— — — — — — —
"This is amazing! Kaito, you're the best! I couldn't wait for that day to come!"
Kushina cheered excitedly and jumped into Kaito's arms, her voice full of joy.
"Haha, as long as you're happy!"
Kaito chuckled as he hugged her back, gently stroking her hair.
For the next few hours, it was Kushina's time to discuss things, and naturally, he didn't want to interrupt the flow of conversation.
"Alright, the experiment is done. Let's head back! I still have to tell my mother this good news!"
With that, Kaito teleported Kushina and the others away from the Space-Time Gate's Main domain, leaving them at the Shimotsuki Village base for training.
He himself returned to the ninja world and found Uchiha Naori, who was training in the backyard of their home. Without hesitation, he said to her, "Mother, the Human-Human Fruit—Vegapunk has successfully and perfectly replicated it."
"And soon, a production line will be established..."
Kaito then explained all the details to Uchiha Naori.
"Really? That's fantastic!"
Uchiha Naori was overjoyed. "With this, we will soon have a Human-Human Fruit for everyone. It will greatly enhance our comprehension, talent, and control over our bodies, leading to a huge boost in overall strength!"
"It turns out your decision to contract Vegapunk early on was absolutely right. This kind of talent is priceless!"
"Indeed!" Kaito nodded in agreement.
— — —
For the next few months, instead of focusing solely on training, Kaito was busy managing Konoha's development.
Thanks to the efforts of the First Hokage, Uchiha Madara, and many others, Konoha was transforming at an astonishing rate.
Not only did the buildings become taller, newer, and cleaner, but the entire village was also expanding rapidly.
More and more people were registering as new residents of Konoha, bringing in fresh opportunities and economic growth.
With trade routes between Konoha and the major countries and villages now fully open, goods such as household appliances and other commodities were being exported on a massive scale, making the village even more prosperous.
During this period, new people met the criteria for contracts every week, and Kaito personally formed contracts with them.
Those who had already been contracted continued to grow stronger at an incredible rate, thanks to the various divine techniques and abundant resources at their disposal. The contracted ninjas of Konoha were visibly becoming more powerful.
Their rapid improvement shocked their friends and family, but when questioned, they would simply attribute it to the Hokage's guidance.
Anyone wanting to know more had to meet the Hokage's standards first.
As for what those standards were? That was a secret.
The only thing they could say was: the more loyal and devoted you were to the Hokage, the better your chances of qualifying.
This only strengthened the loyalty of Konoha's ninjas toward Kaito.
Finally, after all this time, the dojutsu that had been gestating in Kaito's eyes was fully developed.
"It's finally here! I can't believe these are the two abilities I got… No wonder it took so long, even with my immense eye power and spiritual energy!"
"These two dojutsu are truly broken."
Kaito marveled at the information about his new abilities, unable to hide his excitement.
[Dojutsu: Death] – This ability allows the user to see the 'death lines' of a target. If the user severs these lines, the target will die instantly, similar to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
Of course, there is a limitation: the target's strength cannot vastly surpass the user's.
After all, no matter how powerful the ability is, cutting through the death lines of an opponent still requires a significant amount of energy.
The stronger the target, the greater the energy cost.
The stronger the target, the fewer and more resilient their death lines become.
"It's a shame... While this dojutsu is incredibly powerful, it's not quite invincible."
"Using it to kill opponents far beyond my level? That's wishful thinking. Even with Sage Mode, I doubt it's realistic."
"It's mainly effective against enemies at my level or weaker."
"But to be fair, if they're at my level, I can probably kill them anyway."
"Still, for enemies with insane durability—like Kaido—it's perfect for quick eliminations."
"And for opponents like Aokiji, I won't need to waste much time defeating them."
"Thinking about it that way, this ability is actually really useful."
"It's the perfect technique for dealing with troublesome foes."
Kaito pondered.
[Dojutsu: Time] – This dojutsu grants the user control over time itself, allowing them to accelerate, decelerate, and even stop time.
"Wait… my second dojutsu is a time-based ability?"
"And it's literally called 'Time'?"
"Not only does it let me speed up and slow down time, but it also includes time stop?!"
"And as I develop it further and my eye power grows, its capabilities will evolve even more?"
"This is insane!"
Upon seeing the details of this ability, Kaito was utterly shocked.
With this, his strength would skyrocket to an entirely new level.
Moreover, he would now be able to counter opponents who used time-related abilities with ease.
For example, Uchiha Naori's Slow-Slow Fruit, Jewelry Bonney's Age-Age Fruit, and Kouzuki Toki's Time-Time Fruit—all of these abilities could now be dealt with effortlessly.
Additionally, in combat, this power was a game-changer.
If used properly, even opponents significantly stronger than him could fall victim to it.
"With these two dojutsu, my chances against the Sage of Six Paths just went way up!"
"Give me a little more time, and I won't even need to fear facing him directly! Haha!"
Kaito laughed to himself, brimming with confidence.
"You look so excited. These new eye techniques must be insane, huh? Tell us about them!"
Uchiha Naori, who had been guarding Kaito all this time, finally spoke up.
Mikoto and Kushina also smiled as they looked at him expectantly.
"Uh... no problem!"
Kaito snapped out of his thoughts, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and then explained his two new eye techniques to the three of them.
"Whoa!"
The three of them gasped, drawing in sharp breaths. "These eye techniques are crazy!"
"One directly relates to death, and the other controls time? That's completely overpowered!"
"So this is the kind of power you can get from perfectly evolving your Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?" Uchiha Naori was in awe.
The sheer strength of these abilities made her jealous. They were far stronger than her own eye techniques.
"Yeah, it's incredible," Mikoto and Kushina both nodded in agreement.
Mikoto couldn't help but wonder, "I wonder what kind of eye techniques I'll develop when I evolve my eyes? Will they be this powerful?"
Kushina, on the other hand, pouted with envy. "You're lucky! You'll be able to unlock the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan soon and get these insane abilities. Meanwhile, I don't even know when I'll get my own Sharingan!"
She turned to Kaito and complained, "Hey, Kaito! When is the research department going to finish developing the Uchiha bloodline serum? I've been waiting forever!"
She was desperate to have such a cheat-like power.
"Uh..."
Kaito raised his hands helplessly and sighed, "The research department is working hard on it!"
"With Dr. Vegapunk's help, they've already successfully developed the Magnetic Release bloodline serum."
"The Senju and Uzumaki bloodline serums are showing progress too!"
"Just wait a few more months!"
"It should be ready soon!"
"Actually, you could inject the Magnetic Release serum first. It's pretty good!"
"Nah!" Kushina immediately shook her head. "I'm not interested in Magnetic Release. I'd rather wait for the Uchiha bloodline serum!"
"Having too many bloodline abilities isn't necessarily a good thing—it can get overwhelming!"
"It's better to focus on developing just one or two!"
"The Uchiha bloodline would complement my Uzumaki bloodline perfectly!"
"At worst, I can inject the Senju bloodline serum later."
"Who knows? Maybe the Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines will merge and evolve into something even stronger!"
"Magnetic Release just doesn't fit me!"
She was logical about it and didn't want to act recklessly.
She wasn't like Kaito, who could master anything quickly.
"Alright then! It's good that you have your own plan! Just be patient! Developing bloodline limit serums isn't easy!"
Kaito nodded in approval and reassured her, "Also, just because you unlock the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan doesn't mean your eye techniques will be as powerful as mine!"
"These abilities vary from person to person!"
"The Sharingan is called the Mirror of the Soul for a reason—it's deeply connected to the user's emotions and state of mind!"
"Not only do your deepest obsessions influence the type of eye techniques you get, but the strength of your soul and mental power also play a huge role!"
"So, before you awaken your Sharingan or evolve it, make sure to train your meditation techniques. Strengthen your soul and mental power!"
"Also, work on mastering your Devil Fruit abilities. Try to fully integrate their power into your soul—it will help boost your mental strength!"
"On top of that, Haki is closely linked to the strength of the mind, so you should focus on training that as well."
"That way, when you finally unlock your Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan one day, your eye techniques will be much stronger."
"Got it?"
He then turned to his mother and said, "Mom, you've probably noticed it too—now that your Haki, meditation, and Devil Fruit mastery have improved, your eye techniques have become stronger, right?"
Mikoto and Kushina both turned to look at Uchiha Naori.
"Heh, that's right!"
Uchiha Naori smiled and nodded. "Kaito, your theory is correct! My eye techniques have been growing stronger as my spiritual and mental power increase."
"This means that Sharingan abilities aren't permanently fixed!"
"So, if you want to have truly powerful eye techniques in the future, you'd better start working hard now!"
"At least you two still have a chance to reshape your destiny."
"I, on the other hand, can only strengthen what I already have. There's no way for me to gain overpowered new eye techniques anymore!"
.
.
.