Is Uchiha Xuan a God or a Demon?

Inside the Hokage's office, the deathly silence remained.

Senju Tobirama stood rigidly before the window, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of buildings and fix on the direction of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

The scene from three days ago, when that boy had spoken those words in the conference room with an almost indifferent tone, now felt as though it had been branded deep into his mind with a red-hot iron, impossible to erase.

"I predict that within three days, Third Raikage A will battle ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi and die of exhaustion..."

Not a single detail had been wrong.

Even the manner of his death, the opponents he had faced, and their number had all been predicted with terrifying precision.

Senju Tobirama closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

As the Ninja World's renowned strategist, he had spent his life revering reason and believing in the science of chakra. Yet at this moment, a crack had appeared in his unshakable worldview.

What kind of power was this?

Could there truly be a "divine power" in this world capable of glimpsing the river of fate?

And that power had descended upon an Uchiha of all people!

"Impossible... This has to be a coincidence! It's a smokescreen released by Cloud Hidden Village!"

Shimura Danzō was still making one last desperate struggle. His face was pale as he tried to convince Tobirama—or perhaps desperately convince himself. "Lord Hokage, we can't let him fool us!"

"Shut up!"

Senju Tobirama spun around sharply, a terrifying gleam bursting from his red eyes like an enraged lion.

"That was top-secret intelligence! Do you think Kumogakure would joke about the death of their Raikage?!"

Danzo shrank back under the roar, but the venom in his eyes only deepened.

"Then... then how do you explain him? He's just a twelve-year-old brat. How could he possibly know all that?!"

"That is exactly what we need to figure out." Tobirama's tone was cold to the extreme. "But until we do, no one is to act rashly."

He looked toward the still-stunned Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hiruzen, convene an emergency meeting immediately. Discuss the border defenses following Kumogakure's withdrawal."

"As for Uchiha Xuan..."

Tobirama paused, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.

"Continue monitoring him. Without my order, no one is to approach him, much less harm him."

Konoha's upper ranks could seal off the news from the conference room, but something as earth-shaking as the Raikage's death and Kumogakure's retreat could not possibly be concealed from the Ninja World.

What was more, the leaders of the major ninja clans, including the Ino–Shika–Cho clans, had attended that meeting.

In this ninja village without secrets, the news grew wings and spread through every street and alley of Konoha overnight.

"Did you hear? Kumogakure withdrew! The Third Raikage is dead!"

"What? Is that for real? That monster could fight Tailed Beasts hand-to-hand!"

"It's absolutely true! They say he was worn down to death by ten thousand Hidden Stone shinobi at the Land of Earth's border!"

At the morning market, in taverns, on the Ninja Academy training grounds... wherever people gathered, they were discussing this shocking news.

Yet behind that news, another name rapidly became the focus of everyone's discussions in an even stranger, more startling way.

That name was—Uchiha Xuan.

"Did you know? They say that three days ago, that genius boy Xuan from the Uchiha clan predicted the Raikage's death right in front of all the higher-ups at the Hokage meeting!"

"Gasp—! Seriously? A prediction? How could something like that exist?"

"My uncle is a jonin from the Akimichi clan. He heard their clan head say it himself! They say even the Second Hokage was so shocked that he couldn't speak!"

"My god... He predicted the Raikage's manner of death three days in advance? That's way too eerie!"

"What eerie? That's divine foresight! They say he previously blocked Princess Tsunade's Monster Strength Fist with one hand, then wiped out a squad of Hidden Stone elites with a single Fire Release!"

All kinds of rumors spread wildly among the villagers and shinobi.

Within those rumors, Uchiha Xuan's image was elevated without limit, even deified.

Some said he possessed the bloodline of the legendary Sage of Six Paths and could see through the past and future.

Some said he had mastered some ultimate ocular technique beyond the Sharingan, one that could perceive the path of destiny.

Others said he was actually a messenger possessed by a god, sent to save Konoha from the chaos of war.

Awe, fear, curiosity, worship... all sorts of complicated emotions intertwined.

Uchiha Xuan was no longer merely the name of a genius boy.

He had become a symbol, a legend shrouded in a mysterious and terrifying veil.

In the eyes of Konoha's ordinary people, he was almost a god.

But in the eyes of the major ninja clan heads and upper ranks, he was like an unfathomable demon.

Inside the main household residence of the Hyuga clan.

The Hyuga clan head listened to his subordinate's report, his expression so grave it seemed ready to drip water.

"A prediction... Even the Byakugan cannot see through fate. What gives an Uchiha brat the right?"

He looked out the window, toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

"Pass down the order. Hyuga clan members are to avoid conflicts with the Uchiha clan as much as possible in the near future. That boy named Xuan... is dangerous."

Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara Clan, sat before a chessboard with his brows tightly furrowed. He rolled a chess piece between his fingers but did not place it for a long while.

"He saw through the Raikage's character, deduced Hidden Stone's movements, and even calculated the Raikage's date of death..."

Shikaku gave a bitter laugh and tossed the piece back into the chess box.

"If that was analysis, then his intelligence has already surpassed the bounds of humanity. If it was prophecy..."

He did not dare continue that thought.

Because either way, the boy called Uchiha Xuan had become an unpredictable variable capable of shattering the Ninja World's balance.

And at this very moment, outside the Uchiha Clan Grounds, at the very center of the storm.

The atmosphere had become eerie beyond measure.

The ANBU and Root shinobi who had originally been ordered to monitor Uchiha Xuan.

Now, scattered among the trees and shadows around Xuan's courtyard, every one of them held their breath, barely daring to breathe.

Three days ago, when they had received their orders, they had looked at Xuan as if he were already dead.

A fool who did not know his limits, who had dared to spout nonsense before the Hokage and was about to be swept into the trash heap.

But now.

That absurd prophecy had become a bloody reality.

That name had spread throughout all of Konoha like a myth.

When they looked once more at that tightly shut door, nothing remained in their eyes but deep reverence and undisguised fear.

Was the being inside still human?

If he truly could foresee the future, did that mean he had known all along that they were watching outside?

Had he... also foreseen the day of their deaths?

A young ANBU wearing a tanuki mask could not help swallowing, his voice trembling slightly.

"Cap... Captain..."

He looked at the ANBU squad captain beside him, who wore a fox mask.

"Are... are we still going to keep watching him? I feel... I feel like I'm guarding a shrine..."

"Shut up!" the fox-masked captain barked in a low voice, though the hand gripping his kunai had turned slightly white from exertion.

"This is Lord Hokage's order! Even if he really is a god, we have to keep watch here!"

He drew a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Besides, if he could foresee the Raikage's death, why didn't he foresee being placed under house arrest? Maybe... maybe all of this is just a coincidence..."

Before he could finish speaking, the captain suddenly felt a chill run down his back.

It was as though a pair of invisible, icy eyes were quietly watching him from within the darkness.

"Is it a coincidence?"

A calm voice suddenly rang in their minds—no, directly within the depths of their souls.

"Or do you think trash like you are worthy of calling this 'house arrest'?"

Cold sweat instantly soaked the backs of every watcher's clothes.

"Who?!"

The captain abruptly turned toward the still tightly shut door, his eyes filled with horror.