“This mission is really troublesome…”
Several days later, inside an inn in the Land of Waves, Gen Hoshino sat on the edge of the bed with a troubled expression.
Kakashi had gone to meet with the client, so Gen had naturally stayed behind.
But when he looked at the [Exclusive Quest] on his system panel, he couldn’t help feeling a headache coming on.
He had accepted the quest.
This was his first time encountering an exclusive quest, so there was no way he wouldn’t be curious about the reward!
The problem was that the target of this quest was most likely Uchiha Obito…
“Under normal circumstances, I’ll encounter him eventually. But how many years from now will that be?”
Gen was particularly sensitive about time.
After all, a single Beginner’s Reward had been locked away for thirteen years.
No matter how generous the reward might be, that was enough to drive him crazy.
“Perhaps I can think of another way…”
Gen Hoshino muttered to himself.
His desire for these rewards was stronger than ever.
Perhaps this was the key to developing his bloodline!
Especially Kakashi’s old friend—Uchiha Obito was practically a walking treasure trove…
As the shinobi world’s number-one “Six Paths tailor,” there was hardly anything on Obito that could truly be called his own besides that Sharingan.
Even at this stage, he had plenty of valuable things on him.
If Gen could get his hands on even one of them, it might accelerate his own development considerably.
“If I could get an arm or something… that would be amazing!”
And if he already had an arm, then if he could somehow dig up a certain grave…
Gen Hoshino didn’t even dare imagine it!
“Still, things have to be done one step at a time. I should go train.”
He hurriedly suppressed his wild thoughts and stood up, preparing to go outside and train.
Kakashi had been reliable.
On the way to the Land of Waves, he had already taught Gen Hoshino Chidori.
However, he’d repeatedly warned Gen that the technique required high-speed movement, and that it could only truly display its effectiveness when combined with the Sharingan.
Otherwise, during the charge, the user could easily give the enemy an opening and end up injuring himself.
Gen Hoshino understood all of that.
But he’d never intended to use the orthodox version of Chidori in the first place.
His true target had always been the signature technique of the Sixth Hokage—the man who could eventually defeat fifty jōnin through taijutsu alone.
Purple Electricity.
“Not a bad place.”
Walking through the streets, Gen Hoshino looked at the bustling crowds and tilted his head.
He knew, however, that this was already one of the better-developed areas in the Land of Waves.
Most of the Land of Waves still looked much like the village belonging to Tazuna, the bridge-building expert from his memories.
As he walked, he suddenly spotted an alley glowing with red lanterns.
His footsteps slowed.
“Is this… Jiraiya’s happy place?”
Gen Hoshino blinked.
His heart suddenly began pounding with anticipation.
Should he go in and take a look?
Jiraiya was practically the shinobi world’s negative example.
If he wanted to prove that Jiraiya was wrong, wouldn’t he need to experience Jiraiya’s “happiness” firsthand before making an objective judgment?
“I should be able to sneak in with the Transformation Technique, right?”
He was still debating whether he should go in purely as an observer and witness it for himself.
But the next moment, his expression suddenly changed.
He sensed two powerful chakra signatures flickering faintly nearby!
The Ōtsutsuki bloodline had given him a certain degree of sensory ability, making his perception considerably sharper.
Who are they…?
He pondered silently.
Pretending nothing was wrong, he turned around and casually glanced in their direction.
Then he immediately lowered his head.
His expression, however, became rather strange.
Because he had seen two figures wearing black cloaks adorned with red clouds.
And at that exact moment, his system reacted once again…
…
“Hey, it’s time to assemble. Why are you shinobi always so unreliable?”
The following day, at the designated assembly point in the Land of Waves.
A group of samurai dressed like farmers frowned at Kakashi and Gen Hoshino, who had arrived precisely on time.
The leader spoke with obvious displeasure.
“Not only are you late, you’re making such a big show of yourselves. Are you really competent shinobi? And you charge so much money…”
“First of all, we’re both qualified shinobi, officially certified by Konoha.”
The attitude of these men made Gen Hoshino raise an eyebrow.
Kakashi, however, remained completely calm in the face of the provocation.
He casually replied,
“Second, we’re not late. We arrived exactly on time, which means we can depart immediately.”
“And finally, you didn’t pay us very much. If you have enough money, you can hire a stronger team.”
“You…”
Kakashi’s words clearly irritated the samurai.
But he simply smiled and pulled a book from his ninja tool pouch.
“All right, everyone. Don’t we have a journey ahead of us? Let’s get moving.”
“Hmph. Let’s go.”
The leading samurai snorted before waving his hand and ordering everyone to depart.
The others immediately went to lift a covered palanquin.
The group officially set off.
“Tch. What a show of extravagance.”
Gen Hoshino glanced at the palanquin.
It was completely enclosed, and the nobleman inside had not shown his face even once.
“And these guys have such a terrible attitude.”
“We’re being paid to do a job. Why bother worrying about them?”
Kakashi tilted his head and glanced at the samurai before lowering it and continuing to read his book.
“Besides, didn’t you say you encountered two extremely dangerous people? If we’re really that unlucky, these people might actually be able to help us.”
After returning to the inn the previous night, Gen Hoshino had told Kakashi everything in detail.
Although there were many things he couldn’t explain too explicitly, the existence of two extremely dangerous shinobi was enough to put Kakashi on alert.
“True. Although I doubt these guys will be much help.”
Gen Hoshino nodded, then shook his head.
“Kakashi-sensei, did you request reinforcements from the village? Those two might be more than we can handle.”
Although he’d only caught a fleeting glimpse of them in the crowd, there was no way he could mistake the Akatsuki’s distinctive cloaks. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
As for who the two men were…
Damn it.
Whoever they were, neither would be easy to deal with.
At least, Gen certainly didn’t feel capable of handling them at his current level.
After thinking about it carefully, he suddenly seemed to realize something.
“A palanquin, samurai dressed like farmers…”
“Why does this look so much like one of the missions Hoshigaki Jūzō and Uchiha Itachi carried out together?”
But if those two really were here…
An idea suddenly formed in Gen Hoshino’s mind.
Yet he couldn’t help glancing at Kakashi.
He remembered that Uchiha Itachi had once incapacitated Kakashi almost instantly.
Even if that had largely been because Kakashi lacked sufficient understanding of the Mangekyō Sharingan at the time…
It was also this very experience that eventually led Kakashi to develop Kamui three years later.
Thinking of this, Gen Hoshino’s gaze changed.
He absolutely had to complete this mission.
And he already had a plan.
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
Seeing Gen Hoshino fall silent, Kakashi’s visible eye curved into a crescent.
“I’ll protect you. But speaking of which, how is your Lightning Release coming along?”
“Not bad.”
After making up his mind, a smile also appeared on Gen Hoshino’s face.
“But I’ve encountered some problems. After all, I can’t use it the same way you do.”
“So I intend to put more effort into shape transformation and nature transformation…”
The two walked at the rear of the group, discussing the matter as they went.
With Kakashi’s knowledge of Lightning Release and his own Ōtsutsuki bloodline, Gen Hoshino already had a clear understanding of Purple Electricity.
In his view, Purple Electricity was similar to the Black Lightning used by Kumogakure.
Both were the result of pushing the shape transformation and nature transformation of a single chakra nature to an extreme.
Even Sasuke’s Chidori Sharp Spear could be considered an experiment in shape transformation.
It was simply that Sasuke possessed the Sharingan, so he had no need to pursue that path too deeply.
Kakashi, on the other hand, had lost his Sharingan, which was why he’d invested so much effort into it.
His future use of the technique would eventually prove Gen’s theory correct.
For now, Gen’s goal was simply to make Kakashi understand his approach.
Whether Kakashi could help him wasn’t particularly important.
At the very least, Kakashi needed to know how Gen had developed the technique.
“It’s a very good idea, but the difficulty is extremely high.”
Kakashi stroked his chin and gave his assessment.
“It’s said that even the Third Raikage only managed to create a prototype of something like that. If you actually succeed, you’d be breaking entirely new ground.”
“I already have a few ideas…”
Gen Hoshino smiled.
But the moment he finished speaking, his brow suddenly furrowed.
Kakashi raised his head at almost the exact same moment.
Both of them stared ahead.
Two men wearing black cloaks adorned with red clouds had appeared in the distance.
“Oh? There are two Konoha shinobi too?”
“Kakashi, long time no see…”