Chapter 579 - 578: The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki

Chapter 579: Chapter 578: The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki

Standing quietly by the window of the principal’s office, Kagami gazed down at the training ground below.

At that moment, Sasuke stood coolly in the middle of the field with his arms crossed over his chest, while Naruto sat sprawled on the ground nearby, awkwardly rubbing his backside and seemingly muttering something under his breath.

Evidently, Naruto had challenged Sasuke yet again.

"That kid Naruto..."

Kagami smiled and shook his head.

Previously, when Iruka reported that the students had been frequently engaging in private sparring matches, Kagami hadn’t reprimanded him for failing to supervise them properly. On the contrary, he had instructed Iruka not to impose too many restrictions on the students in this regard.

After all, the Ninja Academy was meant to train shinobi. Allowing the students to maintain a certain degree of competition among themselves wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The current shinobi world was nowhere near as peaceful as it had been in the original timeline.

In the original timeline, Akatsuki was still lying low during this period and hadn’t made any major moves. Several years had also passed since the Third Shinobi World War, so Konoha, far removed from the threat of war, had little sense of crisis.

As a result, the atmosphere at the Ninja Academy was predominantly relaxed, and the number of students enrolling each year had been steadily declining.

But things were different in this timeline.

The village had only recently suffered a devastating catastrophe, and the culprits responsible were still hiding somewhere in the shinobi world. Thus, the threat of war had never truly left Konoha.

Allowing the children to understand the cruelty of the shinobi world as early as possible was the truly responsible thing to do.

Otherwise, once they encountered a powerful enemy, they would be as fragile as flowers raised in a greenhouse, utterly incapable of withstanding the harsh realities of the world!

Of course, knowing how to strike the right balance was also a matter that required careful consideration.

Doing things like Kirigakure, earning their village the nickname ’Village of the Bloody Mist’ by endlessly glorifying bloodshed and cruelty and encouraging shinobi from the same village to slaughter one another, until rebellions and coups broke out every other day, would simply be foolish.

As his thoughts wandered, Kagami’s gaze settled on Sasuke.

He had witnessed the entire exchange in which Sasuke had knocked Naruto down just now. Whether it was speed, strength, or technique, Sasuke was impeccable for someone his age.

"What astonishing growth! If I were his age, I’d probably get completely thrashed by this brat too!"

Sasuke’s progress was so remarkable that even Kagami couldn’t help but marvel at it.

"Go, Sasuke! Go, Sasuke!"

As Naruto climbed back to his feet once again, the girls’ cheers immediately echoed across the training ground.

With his handsome appearance and prestigious shinobi clan background, Sasuke’s appeal to the young girls was practically irresistible. At that moment, more than half the girls gathered on the training ground were cheering him on.

Naturally, this provoked a shared sense of indignation among the boys. They all cheered for Naruto, hoping he could win back some pride for them.

Only Neji stood silently off to the side, observing Sasuke from a distance.

"From what I’ve seen so far, Sasuke is in a league of his own. Neji is clearly a step behind him, while the other children aren’t even on the same level as those two."

Setting Naruto aside, after several days of observation, Kagami had formed a rough assessment of the students.

Just then, Utatane Koharu, one of the village’s advisory elders, entered the academy grounds accompanied by three children wearing Takigakure forehead protectors.

Looking at the somewhat familiar little girl with short teal hair and dark skin, Kagami’s gaze sharpened as he thought, "Huh? Isn’t that the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from Takigakure?"

A short while later, Koharu left the three children from Takigakure outside Kagami’s office and entered alone.

Handing Kagami a document, Koharu said, "Starting today, these three children from Takigakure will be studying at our Ninja Academy. Make sure you take good care of them. Also, Fu’s identity is classified. Only you are permitted to know about it. You must not disclose it to anyone else in the academy."

Kagami nodded.

Given how seriously Koharu was treating the matter, he didn’t even need to examine the documents in his hand to confirm that the little girl with short teal hair named Fu was indeed the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki of Takigakure.

However, the sudden appearance of Takigakure’s Jinchuriki in Konoha did come as something of a surprise to him.

Seeing that Kagami was much calmer than she had anticipated, Koharu nodded in satisfaction before explaining the circumstances behind the arrangement.

Thanks to the Five Great Shinobi Villages spreading the news, Akatsuki’s hunt for the Tailed Beasts had already become common knowledge throughout the shinobi world.

Outside the Five Great Shinobi Villages, only Takigakure possessed a Tailed Beast.

However, a small shinobi village like Takigakure simply lacked the strength to withstand an attack from Akatsuki.

Therefore, to prevent Takigakure’s Seven-Tails from falling into Akatsuki’s hands, the Third Hokage had dispatched Koharu as an envoy to Takigakure, hoping to persuade them to send their Seven-Tails Jinchuriki to Konoha, where the village would take responsibility for protecting her.

Konoha’s proposal sparked fierce debate within Takigakure.

But the threat posed by Akatsuki was simply too great, and Takigakure’s leadership had no confidence in their ability to guarantee the safety of their own Jinchuriki.

Thus, after a prolonged stalemate, Takigakure ultimately compromised.

Under the pretext of an educational exchange, they dispatched a three-member team of young shinobi to Konoha.

And Fu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, was concealed among the members of that team.

In other words, Fu was the only one who truly mattered. As for the other two children, they were merely there to serve as cover for her identity.

After pondering for a moment, Kagami asked, "Is the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki’s condition stable?"

An unstable Jinchuriki was no different from a ticking time bomb.

Gaara, for instance, had repeatedly gone berserk within Sunagakure, forcing his father, the Fourth Kazekage, to issue an order for his execution.

If Fu’s condition was unstable, keeping her in the village would expose Konoha to enormous risks.

Koharu nodded. "Don’t worry. Fu is a very talented child. She has never gone berserk during her time in Takigakure, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Besides, Shisui is right here at the academy. If she does go berserk, you can have him use his Mangekyo Sharingan to temporarily subdue her."

...

Northwestern Land of Fire.

A Kirigakure ANBU pointed into the distance.

"Captain, isn’t that our target up ahead?"

The Kirigakure ANBU squad captain beside him nodded.

"His height, age, hair color, and hairstyle all match the description. That guy should be our target, Deidara of Iwagakure."

The Kirigakure ANBU asked in confusion, "Captain, where is he heading?"

The squad captain took out the map of the Land of Fire he carried and examined it. His brows soon furrowed.

"The direction he’s heading in... Could he be going to the Fire Temple?"

"Captain, we should hurry and follow him! If we let him get any farther away, we’ll lose him!"

As he spoke, the Kirigakure ANBU prepared to stand up.

The squad captain hurriedly grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Don’t act recklessly! The target is extremely vigilant and highly dangerous. We just need to follow him from a distance!"

...

Late at night.

While at home, Kagami received a scroll delivered by a messenger crow.

Unrolling it and taking a look, he grinned.

"The Fire Temple, huh..."