A Meeting Gift

Chapter 46: A Welcome Gift

"What? Kagato has defected?"

The Third Hokage looked at Danzō in shock.

Danzō narrowed his eyes slightly and said with resentment.

"I heard he defected to a small organization called Akatsuki. Hiruzen, I told you long ago that a genius like Uchiha Kagato might resent the village because of the Uchiha clan and the village's affairs. See? Now he's directly defected. If you had agreed to my proposal back then and eliminated his entire family, we would have one less enemy now!"

The Third Hokage's expression flickered between anger and sadness. Finally, he sighed.

"It's too late for regrets. Immediately classify Uchiha Kagato as an S-rank rogue ninja."

"That goes without saying. I'll send people to eliminate this rogue ninja right away."

Danzō stood up and left, leaving the Third Hokage alone, sitting on the sofa and sighing continuously.

Anbu Headquarters.

Itachi held the wanted poster in his hand, silent.

[Uchiha Kagato, S-rank rogue ninja.]

So, you chose this path?

Well, perhaps the village was too cruel for you.

I hope you'll be alright.

Itachi silently prayed for Kagato in his heart, then put down the wanted poster and continued his Anbu mission.

Kakashi's House.

On a table, two photos were displayed. In the first photo, a blond Jonin was smiling and holding down two boys' heads. In the front was a girl with short brown hair, making a peace sign with her fingers.

This was a photo of Team Minato.

In the second photo, Saito Daisuke in the middle had a silly grin, Suzuki Genji on the left was smiling gently, and on the right, Kagato looked at the camera expressionlessly. Kakashi stood at the back, his hands on Suzuki Genji's and Kagato's shoulders, his eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled.

This was Team Kakashi.

Kakashi was silent for a long time, then reached out and placed his hand on Kagato's head in the photo, as if wanting to ruffle his hair.

"Are you alright? Have you lost all light in your heart? That night Shisui the Body Flicker died, it must have been incredibly painful..."

Half a month later, within the Land of Fire.

"Whoosh!"

A kunai instantly pierced a middle-aged man in a kimono. Kagato spoke expressionlessly.

"What mission is this?"

"The eleventh, I think," Tobi replied.

They had received a commission to kill the middle-aged man in the kimono. This man was apparently a prominent figure in the Land of Fire, but that didn't matter to Kagato. Once he received a mission, he executed it.

"Leader, what's the next mission?"

Kagato contacted Pain mentally. Possessing a ring, Kagato could contact Pain at any time. If he had enough time, he could even project himself into Akatsuki's base.

"Wait!"

Tobi, who usually acted foolishly, was no longer doing so. Kagato knew his identity, so Tobi didn't bother to maintain his act when he was with Kagato.

"Someone's coming. It looks like Konoha's Anbu."

Kagato immediately understood.

"Are they after me?"

"I'm afraid so. Do you need my help?"

"How many are there?"

"More than ten."

"Hmph, they really think highly of me. Then I'll trouble you to help me out."

Kagato and Tobi were in the Land of Fire, and it was inevitable that Konoha would detect them after a while.

Upon receiving the news, Danzō immediately dispatched Root members to eliminate Kagato. Root and Anbu didn't appear to be very different on the surface, so it was understandable that Tobi mistook Root for Anbu.

At the same time, Kagato wasn't trying to be a hero. Whether they were Root or Anbu, there were strong and weak individuals among them. If the newcomers were all elite Jonin level, Kagato would have to go all out and activate his Mangekyo Sharingan to fight them alone.

He was unwilling to fight to the death against a group of Root members.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Root ninjas appeared around Kagato and Tobi, surrounding them.

Tobi's scarlet eyes under his mask turned cold.

"Split up?"

Kagato's eyes also turned blood-red with three tomoe.

"Understood."

"Swish!"

Kagato was the first to move. Before anyone could react, a Root member's neck was snapped by Kagato.

"So fast!!!"

The other Root members were all greatly alarmed. Just now, they hadn't perceived Kagato's movements at all!

Although Kagato hadn't officially entered the Kage-level due to his temporary inability to use the Mangekyo, and his Three Tomoe Sharingan only granted him Jonin-level strength, there was one aspect that needed to be considered separately: Kagato's Body Flicker Technique!

In terms of pure speed, Kagato had definitely reached the Kage-level.

For Kagato, the Body Flicker Technique was like Kamui for Obito; there was a world of difference between having it and not.

Without the Body Flicker Technique, Kagato was merely Jonin-level, but with it, he could be considered "pseudo-Kage-level."

He could handle a group of Jonin without issue.

Immediately after, Kagato turned his head.

Sharingan genjutsu!

Even the strong among the Root members would find it difficult to resist the genjutsu of the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Therefore, after falling under Kagato's genjutsu, one Root member, without a word, drew his sword and stabbed a comrade beside him to death.

From his first move, Kagato had already killed three Root members.

On the other side, another Root member was also killed by Tobi with a single sword strike in extreme terror.

With Kamui, Tobi could handle not just a group of Anbu, but even the Third Hokage himself would be no match for him.

Soon, Kagato and Tobi finished the battle.

Kagato used genjutsu to immobilize the last remaining member, walked up to him, and said calmly.

"Go back and tell Danzō, tell him Uchiha Kagato sends his regards. Remember, don't forget, it's Uchiha Kagato!"

After speaking, Kagato released the Root member from the genjutsu. As soon as the Root member realized he could move, he vanished immediately.

Root members usually committed suicide when captured, but Kagato had used genjutsu, so this member didn't get the chance to kill himself. And after Kagato let him go, he had no reason to commit suicide, so he retreated decisively.

"Akatsuki isn't planning to make a move on Konoha anytime soon."

Tobi reminded Kagato.

"I know. I don't plan on killing Danzō right now either. This is just a welcome gift."

Kagato looked at the corpses of the Root ninjas scattered around and said indifferently.

"Alright, let's move on to the next mission."

The sole surviving Root ninja quickly reported the incident to Danzō.

Upon hearing this, Danzō didn't fly into a rage. As mentioned before, Danzō's strength lay in his calmness and rationality. Facing Kagato's provocation, Danzō didn't dwell on it but instead saw another aspect.

"Even over ten Root members couldn't deal with him? Forget it. Halt all actions against Uchiha Kagato. His strength is growing too quickly. The village is already short on combat power, and we can't afford to waste more on a rogue ninja."

Danzō remained very calm. The relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha had already reached a breaking point. Shisui's death hadn't deterred the Uchiha's resolve for a coup; instead, it had only strengthened their determination in their anger.

It was also from seeing this phenomenon that Itachi uttered the words, "My capacity has already despaired of this boring clan."

Shisui, even until his death, still wanted to change the Uchiha, but the Uchiha's response to Shisui was an even firmer resolve. It had to be said, it was truly despair-inducing.

It was now February of Konoha Year 56. Kagato guessed that within this year, there would inevitably be an outcome between the Uchiha and Konoha. The accumulation of conflict had reached its peak and could no longer continue, nearing an explosion.

Hello everyone, this chapter is considered a transition. Next, we'll get to the Uchiha clan extermination event that's been mentioned all along.

Oh, and yesterday, seeing everyone's encouragement truly moved me. I will definitely write this book well. Thank you to every friend who cheered me on yesterday!

Oli ge!

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[At the request of a friend, the update time for the first chapter will be moved up by one hour to 6 AM from now on. I don't think this will affect most of you. Those who can't wake up won't care whether it's 7 AM or 6 AM, 233333. For those who wake up early, a 6 AM update might be more convenient. So I've changed it. I hope you all understand. Thank you very much!]