Without acknowledging Jiraiya's puzzled expression below, the Toad Sage continued murmuring to himself.
"The destined final battle was accelerated?
The Child of the Prophecy has changed!
No!
The Child of the Prophecy still connects with this human here."
Black hair... [Sharingan]...
That must be... Uchiha..."
The Toad Sage's voice gradually faded. Confused and frustrated, Jiraiya got escorted out from the palace.
Looking back at the grand hall, he frowned while recalling those last words.
Connected with me? Black hair?
Unfortunately, by then the Toad Sage had already spoken too softly for him to catch the final sentences.
After pondering for a while, he helplessly shook his head and stopped chasing after these mysteries.
Right now, his priority should be cultivation training—he couldn't allow himself to fall far behind Team 7 members!
Thinking about his goal reignited excitement within him, and he strode toward the training grounds full of expectations.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that he'd become the prophesied "Child of the Prophecy" in the Toad Sage's visions,
Uchiha Kagura—the story's main protagonist—was currently sprawled flat on his living room floor like a big X.
Hearing how hard Jiraiya had been training must've gotten to him—planned dinner plans were quickly scrapped.
Afterward, Tsunade and Orochimaru each left solemnly toward separate directions.
Ah, youth really is something.
Witnessing this scene, the eight-year-old Kagura rubbed his chin thoughtfully and sighed.
Exactly because of that, we witness Kagura lying on the floor as if lifeless.
Don't get the wrong idea, dear readers—he wasn't slacking off right now. He was actually cultivating.
Indeed, he was currently "cultivating" alongside the white Shukaku sealed inside his body.
Since discovering the presence of this Shukaku inside him, after several days of cautious attempts, he had finally figured out how to communicate with it.
Right now, he continuously broke off tiny pieces from his chakra and fed them piece by piece to Shukaku dwelling within.
Shukaku felt exactly like enjoying delicious favorite food, emitting joyful vibes.
This wave of positive energy slowly transformed into power flowing back into Kagura's body.
Occasionally, Kagura would even mentally scratch under Shukaku's chin or stroke its back.
Clearly enjoying such affection, Shukaku happily closed its eyes while wagging its tail behind in satisfaction.
Shukaku's happiness rippled outward, intensifying the aura around them once more.
Kagura could clearly feel his chakra undergoing purification, visibly growing stronger at an observable rate.
Actually, this wasn't merely a hallucination—the system's stat display confirmed it—he was onto something here.
Through weeks of refinement, his Chakra stat had progressed from:
(Chunin level), completion: 42.1%
To now:
(Chunin level), completion: 76.8%
This progress speed could only be described as astronomical—if he cultivated alone without assistance, reaching such levels would've taken months rather than weeks.
The data in the Tailed Beast section had also increased dramatically:
Tailed Beast: One-Tail, Integration Rate 35% (Tailed Beast Cloak mode unlocked)
Kagura naturally understood exactly what "Tailed Beast Cloak" meant.
Moreover, compared to regular Jinchuriki in this world, his biggest advantage lay in not needing to resist the malicious intent of the Tailed Beast at all.
Watching the cheerful little creature roll around happily inside him, Kagura mused—it was just like taking care of a digital pet. Where was this supposed malice they kept talking about?
Letting out a deep sigh, Kagura stood up from the floor.
Today's "Tailed Beast training" was done.
In fact, recently he'd already sensed that this method of cultivation was entering a plateau phase.
Lately, whether it was Chakra or progress in integrating with the Tailed Beast, everything had started slowing down.
He grabbed a glass of water off the table and downed it in one go. Then, exhaling deeply, Kagura walked over to the window, pondering his next goal.
Since reincarnating into the Uchiha clan, he'd constantly felt a shadow of death looming over him.
Yet this ominous feeling didn't entirely come from the future threat of Itachi Uchiha.
After all, that event still had thirty years to go. Although the entire Uchiha massacre felt like it was driven more by narrative contrivance than reality.
Thinking carefully, how could a mere teenager possibly wipe out the entire Uchiha clan silently and unscathed?
But upon deeper reflection, the whole massacre plan had actually been orchestrated under the supervision of the Third Hokage and Danzo.
So that explained everything.
Therefore, if he wanted to escape the fate of being eradicated, his key wasn't merely surpassing Itachi—the person placed at the forefront.
Rather, it was about gaining enough power to rival Konoha's upper leadership represented by Sarutobi and Danzo. That was the real objective Kagura should pursue.
Now that he possessed a Tailed Beast, for the first time, Kagura felt a sense of confidence.
Although, thinking differently, perhaps he, as someone who knew the storyline, might find other ways to change this conspiracy.
By disrupting key parts of the conspiracy and eliminating the discrimination against the Uchiha clan,
the Uchiha would no longer harbor rebellion, thus removing the reasons why the Third Hokage needed to eliminate them.
As for those far-reaching schemes—like Madara Uchiha, Black Zetsu, and even reviving Hagoromo Otsutsuki—those weren't concerns for him right now.
Shouldn't such big villains be dealt with by protagonists like Naruto and Sasuke? What did it have to do with him?
Thinking this, Kagura laid comfortably on his bed and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
What he didn't know at that moment was that earlier that day,
the so-called 'main characters', whom he had always been certain were the protagonists, had unknowingly begun changing due to his arrival.
And that final showdown he thought was still over forty years away was now set to begin far earlier than expected...
Silent through the night. The next morning,
Team 7's four members once again gathered in front of the mission assignment area.
But today, aside from Kagura, the other three looked extremely tired, yawning uncontrollably.
They must've trained their guts out yesterday.
Looking at their appearances, Kagura couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Shrugging his shoulders, he—acting as the team leader—stepped forward and approached a staff member behind the counter to inquire about today's mission.
A worker looked up at them and said,
"Oh, you must be Team 7 this year.
You won't need to pick up a mission here today. Just head directly to Hokage Tower later.
Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi has a special assignment for you."
Hearing that, the group exchanged puzzled looks.
None of them had heard anything about it from Sarutobi-sensei yesterday.
Noticing their confusion, the staff member chuckled,
"Oh, it was arranged unexpectedly this morning.
Hurry along now—Lord Hiruzen has been waiting for you there."
Upon hearing that, they asked no further questions and quickly made their way toward Hokage Tower.
Inside the Hokage Tower office, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled slightly at the sight of his four outstanding pupils.
In fact, in just one week, he was set to officially become The Third Hokage, and lately his workload had grown significantly.
As a result, he barely had time to take them on missions himself.
Luckily, from what he'd heard from others, the four of them had completed every assigned task perfectly.
That made him, their teacher, quite satisfied.
He tossed the mission scroll in his hand toward Kagura, who was standing at the front of the group.
Then he gestured with his eyes for her to open it.
Kagura untied the rope around the scroll and began reading carefully while Hiruzen started explaining,
"This time, you'll be taking on a B-rank mission, which requires you to operate outside the village.
And more importantly, I will be personally leading this mission!"
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