Stop, Danzo.

"A seven-year-old with Three Tomoe... how much longer are you going to let a guy like that run loose!"

Hokage Office.

The four individuals at the pinnacle of power in Konohagakure were gathered together.

Led by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the group included the Hokage's Assistant Shimura Danzō, and the two high-ranking advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

"That child is studying at the Ninja Academy just like everyone else," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice. "Danzō, I've told you before: stay out of matters concerning the Ninja Academy."

"Heh." With a sinister chuckle, Shimura Danzō retorted coldly, "Have you forgotten what this implies?"

"Have you forgotten about those eyes!"

"Mangekyo..." Utatane Koharu murmured, shifting her gaze toward Sarutobi Hiruzen. "The talent Kagami Uchiha has displayed—as long as he receives the right stimulus, it is very likely he will awaken the Mangekyo."

"That kind of power... it's far too uncontrollable!"

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

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

"This old man is confident I can make him belong entirely to our side!"

"Hiruzen..." It was clear that Utatane Koharu and the other advisor were tempted.

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

Subconsciously, they raised the ceiling of what a Mangekyo could do, thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a Mangekyo they could control...

Wouldn't that be perfect!

A seven-year-old with Three Tomoe was even more exaggerated than the records of Uchiha Madara; if he couldn't awaken the Mangekyo, even they wouldn't believe it.

He hadn't wanted to say it, but seeing that his old friends were all leaning that way, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and said:

"I have already summoned Jiraiya back. I will arrange for Kagami Uchiha to follow Jiraiya."

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

In their eyes, Jiraiya was the best candidate for the Fourth Hokage, so they felt at ease leaving the boy to him.

But Danzō was not at ease!

"That guy who ignores the village's rules and runs around everywhere—how can you let him take charge of an Uchiha!"

Glancing at him, Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly, "He taught Namikaze Minato."

Mitokado Homura and his companion, who had still been slightly hesitant, were completely reassured upon hearing this.

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

"That's because Namikaze Minato was excellent on his own, not because your disciple taught him well!" Danzō made a final struggle.

"If that won't work, I'll teach him myself. I did, after all, teach the Sannin; there shouldn't be any problem with that."

"You are nursing a viper in your bosom! That brat will absolutely cause massive damage to the village; I can see the thick darkness hidden within him!"

"You..."

"I will not regret this, Danzō," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with ironclad certainty.

"That child hasn't done anything wrong, and I will certainly cultivate him into an excellent ninja who cherishes his comrades."

"As for you... don't think I don't know what you're doing. Regarding the matter of Sakumo, call it off."

Even a tiger in its twilight years still possesses its majesty.

Facing the gaze of Sarutobi Hiruzen, which had gradually turned cold, Shimura Danzō said nothing more, though the door to the Hokage Office suffered for it.

Bang!

"Honestly, he's old enough now, yet he still hasn't learned to close a door gently."

--

Nightfall.

Uchiha Clan Compound.

Just as I finished washing up after coming out of the medicinal bath, Grandmother told me I had a visitor.

"Jing-kun, sorry to disturb you."

"Clan Head, please come in." Kagami Uchiha extended a formal invitation. He considered himself part of the Radical Faction and wouldn't show much respect to someone like Fugaku, who belonged to the appeasement faction.

Besides, the Uchiha I hated most was Obito, and the second most were Itachi Uchiha and Uchiha Fugaku.

The ones who slaughtered the clan were Obito and Itachi, and the one who let things turn out this way was Fugaku.

Was it forced by the times, and not a personal sin?

That might be what people said, but as the Clan Head of the Uchiha, the fact that he couldn't change anything was, in itself, a mistake.

"No, I'm just here to deliver an invitation." A rare smile graced Fugaku's deadpan face as he handed over an invitation.

"Tomorrow is my child's Seven-Day Celebration. I hope Jing-kun has the time to come by."

Kagami Uchiha took the invitation, looked up, and asked, "Have you picked a name yet?"

"Itachi, Itachi Uchiha. It's a boy!" A proud father's smile spread across Fugaku's face.

It was a good thing Sasuke inherited his mother's beauty; otherwise, he would look as old as Itachi did at such a young age.

"Alright, I will be there."

Watching Fugaku walk away, Kagami Uchiha's gaze darkened.

Although he knew that killing Obito and Itachi was meaningless—as another "Obito" would simply be influenced by Madara—it was better to keep them around to minimize unknown variables.

But the birth of Itachi meant that the countdown to the Uchiha clan's annihilation had begun.

Twelve years... that would be enough.

Lying on his bed, having slept enough during the day, Kagami Uchiha let his consciousness sink into his Mental Space.

"Brat, the person you saw today, what level is he at in this so-called Konoha?"

Sukuna's voice echoed.

In the past two years, the strongest person he had seen was naturally Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose strength might be comparable to seven or eight of his own fingers.

Such a powerhouse was rare even in his thousand-year life.

It was a pity that the old man's vitality was beginning to wane; otherwise, he would have really liked to test him.

As for Hatake Sakumo, whom he saw today... his strength might not be as great as the old man's. However, even if he were skin and bones, the sharpness of his blade-like aura made Sukuna take notice.

He truly appreciated the strong, especially those with such pure conviction.

He pondered Sukuna's question.

In terms of raw strength, Hatake Sakumo should be slightly stronger than the current Sannin, though not as strong as the Third Hokage and the others.

Most importantly, there was the outlier, Kushina Uzumaki.

The complete Nine-Tails was absolutely superior to the sum of the current combat power, and only Sealing Jutsu could deal with it.

To prevent Sukuna from becoming too arrogant, Kagami Uchiha decided to include both past and future Konoha powerhouses in his assessment.

After all, he did ask about Konoha.

"Outside the top twenty, I suppose. The old man I saw earlier is the village chief of Konoha, so to speak, but there are many who are stronger than him."

"Interesting!"

Amidst the sea of blood and corpses, Sukuna grinned hideously. "Brat, let me borrow your body to play around. You've been coveting my power, haven't you!"

"As long as you give me five minutes of activity time each day, I will teach you how to use my power!"

Kagami Uchiha pulled a large mass of Black Mist from a gap in the seal and shoved it into his mouth.

He glanced at Sukuna with disdain. "I need you to teach me? If I keep eating like this for another two years, I'll be able to strip you down to your underwear."

"How exactly are you stealing my power!" Sukuna was deeply puzzled; he clearly hadn't felt his own power diminish.

In fact, within this Mental Space, his Cursed Energy was still growing.

In just a few short years, it had accumulated more than the entire Curse World had in centuries!

He had become stronger than he was in his prime, yet he still had no way to deal with this bizarre seal.

Even his Dismantle couldn't cut through this seal!

Swallowing the Black Mist, Kagami Uchiha had a premonition that once he fully digested this harvest, using "Dismantle" would become much easier.

As long as he had sufficient Chakra, he might be able to use it as a standard attack on the spot.

He activated his Sharingan to assist in his cultivation.

Over the past two years, thanks to the Medicinal Bath, his physical development was roughly equivalent to a thirteen or fourteen-year-old Uchiha.

The Uchiha were born with more Chakra than ordinary ninjas, thanks to their immense Spiritual Energy.

However, what determined the upper limit of one's Chakra was physical energy.

Certain members of the Senju and Uzumaki clans could possess Chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast.

Compared to those two clans, the Uchiha had always been considered "hollow," even Uchiha Madara had to capture a Nine-Tails "Power Bank" to fight Hashirama Senju for days on end.

Thinking of this, he looked at Sukuna with disdain once more.

Tailed Beasts were Yin-Yang Release creations of the Sage of Six Paths, and each one could serve as a Power Bank, though their limits varied.

But Sukuna only possessed the Yin attribute. Since Kagami Uchiha's Spiritual Energy already far exceeded his physical energy, his Yin Release Chakra was more than enough.

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

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

"You bastard! What do you mean by that!!"

Swish—

Kagami Uchiha had gained even greater control over the seal, at least enough to isolate the sound of Sukuna so he wouldn't have to listen to him wailing and screeching.

Extending his palm, a cerulean sphere of Chakra manifested, and Kagami Uchiha began to attempt to incorporate the Nature Transformation of Fire Release into it.

The moment a spark of flame touched the Chakra sphere.

BOOM!!

With a violent explosion, unsurprisingly, it failed.

Kagami Uchiha couldn't match the nerves of steel Naruto possessed, using Multi-Shadow Clone to train; he could only try again and again, never tiring of the process.

If a Rasengan infused with Wind Release Chakra became a Rasenshuriken, then what would it become if he added Fire Release...