Stop It, Danzo

"Seven-year-old Three-Tomoe... How much longer are you going to let someone like that run free?!"

Hokage Office.

The four people at the pinnacle of Konoha's power had gathered.

At the head was Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzō and the two senior advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

"That child is attending the Ninja Academy normally," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice. "Danzo, I told you before. Stay out of Ninja Academy matters."

"Heh heh." With a sinister chuckle, Shimura Danzō said coldly, "Have you forgotten what this means?"

"Have you forgotten those eyes?!"

"Mangekyo..." Utatane Koharu murmured softly, turning her gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Given the talent Kagami Uchiha has displayed, if he receives enough stimulation, he may very well awaken the Mangekyo."

"That kind of power... is far too uncontrollable!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke, his expression darkening. "I have a plan."

"What plan could you possibly have?! You should do as I say and hand him over to me for training."

"I am confident I can make him wholly loyal to our side!"

"Hiruzen..." Utatane Koharu and the other advisor were clearly tempted.

They had lived through Uchiha Madara's era, and he was the only Mangekyo user they had ever known.

Subconsciously, they had raised the perceived ceiling of the Mangekyo. If they could have a controllable Mangekyo...

Wouldn't that be wonderful!

A Three-Tomoe at seven years old was even more outrageous than the records of Uchiha Madara. If he could not awaken the Mangekyo, even they would not believe it.

He had not wanted to say it, but seeing that his old friends were leaning that way, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"I've already called Jiraiya back. I'll arrange for Kagami Uchiha to train under Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya..." Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance and nodded.

In their eyes, Jiraiya was the best candidate for Fourth Hokage. They could rest easy leaving the boy to him.

But Danzo could not!

"How can that man, who ignores village rules and runs around everywhere, be allowed to take charge of an Uchiha?!"

Glancing at him, Hiruzen Sarutobi said flatly, "He trained Minato."

The last trace of hesitation vanished from Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's faces.

Minato Namikaze was, in their eyes, the ideal candidate for Fifth Hokage.

"That is because Minato Namikaze himself is exceptional, not because your disciple taught him well!" Danzo made one final struggle.

"If that won't work, I'll teach him personally. I trained the Three Legendary Sannin, so there shouldn't be a problem with that, should there?"

"You're raising a tiger that will one day devour you! That brat will definitely bring enormous harm to the village. I can see the dense darkness hidden within him!"

"You..."

"I will not regret this, Danzo," Hiruzen Sarutobi said resolutely.

"That child has done nothing wrong. I will certainly nurture him into an outstanding ninja who cherishes his comrades."

"As for you... Don't think I don't know what you've been doing. As for Sakumo's matter, stop it."

Though the tiger had grown old, its lingering might remained.

Facing Hiruzen Sarutobi's increasingly cold gaze, Shimura Danzō said nothing. Only the door to the Hokage Office suffered for it.

Bang!

"Honestly, at his age, he still hasn't learned to close a door gently."

Night fell.

Uchiha Clan Compound.

Kagami Uchiha had just climbed out of the Medicinal Bath and washed himself clean when his grandmother told him someone had come to visit.

"Kagami-kun, pardon the disturbance."

"Clan Head, please come in." Kagami Uchiha invited him formally. He was considered part of the hardline faction, so he had no reason to be particularly respectful toward Fugaku, who always wavered.

Obito and Itachi had carried out the clan massacre, but Fugaku was the one who had allowed things to reach that point.

The times had forced his hand, so it was not an individual's fault?

That was what people said, but as the Uchiha Clan Head, failing to change anything at all was itself a mistake.

"No, I came to deliver an invitation." A rare smile appeared on Fugaku's deadpan face as he handed over an invitation card.

"Tomorrow is my child's Seven-Day Celebration. I hope Kagami-kun will have time to attend."

Kagami Uchiha accepted the invitation and looked up. "Has the child been named?"

"Itachi, Uchiha Itachi. He's a boy!" Fugaku wore the smile of a proud new father.

Fortunately, Sasuke had inherited his mother's beauty. Otherwise, like Itachi, he would look old at such a young age.

"Alright. I'll be there."

Watching Fugaku leave, Kagami Uchiha's gaze darkened.

Itachi's birth marked the beginning of the countdown to the Uchiha's destruction.

More than ten years... would be enough.

Lying in bed, Kagami Uchiha had slept enough during the day. His consciousness sank into his mental space.

"Brat, how strong is the man you met during the day in this Konoha village?"

Sukuna's voice rang out.

Over the past two years, the strongest person he had seen was naturally Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Even in his thousand-year life, such a powerful person was rare.

Unfortunately, that man's vitality had begun to decline. Otherwise, Sukuna would have liked to test him.

As for Hatake Sakumo from the day... his strength might not have matched that old man's. But even though he was skin and bones, the sharpness that belonged to a blade still made Sukuna take notice.

He admired the strong, especially those whose convictions were so pure.

Kagami Uchiha considered Sukuna's question.

In terms of raw strength, Hatake Sakumo should be a little stronger than the current Three Legendary Sannin, though weaker than the Third Hokage and the others.

More importantly, there was Kushina Uzumaki, an outlier in terms of combat strength.

The complete Nine-Tails definitely surpassed the combined strength of everyone currently in Konoha. Only sealing techniques could deal with it.

To keep Sukuna from getting too arrogant, Kagami Uchiha simply included Konoha's past and future powerhouses in his count.

After all, Sukuna had asked about Konoha.

"Outside the top twenty. The old man you saw before could be called Konoha's village chief, but plenty of people are stronger than him."

"Interesting!"

Amid a sea of blood and corpses, Sukuna grinned savagely. "Brat, let me borrow your body and have some fun!"

"Just five minutes of activity each day. I'll teach you how to use my power!"

Kagami Uchiha drew a large mass of black mist from a gap in the Seal, kneaded it together, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He shot Sukuna a disdainful glance. "Do I need you to teach me? Give me two more years of eating, and I'll have every secret you possess dug out."

"How exactly are you stealing it?!" Sukuna could not understand. He clearly had not felt his power weakening.

Even within this mental space, his Cursed Energy was still growing.

In just a few years, it had grown more than it had in hundreds of years in the Jujutsu World!

He had already become stronger than he had been at his original peak, yet he still had no way to deal with this bizarre Seal.

Even Space Severance could not cut through it!

After swallowing the black mist, Kagami Uchiha had a feeling that once he fully digested this gain, using Dismantle would become much easier.

As long as he had enough chakra, perhaps he could use it as a regular attack.

With the Sharingan activated to assist his training, his body had developed over the past two years thanks to the Medicinal Bath. His physical energy was roughly on par with that of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old Uchiha.

Uchiha naturally possessed more chakra than ordinary ninja due to their immense spiritual energy.

But what determined the upper limit of one's chakra was still physical energy.

Some Senju and Uzumaki clan members could possess chakra comparable to that of a Tailed Beast.

Compared to those two clans, the Uchiha had always been somewhat lacking. Even Uchiha Madara had needed to capture the Nine-Tails as a living battery to fight Hashirama Senju for days on end.

At that thought, he gave Sukuna another disgusted look.

Tailed Beasts were creations of the Sage of Six Paths' Yin-Yang Release. Each could serve as a living battery, though their limits differed.

But Sukuna only had Yin Nature. Kagami Uchiha's spiritual energy already far exceeded his physical energy, so he had more than enough Yin Release chakra.

"Hey! Brat! What kind of look is that?!"

Kagami Uchiha curled his lip. "Your power isn't all that impressive. I was wondering whether I should catch you a neighbor."

"Bastard! What do you mean by that?!"

Whoosh—

Kagami Uchiha's control over the Seal had grown stronger. At the very least, he could now block out Sukuna's voice and avoid listening to his endless ranting.

He extended his palm, and a brilliant blue sphere of chakra appeared. Kagami Uchiha began trying to add the nature transformation of Fire Release into it.

The instant a wisp of flame touched the chakra sphere—

Boom!!

A violent explosion rang out. Unsurprisingly, he had failed.

Kagami Uchiha could not imitate Naruto's reckless nerve and use Multiple Shadow Clone for training. He could only keep trying, again and again, without growing tired of it.

A Rasengan infused with Wind Nature chakra became a Rasenshuriken, so what would happen if he infused one with Fire Nature...?