"Don't worry," Kagami said, his voice calm and steady, easily cutting through the rising panic in the room. He knew what they were thinking, but he didn't care. "As long as I am alive, the Sand, the Stone, and the Cloud will not dare to attack Konoha again." After the absolute humiliation they had just suffered, Onoki and Rasa would not be so foolish as to try again. As for the Hidden Cloud, having lost their Raikage, they were in no position to attack anyone.

Hearing this, and remembering the terrifying display of power they had just witnessed, the clan leaders felt their anxieties ease.

Kagami then turned to Shikaku and Hiashi. "You two will find a way to control the Fire Daimyo as soon as possible. Konoha must not be short on funds."

"Yes, Lord Kagami," they replied in unison, their voices filled with a new, solemn respect. Satisfied, Kagami left them to their work.

At the same time, the "missing" Naruto was speeding through a dense forest, his movements as silent and effortless as a ghost in the night. His face was a stern, emotionless mask. His once bright, sky-blue eyes, which had sparkled with optimism and a fierce determination, were now swallowed by a deep, profound darkness. In their place, circles of complex, mysterious patterns swirled, emitting a faint purple light—the legendary Rinnegan, the eyes that could reverse life and death and control all of creation.

The person occupying Naruto's body was not the boy himself, but the Sage of Six Paths. The scenery blurred past his ancient eyes as he headed straight for the Land of Rain. He had successfully reincarnated, but his soul still needed time to acclimate to this new vessel. For now, he could not exert his full power. He felt it was... unwise... to face Kagami alone. He needed to find some helpers, some allies to deal with this new, terrifying variable. Even if they couldn't defeat Kagami, they could at least drain some of his strength. That would be enough to tip the scales in his favor.

Back in Konoha, Kagami returned to his palace to find his four ladies basking in the sun, while his infant son, Sukuna, crawled around under the watchful eye of a nanny. Yes, less than half a month after his birth, little Sukuna was already crawling. Kagami knew this shocking growth rate was due to the integration of the Sukuna template, so he was not surprised. The women simply attributed it to their son being gifted.

Kagami walked over and picked up his son, laughing. "Sukuna, my dear son, grow up quickly! Your father is waiting for you to revive the glory of our family!"

"Eh-ah-ah-ah-ah," little Sukuna gurgled, clapping his tiny hands and smiling cutely. The women smiled at the scene, having grown accustomed to Kagamis method of speaking to his child.

At that moment, a stream of memories suddenly flooded Kagami's mind—the report from the shadow clones he had sent to the Hidden Cloud. By the time they arrived, they found that Yugito Nii, the jinchuriki of the Two-Tails, had already been captured. The perpetrators were none other than the Akatsuki.

Kagami felt a flicker of regret. With Yugito captured, she was as good as dead. But he was also a little concerned. Why had the Akatsuki started collecting the Tailed Beasts so early? In the original timeline, Yugito wasn't captured until just before the Fourth Great Ninja War. Now, things were at least seven years ahead of schedule.

"Could this also be my influence?" he wondered. It was very likely his presence had altered the course of history. Butterfly effect. He felt a brief pang of pity for the woman's fate, but it was fleeting. "Since Nagato has caused me to make this trip for nothing," he mused, a cruel smile touching his lips, "it seems only fair that he compensate me by any means." He made a mental note to visit the Hidden Rain Village and bring her back.

On the other side of the Land of Fire, in a city illuminated by the flickering neon lights of casinos, Jiraiya walked with heavy steps through a bustling, desperate crowd. After countless days of searching, he had finally tracked her down.

Tsunade sat at a luxurious gambling table, her eyes fixed on the roulette wheel, her fingers tapping impatiently on the felt. Jiraiya approached slowly, his gaze cutting through the smoky haze to meet her once-sharp, now slightly blurry eyes. He stood by quietly, watching as she placed another bet, her face a mask of desperate hope, only to lose yet again.

Finally, the game ended. Tsunade stood up abruptly, the last of her chips scattering across the floor. She seemed to finally notice him standing there. Their eyes met, and for a moment, the world seemed to fall away, the complex emotions of their long, shared history passing between them in an instant.

"Jiraiya..." Tsunade's voice was a little hoarse, subdued.

"Tsunade," he replied, a sad smile on his face as he walked toward her, each step feeling impossibly heavy. "Long time no see."

"You mean the old man ordered the Uchiha clan wiped out, was then killed by this Uchiha Kagami, and now this Kagami is the Fifth Hokage?" Tsunade asked later, her voice filled with disbelief as they sat at a dinner table. It all sounded like a bad story, something too fantastical to be real. Shizune, standing beside her, also had her mouth agape in shock.

"That's right," Jiraiya said, his face grim. "The Konoha we knew is gone. It's now Uchiha Kagami's plaything."

Tsunade's expression shifted through a storm of emotions—disbelief, shock, and then a deep, profound worry. She slammed her fist on the table. "The Third Hokage... was he insane? The Uchiha clan was the backbone of Konoha! How could he do such a thing?" Though she had always suspected a darker side to Hiruzen, she could never have believed the man who preached the Will of Fire would be willing to destroy one of the village's founding clans just to cling to his power. Shizune stood by, her hands clenched into fists, her eyes filled with a confusion that mirrored her mistress's. She had never seen Tsunade so completely lose her composure.

__________________________

"Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider donating Power Stones and joining our patreon

[patreon.com /coolperry]

for early access to future chapters.