In Konoha, by a riverside training field—
The shadow clone of "Ōtsutsuki Genshiki"—the same one now on everyone's mind, from Hiruzen to Jiraiya—was currently with Naruto.
"Hey, Gen, did you hear? Sounds like something big just happened," Naruto said in a hushed tone, still panting as he sat slumped on the ground beside Sasuke.
"I heard a place got attacked. A lot of people died, right? And now there's a whole bunch of monks in the village."
"Really? I heard not that many people died," Kitagawa Gen's clone raised an eyebrow and then smiled as he replied.
"You seem pretty energetic, though. Both of you, get up—training's not over yet."
"Hey, hey, hey! We just finished a round of training! You can't be serious!"
Naruto's expression instantly changed. Even Sasuke couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? What about the Pervy Sage? He's the one who's supposed to be training us!"
"Tch. The Pervy Sage went to a meeting. He asked me to watch over you two for a while. You think I wanted to come here?"
Kitagawa Gen gave a light snort and shook his head. Truthfully, he had no intention of showing up—after all, he was just a shadow clone.
But since trouble had broken out at the Temple of Fire, and even Chiriku had shown up, how could Jiraiya possibly get any proper rest?
"If that Pervy Sage hadn't begged me, I wouldn't bother with you little brats."
Though that's what Kitagawa Gen's shadow clone said aloud, his mind was elsewhere—thinking about what the original was doing.
'Looks like the original made quite a mess this time. He even collapsed an entire mountain... It must've been the Akatsuki.'
Given that they shared the same source—and taking into account his past experiences—it seemed highly likely that the original had run into members of the Akatsuki.
Especially since the thing he was searching for was the same one Orochimaru had once desperately sought, which later became Uchiha Itachi's trump card—a legendary weapon.
A clash between them wasn't surprising at all. And judging from the fact that he, the clone, was still intact—it was safe to say the original had logged out after beating the hell out of those guys.
'I just don't know what the current situation is now...'
Kitagawa Gen's shadow clone was silently mulling it over—until suddenly, he felt an instability in his chakra.
'What's going on? What happened? Did something happen on the original's end?'
Although shadow clones and the original are separate, a clone is ultimately formed from chakra. If anything happens to the original, it will affect the clone as well.
Naruto had experienced this himself when the Nine-Tails' chakra went out of control—all his shadow clones had been impacted.
'The fight should be over by now, so it's either the Nine-Tails' chakra... or something related to those artifacts.'
Kitagawa Gen's clone quickly guessed as much. But even though he had a hunch—
The two sides didn't share memories, so he had no way of knowing exactly what had happened.
"Gen, what are you thinking about?"
Just then, Naruto turned and looked at Kitagawa Gen curiously.
"Why'd you suddenly go all quiet?"
"Idiot!"
Sasuke nearly lost it. He wanted nothing more than to strangle Naruto right then and there. Unlike Jiraiya, Kitagawa Gen didn't hold back when training them—he was ruthless.
And he even had the nerve to say this was "tailored to their personal development."
Even someone like Sasuke, who trained with extreme discipline, couldn't help but be annoyed. He knew this guy was just messing with them—how could he be okay with it?
"It's nothing. I was just thinking... this whole situation feels more complicated than it looks."
Kitagawa Gen's clone shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. Then he looked at the two of them with an amused smile.
"All right. Break's over. Time for the next round of training!"
"No way. You're actually serious?!"
Sasuke put a hand to his forehead in disbelief, while Naruto's eyes bulged wide as he pointed at Kitagawa Gen and shouted, "Then what about you?! Why aren't you training with us?"
"Me?"
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm a Chūnin. You two haven't even graduated from the Academy. And I'm the one assigned to train you—so why should I be the one training with you?"
"…"
"You two are really getting things backwards, huh?"
"…"
"Right now—immediately—go run ten laps around Konoha on your hands. You're not allowed to stop until you're done. Move!"
"Aaaaaargh! Damn it, Kitagawa Gen! You're going to regret this!"
"I'm the Ho—no, I'm your training Chūnin!"
Watching Sasuke and Naruto groaning and flailing as they reluctantly followed his orders, Kitagawa Gen gave a satisfied nod. But a moment later, he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
'My chakra's stabilized now… I wonder how the original is doing. Maybe he already got something out of it?'
...
Meanwhile—
While all of Konoha's upper echelon was racking their brains over the name Ōtsutsuki Genshiki, in a cave near the Temple of Fire—
Kitagawa Gen shattered a stone gate and slowly made his way deeper inside.
After a few days of solid rest, he felt fully recovered. It was time to act again.
"It's been days—Chiriku should've arrived in Konoha by now. I need to pick up the pace and prepare to head back soon."
He actually felt a bit of regret. If he hadn't run into the Akatsuki, he might've made it to the Land of Wind and secured the rest of the Dragon Vein.
"But this isn't bad either. I've located the site of a spirit weapon. Once I get it and absorb the Nine-Tails' chakra, this trip won't be a loss."
With that thought in mind, he continued deeper beyond the shattered gate.
The space was pitch dark—but it didn't affect him in the slightest. In fact, he quickly realized this was a tomb.
"Judging by the scale of the place, this must've been someone important... Could it be the tomb of one of the former Uchiha clan leaders?"
If that were true, Kitagawa Gen would be thrilled.
It would prove that his judgment had been spot on.
"Now the only question is... was this built by Indra, or was it one of the Sage of Six Paths' 'toys'?"
After all, both the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror were spiritualized artifacts—ideal weapons for wielders of Susanoo.
And coincidentally, both the Sage of Six Paths and Indra were experts in using Susanoo.
Which meant there was no way to know for sure who created this.
"But no matter who made it—it works out for me. Whether it's leftover chakra, something else, or the weapon itself, any of it suits me perfectly."
While mulling over the possibilities, he arrived at the end of the tomb passage. Before him stood a sealed wall.
"This is it?"
Kitagawa Gen's eyes suddenly shifted—transformed into a brilliant azure radiance.
"There's a barrier... and even a genjutsu laid over it. How cautious. Looks like this is the place, then…"
With that thought, he immediately pulled out a black rod and, in the next moment, lightly thrust it into the barrier on the wall!
[Buzz—]
A strange ripple of chakra spread out. And in that very instant, he could clearly feel that everything around him had changed.
His chakra was subtly stirred—and in the blink of an eye, his surroundings had completely transformed.
The tomb had vanished without a trace. He now stood atop the Hokage Tower in Konohagakure.
"Gen, the village is yours now."
Just as he frowned, he suddenly heard the voice of the Third Hokage in his ear.
Turning his head, he saw Hiruzen smiling warmly, holding the Hokage hat out to him.
"…"
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Looking down, he realized that—at some point—he was already wearing the Hokage cloak.
"You got this, Gen!"
Behind him, Kakashi gave him a grin while holding his little orange book. Jiraiya gave him a big thumbs-up.
"It's all yours now, Gen."
"Do your best, kid. Don't be like my granduncle—I want you to surpass him."
Tsunade offered her blessing as well. And below the tower, a tidal wave of cheers came crashing toward him.
The thunderous roar filled his ears. The blazing atmosphere wrapped around his entire body.
"Trapped in an illusory world of drunken dreams?"
Of course, Kitagawa Gen understood exactly what was happening. His eyes could see through it all. And despite that, he couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like… what I've found this time is the Totsuka Blade."
But just as he whispered those words—
Everything around him suddenly changed again!
The cheers vanished. The scorching sunlight disappeared. Now, he was floating in midair, the moonlight behind his back.
Though he was still wearing the Hokage cloak, beneath him lay a ruined Konoha. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Jiraiya—all of them were staring up at him.
"Why?! Why did you do this?! Why?!"
Naruto roared at him, Nine-Tails' chakra raging wildly around him.
"…"
The hell is this? Just because I saw through your illusion, now you're retaliating?
Kitagawa Gen sighed, then suddenly gave a mischievous grin.
"Why, you ask? Because the Kitagawa Gen you once knew… ceased to exist from the very beginning."
...
While Kitagawa Gen was clashing wills with the Totsuka Blade, Black Zetsu stood frozen under the sunlight, staring blankly at the sky above.
No one knew how long had passed before he finally muttered softly, "Mother... what am I supposed to do now…"
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