"Yo, Kakashi!"
"Kakashi-sensei."
Both Guy and Kitagawa Gen spotted Kakashi and waved at him.
"So you're here."
Kakashi strolled over, holding his little orange book. He glanced at Lee in the distance and then smiled.
"Not bad—this kid really resembles you."
"Of course!"
Guy gave a thumbs-up, then called out to the curious Lee nearby, pointing at Kakashi and laughing heartily.
"Lee, this is my eternal rival, Hatake Kakashi. He's also Gen's mentor—an incredible man!"
"Hello, Kakashi-sama!"
Lee, full of energy, immediately bowed slightly to Kakashi, looking very earnest.
Still, he couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Kitagawa Gen. After all, Gen was practically a living legend at the Academy by now.
Though not exactly a positive reputation… but his sensei seemed to know Gen pretty well?
"Hello."
Kakashi nodded with a smile. When he saw how much Lee's outfit mirrored Guy's, he offered a sincere congratulations.
"Congratulations, Guy. You finally got your application approved—and you found a fitting student. Honestly, he suits you better than Gen ever did."
"..."
Lee blinked in confusion, and Guy pressed his lips together. But soon he laughed, patting Lee on the shoulder.
"Of course! Lee and I are both geniuses of hard work! Gen's a true natural genius—just like you were back in the day. But I believe Lee will chase after his goals with the same determination as I did!"
"I'll never let you down, Sensei!"
Fired up by Guy's words, Lee's eyes brimmed with tears. He looked at Guy with intense emotion.
And Guy, touched by this youthful energy, teared up as well.
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
As they spoke, the two of them suddenly hugged!
"…"
Kitagawa Gen and Kakashi both shivered at the sight—whether from sheer intensity or something else, it felt like they'd both fallen under a genjutsu.
It was as if they saw sunshine, a beach, and the ocean…
"Hiss…"
Gen instinctively stepped a pace to the side and gave Kakashi a suspicious look.
"Has Guy-sensei… always been like this?"
"...Why do I feel like you're thinking something rude?"
Kakashi gave him a dead-fish-eyed stare.
"Don't tell me you've never seen this before. You've trained with him for a long time, haven't you?"
"I've seen it. I just always make sure to run away."
Gen grinned mischievously. Then Kakashi suddenly changed the subject.
"Anyway, enough about that. You should get ready—we might have another mission soon."
"A new mission?"
Gen looked puzzled. Kakashi nodded.
"New intel came in. There are signs of the Akatsuki in the Land of Wind. Hokage-sama is currently in talks with the Kazekage. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be heading out in a few days."
"Is that so?"
Gen raised his brows—he honestly hadn't expected that old bastard Danzō to be this efficient.
And hearing the words "Land of Wind"… he couldn't help but feel a little excited.
The Land of Wind was a great place, after all!
[New Side Quest Acquired]
As Kitagawa Gen was mulling things over, his system suddenly gave a jolt.
[We All Have a Bright Future]
[Head to the Land of Wind and assist Kakashi and Might Guy with the mission]
[Accept Quest?]
When he saw the prompt, Gen froze for a moment. Looks like this mission was going to be fun.
"Yeah, we should be ready anyway."
Kakashi had no idea what Gen was thinking and simply smiled as he spoke.
"The tentative team is you and me—and we're planning to temporarily bring in Guy as well."
"Guy-sensei?"
Gen turned and looked at Guy, who was still locked in an emotional hug with Lee. He couldn't help but raise a brow.
"Isn't Guy-sensei supposed to be training his student? What about Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama?"
"Jiraiya-sama has other matters to take care of, and Tsunade-sama still needs time to get acquainted with the current state of the Medical Corps."
Kakashi explained in a quiet voice.
"As for Guy—well, the student stuff can wait. After all, Guy was with us during our previous encounters with the Akatsuki. Having him with us is ideal."
"That so?"
Gen nodded. True enough, Guy was the miracle man who somehow took down Hidan without rhyme or reason. Having him around definitely made things easier.
"Alright, don't worry too much."
Kakashi gave Gen a pat on the shoulder and smiled.
"Whatever comes our way, we'll handle it. Besides, ever since you joined us, our luck has been surprisingly good, hasn't it?"
Kakashi was genuinely convinced—his fortunes had turned around.
Back then, when his loved ones and comrades died before his eyes and he could do nothing to stop it, a deep sorrow had always lingered in his heart.
But ever since he took Gen under his wing, everything started to change. Sure, there was still a high chance he'd end up hospitalized for one reason or another…
But at least… he didn't have to face that kind of tragic parting again.
If he could make that trade—he'd rather end up in the hospital a few more times.
After chatting a bit longer, Kakashi and Gen said their goodbyes to Guy and left.
"Guy-sensei, are you going on a mission?"
After they were gone, Lee finally spoke up, curiosity in his voice.
"Mm."
Guy gave a thumbs-up with that radiant grin of his, a sparkle flashing off his teeth like always.
"It came as a bit of a surprise, but it's no big deal. I'll be back before you know it."
"Can't you bring us along?"
Lee sounded hopeful, but Guy shook his head.
"Sorry. This mission was directly assigned by Hokage-sama. I'm afraid I can't bring you guys."
"Then why is Gen-senpai allowed to go?"
"Gen…"
Hearing Lee's question, Guy paused for a moment. In the end, he just smiled and shook his head.
It wasn't that he couldn't talk about Gen—it's just that he didn't want to tell Lee right now.
After all, considering Gen's record since becoming a ninja, the gap might be a bit too overwhelming for someone like Lee, who had just graduated.
...
"Has Konoha made a move?"
In the base at Amegakure, Pain narrowed his eyes at Uchiha Obito and Zetsu in front of him, his voice low and serious.
"Is Kitagawa Gen part of the team?"
"Naturally. He's never missed a mission like this."
Uchiha Obito gave a slight nod, his voice turning cold.
Every time Kitagawa Gen was mentioned, a wave of irritation clogged his chest. He truly despised that damn brat.
"Is that so?"
Pain nodded in return. After a brief silence, he spoke in a low tone.
"Who else is involved this time? If the team isn't strong enough, I want to head to the Land of Wind myself."
As he spoke, a chill spread through the air—clearly, he also harbored deep hatred for Kitagawa Gen.
Yahiko's body had been destroyed. That was something he still couldn't accept. If there was a chance, he wanted to strike.
Still, he was giving Uchiha Obito some face—after all, it was this guy and that half-black freak who had retrieved Yahiko's body. It was only right to acknowledge that.
'At least he's calm.'
Black Zetsu silently let out a sigh of relief at these words. If it had been in the past, Nagato probably wouldn't have said a word and just acted on impulse.
But Black Zetsu didn't want Nagato to mess things up, so he quickly spoke up.
"I think it's better if none of you make a move."
"What do you mean?"
From behind the scenes, Nagato frowned. Black Zetsu continued.
"This whole operation to lure out Kitagawa Gen and the others—it's all been orchestrated through Shimura Danzō. That guy's been digging into our intel for a while now."
"And I'm sure you're no stranger to him either, are you?"
Pain didn't respond, but the murderous intent in his eyes surged violently. How could he not know that man?
"But if we want to deal with him, we'd have to enter Konohagakure. We could do it, but it'd cause massive complications—after all, he's high up in Konoha's chain of command."
Black Zetsu was still spinning things, though most of what he said wasn't far from the truth.
"To take him out, we need him to believe the intel we're feeding him is real. Only then can we gradually bait him out using false leads."
"This operation was actually orchestrated under his initiative—we absolutely cannot blow our cover here."
His words left both Nagato and Obito silent for a while. After some time, Nagato, through Pain, finally asked: "If we go with your plan, won't that put Sasori, Kakuzu, and Hidan in serious danger? It'll just make things worse for us."
"Don't worry, I'll warn them in advance. Besides, Orochimaru is over there too."
Black Zetsu glanced at Uchiha Obito. Seeing that Obito didn't speak up, he continued explaining.
"You know the relationship between Orochimaru and Konoha. There's no way either side would back down if they cross paths. On top of that, I've already leaked some intel to Kumogakure."
"Kumogakure?"
When Pain heard this, he immediately nodded.
"Hmph… These great ninja villages are all the same—hypocrites. The Fourth Raikage probably still hasn't let go of the humiliation of being captured."
"Not only was he captured, but Kitagawa Gen also chopped off one of his arms."
Black Zetsu couldn't help but speak in a low voice.
"Even if Konoha and Kumogakure signed a treaty, it won't change a thing. They're definitely going to send forces to hunt him down.
With them and Orochimaru in the field, Kakuzu and the others should be fine. And more importantly, they'll have a good chance to observe and collect intel on Kitagawa Gen."
At that point, Black Zetsu paused. Both Pain and Uchiha Obito silently nodded.
Information—that was the real key.
They had already suffered multiple losses at Kitagawa Gen's hands. They couldn't afford to take him lightly anymore. This was a rare opportunity to gather solid intel on him, and they had to take it.
'Wait… Kitagawa Gen cut off the Fourth Raikage's arm?'
Suddenly, Uchiha Obito seemed to recall something. He lowered his head and glanced at his own arm, falling deep into thought.
'Does this guy… have a thing for cutting off arms or something?'
Obito couldn't quite figure it out. But he didn't have time to dwell on it—there were still plenty of things he needed to take care of.
Like notifying Kakuzu's team to get ready… and confirming whether Kumogakure had already begun to mobilize.
He was very busy.
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