— — — — — — —
To his surprise, he discovered that both Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna had reached the required level of favorability toward him.
"Well, this is unexpected!"
Kaito was quite surprised.
"What is it?" Uchiha Naori asked curiously.
"I just realized that Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna have both reached the favorability threshold. I can form a contract with them now!"
"That's pretty surprising!" Kaito replied, stroking his chin.
"Oh?" Uchiha Naori raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, but then nodded knowingly. "Well, maybe it's not that unexpected! Perhaps they've been feeling pressured by the rapid growth of the Uchiha clan and even the First Hokage lately."
"Oh, I have some good news for you. Just a couple of days ago, your aunt Jisi and her husband both successfully awakened their Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"With them included, along with you and me, our clan now has several members wielding the Eternal Mangekyō!"
"Maybe that's what pushed Madara and Izuna to take action. After all, they're far from being fools—in fact, they're incredibly smart."
"They must have realized that all these changes stem from your contracts!"
"If they still refused to do something about it and didn't try to find a way to enhance their favorability toward you, they'd really be fools."
It wasn't just the Uchiha; even Senju Hashirama had undergone tremendous growth over the past six months. Through training in chakra refining techniques, life force, and the three forms of Haki, his strength had skyrocketed, showing noticeable improvements day by day. It would be difficult for Madara and Izuna not to notice and feel envious.
"So that's how it is!" Kaito suddenly understood. "I didn't expect Aunt Jisi to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō as well!"
"As expected of my mother's sister—such strong genes and talent!"
"Speaking of talent, my uncle-in-law is also incredibly gifted. He even awakened the Eternal Mangekyō before Aunt Jisi. No surprise, considering he's the son of Kagami-senpai and the future father of Shisui!"
Yes, the other person who awakened the Eternal Mangekyō was Uchiha Zen, Shisui's future father.
In the original timeline, he didn't even have a name—he died without ever making an appearance.
Kaito suspected that Danzo was behind his death.
Of course, it could have been some other unfortunate incident.
But in this world, with Kaito's presence, there was no way he'd die an unknown death at such a young age.
"Indeed!" Uchiha Naori smiled knowingly. "The offspring of strong individuals have a higher probability of being geniuses."
"Especially in a bloodline clan like ours, that holds even truer."
"By the way, your aunt is already pregnant! Who knows? Maybe Shisui will be born a few years earlier than in the original timeline!"
"Huh?!" Kaito was taken aback. "She's already pregnant? Well, that makes sense. The Second Shinobi War ended years earlier because of my influence, so it's natural that births would happen earlier too."
"Maybe not just Shisui—many other famous figures from the future might be born sooner than expected."
"But… if the timing changes, will they still be the same people?"
Kaito had his doubts.
"Uh…" Uchiha Naori hesitated for a moment, then furrowed his brows. "You're right. There's a real chance that different people will be born instead."
"It looks like fate's trajectory is shifting more and more!"
"I just hope your aunt still gives birth to a genius."
"Of course, even if the child isn't a genius, as long as they form a contract with you, they'll eventually become one through those divine techniques. Their potential will skyrocket."
"But naturally, if someone is already a genius to begin with, combining that with these techniques will grant them an even greater future."
"Innate talent is still important."
"Let's hope so!" Kaito didn't dwell on it too much.
"Alright, no more talking. I should contract the Second Hokage and the others now before any unexpected developments arise!"
He turned to Uchiha Naori and the others.
"Sounds good! I'll come along to watch!" Uchiha Naori had no objections.
"Me too!"
"Same here!"
"I want to see my granduncle come back to life!"
Mikoto, Kushina, and Tsunade all expressed their interest.
"Alright, let's go together then!"
Kaito had no objections and gathered everyone. With a thought, he teleported them to a massive laboratory within the research division.
At that moment, the Second Hokage was discussing the mass production of Bloodline Limit Elixirs with Kaito's shadow clone, Orochimaru, and a clone of Vegapunk.
When they saw Kaito and the others arrive, they paused their discussion.
"What brings you all here? Is something wrong?" Tobirama asked.
Then, his gaze fell on Kaito, and he raised an eyebrow. "Your presence feels quite different, kid. Looks like you've had another major breakthrough!"
"Not bad!" Kaito smiled and nodded. "I did make significant progress, but I can't tell you the details just yet."
"You'll have to wait until you form a contract with me!"
"As it happens, you've now met the requirements for contracting. So, what do you say?"
"Oh?" Tobirama's eyebrow twitched. "I finally qualify, huh? Of course, I want in! I don't want to stay stuck in this half-living state forever. It's inconvenient, hinders my growth, and worst of all, constantly wears down my soul. That's not good for me at all!"
"Do I need to prepare anything?"
He wasn't blind—he had clearly noticed the ridiculous speed at which his brother, sister-in-law, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and even others were growing stronger.
Not to mention them—just looking at the Uchiha was enough to see the potential risks.
From his observations, there were already several Uchiha who had awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
That was insane.
If someone told him this had nothing to do with Kaito's contracts, he wouldn't believe it even if they beat him to death.
"No need! As long as you agree, it's done!"
Kaito shook his head. "But hold on a second. Two more people have met the requirements too, so let's do it all at once!"
With that, Kaito expanded his mental perception, quickly locking onto Madara, who was overseeing construction projects, and Izuna, who was handling affairs in the Hokage Tower. Without hesitation, he teleported them both over.
"Huh?"
Madara blinked as he arrived, scanning the surroundings before looking at Kaito with a raised brow. "Kaito, was it you who transported me here? What's the reason?"
That attitude, that tone—still as proud as ever.
If Kaito couldn't see through his innate ability that Madara's favorability toward him had reached 81 points, he might've thought the man still held a grudge.
At that moment, Hashirama was suddenly teleported over as well. Seeing the group gathered, he scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Haha! Why's everyone here? Kaito, did you just teleport Madara over?"
"This setup... Does that mean they've all met the contract standard?"
Kaito glanced at Hashirama in surprise.
Who said Hashirama was dumb? He was sharp and observant!
Before Kaito could answer, Madara and the others turned to him with questioning gazes.
"That's right!"
Understanding their curiosity, Kaito nodded. "All three of you have met the requirements for the contract. If you want to form one with me, just touch this contract sigil and agree in your heart."
"You already know the benefits and limitations, so I won't waste time explaining."
With that, Kaito summoned three contract runes from his forehead and sent them floating before Tobirama, Madara, and Izuna.
The three examined the runes, sensing their mysterious power.
Without hesitation, they reached out and touched them, choosing to accept the contract in their hearts.
In the next instant, the runes merged into their foreheads, embedding themselves into their souls, stabilizing them instantly and halting any further degradation.
Even their previous soul damage began to recover rapidly.
Then, a flood of information poured into their minds—past and future events of the ninja world, past and future knowledge of the Pirate world, all of it surged into their consciousness.
Following that, techniques and methods such as Chakra Refinement, Life ForceTechniques, Meditation, Haki Training, Sage Chakra Condensation, and countless other skills flowed into their minds.
Even with their formidable mental strength, they had to close their eyes and focus entirely on processing the influx of knowledge.
Hashirama and the others watched the process unfold, smiles appearing on their faces.
Finally, they had reached this stage.
— — —
About half an hour later…
Almost simultaneously, Madara, Tobirama, and Izuna opened their eyes, expressions filled with both joy and deep contemplation.
In unison, they turned to Kaito and said, "We didn't expect you to have such incredible abilities!"
Then, the three exchanged glances before letting out simultaneous snorts, withdrawing their gazes from each other.
Tobirama couldn't help but speak next, addressing both Kaito and Hashirama's group. "Now I understand why my brother, sister-in-law, and little Tsunade have been growing so strong, why Kaito has access to so many special resources, and how the ninja world suddenly has someone as capable as Vegapunk."
"It was all because of Kaito and the other world, huh?"
"I was too narrow-minded before. I never even imagined something like this could be possible!"
"No wonder Kaito is so confident about unifying the ninja world and bringing long-lasting peace."
"With resources and power like this, and with ways to extend life, it all makes perfect sense."
"That's right!"
Izuna nodded in agreement. "Now I finally get why the Uchiha have been growing stronger at such an insane rate, why their potential is skyrocketing, and why their talents seem limitless!"
"Even the elders have changed. It turns out it's all thanks to you, Kaito, and the techniques and resources you've provided!"
"The Uchiha are truly lucky to have you."
"At this rate, every Uchiha in the future might awaken the Eternal Mangekyō or even the Rinnegan!"
"I can't even begin to imagine how powerful the Uchiha will become in the future."
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