novelzi Chapter 165: The Land of Waves… Again?!
Chapter 165: The Land of Waves… Again?!
Sarutobi Hiruzen was troubled. He couldn’t tell whether it was Kitagawa Gen who had been led astray by Kakashi—
'Or was it Kakashi who ended up influenced by Gen?'
A C-rank mission was simple. Was it really appropriate to be making remarks like that?
Although Kitagawa Gen had gone through the same process back then, at that time Kakashi had only just withdrawn from the Anbu. It was natural that he still retained some of his Anbu habits.
'But you’ve been out for so long... why are you still like this?'
Hiruzen let out a weary sigh, but in the end, he still handed over a simple C-rank mission.
Gen hadn’t left the team yet. With two Jōnin watching over things, surely there shouldn’t be much of a problem.
“Old man, you called for me?”
Just as Hiruzen was stewing over it, Jiraiya’s voice suddenly came from outside the window.
“Honestly, I’m busy right now.”
“There’s news about Mizuki.”
Hiruzen rubbed at his temples, but before he could even speak, Jiraiya cut in.
“Mizuki? Oh, you mean that thing going around the streets? Figures. No wonder Gen turned out this way—seems like Konoha’s education really is a problem. Don’t blame me for it!”
“...”
Hiruzen’s grip tightened on his pipe. At this moment, he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he himself was also the problem.
Otherwise, how could he have raised someone like Jiraiya, a shameless pervert... Tsunade, a hopeless gambling addict... and Orochimaru—
“Now isn’t the time to be talking about that!”
Hiruzen startled himself with the sharpness of his own outburst. Quickly, he shook his head. No—there had to be issues elsewhere. Right now, he had more important matters to address.
“Gen has already uncovered quite a bit. Mizuki is connected to Orochimaru.”
“Orochimaru?”
The instant that name left his lips, Jiraiya’s entire demeanor hardened.
“Did he say anything? What’s his goal? Don’t tell me... is it the Chūnin Exams?”
“Unclear. Mizuki’s just a Chūnin himself—he can’t know much.”
Hiruzen shook his head, pipe stem clenched tightly between his teeth as he spoke in an utterly serious tone.
“But this has to be taken into account. Especially since behind Orochimaru, there’s still the Akatsuki. Hard to say...”
“I understand.”
Jiraiya nodded grimly. The Akatsuki’s movements were nothing if not lawless.
“Looks like we’ll need to stay on our guard at every moment. I truly didn’t expect things to become this complicated.”
Even Jiraiya was troubled. A joint Chūnin Exam had somehow turned into this—it was absurd.
But now that it had come to this, there was no other choice. All they could do was prepare thoroughly.
“Then I’ll be going. If anything comes up, get in touch with me. Damn that bastard Orochimaru...”
“Hold on. There’s more.”
Just as Jiraiya was about to leave, Hiruzen called him back at once.
“What is it, old man? Don’t tell me you’re inviting me to watch your crystal ball?”
Jiraiya raised a brow, then smirked mischievously. The expression nearly made Hiruzen crack him over the head with his pipe.
“Be serious. How is Tsunade’s research coming along?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
Jiraiya pursed his lips, but then quickly realized something.
“Wait. Don’t tell me... Danzo really—”
“Mm. According to the investigation... he hasn’t completely stopped.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a deep sigh. Ever since obtaining that fragment of Uchiha Obito’s flesh, he had secretly launched an investigation into Danzō.
And indeed, that investigation uncovered no small number of problems—especially regarding the First Hokage’s cells, which had left even him stunned.
“But for now, we can’t move against him. Orochimaru’s actions this time may be connected to him somehow. I need to wait and see, so...”
“I understand. I’ll go and ask Tsunade about it.”
Jiraiya could at least grasp his sensei’s intent. In the end, he gave a firm nod, and that alone made Hiruzen breathe a little easier.
“Then I’ll leave that to you. Besides that, there’s one more matter I need to trouble you with.”
“Can’t you just say everything at once?”
Jiraiya pursed his lips, while Hiruzen’s expression grew heavy.
“This one concerns Naruto... it may even involve Minato and Kushina.”
“What?!”
Jiraiya’s face changed instantly, all urgency and alarm.
“What happened, old man? Out with it!”
“Last night, the Nine-Tails’ chakra inside Naruto erupted. And Gen was there. He said...”
Hiruzen clenched his pipe between his teeth, smoke curling to shroud his face, his voice alone echoing out.
“Within the Nine-Tails’ seal... there are two other chakra presences. And those two... are very likely Minato and Kushina.”
...
“Hell yeah! We’re finally heading out!”
On the road to the Land of Waves, Naruto’s face was brimming with excitement. Beside him, Sasuke didn’t say a word, but it was clear from his expression that his mood was rather good.
Only Sakura looked uneasy. She glanced toward their client—a drunken, shabby old man named Tazuna—and then at Kakashi and Kitagawa Gen, who were walking side by side at the rear.
After wrestling with herself for a while, she couldn’t hold back and finally spoke.
“Kakashi-sensei, Gen-senpai... are you sure this is okay? For our very first mission to take us outside the village?”
“Hah! Just as I thought! Konoha’s trying to scam me out of my money, isn’t it? This bunch of brats—on their very first mission?!”
Even Tazuna couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He had only just arrived in Konoha and submitted his mission request.
Sure, he admitted he had his own little schemes in mind. But he hadn’t expected Konoha to move so fast—to assign him escorts immediately!
Only... what kind of arrangement was this supposed to be?!
“Relax, relax. It’s only a C-rank mission.”
Kakashi spoke carelessly, glancing at Sakura before finally turning to Tazuna.
“Two years ago, the first time I led a team, Gen’s very first mission was a C-rank as well—and he ended up doing several of them back-to-back. With so many of us here now, this really is nothing.”
“That’s right. It’s just a C-rank.”
Gen chimed in with a smile, reaching out to pat Naruto and Sasuke on their shoulders, his tone utterly relaxed.his ability was almost like the Wood Clone, but a fully enhanced version!
Uchiha Madara could use Wood Clones to manifest Susanoo, but this clone could wield nearly all of Kitagawa Gen’s abilities—aside from full Ōtsutsukification.
'In terms of strength, it’s about fifty to sixty percent of me. Not bad at all.'
'This thing... isn’t it far simpler and more effective than Wood Release?'
Gen rubbed his forehead. Even if his use of the Source of the God Tree was still clumsy, it seemed he could be said to possess Wood Release as well.
'Or rather... should I call it God Wood Release?'
As he pondered, a sudden noise reached his ears. From the forest’s shadows, two dark figures instantly appeared.
Chains in hand, they lunged straight toward Kakashi!
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