After his continuous "baptisms" with cursed power, Sasuke now obeyed Kagami without question, his will completely subjugated. Acknowledging this with a slight nod, Kagami went upstairs to begin his daily ritual of practice and improvement.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, his ten clones, having traversed mountains and rivers, finally arrived at the border of the Land of Fire. Before them, the combined armies of the three great ninja villages stood arrayed for battle. From the top of a towering tree, the clones looked down upon the tens of thousands of shinobi, a sea of armor and sharpened steel, their murderous intent a palpable wave in the air.
Although destroying this army would be trivially easy, the clones hesitated. Killing tens of thousands of shinobi would send a massive torrent of souls into the Pure Land, an influx so large it would undoubtedly attract the attention of the Sage of Six Paths.
Through his recent studies, Kagami had grown increasingly suspicious that the Pure Land was not a natural afterlife, but a construct of the Sage's, designed to harvest and control the souls of all shinobi through the tether of chakra. He believed the Sage had not gifted the world chakra without building in a backdoor. Forcibly pulling souls back with the Reanimation Jutsu was proof enough of that connection. Until he was ready to confront the Sage directly, he could not risk provoking him. The thought of possessing such immense power yet being forced to hold back, all to protect his family, filled Kagami with a deep, grating frustration. But he was not a man ruled by impulse. Without the corresponding strength to back up his ambition, he knew he had to be patient.
However, patience did not mean inaction.
The clones decided on a new strategy: intimidation.
Without a word, all ten unleashed their powerful, suffocating aura. A blood-red light flashed in their eyes, and a single, chilling whisper echoed across the battlefield, piercing the ears of every shinobi present.
"Turn back now, and I will spare your lives."
The overwhelming pressure crashed down on the armies like a physical force, freezing the air and crushing their morale. The advancing formations ground to a halt, shock and fear replacing their bloodlust. Even the Kage—Raikage A, Tsuchikage Onoki, and Kazekage Rasa—were forced to re-evaluate the gap between themselves and this new, terrifying foe. Weaker shinobi felt their legs buckle, the sheer force of Kagami's will bringing them to their knees. The shadow of death fell over them, and the desire to retreat spread like a virus.
"Boy, state your name!" Onoki shouted, his voice trembling as he stared at the ten identical figures. The oppressive aura reminded him of the fear he had once felt facing Uchiha Madara. This boy had the same look in his eyes, the same dismissive contempt, as if he were not facing tens of thousands of elite shinobi, but a swarm of ants.
"I am Uchiha Kagami," one of the clones replied, his voice flat and emotionless.
Uchiha!
The name struck Onoki like a physical blow. In his mind, the image of Kagami and Madara overlapped, and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. His carefully constructed ambitions of washing away the shame of the past now seemed laughably pathetic.
"Onoki, you grow more cowardly in your old age!" Raikage A sneered, looking at the terrified Tsuchikage with disdain. "You bring shame upon all Kage!" Though he too felt the pressure of Kagami's aura, his pride would not let him be cowed before a battle had even begun.
The taunt snapped Onoki back to reality, his face flushing with anger. He had been shaken by his inner demon, his trauma of Madara. But this boy was not Madara, and he was no longer the same Onoki. Though the boy's aura was strong, he had his Dust Release. He had power.
Onoki, his inner demon now broken, felt a surge of defiant confidence. He dared to think that even if Uchiha Madara himself were still alive, he would meet him head-on with his Dust Release and show him what it meant to underestimate an old man who had spent a lifetime honing his power.
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