Staring at the small arm buried deep in his chest, Kinkaku wore an expression of utter disbelief.
As a ninja, he had never feared death.
Yet he never imagined he would one day fall to the hands of a mere genin.
Face-to-face with Kagura just inches away, a thought of mutual destruction flashed through Kinkaku's mind.
But as he made one final attempt to act, a deep exhaustion welled up from within him.
When exactly had this sense of helplessness begun?
When Ginkaku died before his eyes?
Or when Tobirama slaughtered all the loyal subordinates under his command?
Perhaps it was the moment he and his younger brother chose to betray the village.
Gazing at Kagura's youthful face, Kinkaku murmured in broken words:
"Maybe...
We are no longer suited for... this... era."
This legend of Kumogakure left behind only these final words.
As Kinkaku's eyes slowly closed, his powerful body finally collapsed lifelessly backward.
Seeing Kinkaku's corpse before her, Kagura finally realized—she had truly defeated him.
Her entire body went limp, and she collapsed weakly to the ground, panting heavily through her mouth.
Perhaps because she still couldn't fully control Chidori, or maybe because Kinkaku's body was tougher than expected, Kagura's right hand had been re-injured—her fracture worsening once more.
Now that the Tailed Beast Cloak had faded, Kagura felt every bone in her body scream in pain.
Blood-tears streamed continuously from her eyes, her head pounding as if it might explode at any moment.
But none of this could suppress the surge of triumph flooding her heart.
"I really did it!"
Stretching her arms wide, Kagura lay on the ground laughing wildly toward the sky.
Every bit of this battle had been carefully planned by her.
The Chidori she had just used was a ninjutsu awarded after completing that Class-B mission.
Because she had only recently mastered this technique, she still couldn't conceal the light and sound it produced when used.
In addition, the damage dealt by this jutsu mainly depended on speed and impact force—the longer the charging distance, the stronger its power.
All of this required significant preparation time.
That's why, from the very beginning, she had used Kotoamatsukami to make Kinkaku unconsciously ignore the unusual phenomena caused by her use of Chidori at a distance.
With each use of Kotoamatsukami, Kagura slowly figured out how this jutsu really worked.
Though hailed as the "strongest genjutsu," Kagura believed its true strength didn't come from illusion-based techniques.
The real power of Kotoamatsukami lay in subtly altering the target's will through genjutsu, making them act in ways favorable to the user.
However, such changes could not override the target's most fundamental instincts.
For example, during their first encounter with the Nagare Ninja attackers, Kagura couldn't use Kotoamatsukami to force her enemies to commit suicide with their own weapons—suicide directly violated their most basic survival instincts.
Similarly, the stronger and more determined the opponent, the smaller the change in will Kagura could achieve.
For someone like Kinkaku, simply making him overlook certain anomalies in his surroundings had already reached the limit.
If not for that, he could have simply used Kotoamatsukami to make Kinkaku believe they were his companions, thus avoiding this battle altogether.
Luckily, the final outcome told him all his attempts had succeeded.
Kagura, lying on the ground, suddenly seemed to remember something. Ignoring his physical discomfort, he forced himself back onto his feet.
First, he walked to the river to wash the blood off his right hand, then returned to where Tsunade and the others had been.
Once he finished all that, he gave in and let himself collapse—eyes squeezed shut, unconsciousness taking over quickly.
A long while later, several figures finally arrived at the scene.
Staring at the battlefield left in ruins, the few people stood there wide-eyed and speechless.
Suddenly, a scream rang out:
"Hurry! Lord Sarutobi is here!"
Several people immediately rushed toward the voice.
These individuals were actually Jonin from Konoha.
The shockwaves from this battle were so powerful that even villagers back in Konoha could feel the ground shake.
Without hesitation, Konoha's leadership had dispatched several Jonin to investigate.
But they hadn't expected Lord Sarutobi—who was supposedly only away completing a Class-B mission—to be lying unconscious on the ground.
"This isn't right... This is...
This is Kinkaku!!"
Soon enough, Kinkaku's corpse on the ground was discovered as well.
The group exchanged astonished glances. It was clearly far worse than they'd expected.
This was no longer something they could handle—they needed to return to the village and report immediately.
Fortunately, just as everyone prepared to leave, one of the Jonin spoke after some thought:
"I recall Lord Sarutobi went out accompanied by Genin from Team 7 this time, including Princess Tsunade.
Let's search the surrounding area again and see if we can find them—even their bodies."
...
...
Kagura's eyes fluttered open. The first thing entering his blurry vision was the ceiling light fixture hanging above.
He let out a weak groan. A deep soreness spread throughout his entire body.
His vision remained unclear for quite some time, as though the whole world had been wrapped in cling film.
Apparently, the side-effects from both the Tailed-Beast Transformation and heavily using the Sharingan were worse than he'd anticipated.
Noticing Kagura's movement, a crisp female voice came from beside him:
"You're awake?"
Kagura turned his divine eyes toward the source. After a while, as his focus gradually adjusted, he finally recognized the speaker—Tsunade.
Tsunade's hands were wrapped in bandages, but compared to Kagura, who was still bedridden, it didn't look too bad.
Seeing Kagura's dazed expression, concern crept into Tsunade's face as she asked:
"What's wrong?
How do you feel now?"
Looking at her soft features, etched with real concern, Kagura momentarily froze, finding her face oddly attractive.
Slowly shaking his head, he murmured absentmindedly:
"I'm fine...
Hmm, like how it always goes in hospital dramas, I should be asking for water right about now..."
Still somewhat groggy from waking up, Kagura clearly hadn't fully come to his senses yet. For a moment, he mistakenly believed himself still on Earth, unintentionally referencing something entirely out of place.
Tsunade frowned in confusion as she looked at Kagura. Although she had no idea what something called a "TV drama" was, she understood the part about needing water.
Helped into a sitting position by Tsunade, Kagura finally came to after drinking a cup of water.
He blinked in bewilderment and asked,
"Where am I?"
Placing the cup on the table beside her, Tsunade replied,
"Don't worry, we're currently in Konoha Village Hospital."
As Tsunade explained, Kagura gradually learned what had happened afterward.
It had already been two days since that incident.
The Jonin from Konoha who arrived upon hearing the news had located everyone scattered across different locations and brought back Kinkaku's corpse to the village.
Except for Kagura, all others had woken up yesterday.
Through Hiruzen Sarutobi's explanation, the Konoha elders had finally understood the entire story.
At this moment, faced with the Third Raikage's request to exchange Kinkaku's corpse, Konoha's leadership was discussing the conditions they would demand from Kumogakure.
Since she regained consciousness yesterday, Tsunade had remained constantly by Kagura's bedside.
After recounting the events of these two days, although reluctant, Tsunade had no choice but to leave the room when the doctor reminded her that Kagura needed proper rest.
Apparently, Kagura's act of protecting her against Kinkaku's punch not only made Tsunade stop being angry but completely captured her heart.
Just now, he recalled how an eight-year-old Tsunade had looked at him with affectionate eyes. As he thought about it, Kagura could only mutter a quiet apology under his breath.
Lying in the once again quiet hospital room, Kagura finally had time to check his own condition.
The doctor had just told him he wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for at least another week.
As for the fractured right hand, recovery would take even longer.
However, none of those issues were what troubled Kagura the most. Right now, he eagerly opened the system interface.
Under the task [Successfully killed Kinkaku], a mark showing its completion appeared.
After careful consideration, Kagura decided not to claim the reward for this task immediately.
What excited him more were increases in other attributes.
His current stats read:
[Dojutsu: (Double Tomoe Sharingan), progress 86.3%].
[Taijutsu: (Fifth Gate [Limit Gate]), progress 32.1%].
[Chakra: (Jonin level), progress 4.3%].
[Tailed Beast: One-Tail (Tailed Beast), integration rate 43%].
Compared to before leaving the village, his abilities had changed dramatically.
His Dojutsu had barely evolved into Double Tomoe Sharingan yet still gained significant progress—it seemed he was close to achieving the next stage with triple tomoe.
As for Taijutsu and Chakra, both had jumped one rank directly, reaching the Fifth Gate and Jonin level respectively.
Regarding the Tailed Beast, probably due to having used the Tailed Beast Cloak, its integration rate had increased substantially.
Fighting someone stronger really was the best way to level up—even if it almost got him killed.
As Kagura was delighted about growing stronger again, a knock suddenly sounded at the hospital room door.
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