“Well now, I thought you’d keep running.”

Soon, a clear but slightly lazy voice came from behind her.

“This works too. Saves us the trouble.”

You’re going to catch me—would that really be trouble?

Karin trembled as she turned her head, only to see two white-haired figures walking toward her.

“What’s your name?”

The older white-haired one asked with curiosity, and Karin immediately stammered out her reply.

“M-my name is Karin…”

“No need to be that scared. We’re shinobi from Konoha.”

Seeing the little girl so terrified left Kakashi a bit puzzled.

“You’re from Kusagakure, right? Konoha and Kusa actually have a decent relationship…”

“I’m not! I’m not!”

Karin panicked, even though she knew Konoha’s relationship with Kusagakure was decent.

But that was the real problem!

If they sent her back, wouldn’t she be finished?

“…”

Seeing Karin like this, Kakashi couldn’t help but raise a brow.

A rogue ninja?

After running into the Akatsuki so many times, and especially with everything about Obito, he had no fondness at all for rogues.

“D-don’t kill me!”

But in that instant, Karin seemed to sense something. Terrified, she stared at Kakashi, then crouched down, hugging her head tightly with both hands.

'Such sharp sensory perception.'

Kitagawa Gen muttered from the side. He roughly understood the reason for her terror.

After all, she had given the wrong answer—and he also knew about her ability.

'Kagura’s Mind Eye, huh?'

In Kitagawa Gen’s memory, this was one of the strongest sensory abilities in the entire shinobi world.

It could not only detect enemies across dozens of kilometers, but also lock onto them through their chakra.

And beyond that—

'This ability can even perceive someone’s inner heart through their chakra.'

Kitagawa Gen remembered that Karin had once relied on Kagura’s Mind Eye to instantly read Naruto’s warm and passionate nature the very first time they met.

“Kakashi-sensei, calm down. Look at her arm.”

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Gen reminded him, and Kakashi tilted his head to glance at Karin’s arm.

“Those are… bite marks? Needle marks?”

“She must have some special ability. The people in Kusagakure clearly didn’t treat her kindly.”

“So that’s what it is…”

Crouching on the ground with her hands over her head, Karin’s sleeves naturally slid down, revealing her arm.

Kakashi saw it clearly. He seemed to understand why this girl was so resistant to going back.

“Strong sensory skills, plus some unknown special ability.”

Kitagawa Gen stroked his chin and spoke directly.

“And she probably knows what’s going on in Kusagakure. If we take her back, it’ll be much easier to explain.”

As he said this, Kitagawa Gen glanced at the terrified Karin and flashed a charming smile.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re good people.”

“…”

Looking at them—how on earth did they seem like good people?

“We basically understand your situation. Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. But could you tell us more about yourself, and what happened in Kusa?”

“M-my blood has healing powers… my mother was killed by them, so… Kusagakure was destroyed… I used that chance to—”

“Stop. Didn’t you just say you weren’t from Kusagakure? And what exactly happened there? Be specific.”

“I… I was passing through Kusagakure when I saw you fighting some enemies. Your battle spread into the village and—”

“Stop. Think carefully before you answer.”

“It—it was your enemies who destroyed Kusa! They had planned it all along and launched an attack on the village. You saved Kusagakure!”

“Good. You just happened to pass through Kusagakure, and you saw the enemies attacking it. I stepped in and stopped them.”

Kitagawa Gen looked at the trembling Karin and nodded in satisfaction.

That was the correct answer!

“You’ve gone too far!”

Kakashi, on the other hand, couldn’t hold it in any longer. He turned his dead-fish eyes toward Kitagawa Gen.

“Who even does things like this? Where did you learn that?”

“But… it’s the truth.”

Kitagawa Gen looked at Kakashi in confusion, then turned to Karin.

“Right, Karin?”

“Yes, exactly!”

Karin immediately nodded. She could feel that this terrifying man had absolutely no malice toward her.

In fact, the aura of his chakra gave her a special sensation—an inexplicable familiarity mixed with an undeniable pressure.

“Forget it, let’s go.”

Kakashi sighed helplessly, scratching his head as he spoke.

“Anyway, once we’re back we’ll explain however we have to. Still, super-strong sensory skills and healing powers… they might actually be useful.”

...

A few days later, Kitagawa Gen and his group finally returned to Konoha.

“Kakashi-sensei, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m not getting involved.”

Kitagawa Gen immediately chose to excuse himself. He had no intention of dealing with those matters.

“Hey, you’re a jōnin now!”

Kakashi stared at him, exasperated.

“You’re the one who insisted on bringing her back. At least give a proper report!”

“I think… the Hokage probably doesn’t want to see me right now.”

“…Go on then.”

With that reason, Kakashi found himself unable to argue. In the end, he simply nodded.

As for Kitagawa Gen’s report, that would have to wait until the Hokage’s health improved.

In a flash, Kitagawa Gen returned to his home.

He immediately set up barriers, created a shadow clone, and then eagerly summoned the system.

“Use the Yin Release power of the Rinnegan!”

He had been waiting so long for this. Now he could finally see the reward for himself.

The instant that vast surge of Yin Release power spread through his body, he clearly felt his eyes start to swell.

Wild chakra poured into his eyes, spreading throughout his entire body!

That boiling sensation burst forth once again—and this time, it seemed even stronger.

“This feeling…”

Kitagawa Gen was stunned. It was just like the time when his skin and hair turned white. He understood that this improvement was definitely going to be significant.

But suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

“Damn… with this upgrade… I’m not going to grow horns, am I?”

Growing horns.

In truth, within the broader environment of the shinobi world, it didn’t seem all that strange.

After all, Kumogakure had once produced a pair of lunatic brothers with horns—Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

“But the ones most typically seen with horns are the Ōtsutsuki.”

In Kitagawa Gen’s memory, it seemed that every Ōtsutsuki bore horns.

Even Toneri of the Moon—though his normal state lacked horns, once he entered the ‘Tenseigan Chakra Mode,’ a single horn sprouted from his forehead.

“And then there were Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. After becoming the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki, they too grew horns. Looked at this way, maybe it really isn’t such a big deal?”

Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin. Even as he said it, the feeling still struck him as odd.

“I’d rather it be like Indra and Asura, those two brothers.”

Perhaps because they were mixed-bloods, Indra and Asura never grew horns. Yet no one could deny their overwhelming strength.

In fact, Kitagawa Gen thought that given their power, if they had truly clashed with those Ōtsutsuki who only relied on brute strength, they might have had a fair chance of victory.

“If I faced the two of them now… what would happen?”

He wasn’t the sort who blindly revered the ancients and belittled the present, but he had to admit—the shinobi of the distant past seemed individually stronger.

Shinobi of old valued the pinnacle of personal might. But as the ages changed, though shinobi still sought personal strength, their methods of combat shifted.

Especially after the rise of shinobi villages, which consolidated the strengths of the great clans of old. Combined with changes in modes of warfare, casualty rates skyrocketed.

Thus, fighting styles that relied on coordination to minimize losses naturally replaced reckless charges based purely on individual valor.

“Forget Indra and Asura—even Madara and Hashirama, the shinobi of today have no concept of how strong they truly were.”

After a moment’s thought, he realized there was no way to reach an answer.

A shinobi’s battles were always about adapting to the opponent’s moves; speculation was pointless.

What’s more, the foundation was set—what he lacked were combat experience and technical skill.

“As for everything else, I’ll only grow stronger. Even if there’s still a gap now, with my bloodline constantly evolving, I’ll surpass you all!”

Dropping such fruitless thoughts, he turned his focus back to the changes within himself, carefully considering his path forward.

“The tailed beasts’ chakra still needs to be followed up on. Aside from that, there’s the issue of kekkei genkai. Two so far is still too few.”

He wasn’t in a rush over the tailed beasts—after all, in the future they’d practically be scattered everywhere.

If nothing else, he could step in personally. Ōtsutsuki Genshiki would not stop!

But when it came to fusing kekkei genkai, that required serious thought.

Right now, he possessed Magnet Release and Ice Release, involving Wind, Water, and Earth chakra. What he lacked were Lightning, Fire, and—

“The most crucial of all, Yin–Yang Release!”

Yet fusing Yin–Yang Release hadn’t gone smoothly. With no clear reference, he found himself frustrated.

Even so, Yin–Yang Release was the pinnacle of power—even to the Ōtsutsuki. Much of their battle methods revolved around it.

It wasn’t a big deal if his own progress was a little slower; he believed that as his strength grew, he could gradually get what he wanted!

“The other kekkei fusions need to speed up too. For Fire Release, I naturally hope for Dust Release, and for Lightning Release, Storm Release would be best.”

He had a clear plan for himself and knew exactly how to proceed.

“Hm?”

Just then, he clearly felt the changes in his body begin to accelerate. He immediately steadied his mind and focused on handling everything before him.

“Let me see what kind of result I get this time.”

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. /TitoVillar

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