"This mission really is a pain."
A few days later, inside an inn in the Land of Waves, Kitagawa Gen sat at the bedside, frowning slightly.
Kakashi had gone off to meet with the client, so naturally, Gen stayed behind.
But as he stared at the [Exclusive Mission] displayed on his panel, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
He had accepted the mission. It was his first time encountering an exclusive mission—there was no way he wouldn't be curious about the rewards!
The only problem was… the target was very likely Uchiha Obito.
"Sure, we're supposed to run into him eventually—but how many years from now would that be?"
Gen was extremely sensitive to time. After all, a so-called [Beginner Reward] had left him stuck for thirteen years. No matter how generous the prize might be, that kind of delay was hard to swallow.
"Maybe I should think of another way…"
He muttered inwardly. His desire for rewards now far exceeded that of the average person—perhaps this mission was the key to unlocking his bloodline!
Especially considering Kakashi, his old buddy… and Uchiha Obito, who was practically a walking treasure chest.
As the shinobi world's number one 'Six Paths Tailor', Obito had nothing of his own besides that Sharingan.
Even in this early stage, there were still plenty of valuable things on him. If Gen could just get his hands on one of them, it might drastically accelerate his own development.
"If I could get my hands on an arm or something, that would be perfect!"
And if he already had the arm… maybe he could even dig up a grave or two…
Gen didn't dare let his imagination go further.
"But still, things need to be taken one step at a time. I should go train."
Quickly reining in his thoughts, Gen stood up, planning to head out for some training.
Kakashi, as expected, had been reliable—he had already taught Chidori to Gen on the way to the Land of Waves.
However, he repeatedly warned that the technique required maintaining high speed, and that it worked best when paired with the Sharingan.
Otherwise, during the charge, it could easily create openings for the enemy, ultimately leading to self-inflicted harm.
Gen understood all of this, of course—but he never planned to use the standard version of Chidori anyway!
His goal had always been the signature secret move of the Sixth Hokage—the one who had taken down fifty jōnin with pure taijutsu—Purple Electricity.
"This place isn't bad."
Walking down the bustling main street, Gen tilted his head slightly as he observed the crowd.
He knew this was one of the better parts of the Land of Waves.
Most of the country was still more or less like that village of the bridge expert, Tazuna, from his memory.
As he continued walking, he suddenly noticed a nearby alley bathed in red light, and his steps subconsciously slowed.
"Wait… is this Jiraiya's happy place?"
Gen blinked, his heart suddenly pounding. He wondered if he should take a peek inside.
Jiraiya was practically the anti-role model of the shinobi world. And if he wanted to prove Jiraiya was wrong… maybe he needed to experience the man's 'joy' firsthand to make an objective evaluation?
"If I use the Transformation Technique, I might be able to sneak in, right?"
Gen rubbed his chin. He was still debating whether to enter purely for 'research purposes' when, all of a sudden, his expression tightened.
He had sensed two powerful chakra signatures flickering not far away!
Thanks to his Ōtsutsuki bloodline, he had been gifted with a certain degree of sensory ability—making him even more keenly aware of such things.
"Who are they?"
He silently wondered, pretending to act naturally as he turned around. With a quick glance, he immediately lowered his head.
But his expression became strange—because he had just seen two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds!
And at that moment, his system flashed again.
...
"Hey! Everyone gather up! Why are you ninjas so unreliable?"
The next day, in the Land of Waves' rendezvous zone—
A group of samurai, dressed like farmers, stood frowning at the newly arrived Kakashi and Kitagawa Gen. They had shown up right at the last second.
The man in the lead spoke in an irritated tone.
"Late again, and acting all flashy—are you sure you're actually qualified ninjas? And after we spent so much money, too…"
"First of all, we are qualified ninjas—certified by Konohagakure."
The attitude of those samurai made Kitagawa Gen raise an eyebrow. But Kakashi, faced with such provocation, remained calm as ever. He replied nonchalantly: "Secondly, we're not late. We're right on time to depart. And as for your payment—it wasn't exactly generous. If you had the money, you could've hired a better setup."
"You—"
Kakashi's words clearly irritated the group of samurai, but he simply smiled and pulled a book from his ninja pouch.
"All right, everyone. We've got a long journey ahead, don't we? Let's get going."
"Hmph. Move out."
With a cold snort, the leading samurai waved his hand, signaling the start of their journey.
The others immediately lifted a covered palanquin, and the group officially set out.
"Tch. What a display."
Gen glanced at the palanquin. It was tightly shrouded, and the noble riding inside hadn't shown their face from beginning to end.
"And the attitude of these guys really gets on my nerves."
"We're being paid to do a job. No point bothering with their nonsense."
Kakashi tilted his head, casting a quick glance at the samurai before lowering it again to resume reading.
"Besides, didn't you say we might run into two very dangerous individuals? If we're really that unlucky, these guys might actually come in handy."
Gen had explained everything to him in detail the night before, after returning to the inn.
Even though some things couldn't be said too directly, the mention of two extremely dangerous ninja was enough to put Kakashi on alert.
"True, but I doubt we can count on these guys for much."
Gen nodded, then shook his head again.
"Kakashi-sensei, did you request reinforcements from the village? I don't think we can handle those two on our own."
He had only caught a glimpse in the crowd, but he could never mistake the Akatsuki's cloaks.
As for who the two were…
Damn it, it didn't matter who they were—they were definitely not the kind of enemies you wanted to face casually. At least, not at this point in time.
And as he thought things through, a certain realization hit him.
"Palanquin… samurai dressed like farmers… Why does this all remind me of the mission Biwa Jūzō took with Uchiha Itachi?"
But if it was those two…
A new thought suddenly formed in Gen's mind—and he couldn't help but glance at Kakashi.
He still remembered how Uchiha Itachi had taken Kakashi down in an instant, though that had partly been due to Kakashi's lack of understanding of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
That very encounter had driven Kakashi to develop Kamui three years later!
Realizing this, a new light appeared in Gen's eyes.
He had to complete this mission. And now, he had a plan!
"Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen."
Seeing Gen go quiet, Kakashi's visible eye curved into a crescent.
"I'll protect you. But speaking of which—how's your Lightning Release coming along?"
"It's going alright."
Now that Gen had sorted his thoughts, a smile returned to his face.
"But I've run into a few problems. Since I can't use it the same way you do, I'm thinking of putting more work into shape and nature transformation."
The two of them brought up the rear of the group, walking and chatting as they went.
With Kakashi's knowledge of Lightning Release and his own Ōtsutsuki bloodline, Gen had already formed a clear understanding of Purple Electricity.
In his view, Purple Electricity was much like the Black Lightning used in Kumogakure—both were results of taking a single chakra nature to its absolute limit through mastery of form and nature transformation.
In fact, Sasuke's Chidori Sharp Spear could be considered a shape transformation experiment as well. But with the Sharingan, Sasuke didn't need to go very far down that path.
Kakashi, on the other hand, had lost his Sharingan—and thus had invested great effort.
In the future, the way he used this technique would prove Gen's hypothesis completely.
What Gen needed to do now was help Kakashi understand his reasoning. Whether he helped or not didn't matter—as long as he understood how the technique came to be.
"Interesting idea. But very difficult."
Kakashi rubbed his chin and offered his thoughts.
"Rumor has it that even the Third Raikage only managed to create a prototype. If you pull it off, you'd be the first to truly master it."
"I've already got a few ideas."
Gen smiled—but just as the words left his mouth, his expression suddenly darkened.
It wasn't just him—Kakashi also looked up, his eyes narrowing as he focused on something ahead.
Not far from them, two men clad in black cloaks with red clouds stepped into view.
"Oh? Looks like we've got two more Konoha shinobi here."
"Kakashi-senpai. It's been a long time."