In this article, we investigate the distributed tracking control problem for networked uncertain nonlinear strict-feedback systems with unknown time-varying gains under a directed interaction topology. A dual phase performance-guaranteed approach is established. In the first phase, a fully distributed robust filter is constructed for each agent to estimate the desired trajectory with prescribed performance such that the control directions of all agents are allowed to be nonidentical. In the second phase, by establishing a novel lemma regarding Nussbaum function, a new adaptive control protocol is developed for each agent based on backstepping technique, which not only steers the output to track the corresponding estimated signal asymptotically with arbitrarily prescribed transient response but also extends the application scope of the proposed control scheme largely since the unknown control gains are allowed to be time-varying and even state-dependent. In such a way, the underlying problem is tackled with the output tracking error converging into an arbitrarily preassigned residual set exhibiting an arbitrarily predefined convergence rate. Besides, all the internal signals are ensured to be semi-globally ultimately uniformly bounded (SGUUB). Finally, two examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the co-designed scheme.