Chapter 118: A New Level-Up
"Hey hey hey! Could you stop yanking my hair, you bastard?! That freaking hurts!"
As soon as they stumbled out of the distorted space, Hidan's grumbling voice rang out in frustration.
"And seriously, hurry up and put my body back together! I am not walking around with just my head!"
"If you don't shut up right now…"
Kakuzu, already fuming, had no patience to spare. He clenched his teeth and glared at the talking head in his hand.
"I swear, I'll chuck your skull into a damn toilet pit."
"You son of a— Okay, okay! Never mind!"
Hidan looked like he was about to explode in rage, but one look at Kakuzu's face—clearly not joking—and he immediately backed down.
"I'll shut up. Totally shutting up."
"Enough,"
Uchiha Obito snorted coldly, tossing aside the half-destroyed puppet body of Sasori—who still wore the appearance of the Third Kazekage—and demanded, voice sharp:
"Someone explain what the hell just happened."
Obito was livid. He had rushed over only to walk straight into a full-blown explosion. If he hadn't been naturally cautious and reacted in time, he might've been obliterated right then and there.
No one would've taken that calmly—especially when you had no idea what had just blown up in your face.
"We don't know the details either. I was in the middle of a fight with Chiyo when, all of a sudden, an enormous surge of chakra exploded."
The puppet-form Sasori replied coldly, though his mind was clearly turning.
Hidan nodded in agreement. Kakuzu followed with a grunt, his gaze flickering toward Obito.
"It was Kitagawa Gen and Orochimaru who were fighting. Who knows what the hell they were doing? And that Hatake Kakashi guy—his abilities are no joke either."
Obito averted his eyes under Kakuzu's pointed look. His expression soured.
Kakashi using that technique again was bad enough—but for the whole squad to get their asses handed to them and still have no clue what happened?
He was seriously starting to question their competence.
"…I might have an idea what happened."
Just then, Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground, his voice low and eerie.
"And Sasori—you've probably figured it out too, haven't you?"
"…Hmph."
Sasori snorted. As someone from the Land of Wind, how could he not know?
He had been holding back from speaking up, but now it was pointless to pretend.
"Rōran, right? The place rumored to harbor ancient secrets."
"Rōran?" Obito and Hidan looked confused. They genuinely didn't know much about it.
But Kakuzu turned again toward Obito, eyes narrowing.
"I've heard of it. I even heard the Fourth Hokage once went there. Which means…"
He trailed off and looked hard at Obito—who clenched his fists.
Seriously? Can you just not?
"You're right. It was Rōran," said Black Zetsu, taking over quickly.
"I was already suspicious when Orochimaru appeared in the Land of Wind. Now I understand—he went there intentionally.
"And considering the Fourth Hokage had also been to Rōran, and Kitagawa Gen knows the Flying Thunder God Technique…"
"…Orochimaru triggered a mark and caught Kitagawa Gen's attention?" Obito muttered. Painful memories surged up. He'd been screwed over by Flying Thunder God twice already!
"So, their clash must have triggered a reaction in Rōran—something huge."
Sasori's expression darkened further. It all made sense now, and it only made him angrier.
"Damn Orochimaru. Damn Kitagawa Gen! So that's what happened!"
He already bore a grudge against Orochimaru. As for Gen—he'd inherited the title of "White Fang."
Old grudges and new wounds… it was becoming unbearable.
"Damn those bastards…"
Kakuzu's jaw clenched. Obito, however, suddenly realized something.
"Wait—what about the thing inside Rōran? That explosion… there's no way that was something ordinary. What's left of it now?"
"Definitely not ordinary," Black Zetsu nodded, understanding Obito's train of thought.
"But unfortunately, the explosion was massive. Who knows how much chakra is left, if any? Not to mention the presence of Flying Thunder God—so…"
"…Damn it."
Obito cursed under his breath.
They'd been hit by a huge blast and got nothing out of it. Who wouldn't be pissed?
Still—Black Zetsu, ever the silver-tongued manipulator, stepped in with comforting words.
"But we did gain something. At least Orochimaru failed in his objective.
"Plus, Danzo now believes the intel we gave him. That'll let us dodge Konoha's surveillance more easily.
"And most importantly—I've seen Kitagawa Gen in action. I'll compile a report. Next time we face him, we'll be far better prepared."
Everyone present—aside from the still-detached and grumbling Hidan—nodded in agreement.
Their mission this time had always been to act as bait, to test and gather intel.
And on that front, the objective had been completed.
A moment of heavy silence settled among them, as each man pondered their next move.
But of course, Hidan couldn't hold it in any longer.
"HEY! I said—if you're done talking, PUT ME BACK TOGETHER ALREADY!"
"Do you have any idea how uncomfortable this is?! I'm dying here!"
"Stop ignoring me! Stitch me up already, dammit!"
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure, within the guest lodging prepared for foreign shinobi:
"Sand Village really is… so different from Konoha."
Kitagawa Gen sat by the window, gazing at the scenery outside and shaking his head slightly.
"Yeah, it really is something."
Might Guy, sitting nearby, couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"But their defenses aren't bad. That canyon... trying to breach it wouldn't be easy."
"No need to dwell on extreme scenarios. After all these years of war, has any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages ever truly been invaded at home?"
Kakashi, leaning casually against the bed while reading Icha Icha Paradise, clearly didn't care much for such speculation.
"Besides, the Sand Village chose its location wisely. At least there are oases nearby—guaranteeing a water supply. Unlike us, who wandered half the desert before finding one."
"But this place is really barren..." Gen muttered with a frown. "Even Kirigakure, which we've visited before, felt more lively."
"That's to be expected. We saw the reasons ourselves yesterday."
Kakashi perked up at Gen's comment—he rarely got a chance to educate this sharp disciple of his, so he wouldn't waste the opportunity.
"The Land of Wind may be vast, but livable regions are limited to areas around a few oases. They're short on manpower and resources. Even the feudal lord barely supports them—especially after their alliance with Konoha."
"That's awfully shortsighted," Guy said, immediately grasping Kakashi's point. He might look simple at times, but he was still a full-fledged jōnin.
"Sure, the alliance has relieved external pressure for now, but such neglect could hurt their long-term development."
"Not really our concern."
Kakashi stretched with a lazy grin. "Speaking of which, neither of you wants to head out and enjoy some exotic sights?"
"No thanks," Gen said, glancing down at his white hair and brushing the short sword on his back. "I'm worried someone might mistake me for... someone else again."
"…"
Kakashi's fists clenched. This brat was really getting on his nerves sometimes.
"I'm not going either," Guy added. "Training outside might attract trouble. I'll stick to simple exercises indoors."
He quickly gave Kakashi a big thumbs-up. "Kakashi, let's have a friendly match!"
"Nope. I'm officially still a patient."
Kakashi refused flatly, but Guy didn't give up. He hoisted him up in one swift motion.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down!"
"It's precisely because you're unwell that you need to train! A ninja must stay youthful and energized!"
"I told you—I'm injured!"
"I heard Konoha's medical system underwent a major overhaul because of you, but I think the problem is you, Kakashi!"
"???"
"So come! Feel the power of youth! It'll fix that frail spirit of yours!"
"Oi—stop! STOP!"
Kakashi's protests faded into the distance, echoing down the hallway. Gen, left alone, stared after them with a strange look.
"Man, so full of energy. I just hope Kakashi-sensei survives that."
He shook his head. Even Gen had to admire Guy's relentless enthusiasm. If it were him in that situation, he'd have broken down by now.
Though he always claimed he relied on hard work and sweat, he also believed firmly in a proper balance of work and rest.
"Well, this gives me more time to sense the chakra of the Dragon Vein…"
The Dragon Vein chakra was fascinating. Even though only a portion had entered his body, it noticeably enhanced the chakra of both the Three-Tails and Seven-Tails inside him.
These two tailed beast chakras were slowly absorbing the power of the Dragon Vein—not rapidly, but steadily growing.
And as they strengthened, Gen could feel them starting to nurture him back in return.
"While there's not much benefit to my eyes, the interesting part is... my bones are absorbing chakra more quickly too."
He clenched his fists lightly, feeling as if his bones were accelerating their development. It even felt like he could "draw" them out and play with them at will.
"This boost is making my bloodline boil."
The sensation wasn't overwhelmingly intense, but it was persistent. He didn't know how long it would last—but one thing was certain: once it ended, his bloodline's development would have risen another level.
"That said... the faint time-related energy within the Dragon Vein is still hard to grasp."
In his memory, those members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan always talked like space-time ninjutsu was rare and hard to obtain, yet each of them seemed to have one or two such abilities.
Especially Urashiki—he had mastery over true space-time techniques in multiple forms.
But while he was absurdly powerful, he was also incredibly dumb—got paralyzed by poison and ended up being defeated by Jiraiya and others.
"Hmm?"
Just as he was thinking, his system suddenly pinged.
[Side Quest]
["We All Have Bright Futures"]
[Objective: Assist Kakashi and Might Guy in a mission in the Land of Wind.]
[Reward: Processing…]
Seeing the system interface, Gen felt his mood lift again. Another completed mission meant another reward on the way!
---
Meanwhile…
Hidden Sound Village, Land of Rice Fields
Within the ruins of the Sound Village, the nearly obliterated corpse of Manda suddenly reappeared in a puff of smoke.
From the air, a pale white serpent slowly slithered down—its head carrying the face of Orochimaru.
Gazing at Manda's lifeless body, still twisted in rage and agony, Orochimaru's voice hissed from his serpentine form:
"Shimura Danzo… you will pay for this."