(last bonus for the week for being in the top 10)
Thanks for all your support
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At this moment, the new contractees had just about digested the information Kaito had given them and began opening their eyes one after another.
They couldn't help but burst into excited chatter:
"So that's how it is! No wonder these guys improve so quickly in their training! It's all thanks to Lord Kaito's incredible gifts! Damn it! Why didn't any of you tell me earlier?"
"Exactly! I've missed out on so much! If I'd known, I would've approached Lord Kaito myself and worked my way into his good graces!"
"Tianyi, you used to be far behind me, but these past few years, your growth has been explosive! Even your talent has increased! I thought you'd just figured things out, but turns out it's all because Lord Kaito is basically hacking the system! This is so unfair!"
"No, I think it's totally fair. I mean, I was the first one to reach the approval threshold for Lord Kaito's favor!"
"Haha! I agree! Being on Lord Kaito's side is an advantage in itself!"
"Damn it! Don't get cocky! I've formed my contract now too, and I'll catch up soon—and surpass you again, just wait and see!"
"Heh, I'll be waiting! But don't think I'll stop moving forward either!"
The scene became lively as everyone began teasing and debating with one another, their hearts filled with anticipation for the future.
With Kaito's "buff," they were all confident that becoming Kage-level, or even beyond Kage-level, was merely a matter of time.
After about ten minutes, Kaito clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, stop chatting for now. Let's get to work cleaning up the battlefield!"
"Bury all the Rain ninja corpses except for Hanzo and the jonin-level ones. The jonin will be sealed in scrolls to bring back to the village later."
"As for Hanzo's body, I'll personally handle it."
"Also, don't forget Danzo's group and the other Root ninja corpses on the other side of the valley. Collect those properly to bring back to the village as evidence. We don't want anyone accusing us of anything."
"Let's move quickly so we can get this done before nightfall and return to the frontline camp. Tomorrow, we might have to launch an attack on the Rain Village itself."
"Understood!"
The ninjas swiftly acknowledged the orders and got to work.
Meanwhile, Tsunade casually followed Kaito, watching as he gathered Hanzo's body. She curiously asked, "What do you need Hanzo's body for?"
Kaito sealed Hanzo's body and head together in a sealing scroll and stored it in his dimensional space. "Well, it's the corpse of a near-Kage-level powerhouse. It might come in handy someday!"
"We could use it for our own Edo Tensei resurrection or prevent others from using it for theirs. Either way, it's useful."
"Ah, and I'll destroy any remaining blood traces too."
Raising his hand, Kaito unleashed a bolt of lightning that scorched all of Hanzo's blood trails clean. Satisfied, he turned back to Tsunade.
"By the way, Tsuna-nee, what about the salamander?"
Tsunade shrugged helplessly. "That thing's too cunning and cowardly. I hit it hard with a single powerful punch, and it immediately reverse-summoned itself. I couldn't stop it."
"What, are you interested in that salamander summon?"
"That ugly, poisonous creature? Seriously, you'd be better off contracting with my slugs instead."
"No, no, I'm not interested," Kaito said, exasperated. "I was just curious since I didn't see its body."
"As for contracting with slugs? Sure! I was planning to bring it up after the war anyway. I'll go to Shikkotsu Forest to meet the Slug Sage and learn Sage Mode too. It's about time I started training in it."
He couldn't wait to adapt Sage Mode into a version most suited for humans and achieve a breakthrough in his abilities.
"A technique granting true immortality after Sage Mode, perhaps?" he mused excitedly.
"Sage Mode, huh?"
Tsunade's expression darkened slightly as if recalling unpleasant memories. She took a deep breath. "If it's you, I'm sure you can learn it."
"Hehe! I think so too!" Kaito grinned confidently. Then, curious, he asked, "So, did you fail to learn Sage Mode from Shikkotsu Forest back then?"
"Yeah," Tsunade admitted with a wry smile. "It's tough for me. The hardest part is merging with nature and maintaining a calm, distraction-free mind."
"Neither I nor Orochimaru could manage it," she added.
"But Jiraiya, that idiot, somehow pulled it off. It frustrated both of us to no end!"
"To make it worse, Jiraiya would rub it in our faces and brag about it every chance he got. It was infuriating!"
"And he's not even that good at it—barely halfway decent!"
"Orochimaru and I concluded that Sage Mode might only be attainable for simple-minded fools or those with childlike purity."
"With you, though, who knows? You always defy expectations."
Kaito chuckled. "So it's really about having a high level of mental focus and harmony with nature? Sounds like it's all about achieving a state of 'oneness.'"
"Exactly," Tsunade nodded. "Do you think you can optimize Sage Mode training? Maybe even create a method to reach that kind of state?"
"I don't know yet," Kaito admitted with a smile. "But I'm sure it's possible. Nothing's stopped me so far. With the right mindset and effort, I'll figure it out."
"Great! I'm counting on you!" Tsunade said excitedly.
"I'll let you know once I'm ready. And yeah, after the war, I'll sign a contract with the slugs and visit Shikkotsu Forest," Kaito assured her.
"Perfect! I'll be waiting!" Tsunade grinned eagerly, already imagining rubbing her Sage Mode skills in Jiraiya's face.
"..."
"Oh, right, I need to retrieve the Sharingan from Danzo," Kaito said this as he teleported directly to where Danzo and his men had died.
By this point, the toxic mist had cleared, revealing a pile of corpses lying on the ground, their bodies tinged with purple from the poison.
Kaito walked straight over to Danzo's corpse.
Instead of touching it immediately, he sensed something and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Danzo, you old fox. Even in death, you're still trying to pull something sneaky, huh?"
He had detected a Four-Symbols Seal partially activated inside Danzo's body.
If anyone were to tamper with Danzo's corpse, the seal would trigger immediately, drawing in both the body and anyone nearby into its confines, sealing them together.
Unfortunately for Danzo, his schemes were no match for Kaito's caution. His plan was doomed to fail.
"Damn, that old bastard was sinister to the end. Need me to help?"
At that moment, Tsunade arrived. Hearing Kaito's words, she used her Observation Haki and mental sensing abilities to check Danzo's corpse from a distance.
She quickly spotted the issue and scowled. "That bastard... He really was a piece of work!"
"No need," Kaito said, waving her off. "This is a small issue. I can handle it easily."
Kaito stomped lightly on the ground, and a series of sealing techniques spread from beneath his feet, flowing over to Danzo's corpse.
In no time, the seal inside Danzo was completely unraveled.
With the danger neutralized, Kaito peeled back the bandages covering Danzo's right eye and reached into the socket.
He plucked out a dimly glowing Mangekyō Sharingan.
"What?! That's a Mangekyō Sharingan? How is that possible? Where did he get one?"
Tsunade was shocked. A Mangekyō Sharingan was a rare treasure, even among the Uchiha. It was hard to imagine Danzo of all people having one.
"It's likely from my uncle's father, Uchiha Kagami," Kaito said, his expression turning grim.
He took out a vial of antidote and poured it over the Sharingan, using his spiritual energy to guide the antidote into the eye, purging it of any residual toxins.
Once that was done, he used his spiritual power and ocular energy to stabilize and nourish the eye, ensuring it wouldn't deteriorate further.
Finally, he placed the Sharingan in a specialized tube filled with life-preserving nutrient fluid.
At this time, Danzo had yet to form a true alliance with Orochimaru. He hadn't implanted Hashirama's cells into his body or covered his arm with Sharingan. The only Sharingan he possessed was this one in his right eye, which he had sealed most of the time to conserve his chakra.
"Not a bad strategy," Kaito thought. "But ironically, it's the reason he couldn't use this eye in his final moments."
If Danzo had managed to use this eye, whether for Izanagi or its unique Mangekyō ability, he might have escaped death or at least tried.
Based on its faint energy signature, this Mangekyō Sharingan likely had a genjutsu-based ability.
Kaito's aunt, Jisi, had once told him about Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyō abilities: both were genjutsu-based.
One could rewrite unfavorable events within the past minute, with a cooldown period of 10 days.
The other could rewrite events within the past year, but the cooldown period was an astounding 10 years.
The eye in Kaito's possession was the one capable of rewriting events from the past minute.
However, its chakra reserves were nearly depleted, leaving it on the brink of blindness.
It was clear that either Kagami had overused it in his time, or Danzo had drained it recklessly over the years.
No wonder Danzo sought Shisui's Mangekyō in the original timeline—this one would've been useless by then.
As for the idea of merging Kagami's Mangekyō with Shisui's to create an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?
Kaito scoffed. "As if it's that easy."
For one, Danzo wasn't an Uchiha. His body structure alone disqualified him. Even if he were an Uchiha, simply pairing any two Mangekyō eyes wouldn't guarantee an Eternal upgrade.
There were other stringent requirements that had to be met.
Tsunade frowned. "Uchiha Kagami? Wasn't he one of Danzo's comrades? He supposedly died heroically, didn't he?"
"So why is his Mangekyō in Danzo's possession? Don't tell me…"
Tsunade trailed off, her mind jumping to the worst possible conclusion.
"You guessed it," Kaito confirmed with a nod. "While the truth behind Kagami's death is shrouded in mystery, my mother always suspected that Danzo and the Third Hokage conspired to have him killed."
"Kagami's existence was an obstacle for them. He stood in the way of their plans to suppress the Uchiha."
"After the Second Hokage's death, Kagami's presence was also a potential threat to their political control."
"So, during a secret mission, Kagami 'died.' Conveniently, his body was never brought back. Suspicious, isn't it?"
"My mother became even more certain of this theory after contracting with me and learning about events from the past and future."
"Now, with this Mangekyō as evidence, it seems her suspicions were right."
"But where is the other eye? If it's still intact, that would be a major win—whether for research or for the Uchiha's future."
Kaito resolved to search for the other eye in Danzo's Root base, but he knew he had to act fast.
Tsunade gasped. "Wait! Didn't Danzo place Curse Seals of Absolute Subjugation on all the Root members? Now that he's dead, those seals will vanish!"
"If you want to raid the Root base, you need to hurry. Otherwise, the Root members might report Danzo's death to the Third Hokage!"
"You're right!" Kaito realized.
Without wasting another second, he placed his hand on Danzo's head and used his immense mental energy to forcibly probe his memories.
In just over ten minutes, he extracted everything of value from Danzo's mind while deleting irrelevant clutter.
This included information about the Root's operations, the location of the other Mangekyō, and even several pairs of Sharingan that Danzo had secretly collected over the years.
"Done," Kaito said, standing up.
He stored Danzo's body in his time-space dimension—a frozen stasis where time stood still.
He planned to use it as evidence against the Third Hokage in the future, or for other purposes.
After all, Danzo's memories had revealed enough dirt on him, the Third Hokage, and their inner circle to ruin their reputations permanently.
"I need to get back to the village and wipe out the Root base," Kaito declared.
He created a shadow clone to finish gathering the remaining items and accompany Tsunade and the others back to camp.
"I'll be back in time for tomorrow's battle!" he promised before teleporting away.
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