Three years are not easy to endure.
Whether for Black Zetsu and Obito, or for Sasuke and Naruto.
But for Kitagawa Gen, none of it really counted as hardship. These three years had actually treated him quite well.
"It's just that things have gotten… a bit much."
Strolling down Konoha's main street, watching the bustling crowd, Kitagawa Gen let out a yawn.
"What's with you? You look half-asleep."
Kakashi tilted his head, eyeing Gen with curiosity.
"I don't remember there being anything going on yesterday, was there?"
"Nothing going on?"
Gen could only give a wry smile. He shook his head and spoke helplessly.
"They dump all sorts of messy documents on me to review. Come on—I'm just a jōnin!"
"..."
"Fine, I read them. But then you all don't really support the proposals I make. The only one who agrees with me is the Second Hokage."
"..."
"What on earth is going on with Konoha's administration? How did it collapse to this point?"
"..."
Kakashi stared at his student with those dead-fish eyes of his. He genuinely couldn't understand how this guy could say something like that.
Also—
Some of this guy's ideas were way too extreme, weren't they?
In three years, Konoha had basically reached a consensus: Kitagawa Gen would inevitably be their new-generation Hokage.
That conviction was even firmer than the one people had about Orochimaru back in the day. Even if Gen was still a bit young and needed some seasoning, no one doubted it.
Naturally, Gen now had access to all kinds of matters. Many decisions were made with his input in mind—some were even handed directly to him to carry out.
What he did could hardly be called poor; in fact, it almost always aligned perfectly with Konoha's interests.
But if you wanted to say it was ideal…
Then it would be that people had painted far too rosy a picture of him as a person!
Those extreme foreign-policy proposals made everyone in the Hokage's office feel their scalps go numb. At times, Gen had even heard Senju Tobirama grumble: "This kid—how is he even more extreme than I am…"
If even Senju Tobirama could say that, you could imagine just how overboard Kitagawa Gen really was.
Of course, that also had something to do with the bit of "personal grudge" between Senju Tobirama and Kitagawa Gen…
"I think instead of saying all that, you'd be better off putting in a real effort."
Kakashi rubbed his brow and tried to talk him around.
"Look at Sunagakure. Gaara has already become Kazekage. You—"
"His becoming Kazekage—wasn't that our doing?"
Gen arched a brow, speaking with open disdain.
"And besides, Terumī Mei and Deidara haven't become Kage yet. What am I supposed to be rushing for?"
"..."
Kakashi immediately regretted it. He shouldn't have brought up Sunagakure at all.
Gaara's becoming Kazekage really was Konoha's doing.
Although Gen had killed Gaara's father, Rasa, Gaara himself had long been indifferent to Rasa.
Especially after his uncle Yashamaru died—no one cared about him, and no one gave him any guidance.
With Kitagawa Gen's appearance, even his wildly unreliable Talk-no-Jutsu was something Gaara hadn't felt in a very long time.
So Gen's words got through to him. With that faith and goal in mind, plus pressure from Konoha—and the simple fact that Sunagakure truly had no one else—
His becoming Kazekage was, of course, inevitable.
"Speaking of Gaara, I heard he's been digging into a lot of things. I wonder if he'll clean out those old geezers in his village."
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin, muttering to himself, then let out a regretful sigh.
"But he still isn't decisive enough. He didn't even move against the Daimyō of the Land of Wind. Guess he still isn't poor enough. Should we—"
"That's enough!"
Kakashi couldn't hold it anymore. He pressed a hand down on Gen and spoke helplessly.
"Besides, the mess in the Land of Lightning wasn't small either. And the Daimyō of the Land of Fire paid quite a lot."
"That assassination in the Land of Lightning didn't even kill anyone, and we've still been too kind to Kumogakure."
"Cut it out. Iwagakure and Kirigakure are both very satisfied, and so are we!"
"But after all the effort we put in, how are they still alive?"
"..."
"What a pity. I wanted to see whether they'd erupt into chaos. I guess we haven't starved them hard enough!"
"..."
Kakashi was truly left speechless by his own student. Over these three years, the kid had only gotten more handsome.
His entire bearing had grown more refined; he'd even grown fairer.
Does a paler face come with a darker heart?
"But anyway—Kakashi-sensei, how are your eyes now?"
Deciding the topic wasn't worth pursuing, Kitagawa Gen simply switched tracks.
"What do you think of Tsunade-sama's experiment?"
"I think it's fine, but the village still isn't at ease. Otherwise we wouldn't need to go in for a checkup today."
At the mention of his eyes, Kakashi couldn't help touching them lightly.
That Mangekyō Sharingan had already held out long enough, and his use of it had hardly been moderate. In the end, his eye had finally started to develop problems.
Thanks to Kitagawa Gen's reminder, Tsunade had begun researching in this direction, and she had Senju Tobirama's assistance as well.
Of course, they'd run into a few problems—such as the Uchiha clan being almost entirely wiped out by Uchiha Itachi.
There just weren't suitable experimental subjects, and Sasuke was too young with only ordinary eyes development, so their gaze had to fall on Kakashi.
"Honestly, I can feel it—my eye is steadily recovering. Maybe that's the ability Obito relied on to keep using this eye all along."
"Maybe."
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin. After a moment's thought, he went on, "Looks like next time we'll have to watch Obito's hand and cut it off if we get the chance. Half that guy's body is white—obviously it's all the First Hokage's power."
"You little—"
Kakashi could only laugh and cry; he felt his student was getting more and more outrageous.
Chatting idly as they walked, the two soon reached the outside of the ANBU—when suddenly, a flash passed before their eyes.
In the next instant, two figures—one blond, one black—slipped silently into view before them.
"I won, idiot."
"Damn it! Bastard, you cheated!"
"A loss is a loss. Can't you take it?"
"Argh!"
It was obviously Sasuke and Naruto.
Scenes like this were something they'd seen plenty of over the past three years.
"Can the two of you behave for once?"
Kakashi rubbed his brow in mild distress, though a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
After all, both of them were his students. Seeing how far they'd come, he couldn't help feeling proud.
"Kakashi-sensei, this guy cheated!"
The moment Naruto spotted Kakashi, he burst out in protest.
"We agreed on three-two-one, and he took off before I even finished counting!"
"Idiot."
Arms folded, Sasuke spoke evenly.
"In a real fight, who's going to wait for you? Gen-senpai and Second Hokage-sama both said: if you have an opening, don't waste it. Did you forget?"
"Damn it, that's shameless! And why are you copying Gen?"
"Gen-senpai is worth learning from."
"You—"
"He'll be Hokage. You, tsk, tsk."
"..."
Naruto couldn't hold it in; his fists were already clenching!
But Sasuke didn't spare him another glance. He turned and gave Kitagawa Gen a slight bow in greeting instead.
"..."
Kakashi pressed his lips together. Was he just… being ignored?
Kitagawa Gen, half exasperated and half amused, shook his head. "Enough. Let's get inside."
With Kakashi undergoing the experiment, the two of them would naturally take part as well.
As for Naruto—needless to say, even if it technically had nothing to do with him, he carried Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina within him. Even if they didn't tell Naruto, they'd still have to say hello to the Fourth Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina inside him, so they had no choice but to bring him along.
And as an Uchiha descendant, the village had no intention of keeping this from Sasuke—especially since he'd been studying under Senju Tobirama.
When Senju Tobirama heard Kitagawa Gen's proposal that he take Sasuke as a pupil, his expression remained fairly calm.
After all, he'd once had a student like Uchiha Kagami. Teaching another Uchiha—the last Uchiha of Konohagakure—didn't seem like a problem at all.
Only—
"You bastard—why does he look so much like Uchiha Izuna?!"
The moment he saw Sasuke's face, old memories surged up, and he couldn't keep himself together.
For a second there, he really did feel like going on strike.
But under Kitagawa Gen's and his beloved elder brother's persuasion, he still grudgingly agreed, scowling the whole time.
As for what he truly thought—no one knew.
In any case, the "wicked old Senju codger" and the "wicked little Uchiha brat" were forced to team up, and the "wicked little Uchiha brat" drew the short straw.
Even so, his growth really wasn't bad at all.
After three years, the former little Sasuke had become a handsome sixteen-year-old.
Maybe he'd been taking cues from Kitagawa Gen: he wore a black combat suit with a short blade at his waist, his whole posture tall and taut with strength.
Naruto had grown up a lot too. Perhaps because he now had his parents looking after him, he wasn't nearly so sloppy anymore.
With golden hair and yellow-and-black clothing, he looked especially spirited—at a glance, he even gave off a faint air of Namikaze Minato.
"Yes!"
At Kitagawa Gen's word, the two of them snapped to attention at once.
"You really do have authority in their eyes," Kakashi said, half exasperated, half amused, as he watched the two kids fall perfectly in line.
"Maybe it's because I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin and blinked at Kakashi.
"Come to think of it, aside from you and Sakura, it seems the rest of us can all use the Flying Thunder God Technique, right?"
"..."
Kakashi's face went stiff. Then he grumbled, "Running down your own sensei now? You're crossing the line!"
"?"
"And another thing—you've seemed a bit lazy these three years. Watch out or they'll surpass you!"
"..."
Kitagawa Gen couldn't help smiling as he shook his head. "Surpass me? I'd actually look forward to that."
Over these three years, while his true body hadn't exactly worked that hard, his God Tree clone had been putting in the hours.
He had never once slowed his steps.
Meanwhile, at Akatsuki's base in the Land of Rain—
'Three years… we finally made it through.'
Nagato sighed inwardly. He swept his gaze over everyone present, then spoke in an even tone.
"Since everyone's here, let's begin the meeting."
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