Back in the Hokage's Office, Gen Takuya still hadn't made his decision.
For now, he chose the simplest path—
One step at a time.
Maybe when the moment came, he'd know whether he should save the couple so many fans mourned.
His report was brief. He hadn't actually witnessed much.
The true mission report would come later—once Kakashi woke up and spoke for himself.
"I see… so Nohara Rin couldn't be saved." The Third Hokage sighed.
There was grief, yes—for a Konoha shinobi.
But there was more worry than grief.
He knew Kakashi's history.
That was why he'd entrusted Kakashi to Minato in the first place—hoping the young genius could be pulled back from the edge.
Now…
It seemed the opposite might happen.
If Kakashi broke because of this, it would be a tremendous loss to Konoha.
The Third Hokage took a deep drag of his pipe. White smoke veiled his tired expression.
A headache.
An enormous one.
For now, all he could do was believe Minato would save Kakashi.
"The process is clear enough. The mission… is considered complete," the Third Hokage said, forcing a hint of humor into his tone. "Your reward will be issued at A-rank standards. That should stop you from coming here late at night for missions again, right?"
Internal missions drew from the village treasury.
"Understood," Gen Takuya replied.
At this point, he could choose to take missions—or not.
And there were still too many things he needed to research.
Kagura's Mind Eye.
Lightning Release and Wind Release techniques.
His path forward was full.
He wasn't in a rush to fuse the second bloodline yet.
"Hokage-sama, it's late. I'll take my leave," Gen Takuya said. "You should rest as well."
He'd come late to begin with, and the emergency had stolen even more time.
It was deep night now.
"Heh. Very well. Go," the Third Hokage said kindly.
After Gen Takuya left, the Third Hokage let out a long sigh.
Only when he was alone did the exhaustion fully show on his face.
So many things were slipping beyond his control.
Was it time to hand this seat to the next generation?
As that thought took shape, two figures rose in his mind.
One was his student—Orochimaru.
Cold. Sinister. A presence that made others fear and avoid him.
The other was his student's student—Namikaze Minato.
Bright as sunlight. Loved by all. Capable enough to carry the village.
Comparing them in silence, the Third Hokage slowly made a choice.
If Minato didn't exist, perhaps he would have had only Orochimaru.
The candidates with the right qualifications were, after all, mostly his own students.
But Tsunade and Jiraiya had no interest.
Tsunade suffered hemophobia—a crippling condition for a medical ninja.
Jiraiya was too much of a wanderer; the Hokage seat would be chains to him.
So if Minato weren't there…
Even if Orochimaru was ill-suited, he might have been the only viable option.
Anything was better than choosing Shimura Danzō.
Danzō wasn't even younger than him.
But Minato changed everything.
Compared to Orochimaru, Minato seemed to be all strengths and no poison.
"When the war truly ends," the Third Hokage murmured, decision settling in his heart. "Then."
…
Elsewhere, Gen Takuya sat alone, feeling the Three-Tails chakra sealed inside him.
He wasn't a jinchūriki.
There was no Three-Tails within him.
Only a portion of its chakra.
Now he began channeling his own chakra into the seal—feeding it.
His goal was simple:
To cultivate it.
What he'd captured was a significant amount, but it still wasn't comparable to the full Three-Tails.
So he would grow it.
This wasn't as impossible as it sounded.
In the original history, Sora's Nine-Tails chakra had been cultivated from a mere trace of leaked chakra—raised by Kazuma and Chiriku until it could erupt into something like six tails.
Sora later lost control, of course, and was "saved" by Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, but Gen Takuya estimated the limit was around that range anyway. Six tails might be the ceiling. Seven, at most.
Orochimaru had done something similar—using fragments from the Eight-Tails' horn to grow an enormous horn.
So yes.
Tailed beast chakra could be nurtured.
And for Gen Takuya, it wasn't difficult.
He wasn't Kazuma. His mastery of sealing techniques was far above that level.
He wouldn't grow some grotesque extra arm.
He wouldn't lose control recklessly.
If anything, Sora hadn't "randomly" lost control either—his father had induced it.
Still… keeping tailed beast chakra sealed inside his own body forever wasn't ideal.
Once it grew large enough, it would become dangerous—even if it was stable.
He needed a storage vessel.
Gen Takuya's gaze drifted toward the horizon.
Toward the Land of Rain.
Jiraiya's three disciples were there.
Gen Takuya had once thought he'd miss that event by prioritizing Chimera Technique first.
But now it seemed Danzō hadn't yet conspired with Hanzo the Salamander to frame Akatsuki.
There was still time.
Unfortunately, Gen Takuya didn't have a deep grasp of the situation there.
He'd used his crows to locate Akatsuki, but—
Nagato's Rinnegan wasn't just for show, even if it was a transplanted dōjutsu.
His crows had been discovered.
The outcome was obvious.
So monitoring Akatsuki with crows wasn't easy anymore.
And Danzō and Hanzo weren't simple targets either.
Sending crows once might work.
Sending them often—watching for too long—
He would be discovered.
Not everyone was as careless—and weak—as Hiruko.
And Danzō?
You could call him evil, but you couldn't call him incompetent.
A Wind Release specialist who pushed even Uchiha Sasuke to the brink—who could cut through Susanoo with Wind Release.
Not a complete Susanoo, but still…
Who would've believed Wind Release could do that?
If Sasuke hadn't had companions, Danzō might have succeeded.
As for Hanzo…
He was called a demigod for a reason.
A title like that wasn't empty.
So Gen Takuya adjusted his plan.
He would watch Ame's movements instead.
The moment Hanzo requested "talks" with Akatsuki—
That would be Gen Takuya's signal to move.
As for what he wanted there…
The Rinnegan was impossible.
But other things?
He could take a piece.
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