Kagami Uchiha sat cross-legged, most of his focus concentrated on researching Tailed Beast Chakra.
Suddenly, something flew over from Jiraiya's direction.
He raised a hand to catch it, revealing a scroll.
"This is?"
Jiraiya did not turn around, his voice calm.
"You and Minato have been researching how to add nature transformation to the Rasengan all this time, right?"
"I researched this together with the old man. Although we didn't succeed in our experiments, we managed to come up with a prototype."
"Minato signed a contract with Mount Myōboku, and each generation of them only accepts one summoner."
"I've already taught you most of the ninjutsu I know, so I really don't have anything impressive left to hand out..."
Jiraiya turned his head, wearing what looked like a foolish smile.
"Consider this my birthday present to you."
"Happy tenth birthday, Kagami!"
If... I were not an Uchiha.
Maybe I really would choose you people...
What a pity, we are ultimately destined to walk diverging paths, Teacher Jiraiya.
Kagami Uchiha gripped the scroll, his expression neither happy nor sad.
--
Year 47 of Konoha.
The brutal combat had already lasted for over a year.
War, like a ferocious demon, clawed and lunged across the land of the Shinobi World.
It swung the sickle of death, and wherever it went, rivers of blood flowed.
Wars between shinobi were hardly inferior in casualties to those caused by modern weaponry.
The small countries located on the borders of the great nations became the meat grinder.
In successive World Shinobi Wars, the ones who suffered the most were not the great nations, but the small countries surviving in the cracks between them.
Shinobi did not ponder questions about the essence of war; they simply fought to protect their own homes.
The Will of Fire left behind by the First Hokage was rather vague, yet it still nurtured batch after batch of green leaves that burned themselves for Konoha.
The Shinobi World was abnormal, regardless of whether one was strong or weak.
To survive in a world like this, one could only adapt to the abnormality.
--
Among the mountain forests.
Obito Uchiha had been hyperactive the entire way.
"Kakashi! Can we see Kagami when we go out this time?"
"That bastard is really making quite a splash on the battlefield! Hmph, once I awaken the Sharingan, even Kagami will have to bow down before Lord Obito!"
After doing low-level missions for so long, he could finally go to the front lines.
Even if it was just a mission to transport supplies.
Obito was already imagining himself slaughtering the enemy on all sides, making that bastard Kagami Uchiha look at him in a new light!
Hehe... By then Rin... Hehe...
Kakashi held a book in one hand, the cover wrapped in black book-skin.
"Little Obito, you have to call me Kakashi-sensei."
"I am your team's jounin leader, you know~"
Eleven-year-old Kakashi had become a jounin a year earlier than in the original timeline.
With Kagami Uchiha occasionally beating him up at the Ninja Academy, plus Jiraiya's dedicated and heartfelt guidance, Kakashi's talent had fully manifested.
This often made Jiraiya sigh that while he had been a dropout in his youth, every single one of his disciples was more monstrous than the last.
Compared to Kagami Uchiha, who was promoted to jounin purely on military merits, Kakashi was only slower by two months.
Yet even a genius like Kakashi was never mentioned in the same breath as Kagami Uchiha in Konoha.
Riding alongside the Crimson Eyes was the Yellow Flash.
Coupled with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina, they were already viewed by the other ninja villages as the new generation of the Three Legendary Sannin.
Compared to how the moniker of the previous Three Sannin originated, the gold content of these three was clearly much higher.
Ever since they made their names, they had never tasted defeat!
Among them, the most dazzling battle record belonged to Minato Namikaze, who had defeated Kazekage Rōsa.
Regardless of whether Rōsa was weak or not, he was still the Kage of a village!
"You bastard Kakashi, don't think you're anything special! Once I awaken-"
"Awaken it first before you talk."
Kakashi closed his book and spoke indifferently, "You've already become the shame of the Uchiha. As a ninja who hasn't awakened the Sharingan yet, you probably won't have a chance in this lifetime."
"Just honestly be your genin, and don't bother participating in the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams."
"What did you say!!"
Obito was just about to argue with Kakashi when he saw the latter's gaze instantly change, shoving Obito to the side.
Whoosh!!
A kunai landed precisely at the spot where Obito had just been standing.
An Exploding Tag was also tied to the tail end of the kunai.
"Spread out!"
Boom!!
After the smoke of the explosion dissipated, five or six ninja wearing Kumogakure armguards stood in the treetops.
"Silver-white hair, short blade... Hehe, I have intelligence on you. The son of the Konoha White Fang, Jiraiya's disciple, the junior brother of the Yellow Flash and the Crimson Eyes."
Whoosh!
A fleeting blade flash, fast as lightning!
Kakashi flickered and appeared behind the person who had spoken, the lightning extending from his short chakra blade having already pierced through the man's heart.
"Too many prefixes. You just need to call me Hatake Kakashi."
"Asaru!"
"Damn bastard!"
"Konoha scum, how dare you kill Asaru!"
Kakashi twisted his body to force back the attacking ninja, retreating back into the formation.
His deadpan fish-eyes showed no ripples.
"It's always you Kumogakure people making the first move, and then you start howling once we kill you. Do you guys have some kind of similar tradition?"
"Bastard! How dare you insult us Kumogakure ninja!"
"Dammit! Let you witness the power of our rage!"
Kakashi shook his head helplessly.
Having interacted with Kagami Uchiha for a long time, he was already completely immune to this kind of low-level cursing, and had even picked up a few things...
"Opening and closing your mouths with bastards and damn it, the brain capacity of you Kumogakure folks is really small. Did you guys fail to learn anything except plundering?"
"I suggest you start over from apes and re-evolve. The current you lot still don't quite count as humans."
Subsequently, Kakashi lowered his voice: "Obito, Rin, send the ambush signal and protect yourselves!"
"Understood!"
Before going to the battlefield, Obito and Rin had also experienced bandit practice-dummies, so they wouldn't lose their heads just from seeing a dead body.
Kakashi was just about to raise his blade to harvest another Kumogakure life when a shuriken landed beside him.
When did...
He keenly sensed danger, a flash of lightning sparking under his feet.
Lightning Body Flicker Technique!
Swish-Thud!
A giant shuriken appeared as if out of thin air, materializing right at the spot where he had been a moment ago!
"To be able to dodge the Magnet Release: Hornet Twin Blades, I suppose you truly live up to being the disciple of the Crimson Eyes."
"Is your brain fried by lightning? I happen to be his junior brother." A drop of cold sweat seeped from Kakashi's forehead as he looked at the person emerging from behind the large tree.
Short purple hair, a yellow scarf, and this iconic, gigantic diamond-shaped shuriken...
Just as Kumogakure was intimately familiar with Konoha's powerhouses, Konoha likewise possessed relevant files on Kumogakure's heavy hitters.
A Kumogakure jounin, user of the Kekkei Genkai Magnet Release... Toroi!
An elite jonin with a Kekkei Genkai was unquestionably an elite among elites. Why would a guy like that appear within the Land of Fire!
"I originally just wanted to cut off your Konoha front-line transport, but I didn't expect to catch a big fish."
Toroi said indifferently, "Whether you're a junior fellow apprentice or a disciple doesn't matter. To Kagami Uchiha, you're still a relatively important person, right?"
"You can try running, but your two companions can't get away."
Kakashi gripped his tantō tightly and sneered, "The ones who abandon their comrades and run are you guys from Kumogakure!"
Whether it was his father or himself.
As for the Hatake Clan, it was absolutely impossible for them to do something like giving up on comrades!
"Is that so..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a scroll in his mouth, Toroi summoned three huge cubic shuriken.
"You're very alert, but those two kids have both been touched by my shuriken. They can't dodge my jutsu."
!!
Obito and Rin were shocked, having spotted the small shuriken near their feet.
"Then how will you choose..."
Whoosh!!
The giant shuriken cleaved through the air and arrived!
"Obito! Rin! Get close to me!"
Kakashi shouted sternly, Lightning Release chakra bursting forth upon his tantō!
Swish!!
The first shuriken was sliced open by the tantō, and the shattered fragments splattered, scratching Kakashi's arm.
Damn it!
There was no time to rest; the second one had arrived!
The tantō bit halfway into the shuriken, but the interference from the Magnet Release and the injury to his arm prevented Kakashi from cutting through it.
Bang!!
The immense force sent Kakashi flying from the impact.
With his eyes splitting in anger, he watched as the third shuriken flew toward Obito and Rin.
Griping a kunai, Obito was so scared that his body was trembling, yet he still stood in front of Rin without the slightest hesitation.
Rin, I will definitely protect you!!
Absolutely!!
A strange wave of chakra gradually surged toward his eyes, as if something was about to awaken...
Clang!!
Right at that moment, a soft chime rang out, and the shuriken in front of them was sliced into pieces by an invisible force!
Clatter, rattle...
The sound of the fragments hitting the ground made everyone freeze in place, and some kind of evolution within Obito also abruptly halted.
Footsteps echoed from the forest.
A slender figure walked over slowly, without shouts or a terrifying aura.
Yet the very first time they laid eyes on him, all the Kumogakure shinobi felt as though they had encountered their natural predator.
Their immediate thought wasn't to run, but to stop breathing and let their bodies tremble.
It was just like a rabbit beneath a lion's claws.
"I'll state beforehand, Kakashi isn't any kind of important person to me."
"Secondly..."
Indifferent eyes swept across everyone, the invisible oppressive force trapping them as if within amber.
"You lot can start running."
Before you continue