BAM—!
Under the force of the Wood Release attack, Gen Hoshino’s Shadow Clone instantly dispersed into smoke.
At the same moment, Uchiha Obito’s mask shattered into fragments!
If he hadn’t dodged quickly enough, his head might have been blown apart…
“Damn brat!”
Uchiha Obito glared at Gen Hoshino through clenched teeth.
Even if he was an idiot, he wasn’t stupid enough to miss what had just happened.
He had already figured it out!
That brat used the Earth-Style Wall to block my line of sight, then pressured me with a Lightning Clone.
Finally, he forced me to use Kamui to warp away the kunai—and the bastard turned his clone into one of those kunai?
The trick itself wasn’t complicated.
It had merely exploited a difference in information.
The problem was…
“How did this brat know so much about me? Did he analyze my ability even faster than Minato Namikaze?!”
Uchiha Obito’s face was filled with disbelief.
But he had no time to think about it now.
Whoosh—!
One after another, several ANBU shinobi sealed off the surrounding area.
They stood high atop the rooftops and eaves, weapons in hand as they stared down at Uchiha Obito.
And that wasn’t all.
Obito could already see Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others approaching.
Among them was the person he least wanted to see.
“Kakashi…”
Kakashi’s mind was still sluggish from exhaustion, but he had quickly followed Guy over.
The expressions of everyone present were somewhat strange.
They had all witnessed Gen Hoshino’s attack apparently pierce straight through the masked man’s body.
Yet the bizarre thing was that the man was completely unharmed.
Only his mask had been destroyed.
“That…”
When Guy and Kakashi finally saw the man’s face, Kakashi’s mind went completely blank.
A strange and unmistakable sense of familiarity surged through him.
Guy, who had come over with him, felt the same confusion.
He quietly asked Kakashi:
“Kakashi, doesn’t this guy look a little familiar…?”
“Who are you? Why did you come to Konoha?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward.
Unlike Guy and Kakashi, he didn’t find the man familiar.
Instead, his gaze was fixed on the wooden spikes protruding from Uchiha Obito’s hand and the crimson Sharingan beneath his mask.
“Wood Release? And a Sharingan?”
His heart sank.
Shimura Danzo, standing beside him, was equally stunned.
That night…
wasn’t everything supposed to have been dealt with cleanly?
How could there still be a survivor?
Could Uchiha Itachi have deceived us?
“Hmph!”
Uchiha Obito snorted coldly.
He staggered to his feet, and his body immediately began to twist.
His gaze swept over everyone before finally settling on Gen Hoshino, who had once again positioned himself in front of Sasuke and Naruto.
Obito knew that whatever he had intended to accomplish tonight was no longer possible.
He had no intention of allowing himself to be surrounded by Konoha’s shinobi.
Especially now that this brat seemed to have figured out the secret behind his abilities…
“Who I am isn’t important. After all, we’ll meet again.”
“Attack!”
The surrounding shinobi had no idea what was going on.
But Shimura Danzo was already growing anxious.
The instant the words left his mouth, several kunai flew through the air.
In the blink of an eye, they reached Obito.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The kunai passed straight through Uchiha Obito’s body and embedded themselves in the ground behind him, as though his body were completely intangible.
Then Uchiha Obito vanished.
“He’s gone?”
Jiraiya frowned.
He quickly ran over to Naruto and began examining him.
A moment later, he finally relaxed.
“The seal is fine. His chakra has leaked out a little, though. Looks like that guy really stirred up the Nine-Tails.”
“Gen, what happened here?”
Guy supported Kakashi as the two approached Gen Hoshino.
His question immediately drew the attention of Hiruzen and the others.
“Guy-sensei, I don’t really know what happened either.”
Gen immediately put on an innocent expression.
Inside, however, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
Damn it, he got away fast!
You could’ve at least left me a hand to deal with!
But when he glanced at the dazed Kakashi, he couldn’t help nodding slightly.
What’s done is done.
Better focus on completing the quest…
“When Naruto and I were heading home, we happened to run into Sasuke.
That’s when I sensed someone following us.
“I secretly took a look at his clothes and confirmed that he wasn’t from Konoha, so…”
It wasn’t that Gen couldn’t explain how he’d sensed the enemy.
But the fact that he knew the man’s identity had come directly from the system, so this was the only explanation he could reasonably give.
“So you struck first?”
Jiraiya looked toward the blazing flames nearby before nodding.
“And, conveniently, gave us a signal to come over?”
“Yes.”
Gen immediately nodded.
After thinking for a moment, he continued.
“And that guy should be working with Hoshigaki Jūzō and Uchiha Itachi.
“Sasuke and I were talking about them earlier.
He didn’t deny it.
“And he has a Sharingan.”
“That is certainly possible.”
Hiruzen nodded.
But that only made his headache worse.
There were still questions he needed answered.
He walked over to Gen Hoshino.
A forced, kindly smile appeared on his aged face.
“Gen, you fought that man directly and had some contact with him. What can you tell me about him?”
That man had simply vanished moments ago.
The sight had made Hiruzen’s eyelid twitch.
And the wooden spikes he had seen in the man’s hand were even more unsettling.
Yet, somehow, Gen Hoshino seemed to have inflicted a considerable setback on him.
Hiruzen naturally wanted to know more.
“Hokage-sama.”
Gen remained respectful.
After thinking for a moment, he continued. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“That man seems to possess a very unusual space-time technique.
“He can transfer things somewhere else, including himself.
No matter how we attack him, it’s extremely difficult to actually hit him.
“Because I attacked him first, I was able to figure out this characteristic.
“Sasuke and Naruto both saw him ignore the flames.”
As he spoke, Gen turned toward the two younger boys.
One of them was already staring blankly at the scene, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened.
The other was being fussed over by Jiraiya, who appeared to be reinforcing his seal.
Sasuke, however, eventually came back to his senses.
He nodded with a complicated expression, but his gaze couldn’t help drifting toward Gen Hoshino.
This guy…
He’s that strong?!
“A space-time technique?”
Hiruzen felt a chill run down his spine.
He knew exactly how terrifying such techniques could be.
After all, the Fourth Hokage had been extraordinarily skilled with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
“By the way, Hokage-sama.”
Just as Hiruzen was about to ask how Gen had managed to catch the masked man off guard, Gen suddenly spoke again.
“There was something strange about that guy.
“The moment he attacked, Naruto reacted extremely strongly and ended up like this.
“There might be something going on there. After all, Naruto…”
“Reacted extremely strongly?”
Hiruzen’s eyelid twitched.
Jiraiya had just described it as the Nine-Tails being “stirred up.”
An unpleasant possibility suddenly surfaced in Hiruzen’s mind.
Could it be…
“There’s something else.”
Seeing that nobody responded, Gen continued.
“While I was waiting for reinforcements, he said, ‘People from Konoha are always late.’
“He seemed to have quite a grudge against Konoha.”
“And he also seemed to have some connection with Kakashi-sensei.”
“Kakashi?”
That single sentence immediately caused everyone’s eyes to turn toward the still-dazed Kakashi.
Gen’s voice sounded again.
“Yeah. He kept calling Kakashi-sensei useless. It looked like the two of them had some kind of grudge against each other.”
“And there’s something else.
“His Sharingan is his right eye, while Kakashi-sensei’s Sharingan is his left.
“Could there be some connection between them?”
“!!!”
Those words immediately struck a nerve with everyone present.
Kakashi’s already vacant eyes became even more hollow.
“Wait… could that guy be…”
Guy couldn’t help muttering under his breath.
But he quickly fell silent.
Because that person had died as a hero of Konoha.
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Even Gen Hoshino couldn’t help glancing at Kakashi and silently thinking:
Sorry.
But soon, his eyelid twitched.
He lowered his head slightly.
[Side Quest Completed: The Dead Last Better Not Get Cocky]
[Calculating rewards…]
[Kakashi Exclusive Quest Completed: Help Kakashi Find His Friend, Uchiha Obito]
[Calculating rewards…]
Seeing the notifications, Gen couldn’t help pressing his lips together.
“Some pain is better suffered sooner than later…”