"Has the development already reached eighty-two percent?"
Looking at his own panel, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help feeling a wave of emotion in his heart.
After working hard for so many years, he was finally getting closer and closer to completely unlocking the power of his own bloodline.
Thinking back on all those years of "sweat and hard work," he felt that everything he had gained was a reward he rightly deserved!
Although that "sweat and hard work" had often appeared on other people's faces,
at the very least, he really had worked hard.
"This time's increase, besides the tremendous changes to my body, also seems to have given me a new perspective on how I view this world."
Shaking his head, Kitagawa Gen began carefully observing the changes within himself.
"My control over chakra has also become far more effortless along with the fusion of those bloodlines inside me, and…"
Lifting his head slightly, a shimmering light flowed across his eyes. Now he could see those spatial nodes with much greater clarity.
"Is it Urashiki's talent taking effect?"
Kitagawa Gen pondered silently. Because what he had now was not only a change in spatial talent.
Even his control over the power of time had shown significant improvement—this change was basically identical to what he had felt during his previous enhancements, and it had even grown stronger.
"If that's really the case, then Urashiki's value has increased even further."
For some reason, the first words that came to mind were—sustainable use, and draining the pond to catch the fish!
Urashiki was practically a treasure trove: his energy allowed Kitagawa Gen to grow, his dōjutsu helped Kitagawa Gen advance, and even his body could be used to grow trees.
"A real treasure…"
In fact, it wasn't just Ōtsutsuki Urashiki—almost every Ōtsutsuki had similar effects.
Of course, too many wouldn't be good either; Kitagawa Gen also feared flipping the cart.
"These few I have now are enough. But speaking of growing trees…"
He lowered his head and looked at the towering giant tree beneath his feet. He had discovered that this thing seemed to have returned to that period when he had been feeding it with Kaguya's chakra.
"Only, the situation this time is somewhat different again."
With the chakra of all Nine Tailed Beasts converging together, his Divine Tree had finally managed to assemble every "category" of chakra belonging to itself.
"But the key is that this convergence of powers needs to undergo a new round of fusion, while also filling the entire Divine Tree."
And his Divine Tree was simply far too large!
"Kaguya's chakra and Isshiki's chakra—these two forces nurturing it together have already made my Divine Tree absurdly huge."
On top of that, what he had collected was chakra itself, not the Tailed Beasts, while the Divine Tree still had to continuously provide energy for him to complete his "evolution."
"So is that why my Divine Tree can't quite develop properly? Though the problem isn't that big."
Kitagawa Gen no longer paid too much attention to his Divine Tree. This issue really wasn't hard to solve—he only needed to cut off the Divine Tree's energy supply to him.
It wouldn't take much time for this Divine Tree to complete its own metamorphosis, and the impact on Kitagawa Gen would actually be minimal.
With Urashiki's energy, as well as the energy of Isshiki's "White Kāma," his development had reached eighty-two percent.
At this point, he really didn't lack that bit of energy from the Divine Tree; he could completely afford to wait for it.
"This way, I can use Urashiki's corpse to grow a tree, and now the Divine Tree's metamorphosis has also bought me time."
Kitagawa Gen had always been wondering whether an Ōtsutsuki corpse—especially one that had used a "Kāma"—could actually be used to grow a tree.
And there was, in fact, exactly one person in the entire shinobi world with hands-on experience in that matter.
And Kitagawa Gen had long wanted to meet that person; he also wanted to see this person's attitude.
"Perfect. Now I can settle all these questions at once, so—"
"Time to go meet this Rabbit Goddess!"
...
"I really didn't expect such a huge revelation this time."
A few days later, inside the Hokage's office.
Konohagakure's new and old upper ranks had gathered here for a meeting, and after listening to the report, Hiruzen couldn't help massaging his brow.
"If not for Gen, and for the two of you acting together, the Akatsuki would likely have succeeded."
"Kiri's defenses were actually already decent, but the Akatsuki aren't people who joke around."
Senju Tobirama shook his head, and Senju Hashirama also sighed with emotion.
"Especially the battle between those two Ōtsutsuki—thank goodness that Ōtsutsuki Genshiki pinned down the other one completely. Otherwise, the Land of Water might have been sunk."
"Hey, why do you sound like you're actually grateful to that Ōtsutsuki Genshiki?"
Senju Tobirama frowned, but Senju Hashirama simply spread his hands.
"When I fought Madara back then, you know the kind of destruction we caused. If Ōtsutsuki Genshiki hadn't ended it that quickly, that would've been the real disaster."
"I think instead of talking about that, we should think about what's happening a month from now."
Seeing the two brothers start butting heads again, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help interrupting them.
"In one month, the Kage Summit will be held. For now, we can confirm that Iwagakure and Kirigakure will be coming to Konohagakure. As the host village, we need to be prepared."
After the mission ended, Terumi Mei had also made it clear on behalf of Kirigakure that they would participate in this Kage Summit.
And one month was plenty of time for them to choose their team properly and to deal with the matters in the Land of Water.
Both the Land of Earth and the Land of Water had ended up in a miserable state because of the battle's impact.
The Land of Earth had it worst in Iwagakure's case—the entire village had been wiped out. If not for the fact they had plenty of "earth-and-timber big brothers," they wouldn't have rebuilt so quickly.
However, their personnel losses were significant, and most of their work now was post-disaster recovery.
As for the Land of Water, Kirigakure itself had no major issue, but many of their regions had been pounded until the terrain was completely reshaped!
Their scattered settlements greatly increased the difficulty of rescue work, and since they didn't have that many "earth-and-timber big brothers," it was giving them an even bigger headache.
They also needed that one month to stabilize the situation in the Land of Water—and that month also gave Konohagakure time to prepare.
"Even though we still haven't heard anything from Sunagakure, since Iwagakure and Kirigakure are coming, we need to prepare regardless."
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin as he spoke, and this received unanimous agreement from Jiraiya and Kakashi.
"Yeah, we absolutely can't let this turn into another Chūnin Exams situation."
"And we also need to choose a good location. We can't hold it in Konohagakure."
The effectively semi-retired Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura couldn't help exchanging a glance when they heard this discussion, and then spoke up.
"Since this is an alliance, we need to show adequate respect. And I think this one month should also be used to let the Fifth Hokage prepare."
"Huh?"
Kitagawa Gen pointed at himself in disbelief and asked with confusion.
"Me? One month? Isn't that too rushed?"
"What we mean is that this time you will be the one representing us at the meeting. Your position as the Fifth Hokage is already a settled fact."
Mitokado Homura spoke, and Utatane Koharu quickly followed.
"The rest can be handled slowly—like the construction of the Hokage Rock. Those things can't be rushed. But you should start gradually taking over the duties of the Hokage."
"Is that so?"
Kitagawa Gen turned his head to look at the Hokage Rock outside, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
Everyone else believed the Third Hokage was "dead," and the moment people outside saw him, they addressed him as the Fifth Hokage.
And now, he really had to take over all these messy responsibilities?
Even though he didn't oppose it—Konoha was his to begin with—he still felt a bit strange about it.
"What's wrong? Weren't you always pretty confident?"
Kakashi walked over, threw an arm around his shoulder just like old times, and spoke with a smile.
"Why do you look so hesitant now?"
"Gen, I told you long ago—being Hokage isn't easy. But unfortunately…"
Jiraiya laughed beside them.
"You're probably not getting out of it."
"I don't think there's anything difficult about it. After all, I have my own way of handling things."
Kitagawa Gen snapped out of it and shook his head with a smile.
This wasn't a problem for him at all. For administrative affairs, he had Nara Shikaku and Nara Shikamaru—and if worst came to worst, the Third Hokage could even be rehired.
For the Root, he had Senju Tobirama—who could even run experiments if needed—and the Medical Department already had Tsunade.
As for pure fighters, he had Naruto, Sasuke, and even Jiraiya and Senju Hashirama. He was practically a "Supreme Ruler from behind the scenes." How could he possibly let himself become a workhorse?
"And what I'm thinking about the most right now… is something else."
"What is it?"
"The budget for constructing a statue—how much do we have?"
"?"
"I'm even younger than the Fourth Hokage. As the youngest Hokage in Konoha's history, shouldn't we hire the best sculptor in the entire shinobi world to build mine?"
"…"
"Konoha—and I—can't afford to lose face on something like that!"
"…"
With just that one sentence, Kitagawa Gen left everyone present completely speechless.
He hadn't even officially taken office yet, and this was the first thing he thought about?
And he wanted the best sculptor in the entire shinobi world?
This…
"I'll think of a way to handle the budget issue."
Hiruzen rubbed his brow in frustration. He didn't even want to bother arguing anymore—after all, he was about to be freed from all this anyway!
But Kitagawa Gen didn't stop there; instead, he continued speaking.
"Besides that, there's something else I've been thinking about. Since almost all the Hokage are here now, the Fourth shouldn't remain asleep."
"Hm?!"
Everyone present froze for a moment, but they immediately understood. Jiraiya even spoke up in urgency.
"Gen, have you already found a way?"
"Yes."
Kitagawa Gen nodded with a smile.
"Before we set out for the Land of Water, I actually already had a method. I just lacked some necessary materials. But now that issue has been resolved."
"It's been resolved?"
Senju Hashirama asked in disbelief, while Senju Tobirama questioned with curiosity.
"You really found a way to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal?"
"Not only that—even the problem concerning Kakashi-sensei's father… I think I have a way to handle that too."
Kitagawa Gen kept smiling, and this left Kakashi completely stunned.
The list for Konohagakure's Impure World Reincarnation attempts had been completed long ago, and naturally, Hatake Sakumo was included.
He had been the first person they attempted to summon. But strangely, no matter what they did, they couldn't bring him forth.
Because of that, the subsequent Impure World Reincarnation experiments had all halted. After all, no one knew what had gone wrong.
And now they discovered Kitagawa Gen had been investigating it as well?
"Gen… you found the answer?"
Kakashi asked softly, dazed and unsure.
Mixed with the daze was a hint of confusion—he himself wasn't even certain whether he was prepared to face his father.
"I found it."
Kitagawa Gen nodded. This latest enhancement had given him a far clearer "perspective" to observe this world.
He remembered that Hatake Sakumo was lodged in the gap between the Pure Land and the living world.
A place like that would be incredibly difficult for the Impure World Reincarnation to reach.
But Kitagawa Gen now was different.
'Besides… Hatake Sakumo isn't the only one there.'
Kitagawa Gen's smile brightened even more. Nohara Rin was also there!
And he had said he would give Uchiha Obito a surprise.
So naturally—he had to follow through. That was his nindō.
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