"Boss, two large bowls of ran."
Arriving at Ichiraku Ran, Kagami pulled aside the curtain and took a seat with Sasuke, calling out his order to Teuchi, the owner. He then glanced at Teuchi's daughter, Aya, offering a slight nod that made the girl blush. Kagami hadn't suppressed the aura of his Pure Yang Holy Body, and its subtle influence made Aya's heart flutter.
"Okay! Please wait a mont!" Teuchi agreed with a cheerful smile and imdiately got to work preparing their al.
"System, what is Aya's rating?" Kagami asked inwardly.
"Ding! After analysis, the subject Aya's rating is F-Rank."
Hearing this, Kagami felt a flicker of disappointnt. "So, the 'Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku' theory was just a fan's joke after all."
Besides wanting to try the legendary ran, his second purpose in coming here was to gauge Aya's potential. A high rating might have lent credence to the amusing fan theories about her father being a hidden god-tier being, and could have provided him with another valuable wife. But with a rating of only F-Rank, he lost all interest. Although Aya was pleasant-looking, she was still a step below Rinne, and her potential was far too low to be of any use to him. He was now focused solely on finding high-ranking won to bear his children and grant him access to more powerful templates. Aya clearly did not et his new, exacting standards.
With a thought, Kagami reined in the aura of his Pure Yang Holy Body, afraid that if he left it unchecked for any longer, the girl might lose all composure and throw herself at him.
"Here are your noodles!" Teuchi announced, placing two steaming bowls before them.
Kagami and Sasuke each took a bowl and began to eat. After the first bite, Kagami found the ran to be just... acceptable. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't the divine al he had heard so much about. Compared to so of the noodle dishes from his previous world, the taste was rely average.
At that mont, a childish but excited voice bood from outside the shop. "Uncle Ichiraku, one bowl of miso ran, please! I'm starving!"
A mont later, a small boy with a shock of blond hair and a bright orange jacket burst through the curtain. It was none other than the son of the Fourth Hokage, the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, Naruto Uzumaki.
The mont he saw Kagami and Sasuke, the excitent on Naruto's face froze. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, and he quietly shuffled over to a corner seat. From there, he secretly glanced at the two Uchiha, his eyes flashing with a mixture of envy and deep-seated inferiority.
Inside Naruto's spiritual cage, the Nine-Tailed Fox, Kurama, also peered out through its host's eyes. A look of profound shock and doubt appeared on the great beast's face. It could feel an intensely malevolent, negative energy radiating from Kagami, an energy so potent it was frightening. The power emanating from Kagami was a billion tis stronger than any malice it had encountered in its thousand-year existence. To Kurama, Kagami seed to be a walking embodint of all the world's negative energy.
Kagami, unaware that his cursed power had marked him as a suprely evil being in the eyes of the Nine-Tails, simply smiled at the boy who was stealing glances at him. "You must be Naruto Uzumaki." He hadn't planned on interacting with Naruto, but now that he had run into him, he saw an opportunity. Though Naruto was still weak, his potential was imnse. He was just barely qualified to be trained as a family retainer. After all, as the future head of a great clan, Kagami couldn't be expected to do everything himself.
Moreover, Naruto was the reincarnation of Ashura, the second son of the Sage of Six Paths. If he ever wanted to awaken the Rinnegan, he might need access to Ashura's chakra. He also had a strong feeling that both Naruto and Sasuke were pawns in the Sage's grand ga. Keeping Naruto close, raising him from a young age, might yield so unexpected advantages in his future conflict with the ancient Sage.
Naruto was slightly surprised, but he quickly broke into a wide grin. "Yeah, that's ! Who are you, mister? Do you know ?" Kagami was one of the few people who had ever smiled at him without a trace of disgust. The simple act of kindness imdiately won him over.
Kagami smiled and nodded. "I am the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Kagami. Not only do I know you, I also knew your father."
"The Fifth Hokage?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. Then, a look of confusion crossed his face. "Did the old man retire?" In his shock at Kagami's title, he had completely missed the part about his father.
Hearing this, Kagami didn't bother to soften the blow. "No," he said plainly. "The Third didn't retire. I killed him." He saw no reason to hide what he had done; in his mind, it was completely justified.
What?!
The Third... killed by you?!
And you beca the Fifth Hokage?!
Kagami's words sent a shockwave through the small ran shop. Only Sasuke, who now knew the truth about Hiruzen, remained impassive.
Naruto's face twisted with rage. "Why?" he demanded, his voice trembling with anger. "Grandpa was a good person! Why would you kill him?" In his eyes, the Third Hokage was a kind and respectable grandfather, one of the few people in the village who didn't despise him and would even give him money for living expenses. His dream was to beco Hokage, and this man had just admitted to murdering one.
"Shut up, you baka! You don't know anything!" Sasuke snapped, his own anger flaring at Naruto's words. If it weren't for Hiruzen and Danzo, the Uchiha clan would still be alive, and his own family would be happy and whole.
Naruto was startled by Sasuke's ferocious, murderous expression, but he glared back, refusing to back down.
Teuchi, the owner, was sweating profusely, his mind racing. "It's over! I know this secret now! I'm a dead man!" He could already see himself being dragged away by the Anbu for interrogation and elimination. His daughter Aya, however, was still staring at Kagami with an infatuated gaze, completely oblivious to the gravity of the conversation.
Facing Naruto's anger, Kagami was unperturbed. He elegantly wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled faintly. "Hiruzen Sarutobi planned the destruction of the Uchiha clan. So, I killed him."
He then glanced at Naruto, his expression turning to one of cool indifference. "Shouldn't I have?"
He didn't care in the slightest about Naruto's opinion. Whether the boy agreed with him or not was irrelevant. Subduing him was rely an idea that had just occurred to him. If it succeeded, fine. If not, it didn't matter. If it weren't for the fact that Naruto was a potential pawn left on the board by the Sage of Six Paths, Kagami wouldn't have bothered wasting his breath on a re jinchuriki.
As long as Naruto remained in Konoha, he would remain under Kagami's control.
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