“Tough, aren’t you? Not bad.”

Gen regarded Kisame calmly, giving a small nod.

“I imagine Konoha’s Torture and Interrogation Division would love a man with your kind of grit.”

...

“Your growth is impressive.”

Itachi silently acknowledged Sasuke and Naruto as they attacked in unison, coordinating their movements with surprising fluidity.

Their teamwork was decent, their performance commendable—but still nowhere near the level he demanded.

“So this… is how you’ve spent these years?”

His crow clone slipped away from the transformed shuriken, evading Naruto’s close-range ambush alongside Sasuke’s feint. Itachi spoke coldly, his tone indifferent.

“Looks like you’ve already forgotten everything from back then. Forgotten your hatred toward me.”

“You bastard!”

Sasuke roared, his eyes blazing scarlet with the Sharingan. Yet even that power was still far too weak against Uchiha Itachi.

“Damn you—die!”

Naruto charged again, locking onto Itachi’s position. But in the instant he attacked, Itachi suddenly turned, his gaze locking onto him.

Naruto’s body froze stiff. Then, as if entranced, he turned and swung his fists wildly at the empty air.

“Damn—it’s Genjutsu! Naruto’s caught in an illusion!”

Sasuke understood what was happening. He immediately rushed forward, determined to do something. Googlᴇ search novel{f}ire.net

“You’re far too weak.”

But Itachi silently appeared beside him, driving a heavy punch straight into Sasuke’s stomach.

“Urgh—!”

The searing pain forced Sasuke to spit out a mouthful of blood, his whole body convulsing as he collapsed to his knees.

Even so, he still pulled out a kunai, trying to stab it toward Itachi.

[Thud—]

But Itachi’s boot slammed into his stomach again, hurling Sasuke hard against a tree.

Without a pause, Itachi stepped forward, seizing Sasuke by the throat and pinning him against the trunk.

“Why are you so weak?”

His voice was cold and detached. The three tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, morphing into the Mangekyō Sharingan.

“Because it isn’t enough. Your hatred toward me is still far from enough. Looks like I’ll have to deepen your impression.”

“Impression…”

Sasuke could barely breathe through the pain, but at those words he instantly realized what Itachi was about to do.

He struggled desperately, yet couldn’t break free of Itachi’s grip. Slowly, his consciousness shifted into stark black and white.

He had been dragged into a genjutsu.

“This… is our home.”

Itachi’s voice rang out. Not far away, the image of him standing with a blade poised over their parents appeared.

He slowly raised the sword, a chilling smile spreading across his face.

“For the next twenty-four hours, you’ll wander endlessly through this day.”

“No!”

As Itachi’s blade swung down, Sasuke roared in anguish.

But he could do nothing—only stare helplessly at the scene.

Then—

[Zzzzt—]

Suddenly, the crackle of thunder tore through the air. In that black-and-white world, a flash of violet light erupted.

In the next instant, everything froze. The violet lightning flared even brighter, burning through the world.

“This is…”

Sasuke muttered in disbelief as the purple thunder shattered Itachi’s body, and the illusionary world collapsed in an instant.

Reality snapped back, and in that moment he saw a white-haired figure’s blade slash down.

Blood splattered violently.

But this time, it wasn’t his parents—

It was Uchiha Itachi.

[Sasuke’s Exclusive Side Quest Completed: This Is the Bond Between the Uchiha Brothers]

[Reward Obtained: Partial Special Yin Release from Uchiha Sasuke]

...

“Tch, he sure ran fast.”

In the forests of the Land of Waves, Kitagawa Gen lightly flicked the blood off his White Fang short blade, then turned his gaze toward Kakashi.

“Kakashi-sensei, you’re really slipping. How did you let Uchiha Obito snatch someone away again?”

“…I couldn’t help it.”

Kakashi felt a bit depressed. Being teased by his own student wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

The problem was, he really had no better way. After all, Obito was precisely the one he was responsible for handling.

“When it comes to using the Sharingan, I can’t fully match him. Those eyes were his to begin with. All I can do is hold him back as much as possible.”

“But it doesn’t matter. My very first mission back then turned out the same way.”

Gen was still kindhearted—he didn’t press Kakashi further.

“But now that things have come to this, we might as well see it through to the end. Gato colluding with the Akatsuki to obstruct this mission—taking him out shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“…”

Kakashi didn’t feel like talking much. His student’s fixation was a little too intense. He could only test the waters with a question.

“Why do you keep targeting him so much? He’s never actually wronged you, has he?”

“Of course not. Kakashi-sensei, your resolve just isn’t strong enough.”

“?”

“As Jōnin like us, we have to shoulder the lives of tens of thousands of Konoha shinobi!”

“…”

“So, half of the money goes to us, and half to the village?”

“…”

Kakashi understood. Gen hadn’t changed at all—still clinging tightly to his ‘original intentions.’

For a brief moment, he thought he glimpsed the shadow of a one-eyed old man in Gen’s figure. That was dangerous.

But he didn’t say more, because Naruto and the others were already coming over.

“Kakashi-sensei, Gen-senpai, we’ve finished checking everything.”

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and Naruto before speaking, still a little cautious and nervous.

“Everything’s fine on our end. Our employer, Tazuna-san, is unharmed. The ones captured by Gen-senpai are all still alive, though the situation itself isn’t great.”

“As long as you’re all safe, that’s what matters.”

Kakashi nodded, his gaze lingering on Sasuke—truthfully, the boy was his biggest concern.

But he noticed Sasuke’s eyes never left Kitagawa Gen, which made him scratch his head in puzzlement.

“Gen, Kisame can be taken back to Konoha for interrogation, but we probably won’t get much out of Zabuza and Haku, right?”

“Yeah. The Akatsuki probably intended to recruit them—it’s just their bad luck they ran into us.”

Gen nodded, stroked his chin, then suddenly smiled.

“But that’s fine. Might as well have a chat with him. After all, he was Gato’s man.”

“I get the feeling you’re up to something shady.”

Kakashi shrugged. He didn’t bother trying to stop any of it. In fact, he realized something.

His own student’s reputation… seemed to have grown even larger than his.

...

“Hey, Sasuke, why do you keep staring at Gen like that?”

As Gen and Kakashi started walking toward Zabuza and Haku, Naruto couldn’t help but whisper.

Right now, he didn’t dare raise his voice. Even though his easygoing personality would probably bounce back before long.

At the very least, for now, he was utterly shaken by Kitagawa Gen’s strength.

“Idiot.”

Sasuke snapped back to himself, muttering the word quietly. But before Naruto could erupt, he suddenly spoke up.

“Gen-senpai… has he always been that strong?”

The question left Naruto stunned. After wrestling with it for a while, he finally blurted out, “I don’t know either. But, well… that guy’s always been crazy strong. Just has a rotten personality, that’s all. Mm-hm!”

“…I think you should be grateful he didn’t kill you.”

“Hey! What’s with the way you’re talking?!”

Naruto swore under his breath, but Sasuke ignored him and hurried to catch up with Gen and the others.

In Sasuke’s heart, the scene replayed again and again—Uchiha Itachi raising his blade to slaughter his parents, only for Kitagawa Gen to shatter everything in an instant, grievously wounding Itachi.

“So this is true power… power even Uchiha Itachi cannot match.”

Clenching his fists, Sasuke didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore.

...

“Still alive, aren’t you?”

By now, Gen had already walked up to Zabuza and Haku. He pulled the White Fang short blade out from where it had pierced through both of their bodies.

But after being savagely beaten and further suppressed by the Purple Lightning, neither of them could move at all.

Even so, hearing Gen’s words, Zabuza still lifted his head with defiance.

“Didn’t think that brat from two years ago would turn out like this.”

“Huh? You met two years ago?”

Naruto couldn’t help blurting out, surprised. Wasn’t Gen only graduating around that time?

His words sparked curiosity not only in Sasuke and Sakura but even in Tazuna, who was trembling and yet craned his neck to listen.

“Heh. Brat, you have no idea about the ones standing beside you.”

Zabuza cast a glance at the silent Haku at his side, then sneered.

“Two years ago, they pulled off something hardly anyone in the entire shinobi world would dare to attempt.”

“Enough. This isn’t the time for that.”

Kakashi arched a brow, cutting him off. Gen nodded as well.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you’d end up working for Gato.”

“It’s just for the money. My dream isn’t something you could understand.”

Zabuza stiffened his neck. Though his whole body ached, his tone remained hard.

“So what now? You plan to kill us? Figures. Konoha and Kirigakure are on good terms. What a joke. After all those years of fighting, now we’re supposed to be allies.”

“Zabuza-sama…”

At that, even Haku couldn’t stay silent. His worried voice broke through, but Gen only shook his head.

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead. Actually, there’s something I don’t understand.”

“What?”

Zabuza frowned, and Gen chuckled as he asked, “With power like yours, why work under Gato?”

“What do you mean?”

“If it were me, I’d just take Gato out. That way, all of his money would be mine.”

“…”

“And didn’t you stage a rebellion back in Kirigakure? That must mean you think you could do better than the Mizukage. In that case, why not test your hand here in the Land of Waves?”

“Hiss—”

Zabuza drew in a sharp breath, lifting his head in disbelief to stare at Kakashi, who looked equally stunned.

“Konoha… is this how you train your students?”

“No. He’s just… a little extreme in temperament.”

Kakashi quickly pressed down on Kitagawa Gen’s shoulder, not allowing him to spout any more nonsense.

“Enough with this reckless talk, Gen. Don’t say another word!”

“Oh.”

Gen nodded in disappointment, though he didn’t seem to care much.

“How about this—two years ago, Jiraiya-sama spared your lives. Today, I can do the same. But… you should know the procedure.”

“The… procedure?”

Zabuza’s gaze flickered. It was as if he’d begun to understand.

“Your objective…”

“That’s right.”

Gen didn’t bother to hide it anymore. This time, Kakashi didn’t stop him either. After all, this was something Gen had been obsessed with for two years—trying to block him now would be pointless.

Besides, Kakashi understood what Gen meant. Konoha itself couldn’t openly take such actions. But if rogue shinobi did it… wasn’t that perfectly convenient?

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

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