Once he finally recovered, Sora became furious. The system was openly taking revenge on him!
Why was the fusion usually so comfortable, yet this time it hurt so badly? And now enemies weaker than himself by even a single stage wouldn't drop cards anymore?
"You little punk! Just wait until you're done upgrading—we'll have a nice chat then!"
After cursing for a while and realizing the system couldn't hear him anyway, Sora could only angrily throw out these words.
"Water Style: Water Mirror Jutsu!"
Summoning a mirror of water, Sora activated his Sharingan and leaned in closely to examine his eyes.
But after looking for a while, boredom overwhelmed him. Because it was just a single-tomoe Sharingan!
What was he supposed to do with this? Under an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, this thing was practically useless!
"I'll take my time," he muttered softly, putting away the Flying Thunder God kunai from the ground before heading back toward Konoha.
This mission had cleared out all the bandits within the Land of Fire, allowed him to eliminate Danzo who'd plotted against him for so long, and even revealed the Sage of Six Paths' conspiracy—truly a massive gain.
Once back, he intended to stir things up and show everyone that anyone daring to cause trouble in the Land of Fire would be annihilated!
Less than a day later, Sora had already returned to Konoha.
As soon as he arrived, he immediately went to the Hokage's office.
Something as big as Danzo's death needed to be reported to Minato as soon as possible.
"Creak!"
"You're back! You did great this time—the Land of Fire is finally peaceful, and my workload has become so much lighter!"
Minato started talking enthusiastically the moment the door opened, a big smile on his face.
Finally, he didn't have to worry about these headaches anymore; it was simply amazing!
However, before Minato could fully enjoy the moment, Sora interrupted bluntly, "Danzo tried to ambush me, so I killed him."
"Huh—!?" Minato stared at Sora in disbelief, his mouth hanging open.
Then he immediately turned serious, "What happened?"
After Sora explained the entire story from beginning to end, Minato fell into a deep silence.
Because Sora hadn't hidden the details about the Sage of Six Paths, Minato was profoundly shaken.
"Don't tell anyone else about this. If the Sage of Six Paths has truly appeared, he must have some hidden agenda!"
Although unaware of Kaguya's existence, Minato instinctively guessed correctly, leaving Sora secretly astonished.
If their positions were reversed, he would never have figured it out with such limited information.
Before Sora could respond, Minato quickly added, "Starting now, don't leave Konoha again, just in case the Sage of Six Paths tries something else."
Initially wanting to argue, Sora stopped himself when he saw Minato's concerned yet determined expression. His protest turned into, "Alright, don't worry. I won't leave Konoha for a few years."
Only then did Minato relax, and the two began an in-depth discussion on the matter.
They continued talking enthusiastically for two whole hours before finally stopping, reluctantly.
"I'll head out first, then." Waving goodbye, Sora turned to leave but stopped abruptly at the door.
"I almost forgot," he said, turning back around. "Let's hold a Ninja Way Conference in Konoha. It can showcase our strength and also serve as a warning to all those troublemakers."
He'd had this idea for a long time—originally intending it for collecting cards—but after the beginner protection period ended, he shelved the plan.
Now, holding the conference would not only flex Konoha's muscles to other ninja villages but also intimidate bandits and rogue ninjas from other nations, keeping them from causing trouble—truly killing two birds with one stone.
However, these were merely excuses given to Minato. His real goal was different. There were still about fifteen or sixteen years until the Fourth Great Ninja War.
By holding this Ninja Way Conference every three years, as long as Konoha consistently took first place or even dominated the top positions, by the time the war came, Konoha would naturally become the leader of the ninja world.
Under Konoha's leadership, Sora could better leverage his own advantages during the Fourth War.
Naturally, he couldn't share this reasoning with Minato. Even so, after some thought, Minato agreed, personally taking charge of the arrangements.
While Sora safely returned to Konoha, at the boundary of the Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths' face grew increasingly grim.
Losing a single Truth-Seeking Ball wasn't significant to him, but failing to kill Sora left him deeply unsettled.
Moreover, the fact that Sora knew his existence made him worried Sora might interfere with his plans.
But without a physical body, the Sage couldn't directly act. He had sensed Sora's strength firsthand and knew that ordinary bodies couldn't threaten him.
Unfortunately, powerful Kage-level shinobi weren't easy to possess, leaving him momentarily helpless.
Furthermore, he didn't dare roam openly in the shinobi world. If detected by the Shinigami, even his soul might not survive. This recent attempt had already been highly risky—and it failed.
While the Sage of Six Paths raged in frustration, Minato had already sent out invitations to all the major ninja villages about Konoha's First Ninja Way Conference.
Under the organizer column, he proudly wrote the name: "Konoha's Prodigy—Sora."
By now, countless stories about Sora's incredible exploits had spread widely, earning him the title "Konoha's Prodigy."
He was incredibly young and unimaginably powerful—the greatest prodigy the world had ever seen.
When Sora first heard this nickname, he'd nearly tracked down the person responsible to give them a good beating. What a ridiculous name—it sounded terrible!
But as the nickname became increasingly popular, he could only reluctantly accept it. The main reason being—it was Kushina who had spread it. He couldn't mess with her!
As soon as the news was announced, it immediately caused a sensation across the entire ninja world.
This was unprecedented—opinions varied from excitement to disdain—but everyone began flocking to Konoha regardless.
In a small tavern in the Hidden Grass Village:
"Hey, have you heard? Konoha is hosting the first Ninja Way Conference! If I could get first place, I'd win one billion Ryō!"
"Pfft, you're just a Chūnin, and you think you can get first? Any random ninja from Konoha could defeat you."
"Yeah, you're right. I wonder if Hidden Cloud and the others will participate. If they do, it'll definitely be entertaining."
"They'll probably come. After that incident with Hidden Cloud, who dares disrespect Konoha now? Besides, even the Five Great Nations will be tempted by one billion Ryō."
Throughout the shinobi world, discussions about the conference buzzed everywhere. Ambitious ninja set out immediately for Konoha, eager to build their reputations.
Even clever civilians headed toward Konoha. With so many people gathering, selling any random merchandise there would make them a fortune!