"Hatake Kakashi—the legendary Copy Ninja?"
As Uchiha Itachi spoke, Biwa Juzo's eyes flickered slightly. Kakashi was indeed a renowned name throughout the shinobi world.
"Hm. I just didn't expect he'd left the ANBU and seems to be taking on students now."
Uchiha Itachi's gaze remained calm as he offered a casual explanation, though in truth, he felt a headache coming on.
Why did he have to run into Kakashi, his former superior, in a place like this?
No matter what, he still considered himself a part of Konohagakure.
Whether others acknowledged that or not—he likely didn't care.
"This is troublesome..."
Kakashi couldn't even keep reading his book. His gaze involuntarily drifted toward Kitagawa Gen beside him.
So this is the dangerous ninja you were talking about?
This isn't just dangerous—this is extremely dangerous!
Biwa Juzo, once one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and Uchiha Itachi, who single-handedly wiped out the entire Uchiha clan—and had once been his ANBU colleague...
For a brief moment, Kakashi seriously wondered if his bad luck had kicked in again.
How else could taking on some random, unwanted mission lead him to run into enemies like these?
"Assassins! Attack!"
Kakashi didn't dare act rashly against the two, but the samurai disguised as farmers had no such qualms.
They were already unhappy about having two shinobi added to their group—it felt like a vote of no confidence.
Now that enemies had appeared, this was the perfect opportunity to prove themselves!
In an instant, they drew their swords. Chakra surged along the blades as they roared and charged forward.
"Hey, don't do anything reckless—"
Kakashi tried to stop them, but his sharp eyes noticed that Uchiha Itachi had already completed his hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A torrent of flame howled toward them. The samurai had no choice but to raise their swords and channel chakra to defend themselves.
[Buzz—]
However, as the flames dissipated, Juzo had already closed the distance.
With a sweeping arc of his massive Executioner's Blade, two samurai collapsed to the ground without so much as a scream.
"Bastard!"
Two more samurai cursed under their breath and lunged forward, trying to strike before Juzo could ready his blade again—but Itachi's shuriken cut them down instantly.
Juzo and Itachi's coordination was surprisingly smooth. Against ordinary warriors, the two elite shinobi sliced through them like chopping vegetables.
Kakashi could only sigh. The samurai had fallen so quickly, he hadn't even gotten a chance to lend a hand.
"Gen—if you get an opening, leave this place immediately."
Closing his book, Kakashi drew a kunai and quietly spoke to Kitagawa Gen at his side.
"This mission has already gone far beyond what we expected. The enemies we're up against are too powerful, so you—"
He turned to look—but was stunned to see that Gen wasn't even listening.
At some point, the boy had pulled out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.
Kakashi watched as the slow-rising flare bloomed overhead, momentarily dazed.
He understood what Gen meant—but wasn't this basically suicide?
"A signal flare?"
After Itachi finished subduing the last samurai with a genjutsu, both he and Juzo frowned as they stared at the shimmering light in the sky.
"Reinforcements?"
"Funny you should ask. I actually ran into you two last night in town."
Gen gave Kakashi a wink before turning to face Itachi and Juzo with a stern expression.
"Especially you—the cold-blooded man who slaughtered his entire clan. I doubt there's a single Konoha shinobi who wouldn't recognize you."
"So we requested emergency support from the nearest ANBU units. You're out of time."
"..."
Itachi fell silent. Even though he had mentally prepared for this, hearing such a blunt judgment from a fellow Konoha ninja still struck a nerve.
Meanwhile, Kakashi's eyes widened even more.
Seriously? You're going to provoke them now?! Are you insane?
"Seems like you're quite the celebrity, Itachi-kun."
Juzo didn't seem particularly concerned. His fierce gaze locked onto Kakashi and Kitagawa Gen.
"But kid… have you ever considered something?"
"Hm?"
Gen tilted his head, a puzzled look appearing on his face—but in the next instant, he suddenly leapt backward!
In that very same moment, Juzo had already closed in, swinging his massive Executioner's Blade down with brutal force.
"We just need to end this quickly! Itachi, you take care of Hatake Kakashi. I'll finish off this brat and come back you up!"
"As expected…"
Kakashi felt his head throb. The thing he'd feared the most had still come to pass.
Gen's plan wasn't bad—firing a signal flare to intimidate the enemy. There was a good chance it would scare them into retreat.
But the problem was, if these men were dead set on completing their mission, then that flare might've only provoked them further!
And now, things were heading exactly in the direction he didn't want to see.
'No—I have to get Gen out of here!'
Kakashi tightened his grip on his kunai and was just about to rush in to assist, when Uchiha Itachi stepped in front of him.
"My apologies, Kakashi-senpai."
His scarlet Sharingan eyes were fixed directly on Kakashi.
"Itachi…"
Kakashi let out a quiet sigh. He knew this former subordinate fairly well.
Especially after hearing that Itachi's eyes had grown even more powerful following the Uchiha clan massacre—he would not be easy to handle.
But no matter what, this fight was unavoidable. As a Konoha jōnin, it was his duty to deal with this rogue ninja!
Originally, he had planned to handle it all alone. Now, however, he had to find a way to support his student as well.
"If I were you, I'd consider backing off."
As Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector to reveal his own Sharingan, his tone, echoing Gen's earlier words, turned cold.
"But it doesn't matter. As long as I can stall you until ANBU reinforcements arrive—that will be enough. This ends today."
"Perhaps."
Itachi remained indifferent on the surface, but chakra had already begun circulating within him.
"Kakashi-senpai might come out of this fine. But what about your student?"
With that, Itachi made the first move. The two of them clashed in an instant!
...
"Kid… if you had turned back earlier, none of this would be happening."
Elsewhere, Juzo moved with astonishing speed. His massive blade felt weightless in his hands.
Each swing stirred up a deafening roar, smashing through nearby trees and stones with ease.
But Gen didn't respond—he simply kept dodging with nimble footwork.
Truthfully, he did want to run.
But the moment he saw the two opponents, he felt like he'd figured out what Kakashi's [exclusive mission] entailed.
And as luck would have it, he'd also received a new side mission.
[New Side Mission Acquired]
[Kakashi's New Moonlight]
[Let Kakashi realize who truly matters to him now!]
Reading this, Gen felt a twinge of resistance in his heart. But since the battle was inevitable, he might as well accept the task.
And besides—he had some confidence. He couldn't win, but stalling shouldn't be too hard.
Even if he had been bluffing, there was still Itachi, who thought of himself as a Konoha spy.
Surely, the last thing he wanted was to run into real Konoha shinobi. Maybe all Gen had to do was give him a reason he couldn't refuse.
And if that failed—well, Gen was still fast.
"Well then—"
[Whoosh—]
After dodging another vicious strike from Juzo, chakra surged and boiled through Gen's body.
"Let's see how my Purple Lightning stacks up!"
But at that exact moment, Juzo's Executioner's Blade once again came slashing down—this time completely silent.
[Boom—]
Biwa Jūzō brought his massive blade down in a clean, brutal arc—directly striking Kitagawa Gen.
But in the blink of an eye, the 'Gen' before him collapsed into a puddle of mud on the ground.
"A Mud Clone?"
Biwa Jūzō frowned. He hadn't noticed when the brat cast the jutsu.
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—]
At that very moment, a hailstorm of senbon and kunai came flying at him from all directions!
"Tch. Child's play."
With a snort, Biwa Jūzō swept his Executioner's Blade in a blinding arc, producing dazzling trails of motion.
With the screech of clashing metal, he expertly deflected every single incoming weapon with terrifying precision.
He was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Just his kenjutsu alone was enough to deal with most enemies.
And in the midst of parrying the projectiles, he had already locked onto Kitagawa Gen's location.
"Found you, brat."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Gen didn't hold back in the slightest. Without hesitation, he formed the hand seals and launched a massive fireball straight at Biwa Jūzō.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Jūzō didn't dare underestimate him. A shinobi couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.
Even a jōnin could be taken out by a genin if caught off guard.
And besides, part of him was still wary of the ANBU reinforcements Gen had mentioned—he wasn't about to go easy.
[Sizzle—]
The roaring fireball slammed into the surging wall of water, instantly generating a massive cloud of steam.
Within moments, a dense mist of scalding vapor filled the surroundings, completely obscuring the battlefield.
Gen frowned slightly at the situation. Without missing a beat, he began forming seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
With a thud, several thick walls of earth rose up from the ground around him, forming a protective barrier.
"His hand seals are fast…"
Inside the mist, Biwa Jūzō watched intently. He had long been used to the thick fogs of the Land of Water—this was nothing to him.
Soon, he shook his head with a sneer and formed seals of his own.
"How foolish. Trying to fight a Mist ninja in the mist? If that's the case…"
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
Chakra surged within Jūzō like a storm. A massive water dragon rose from the mist with a roar, smashing through the fog and crashing toward the earthen walls with ferocity.
[Boom—]
In an instant, Gen's Earth-Style Wall was shattered by the ferocious dragon. His clone was reduced to a spray of water droplets and rubble.
At that same moment, Biwa Jūzō vanished in a flicker, lunging forward.
The defense was down. There was no way he'd let this opportunity slip by.
"Hm?"
But as he dodged the flying debris and droplets, something suddenly felt… off.
A strange chakra surged into the air—wild and unrestrained. It sent a chill through him.
"What… is this?"
Peering through the mist and rubble, he saw Gen standing there, eyes tightly shut.
But what stunned him most… was the eerie purple lightning crackling around the boy's body.
Vivid arcs of violet lightning danced and flared, casting radiant hues through the fog like ghostly neon.
"I've been waiting for you."
At that moment, Gen opened his eyes and lifted his head, a calm smile spreading across his face.
"And thank you... for giving me the perfect battlefield."
As soon as he spoke, the purple lightning exploded outward—like a dam bursting, flooding the mist with violent energy.
Biwa Jūzō's face paled. He could only watch in horror as the arcs of lightning raced toward him—carried by the countless airborne droplets.