Aunt Kushina… is the seal stable?"
She understood immediately.
"Yes."
"I need to speak with the Nine-Tails."
This time, Minato and Kushina did not immediately agree.
Minato's voice grew serious.
"Wen Lan… why?"
Wen Lan pointed to his eyes.
"You know I can see fragments of the future.
In the original timeline, you both die.
The masked man captures Kushina during childbirth, uses the child as leverage, releases the Nine-Tails.
You seal it into Naruto with the Reaper Death Seal.
You both perish."
The room fell silent.
Kushina's fingers tightened.
They both knew—
If a tailed beast is extracted, the jinchūriki dies.
"I won't let that tragedy repeat," Wen Lan continued.
"But I've considered something.
Naruto becoming the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki… might be the better future.
In the end, he and Kurama fight side by side."
"No!" Tsunade cut in sharply.
"If the Nine-Tails is extracted, Kushina will die!"
"I know," Wen Lan replied calmly.
"That's why I'm not extracting it completely.
I want to separate half of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Seal half into Naruto.
Leave half inside Kushina."
He met their eyes steadily.
"Konoha will have two Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
And Kushina will live."
—------------------------------
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