Aftermath

Looking at the slender arm that had pierced his chest, Kinkaku wore an expression of disbelief.

As a ninja, he had never feared death.

But he had never imagined that one day, he would die at the hands of a Genin.

Looking at Kagura so close before his eyes, the thought of taking her down with him flashed through Kinkaku's mind.

However, just as he was about to make one final move, a sense of exhaustion rose from deep within him.

When had he begun to feel so powerless?

When Ginkaku died before his eyes?

Or when Tobirama slaughtered all the subordinates loyal to him?

Perhaps it had been That Moment he and his Younger brother decided to Defect from Village.

Looking at Kagura's youthful face, Kinkaku spoke in broken intervals:

"Maybe...

We no longer belong... in this... era."

This legend of Kumogakure left behind only those Last Words in the end.

As Kinkaku closed his eyes, his powerful body finally collapsed backward without strength.

Looking at Kinkaku's Corpse before her eyes, Kagura finally realized that she had truly taken Kinkaku down.

Her Whole Body relaxed, and Kagura slumped weakly to the ground, gasping rapidly.

Perhaps because she still could not control Chidori's power, or perhaps because Kinkaku's body was harder than she had imagined, Kagura's Right Hand had fractured again.

Having already left the Tailed Beast Cloak state, Kagura could only feel every bone in her body groaning in pain.

Bloody tears continuously streamed from her eyes, and her head felt as though it would explode the Next moment.

Yet none of it could conceal the excitement in her heart.

"I really did it!"

Spreading her arms, Kagura lay on the ground and laughed wildly toward the sky.

Every part of this battle had been carefully planned by her.

The Chidori she had just used was precisely the ninjutsu rewarded for completing the B-Rank Mission.

Because she had only just mastered this ninjutsu, she was currently unable to conceal the light and sound produced when using Chidori.

At the same time, this ninjutsu's damage mainly depended on speed and impact, so the longer the charging distance, the greater its power.

All of this required a lengthy preparation time.

So from the beginning, she had used Kotoamatsukami to make Kinkaku instinctively ignore the strange signs caused by her Chidori in the distance.

As her number of uses of Kotoamatsukami increased, Kagura gradually came to understand how this ninjutsu worked.

Although it was called the "Strongest Genjutsu," Kagura felt that its core did not lie in genjutsu.

Kotoamatsukami's greatest strength was using genjutsu to subtly alter the target's will, causing the target to take actions beneficial to her.

However, such changes could not go against the target's most fundamental will.

For example, when facing the attacks of those Rogue Ninja at the start, Kagura could not use Kotoamatsukami to make them draw their weapons and kill themselves.

Because suicide went against their most fundamental will.

Likewise, the stronger the target and the stronger his willpower, the less Kagura could alter his will.

Against an Opponent like Kinkaku, making him overlook a few strange occurrences around him was already her limit.

Otherwise, she could have simply used Kotoamatsukami to make Kinkaku believe everyone was his Companion and avoided this battle altogether.

Fortunately, the final result told her that every attempt she had made had succeeded.

Lying on the ground, Kagura suddenly thought of something and forced herself to stand despite the discomfort in her body.

She first went to the riverbank to wash the blood from her Right Hand, then returned to where Tsunade and the others were.

After doing all that, she no longer forced herself to stay awake. Closing her eyes, she fainted.

A long time later, Several Figures finally arrived at the scene.

Looking at the Devastated battlefield before their eyes, they were Stunned.

Suddenly, a cry rang out:

"Quick! Lord Sarutobi is here!"

Several people hurriedly gathered around the Person Who Shouted.

These people were Konoha Jonin.

The commotion from their battle had been so great that even Konoha could feel the ground shaking.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Konoha higher-ups directly dispatched several Jonin to investigate.

They simply had not expected Lord Sarutobi, who had only gone out to carry out a B-Rank Mission, to be lying unconscious on the ground.

"No, this is...

This is Kinkaku!!!"

Not long after, Kinkaku's Corpse lying on the ground was discovered as well.

The several men exchanged shocked glances. What had happened here was far more serious than they had imagined.

This was no longer something they could involve themselves in. They had to return to the village and report it at once.

Fortunately, just as everyone was about to leave, one Jonin spoke after some thought:

"I remember that Lord Sarutobi led Team 7's Genin with him this time, including Princess Tsunade.

Search the area again. See if we can find them, even if only their bodies."

When Kagura Opened her eyes, the blurry sight that entered them was a ceiling with hanging fluorescent lights.

With a weak groan, she felt every muscle in her Whole Body aching.

Even after having her eyes open for A long time, her vision remained blurry, as though the entire world had been covered with a layer of plastic wrap.

It seemed the aftereffects of Tailed Beast Transformation and driving her Sharingan at full power were greater than she had imagined.

Noticing Kagura's movement, a clear female voice came from beside her:

"You're awake?"

Kagura Turned her Head and Looked Over with those godlike eyes. A long time later, as her focus slowly returned, she finally saw that the Person Who Shouted was Tsunade.

Tsunade's hands were wrapped in bandages, but compared to Kagura lying in bed, her injuries seemed much less serious.

Looking at Kagura's dazed expression, Tsunade asked worriedly:

"What's wrong?

How do you feel now?"

Looking at that delicate face filled with concern, Kagura froze for a moment, feeling that it was somehow incredibly beautiful.

She slowly Shook Head and murmured absentmindedly:

"I'm fine...

Hmm, according to the plot of the TV Series I watched before, shouldn't I be asking for water right about now...?"

Having just woken up, Kagura clearly had not fully regained her senses. For a moment, she thought she was still on Blue Star and instinctively mentioned a TV Series.

Tsunade looked at Kagura in confusion. Although she did not understand what a TV Series was, she understood that Kagura wanted water.

Supported by Tsunade, Kagura sat up. After drinking a cup of water, she finally Came back to senses.

She asked in confusion:

"Where is this?"

Taking the cup and setting it on the table beside them, Tsunade answered:

"Don't worry. We're in Konoha's hospital now."

With Tsunade's explanation, Kagura gradually learned what had happened afterward.

Two days had passed since that day.

The Konoha Jonin who came after hearing the news found everyone scattered throughout the area and returned to the village with Kinkaku's Corpse.

Other than Kagura, everyone else had woken up yesterday.

Through Hiruzen Sarutobi's account, the Konoha higher-ups finally learned the full Circumstances.

Now, in response to the Third Raikage's request to exchange for Kinkaku's Corpse, the Konoha higher-ups were discussing what Kumogakure would need to pay.

After waking yesterday, Tsunade had remained at the unconscious Kagura's side the entire time.

After telling her what had happened over the past two days, Tsunade reluctantly left the room because the doctor who had come to check on Kagura instructed that she needed plenty of rest.

It seemed that Kagura blocking Kinkaku's punch for her had not only made Tsunade stop being angry, but had even completely won her heart.

Recalling the affectionate look in eight-year-old Tsunade's eyes just now, Kagura could only silently think, What a sin.

Lying in the hospital room, now quiet once more, Kagura finally had the chance to check her condition.

The doctor had just said that she would need at least One Week before she could leave the hospital.

As for the fracture in her Right Hand, it would need even longer to recover.

But those were not what Kagura cared about most. She eagerly opened the System Interface.

Under the mission "Successfully Kill Kinkaku," a completed notification had appeared.

After thinking it over again and again, Kagura did not immediately draw the reward for that mission.

Then, what delighted her even more was the growth in her other attributes.

Her current attributes were:

"Dōjutsu: (Two-Tomoe Sharingan), progress 86.3%.

Taijutsu: (Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit), progress 32.1%.

Chakra: (Jonin Level), progress 4.3%.

Tailed Beast: One-Tails, Fusion Degree 43%"

Compared to before she had left the village, her attributes had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Her Dōjutsu, which had only just evolved into the Double-Tomoe stage, had directly advanced by a large margin. It seemed that Three Tomoe was not far away.

As for her taijutsu and Chakra, both had directly advanced by one level, rising to the Fifth Gate and Jonin Level respectively.

As for the Tailed Beast, perhaps because she had used the Tailed Beast Cloak, its Fusion Degree had also risen quite a bit.

Sure enough, fighting opponents above her level was the best way to train, though it was rather hard on her life.

Just as Kagura rejoiced over becoming stronger once again, a knock sounded outside the hospital room door.