Gen Takuya's home was a slightly run-down house.
In theory, a ninja's income wasn't low. Even the simplest missions paid decently.
And as a Tokubetsu Jōnin, Gen Takuya shouldn't have been living somewhere like this.
The truth was, he could have afforded better.
He simply didn't care.
As long as the place functioned like a home, that was enough.
Inside, everything necessary was present—yet the atmosphere was sparse and cold. There was no warmth of daily life, as if its owner barely lived there at all.
Which was accurate.
Outside of wartime, Gen Takuya spent most of his time beyond Konoha's borders, completing missions. He rarely came back.
Even when he did, he stayed in one room, studying sealing techniques.
The house was little more than a shell.
He sat at his desk, tapping his fingers against the wood at an unhurried rhythm while he planned his next move.
Stealing the Chimera Technique was non-negotiable.
It was his only chance to overturn a life trapped by mediocre talent.
The question wasn't whether he would take it—
It was what he would do afterward.
He needed to master it in the shortest time possible.
At minimum, he had to complete his first fusion before Nohara Rin was taken by Kirigakure.
Because if he could fuse in time, he could fix his greatest flaw—
His chakra reserves.
The only uncertainty was how far Hiruko's formula had progressed.
It likely wasn't ready for fusing five bodies.
But the ritual for fusing one or two bodies had to be complete.
Maybe even three.
And in any research, the beginning was always the hardest part.
Even if the later stages weren't perfected, Gen Takuya was confident he could fill in the gaps.
As for fusion materials?
Those had been prepared long ago.
His twenty-seven years hadn't been wasted.
Where were they stored?
Not inside Konoha, of course.
Unlike Hiruko, Gen Takuya would never place his laboratory inside the village and wait to be discovered.
With that settled, he pulled a sealing scroll from the desk and began reviewing it from the start, searching for anything that could be improved.
That night…
Gen Takuya set the scroll down, staring through his clairvoyance at Hiruko's base.
Still no movement.
Kakashi's side had shown nothing either.
A faint edge of anxiety crept into his chest.
Did he remember wrong?
In the records he recalled, this part of the timeline was blurry. It was possible Hiruko had been discovered almost immediately after learning of Kakashi's Sharingan—
Then driven out by the Sannin before he could do anything.
"It shouldn't be…"
Gen Takuya frowned.
Could Hiruko's puppet curse have been placed after he was driven out?
When Hiruko marked Kakashi, Kakashi's Sharingan was clearly still two-tomoe—
Meaning it had to be after Kannabi Bridge, and before Rin's abduction.
Unless…
Gen Takuya's expression tightened.
"Unless Hiruko was driven out… and then came back into Konoha."
His mind flicked to the scene of Uchiha Itachi and the shark-faced Kisame strolling into the village like they owned it.
A chill ran down his spine.
When you thought about it—
With Konoha's habit of never changing its barrier passcodes…
It wasn't impossible.
Still, there was one piece of good news.
He hadn't seen the Sannin yet.
So his plan hadn't failed.
If his worst-case guess was correct, then he'd need to adjust.
Hiruko surviving the Sannin's pursuit meant one of two things—
Either they held back out of old bonds…
Or Hiruko had prepared a method of escape long in advance.
Either way, he would likely be injured. The only question was how badly.
No matter what, Gen Takuya would have to strike during this window.
If Hiruko disappeared into the world to hunt kekkei genkai corpses…
Finding him again would be nearly impossible.
To be honest, Gen Takuya didn't want to confront him.
Not out of morality—
But because Hiruko was still a jōnin.
Even without using Chimera Technique, Hiruko's combat strength was at jōnin level. He simply wasn't comparable to the Legendary Sannin.
The fact that he could place a puppet curse on Kakashi so easily—war-prompted jōnin title or not—
Proved Hiruko wasn't weak.
Gen Takuya, a Tokubetsu Jōnin, could not treat a fight with him as guaranteed.
But being unable to intercept Hiruko would be the true disaster.
If he lost this opportunity, and had to research Chimera Technique from scratch…
He might not succeed at all.
And even if he did, he had other formulas he needed to develop.
His lab was outside Konoha, and he worked alone. He couldn't afford to spread himself too thin.
Since Chimera Technique already existed as a completed research path in the world—
He would take it.
And devote his focus elsewhere.
Gen Takuya drew a slow breath, pressing a finger to his forehead as he forced himself to calm down.
Wait.
The Sannin still hadn't appeared.
Things weren't lost yet.
He still had a chance.
And so, with nerves tight as wire, Gen Takuya waited—
Until the third night.
When he opened bloodshot eyes filled with exhaustion…
They were also filled with joy.
Hiruko finally left the base.
And the direction he took—
Was exactly where Hatake Kakashi was.
Gen Takuya exhaled, steadying himself as he rose to act.
Even now, he couldn't afford carelessness.
If a night patrol spotted him, he'd end up under scrutiny.
He moved quickly, arriving at Hiruko's laboratory. Based on the entrance method he'd observed, he slipped inside without a single misstep.
Once inside, his crows couldn't observe anymore. He had never dared let them approach too close—he didn't want Hiruko noticing them.
But there were other methods.
"Water Release—Reenactment Technique!"
Gen Takuya formed seals and drew on his chakra.
Yes—Water Release.
His chakra natures were Water and Earth. Ordinary to the point of being bland. No protagonist's Wind or Lightning for him.
Water was acceptable. Konoha had the Second Hokage, after all—Water Release techniques wouldn't be difficult to obtain.
Earth, on the other hand, was a headache.
Techniques like Light-Weight Rock and Added-Weight Rock were firmly in Iwagakure's grasp.
As for Wood Release—a kekkei genkai born from Water and Earth?
Impossible.
If it were that simple, then even Mizukage Terumi Mei's combination would have produced Wood Release—
Yet she only had Lava Release.
Wood Release clearly had something special behind it.
Perhaps only the First Hokage's bloodline could ever produce it.
Gen Takuya didn't dwell on it.
Once he possessed Chimera Technique, he would eventually gain whatever natures he wanted.
No need to rush.
In these years, he'd developed more than a few techniques to support his plans—like the clairvoyance technique earlier.
And the Water Release technique he used now was one of them.
A thin layer of water spread from beneath his feet, flowing swiftly across the floor ahead.
Within the water, footprints emerged—some heading in, some heading out.
Gen Takuya focused on the clearest trail—
The prints Hiruko had left just moments earlier.
Following them, he advanced deeper into the base.
Soon, the passage opened into a larger chamber.
The sight that greeted him was grotesque.
Corpses everywhere.
Some left exposed. Others floating in nutrient fluid inside glass tanks.
The air reeked of rot.
Gen Takuya frowned.
Hiruko was sloppy.
Gen Takuya's own laboratory was far cleaner—and the difference went beyond hygiene.
Most of Hiruko's bodies were animals.
Gen Takuya's?
They were human.
Targets he'd personally killed on missions.
But now wasn't the time to judge.
This area was likely safe.
Traps were usually in the corridor. A laboratory didn't need them.
In fact, Gen Takuya hadn't found any traps on his way in.
And it made sense—
When the Sannin found Hiruko in the original events, Hiruko only noticed them when they had already reached the interior.
That meant either their strength crushed everything—
Or Hiruko never installed meaningful alarms to begin with.
If it were Gen Takuya's base, the moment a trap was triggered—or even disarmed—
He would know instantly.
But none of that mattered.
He scanned the room rapidly.
And then he saw it—
A stack of research notes.
Gen Takuya's head throbbed.
He would have to organize all this later and dig out exactly what he needed.
For now, he had no time.
He took out a prepared scroll, released its seal, and a bundle of blank scrolls spilled out.
Then he opened Hiruko's research notes.
He couldn't read them all here.
So he used a technique he'd designed for precisely this.
"Water Release—Copy Technique."
Clear water flowed over the pages, then clung to the ink itself.
Gen Takuya held out a fresh scroll.
The water shifted like it had found its true destination, sliding onto the blank scroll and sinking in.
Instantly, lines of text appeared—
A perfect reproduction of Hiruko's handwriting, down to every stroke.
Gen Takuya smiled, satisfied.
He worked quickly, copying one record after another.
By the time he finished the last one, he could barely suppress the urge to laugh out loud.
But not here.
Not yet.
He forced the grin down, checked every corner of the base again—Hiruko's sleeping area included—and confirmed nothing else had been missed.
Only then did he stretch his shoulders.
He formed seals again and used clairvoyance—
Hiruko was already returning, his mission apparently successful.
Gen Takuya wasn't worried about running into him.
Getting in was the hard part.
Getting out would be far easier.
He'd returned every scroll and record to its exact place.
Any footprints were overlapped with Hiruko's own.
The only trace left behind was a slight increase in dampness from his heavy Water Release usage.
But that was subtle.
And Hiruko didn't seem like someone who noticed details.
Especially not tonight, when he would be riding the high of victory.
Gen Takuya had no interest in leaving clues for some childish thrill.
He'd already completed his coordination with his summon.
Back in his shabby home, a crow used its small body to tug open a massive scroll.
A sealing formula was carved into it.
"Summoning Technique!"
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