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"Danzo has more or less gathered all the intelligence on Kirigakure. Just as we suspected, things over there are in utter chaos."
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a furrowed brow as he recounted the report recently delivered by Danzo.
Though this outcome had long been anticipated, the confirmation of Kirigakure's complete collapse, once a village regarded as 'equal' to Konohagakure, still stirred unease in his heart.
"Moreover, according to Jiraiya's intelligence, that mysterious organization appears to have been hired by the Mizukage. Which means you two..."
Though Hiruzen was clearly in no good mood, he remained patient and continued explaining the situation. However, as he spoke, a pulsing irritation began to throb steadily in his forehead.
He had just noticed that Jiraiya and Kakashi were both lost in their own thoughts, their minds clearly adrift in some distant realm, not paying him the slightest attention.
No, wait—this was a classified intelligence briefing.
Weren't these the same two who had been loudly insisting on going to investigate Kirigakure?
So why were they now spacing out like this?
What on earth were they doing?
"Cough, cough…"
Hiruzen cleared his throat softly, hoping to draw their attention back to the matter at hand.
But even after that, the two of them still hadn't snapped out of it. A large throbbing vein seemed to appear on his forehead at once.
"Hey! You two need to cut it out already. What's with you? Do you think this kind of behavior is acceptable?"
"Uh..."
At last, Jiraiya and Kakashi returned to their senses. Both looked slightly embarrassed and had no choice but to admit they hadn't been paying attention at all.
"What exactly is going on?"
Seeing that the two had finally come back to themselves, Hiruzen let out a quiet sigh and asked, his expression tinged with puzzlement.
"Why are the both of you like this? What exactly happened?"
"Lord Hokage, it's..."
Kakashi glanced at Jiraiya, then ultimately decided to speak up himself.
"It's Gen. He..."
"Gen?"
The moment that name was mentioned, Hiruzen's spirit seemed to lift.
He had always held a sincere fondness for Kitagawa Gen. The boy had certainly been unfortunate—encountering both Juzo Biwa and Uchiha Itachi on his very first mission outside the village.
After that, he ran into a man who might have been Uchiha Obito upon his return, and later faced an enemy with the Shikotsumyaku while accompanying Jiraiya in pursuit of Orochimaru.
Yet despite it all, Gen had managed to overcome each ordeal one by one. That alone was a testament to his extraordinary potential and ability.
But the problem was... that boy really did have a knack for stirring things up!
The last time, it was that pot of poisonous mushroom soup. While Gen had been trying to teach Naruto the importance of respecting elders and caring for the young—a noble goal, no doubt—what happened afterward?
He hadn't bothered to follow up on it at all.
Even now, Hiruzen occasionally found his mind haunted by the image of that vividly colored, bubbling mushroom stew.
"What has he done this time?"
"He..."
Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then spoke with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"It seems he's learned the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Hmm? Hm?!"
Perhaps trying to soothe his nerves, Hiruzen nodded slowly as he reached for his pipe.
But just as he struck the match, his hand froze mid-motion. His eyes widened before he could stop himself.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique? He's learned it?"
"That's right, old man. It looks like that kid has actually mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Seeing Hiruzen's reaction, Jiraiya couldn't help but add with some emotion.
"Just a short while ago, that kid actually formed a Flying Thunder God mark right in front of us, and then used it to teleport. The technique, the method of space-time transfer... even though it was rather unrefined, there's no mistaking it. That was the Flying Thunder God Technique…"
At this point, even Jiraiya had to stop. The shock of that moment had left a deep impression on him.
"That's right, Lord Hokage, that's exactly what happened."
Kakashi nodded, then also fell silent, as if lost once again in the memory of what they had just witnessed.
"He's really learned the Flying Thunder God?"
Hiruzen's entire body had gone rigid. His eyes were wide, unblinking.
Even with Jiraiya's remark that Gen's use of the technique was clumsy, the fact remained—how long had Gen been training in it?
And the difficulty of mastering that technique... Hiruzen knew it all too well.
In this instant, he completely understood why Jiraiya and Kakashi had been so absent-minded. Had he been in their place, he doubted he would have been able to focus on the meeting either.
"That boy..."
Rising from his seat, Hiruzen took a moment to calm the storm stirring within him.
He walked over to the window and gazed out at the towering Hokage Rock in the distance. After a long silence, he murmured quietly to himself.
"Konohagakure's future grows ever brighter."
A gentle breeze blew through the leaves, causing them to sway and rustle in the wind. Yet even as Hiruzen stood there, a faint frown returned to his lips.
"If only his personality were a little more like Minato's, it would be even better."
Surprisingly, both Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded in agreement at those words.
"They left in quite a rush. Whatever is planned in Kirigakure must be starting soon."
After Jiraiya and Kakashi had taken their leave, Kitagawa Gen also decided to return home as well.
Their hurried departure, especially when considered alongside the mission he had been assigned earlier, left little room for doubt. It was almost certainly connected to this matter.
In truth, it was precisely for this reason that he had chosen to reveal his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique. If he wanted to strike Obito a painful blow, then he needed to demonstrate that he had the strength to do so.
Otherwise, if he could not even protect himself, he would never have agreed to such a mission, not even in his wildest dreams.
"My only worry now is that Hiruzen might refuse to let me go. Looks like I'll need to put in a bit more effort to persuade him."
Gen pursed his lips in thought. If he had never shown the Flying Thunder God, there was no chance he would be considered for this mission. But now that he had, it might have the opposite effect and disqualify him altogether.
After all, protecting valuable talent was a deeply ingrained instinct in Konoha. Such things were far too common. Gen could only sigh inwardly at the irony.
"For now, I'll just wait and see. The priority is to wrap up Kakashi's exclusive mission first."
With that in mind, Gen headed toward his home. The village streets were unusually quiet, likely because it was a workday. He hadn't even seen Naruto anywhere along the way.
That suited him just fine. He needed some space to think through his next steps, to carefully plan out his path for growth and development.
"The bones absorb chakra slowly, and progress is sluggish. But the eyes..."
Kitagawa Gen had a feeling that his eyes were fast approaching their limit.
The chakra they absorbed, the energy they nurtured, was accelerating as though in a final frenzy. Perhaps once a threshold was crossed, everything would slow again.
And in that moment, his true eyes would finally awaken!
He had a strong feeling that his eyes would most likely turn out to be Byakugan. After all, that was practically the default for members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
"Besides, no matter what kind of energy I absorb, it all seems to transform into the same purest form of power and feed directly into the Ōtsutsuki bloodline."
Gen murmured softly to himself. There were times when he even wondered if his bloodline had somehow regressed to an ancient state.
To a time when the Ōtsutsuki were still in their most primal form, perhaps even before the Byakugan had evolved.
Of course, it was only a theory. No one could truly say what the original Ōtsutsuki had been like.
"Once my eyes are fully formed, it'll be time to refine my body. But that alone won't bring about much development. I'll need greater power. The kind of power that comes from..."
Kekkei Genkai.
Tailed Beasts.
And the power of Indra and Asura!
Gen had no desire to unlock his bloodline only to become some unremarkable, run-of-the-mill Ōtsutsuki. He aspired to be something far greater, an Ōtsutsuki possessing the might of the God Tree's chakra fruit.
And if that was the goal, then none of these possibilities could be overlooked.
He dared not consider the Tailed Beasts just yet. They were far too difficult to come across at the moment. Even though Naruto was technically right in front of him, that was an entirely different matter. One did not simply go after the Nine-Tails on a whim.
Still, perhaps that person named Sora could be an option worth exploring.
"But even then, it's just a single pseudo-jinchūriki. Far from enough. And as a mere genin, I can't exactly take on solo missions either, so..."
So Gen concluded that his attention should turn to the Kekkei Genkai instead.
Throughout the entire shinobi world, apart from the established clans like the Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga, and Kaguya, most other Kekkei Genkai had emerged from the fusion of chakra natures.
And Gen had already reached a point where his mastery over chakra had become nearly instinctual!
If that was the case, then there was no reason not to pursue that path with all his strength.
True, the risks of fusing chakra natures were incredibly high. If it were easy, the shinobi world would be filled with bloodline users.
However, he could always begin by clashing with other Kekkei Genkai users in battle.
"Even if I don't obtain anything tangible through those encounters, simply analyzing the chakra fusion ratios during combat would give me the insight I need to replicate them."
The next-generation Copy Ninja was not a title to be taken lightly!
As luck would have it, Kirigakure, despite their extreme intolerance toward bloodline users, just so happened to be home to an abundance of them.
"Looks like..."
As that thought crystallized in his mind, Gen slowly lifted his gaze toward the Hokage's office.
"...I've found yet another reason I must go."
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[Chapter End's]
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