— — — — — — — —
"With this Eternal Vision Meditation Method, another curse of the Uchiha has been broken! This is great!"
Uchiha Naori murmured with a smile.
This had been the wish of many generations of the Uchiha clan.
Now, it was finally fulfilled by her son.
"Then let me wish you an early awakening of your Eternal Mangekyō, Mother! I believe that once you achieve it, your strength will take another leap forward!"
Kaito also smiled and nodded.
Speaking of strength, he could feel that with the awakening of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, his bloodline had undergone a transformation.
This enhancement affected not only his physical body and cells but also his chakra, all of which had undergone a metamorphosis, becoming significantly stronger.
He had officially stepped into the ranks of the Super Kage-level.
And this was just the beginning. His Eternal Mangekyō still had a long way to go before reaching its full potential. Yet, even now, he felt that he stood at the peak of the Super Kage-level. He could already go toe-to-toe with Hashirama and a peak-level Uchiha Madara without the Rinnegan—without necessarily losing.
The improvement was immense.
"Yes! It won't take long. I feel that with some effort, I should be able to perfect the Sharingan Meditation Method within three months. Then, I can transition to the Eternal Vision Meditation Method and achieve the Eternal Mangekyō."
Uchiha Naori smiled and nodded, making a rough calculation.
After chatting with his mother for a while, Kaito went to find Mikoto and the other Uchihas, passing on the advanced Eternal Vision Meditation Method to them.
He also taught a modified Eternal Vision Method (The upgraded version of the Crystal meditation Method) to Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, Hashirama, and Uzumaki Mito.
However, All of them could only study the advanced meditation method in theory but couldn't practice it yet.
They hadn't even perfected the Sharingan Meditation Method or the Crystal Meditation Method.
Only Uzumaki Mito was really close—her Crystal Meditation Method was nearing perfection. Given two, she would likely reach completion and transition to the next stage.
"You're improving too fast. I feel like your strength might have already surpassed mine and Naori's."
After roughly understanding the advanced Meditation Method, Uzumaki Mito looked at Kaito with a sigh.
She could sense a deadly threat from Kaito. That was proof of just how terrifyingly fast Kaito had improved.
Of course, part of it was because Kaito had just made a major breakthrough and hadn't fully learned to restrain his aura. Given that Mito was highly skilled in sensing and analyzing chakra, she was able to perceive this change.
"More or less!"
Kaito chuckled and nodded. "I guess you could say this was just years of accumulation finally paying off."
"Accumulation, huh?"
Mito shook her head with a wry smile.
How could this be called accumulation?
Kaito had only been training for a few years, yet he had already reached such a level. It had nothing to do with long-term buildup—he was simply a monstrous genius.
"So, Fourth Hokage, how long do you think it'll take for you to awaken the Rinnegan?"
At this moment, Hashirama couldn't help but jump into the conversation.
"Well…"
Kaito pondered for a moment and replied, "At least one to two years! I'll need to perfect the first half of the Eternal Vision Meditation Method before I can awaken it."
The new Eternal Vision Meditation Method was divided into two parts:
The firsthalf focused on training the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The secondhalf was for advancing to the Rinnegan.
"One to two years, huh? That's toolong! By then, you might have already touched the Six Paths-level combat power."
"Even if not, you'll be pretty close. If I get revived at that point, I probably won't be much help in the ninja world anymore."
Hashirama sighed in disappointment.
He still wanted to contribute more to the village.
"Don't worry! Actually, reviving you won't take that long."
Kaito quickly reassured him, "I've been working hard on perfecting the Edo Tensei technique, preparing for a true resurrection. I estimate that in about two months, I should be ready!"
"At that time, your revival will be guaranteed, so there's no need to rush!"
Edo Tensei was a critical technique, and Kaito had never slacked on mastering it.
In the future, it wouldn't just be Hashirama—he had quite a few people from the Pirate world he wanted to revive too.
For example, Roger.
Just imagine—if Roger were revived and joined the battle at Marineford, what kind of scene would that be?
Of course, Ace was already under his contract, and Kaito had been personally guiding and teaching him. Ace's strength was steadily increasing.
By the time Ace reached adulthood and set sail, his strength might already be on par with an admiral.
At that point, the Navy's plan to capture and publicly execute him to trigger the Marineford War might not even be possible.
Not to mention, Kaito's interference had already decreased the likelihood of Ace joining the Whitebeard Pirates in the future.
Unless Kaito wanted him to infiltrate them as a spy.
Of course, that wasn't necessarily to take them down. Simply drawing them over to his side would be a good move.
After all, most members of the Whitebeard Pirates still had a sense of honor and principles.
Unlike Kaido's and Big Mom's crews—most of those guys deserved to die.
"Oh? Only two more months? That's great!"
Hearing this, Hashirama's frustration instantly vanished, replaced by excitement.
But he quickly calmed down. "By the way, Fourth Hokage, how are Tobirama and Madara feeling about you lately? Any chance of getting them under contract soon?"
Hashirama knew that if Tobirama and Madara weren't bound by Kaito's contract, things could get tricky.
Tobirama would probably be fine—he could be revived alongside Hashirama without much issue.
But Madara…
No one could say for sure.
No one knew what was really going on in Madara's mind.
And if he were fully revived, would he still pursue his old plans and ambitions?
Sure, Kaito had told him the truth about Black Zetsu, but that didn't necessarily mean he would fully align with Kaito's plans. Madara was as stubborn as ever.
"Tobirama is doing better—his favorability towards me is at 59. It's still not high enough to contract him, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Kaito said. "But Madara… he's only at 42. His progress is painfully slow, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"So, when the time comes to truly revive you, I can bring Tobirama along, but Madara will have to wait. You understand the reason, right?"
Hashirama nodded, appreciating Kaito's honesty. "I get it. Leave Madara to me—I'll find a way to persuade him."
"He's just being his usual stubborn self. If we push him right, he'll come around."
As for Tobirama? Hashirama had completely set him aside for the moment.
Kaito chuckled. "Well, keep at it! I'd like to contract Madara sooner rather than later."
— — — — — —
Two days later, at the Hokage office in Konoha…
Tobirama, Nara Shikayama, Uzumaki Mito, Hashirama, Uchiha Naori, and others had gathered.
Kaito announced, "For the next few days, I'll be leaving the village in your hands while I head out with Tobirama to attend the Five Kage Summit. Any issues?"
Everyone shook their heads. "No problem! We'll handle the village."
"Great! Then let's get going—I'm sure the other Kage have already arrived. Let's go, Tobirama!"
Kaito walked over to Tobirama and Minato, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. With a thought, he teleported them directly to the Land of Iron's summit hall.
Looking at the snowy landscape, Kaito stuck out his tongue. "Damn, this place is harsh. No wonder it produces such resilient swordsmen."
It was all thanks to the environment.
Kaito had intentionally chosen to arrive on a road close to the meeting hall.
Taking their time, he, Tobirama, and Minato walked towards the entrance. After presenting their identification, the samurai guards let them through.
Two guards quickly ran off to inform their leader, Mifune.
Before Kaito and his group even stepped inside the meeting hall, Mifune arrived in a hurry.
The moment he spotted Tobirama, his pupils shrank in shock. But he quickly composed himself and turned to Kaito with a respectful tone. "Hokage-sama, you've finally arrived. The other four Kage are all waiting inside—you're the last one."
"Should we head in now?"
At the same time, Mifune marveled at how lifelike Tobirama looked, realizing just how advanced Konoha's Edo Tensei had become.
Now, he truly understood why the other villages were so wary of Konoha over this matter.
Kaito simply responded, "Let's go straight in. Wouldn't want them getting impatient and throwing a fit."
"Understood. This way, please."
Mifune stepped aside and gestured for them to follow. Leading the way, he guided them into a spacious conference room.
The moment Kaito and his companions stepped inside, the four Kage and their guards all turned their gazes toward them, their expressions varying.
Yes, even Sunagakure had finally elected a new Kazekage.
It was Rasa.
Despite becoming Kazekage years earlier than in the original timeline, Rasa had managed to secure his position.
The recent war defeat had severely reduced the Wind Daimyo's financial and resource support for Sunagakure.
To make matters worse, the Daimyo had decided to outsource a significant number of missions to Konoha instead.
This nearly drove the elders like Ebizō crazy.
They thought their Daimyo had completely lost his mind.
Since when did a country support another village over its own?
Didn't the Daimyo care about the safety of the Wind Country?
But the Wind Daimyo had always been like this—never quite satisfied with Sunagakure.
That said, the real focus of everyone's attention was on Tobirama.
Sensing the strong death energy and the faint cracks on Tobirama's body, while also feeling the immense chakra he contained, the Kage and their guards all took a sharp breath.
"So, the revival is real… and he's back with his full power? Unbelievable!"
At the same time, they realized Konoha had just become an even bigger problem.
"Tch, Hokage, you're finally here! You're the last one to arrive!"
Onoki clicked his tongue and smirked teasingly.
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