Chapter 55: Five Years in a Flash

The Third Raikage wasted no time. Breaking away from his battle with Jiraiya, he swiftly severed the Wood Dragon restraining the Eight-Tails, sealed the beast, and hoisted the unconscious Killer Bee onto his shoulder.

"Retreat!" Though unwilling, the Third Raikage had no other choice.

As the Kumo-nin retreated from the battlefield, cheers erupted among the Konoha-nin. Konoha had been on the losing side of this war with Kumo for a long time, and this hard-won victory was a rare cause for celebration.

Jiraiya, having deactivated his Sage Mode, approached Kai, clapping him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. "Haha! I never expected you to be this strong, kid. Even the Eight-Tails couldn't take you down!"

Kai shifted slightly to the side, avoiding Jiraiya's hand with a look of disdain. Shaking his head, he replied, "Killer Bee still can't fully control the Eight-Tails. In its current state, the beast was acting unconsciously. Plus, Wood Release naturally suppresses tailed beasts. That's the only reason I could defeat it."

"Still impressive," Jiraiya said, brushing off Kai's explanation. He was well aware of these facts but didn't seem to care. Instead, he asked curiously, "Kid, how did you learn Wood Release?"

"I've known it for a long time," Kai answered flatly.

Scratching his head, Jiraiya looked slightly frustrated. "Then why didn't the old man tell me about it?"

"If they had known earlier, do you think I'd still be alive?" Kai shot Jiraiya a sidelong glance, his tone indifferent.

As a disciple of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya was all too familiar with the shady dealings of Konoha's higher-ups. He knew that if Kai's ability to use Wood Release had been discovered, the boy would have been subjected to countless experiments in the name of research. Even Mitarashi Shishio, as the Head of the ANBU, would have been powerless to stop it. After all, the title of "the strongest release in the ninja world" carried an allure that few could resist.

Hearing Kai's words, Jiraiya's expression turned awkward. He muttered, "You're really an unlovable brat, huh."

At that moment, Minato Namikaze approached, his face filled with admiration. He said, "Kai, I didn't expect your mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique to have reached the level of Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder. But I didn't see you use any technique markings. If it's inconvenient for you to explain, you don't have to tell me."

Minato's face showed a hint of embarrassment as he spoke. The Flying Thunder God Technique was crucial to his development, so he couldn't help but ask, even though he knew it might be a sensitive topic for Kai.

Kai didn't seem to mind. Smiling, he explained, "It's a combination of the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Kagura Mind's Eye. Since the Kagura Mind's Eye is a Kekkei Genkai, I'm afraid I can't teach it to you, Minato."

Hearing this, Minato looked even more apologetic, waving his hands hurriedly. "That's perfectly fine, Kai."

"However," Kai added with a grin, "I can share my experiences in developing Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder."

"Really, Kai?" Minato's face lit up with excitement.

"Of course."

"Thank you so much, Kai!"

Off to the side, Jiraiya watched the two completely ignore him, and a faint sense of melancholy rose in his heart.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

The Third Shinobi World War had entered its sixth year. Far from subsiding, the conflicts across the ninja world were escalating, with an unprecedented battle looming on the horizon—one that would determine the fate of the entire world.

On the battlefield in the Land of Lightning, Kai stood tall.

After five years of grueling battles, Kai had officially reached the rank of Kage-level a year ago. At just eleven years old, he had become a Kage-level ninja, shocking the entire ninja world and earning widespread acclaim.

Over the past five years, Kai had slain over a thousand Kumo-nin. The fear he inspired among them led to his infamous nickname: the Grim Reaper of Konoha. Kai, however, found the title unbearably tacky and complained about it endlessly.

To his surprise, the fear he instilled in his enemies was recognized by the system as a form of Prestige Points.

By now, Kai had accumulated an impressive total of 999,000 Prestige Points.

Focusing his mind, Kai directed his attention to the Prestige Points section of his system interface. His heartbeat quickened.

One million!

"Yes!"

Seeing his Prestige Points finally reach the staggering milestone of one million, Kai clenched his fists in triumph and leapt into the air with excitement.

The Advanced Prestige Lottery—he had been waiting for this moment for so long!

For five years, Kai hadn't dared to use even a single 100-point basic lottery draw, let alone the 10,000-point intermediate lottery draw. He had been saving every last point for this advanced draw.

"Finally, I did it. It wasn't easy," Kai muttered to himself, his tone filled with emotion.

"System, initiate the Advanced Prestige Lottery."

As soon as Kai gave the mental command, a large spinning wheel appeared in his mind. The wheel was divided into four sections, and a slender pointer spun rapidly around its circumference. Whether it was due to the advanced nature of the draw or Kai's own nervousness, time seemed to slow to a crawl. The pointer showed no signs of stopping.

Gradually, the pointer began to slow down.

"Bloodline category? There aren't many bloodlines in the Naruto world on par with the Asura's Chakra. What could it be? Maybe the Indra's Chakra? I've been eyeing the Sharingan for a long time."

"Stop! Stop right there! Ah, no..."

But fate had other plans. The pointer continued to move, eventually stopping just past the Bloodline category and landing on the Special category.

"Not the Bloodline category? Special category... What could it be?"

Though initially disappointed, Kai's spirits quickly lifted. Judging by the size of the segment on the wheel, the Special category wasn't far behind the Bloodline category in value.

This time, the wheel didn't disappear. Instead, the area beneath the pointer changed, splitting into two halves: one white and one green. Just as Kai was puzzling over this, the system's voice rang out:

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a reward from the Special category: 0.1 Bloodline Limit Advancement Opportunity. Scanning the Host's body... The Host possesses two Bloodline Limits: Perfect Sage Body and Byakugan. The system will randomly select one to advance. Would the Host like to begin the random selection?"

A Bloodline Limit Advancement Opportunity!

Was this a case of losing one thing only to gain another? Having just missed the Bloodline category, Kai had now received an opportunity to advance one of his Bloodline Limits. While the choice was restricted, Kai saw this as an advantage.

If the Byakugan advanced, it would become the incredibly powerful Tenseigan. As for the Perfect Sage Body, Kai had no idea what it would evolve into—there was no precedent in the Naruto world. But it was bound to be extraordinary.

At this moment, Kai felt fortunate that he had the Byakugan instead of the Sharingan. If it had been the latter, evolving from a two-tomoe Sharingan to a three-tomoe one would have been utterly disappointing.

"Begin the random selection," Kai commanded.

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