Gen Hoshino and Naruto had always gotten along fairly well.
There were several reasons for that.
They lived in the same neighborhood, their homes were built in a similar style, and both of them had grown up without parents.
More importantly, Gen was a transmigrator.
There was naturally no reason for him to hold any hostility toward Naruto.
As the years passed and they spent more time together, the two gradually became quite close.
At first, Gen had been somewhat cautious.
After all, there were probably ANBU, and perhaps even Root agents, watching Naruto everywhere he went.
But after interacting with him for a while, he discovered that no one had come looking for trouble.
That finally put his mind at ease.
“I’m still young, and my background should be completely clean. It’s not like I’m an Uchiha. So what the hell was I even worried about?”
Even if he had been an Uchiha, Sasuke and Naruto were still classmates.
Besides, Naruto really had a lot of money.
His allowance was far from ordinary.
The only problem was that some villagers were hostile toward him and would occasionally refuse to sell him things.
As a result, whenever Naruto went shopping, he would buy huge quantities of supplies and stockpile them at home.
Then he’d leave them sit there until they expired…
Besides that, he especially loved buying all kinds of ‘limited-edition’ ramen.
That stuff was ridiculously expensive.
Gen wasn’t exactly poor enough to be reduced to eating dirt, but he certainly wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to fleece such a ‘big spender.’
“And I have to thank this kid too. He showed me what I should do…”
After returning home, Gen dropped onto his bed.
His mind went back to the strange sensation he had experienced when he encountered Naruto.
He knew how Ōtsutsuki power was fundamentally composed, but his own bloodline was only a Basic version.
That made his thoughts considerably more complicated.
If he had been an Uchiha, things would have been simple.
Even if he had been a Hyūga, as long as he found the passage to the Moon, waited until the right time, and went there to beat up a blind man, he could probably have handled it without much trouble…
But now things were different.
After encountering Naruto, Gen had discovered that the power within Naruto seemed capable of resonating with him.
That caused his thoughts to become much more active.
“If it’s a Basic bloodline, then its compatibility and plasticity should be even greater. In that case…”
Why not gather every form of power that could possibly be related to the Ōtsutsuki?
For example, the chakra of Indra and Asura?
Admittedly, the power of Indra and Asura could only be considered a mutation that originated after Kaguya Ōtsutsuki obtained the chakra fruit of the God Tree.
But wasn’t it still a form of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki’s power?
And then there were the Tailed Beasts.
Those things had originated from the Ten-Tails.
But wasn’t the Ten-Tails itself an Ōtsutsuki’s ‘pet’?
“There’s even the Kaguya clan, who have that same kind of Uchiha-style insanity and, like the Senju, place great emphasis on physical strength…”
Gen wasn’t actually sure whether the Kaguya clan counted as descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.
But the Hyūga were descendants of Hamura Ōtsutsuki.
If the Uchiha and Senju represented the inheritance of spiritual and physical powers respectively, then there had to be some lineage that inherited the physical side of Hamura’s power too, right?
Besides, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had also used All-Killing Ash Bones.
As for the Byakugan…
“Maybe if I develop my bloodline properly, I can awaken it on my own?”
At first, Gen had actually been worried.
What if he awakened the Byakugan?
Wouldn’t that mean becoming ‘Hyūga Gen’?
Fortunately—and somewhat disappointingly—nothing like that had happened.
Perhaps his bloodline development wasn’t sufficient.
Or perhaps he needed to acquire someone else’s power…
“Then I basically know what I need to do.”
With that thought, Gen nodded inwardly.
Now all he had to do was wait for Kakashi to take him out on missions.
After all, only by leaving the village could he encounter more people and obtain higher-level side quests suited to him!
However, one day later…
“Wait, Kakashi-sensei. What do you mean you haven’t figured it out?”
Early the next morning, at one of Konoha’s training grounds, Gen stared at Kakashi in disbelief.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“There’s no need to be so surprised.”
Kakashi stared at him with his usual dead-fish eye, ran a hand through his messy white hair, and shrugged.
“Your situation is a little unusual. Considering your performance yesterday, obviously we can’t start with D-rank missions. As for other missions, I haven’t figured that out yet. Don’t forget, I only just left the ANBU.”
Kakashi wasn’t lying.
This was his first time serving as a jōnin instructor after leaving the ANBU, so he was still somewhat inexperienced.
But there was something he didn’t mention…
He had gone to the Memorial Stone early that morning to ‘stand guard.’
He hadn’t really spent much time thinking about anything else.
Of course, he had his own reasons.
“Then why don’t you just follow the same model you did back then?”
Gen was extremely eager to ‘advance.’
He frowned and asked,
“My situation back then was special. We were already in the middle of a war at the time. Things are different now.”
Kakashi shrugged.
Gen rolled his eyes.
“How are they different? Aren’t shinobi basically people who accept missions, cut people down, and make money for the village?”
“There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that understanding, but you’re taking it a little too far…”
Kakashi’s eyelid twitched.
Gen Hoshino remained completely unmoved.
He stroked his chin and continued,
“I heard some merchants in the village talking about a wealthy man named Gato. Apparently, he’s planning to seize control of the trade routes in the Land of Waves. Why don’t we…”
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal with his hands.
Then he violently pulled them apart.
“Like this! Then we can take his money and make the village rich at the same time!”
“……”
Kakashi’s eyes widened.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered whether he’d been deceived.
Could those two boys really have had a reason for drawing their swords against each other yesterday?
“No. That idea of yours is way too extreme! Without an official mission, we can’t just act on our own. Understand?”
“Yes, yes, yes…”
Gen Hoshino pursed his lips.
He was even wondering whether he should take a mission himself somehow so that they could finally leave the village.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money.
And missions were officially recorded.
That left him with no choice but to abandon the idea.
“This kid…”
While Gen Hoshino was having a headache, Kakashi was suffering from one too.
Teaching students was apparently much more troublesome than he’d imagined.
This kid really did possess the Will of Fire.
Even when he wanted to rob someone, he was thinking about doing it for the village.
But wasn’t this a little too extreme?
Kakashi felt that the responsibility on his shoulders was considerable.
He absolutely had to straighten this kid out!
“All right. Don’t think about so many strange things from now on. I’ll teach you some basics first.”
“Oh…”
Gen Hoshino was a little depressed, but he still nodded.
“Judging from your battle yesterday, it seems you’ve already learned quite a few Fire Release and Earth Release techniques from Guy.”
Kakashi recalled yesterday’s battle and stroked his chin.
“In that case, I’ll teach you an Earth Release ninjutsu.”
“…..”
Wait.
You’re a shinobi from the Land of Fire, and you’re voluntarily teaching me Earth Release?
Gen Hoshino pursed his lips.
But just then, he suddenly noticed that his system had updated.
[New Side Quest Obtained]
[Who Is the True Copy Ninja?]
[Accept the quest?]
“Being a shinobi isn’t all about fighting. I’ll teach you a defensive technique first.”
Gen Hoshino was still hesitating over whether to accept the quest when Kakashi continued.
He slowly began forming hand seals, deliberately making his movements slow enough for Gen Hoshino to see clearly.
After completing a complicated sequence of hand seals, Kakashi pressed both hands against the ground.
“With this technique, you’ll be better able to protect your comrades. Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”
As chakra flowed into the ground, the earth suddenly began to tremble.
The next moment, a wall of earth rose from the ground.
“Did you see that clearly?”
After finishing, Kakashi stood up.
He pulled Make-Out Paradise from his pocket and casually flipped it open.
“Study it carefully. The path of a shinobi is a long one, and this technique isn’t particularly difficult…”
“It really isn’t difficult.”
Before Kakashi could finish speaking, Gen Hoshino nodded.
At the same time, he began forming the hand seals.
“Thank you for deliberately slowing down so I could see it clearly. This is perfect for me to learn, so…”
As he spoke, Gen Hoshino imitated Kakashi and pressed his hands against the ground.
The chakra inside his body surged.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”
The grass covering the training ground began to tremble!
Under Kakashi’s astonished gaze, an earthen wall roughly the same size as his own rose from the ground!
“This…”
Kakashi muttered in disbelief.
But Gen Hoshino quietly continued,
“And I think I can make this technique even more precise. For example…”
“More precise?”
Kakashi was already somewhat numb.
Before he could say anything, however, he was astonished to discover that the Earth-Style Wall was actually changing!
As chakra surged through it, the surface of the wall gradually began to take shape.
And then…
The faces of the previous Hokage appeared carved into the wall!
This ninjutsu…
You can even use it like this?