Mission Complete

Bang—

Under Wood Release's attack, Kitagawa Gen's Shadow Clone instantly turned into smoke.

And Obito Uchiha's mask shattered at that very moment!

If he had not dodged quickly, his head would probably have been blown apart on the spot.

"Damn brat!"

Obito Uchiha glared at Kitagawa Gen through gritted teeth. Though he was Kenji, he was not stupid right now.

He had already realized exactly what was going on!

"That brat used Earth Release Barrier to block my line of sight, then used a Lightning Clone to put pressure on me, and finally forced me to transfer the kunai through Kamui. So he turned a clone into the kunai?"

The trick was not complicated. It had even relied only on an information gap. But the problem was—

"How did that brat know my intel? Could it be that he analyzed it even faster than Minato Namikaze?!"

Obito Uchiha's face was full of disbelief, but at this moment, he had no time to think too much.

Whoosh—

Along with a series of sounds, several Anbu sealed off the surroundings. They stood high on the rooftops and eaves, blades in hand, staring fixedly at Obito Uchiha.

Not only that, Obito Uchiha also saw Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others looking over, and among the crowd, he saw the person he least wanted to see!

"Kakashi..."

Though Kakashi's spirit was still listless, he quickly moved together with Guy.

Only, every one of them had rather strange looks in their eyes. They had all seen Kitagawa Gen pierce straight through the body of the man before them with their own eyes.

But the damned thing was, this guy was actually fine. Only his mask had been smashed.

"That... that's..."

When Guy and Kakashi saw this guy's face, Kakashi's mind instantly went blank. That special sense of familiarity surfaced in him.

Not only him—even Guy, who had brought him over, looked puzzled. Then he quietly asked Kakashi beside him,

"Kakashi, why does this guy look kind of familiar?"

"Who are you? Why have you come to Konoha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward. He did not feel this guy looked familiar, but his gaze was fixed on the wooden spike in Obito Uchiha's hand, as well as that scarlet Sharingan!

"Wood Release? And Sharingan?"

His heart secretly sank. It was not just him—the eyes of Shimura Danzō beside him were also filled with astonishment.

That night, had it not been handled cleanly?

How could a threat have been left behind?

Could it be that Itachi Uchiha had played him?

"Hmph!"

Obito Uchiha gave a cold snort. He staggered to his feet, and his figure instantly became distorted.

His gaze swept over everyone, then finally landed again on Kitagawa Gen, who had already returned to standing in front of Sasuke and Naruto.

He knew that everything he had wanted to do today could no longer continue. He did not want to be surrounded by Konoha's people!

Especially since this brat seemed to have figured out his intel.

"It doesn't matter who I am. After all, we'll meet again."

"Attack!"

The surrounding ninja did not know what was going on, but Shimura Danzō was truly anxious. He immediately shouted.

The moment his voice fell, several kunai had already flown out, arriving before Obito in an instant.

Clang—

Clang—

Clang—

Those kunai passed straight through Obito Uchiha's body and nailed into the ground behind him, as if he had no shadow or form at all. And Obito Uchiha also vanished.

"He's gone?"

Jiraiya frowned. He quickly ran to Naruto and began checking him, but soon let out a breath of relief.

"The seal is fine, but some Chakra leaked out. Looks like that guy has quite the temper."

"Gen, what's going on here?"

Guy also supported Kakashi as they came before Kitagawa Gen. His words instantly drew the gazes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.

"Teacher Guy, I'm not too clear on the specifics either."

Kitagawa Gen immediately put on an innocent expression, though he felt somewhat regretful inside.

Damn it, he ran so fast!

At least leave me an arm before running, would you?

But after glancing at Kakashi, who was currently in a daze, he could not help nodding again.

Since things had come to this, he would do the mission first.

"When Naruto and I were going home together, we happened to run into Sasuke. Who knew that at that moment, I sensed someone following us. I secretly glanced at how he was dressed and confirmed he wasn't from Konoha, so..."

It was not that he could not explain that he had sensed the enemy. It was just that his identity had been confirmed by the system, so this was all he could say.

"So you struck first?"

Jiraiya looked at the blazing flames off to the side, then nodded.

"And incidentally, to notify us?"

"Yes."

Kitagawa Gen immediately nodded. After thinking for a moment, he continued.

"And that guy, if nothing unexpected happened, should be in the same group as Biwa Juzo and Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke and I talked about this before. He didn't deny it, and he also had a Sharingan."

"That's possible."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded from the side, but this only made him feel an even worse headache!

However, he still had questions in his heart, so he walked up to Kitagawa Gen. A barely kind smile appeared on his old face.

"Gen, you came into contact with that guy and even fought him. What do you think of him?"

That guy's direct disappearance just now had truly made Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelids twitch. Not only that, the wooden spike in the man's hand made his heart chill even more.

Yet Kitagawa Gen, this brat, seemed to have made that guy suffer a big loss. That meant Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to ask properly.

"Hokage."

Kitagawa Gen was still relatively respectful. After thinking for a moment, he continued speaking.

"That guy seems to know a very special space-time technique. It transfers things, including himself. No matter how you attack, it's very hard to hit him.

Because I ambushed him in advance, I discovered this trait. Sasuke and Naruto both saw him ignore the flames."

As he spoke, he turned to look at those two little guys.

However, one of them already looked somewhat dumbfounded, as if he had no idea what was going on at all, while the other was being worked on by Jiraiya, who seemed to be strengthening the seal.

Still, Sasuke came back to his senses and nodded with a somewhat complicated expression. Only, his gaze could not help turning toward Kitagawa Gen.

This guy...

Was that strong?!

"A space-time technique?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's scalp tingled. He naturally knew how powerful this kind of technique was. Minato Namikaze had been very skilled with the Flying Thunder God Technique!

"Right, Hokage."

Just as he was about to ask Kitagawa Gen how he had made that guy suffer a loss, Kitagawa Gen suddenly spoke.

"That guy was a little strange. The moment he made a move, Naruto had a very strong reaction and became like this. There might be something wrong here. After all, Naruto..."

"A very strong reaction?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's forehead twitched. What Jiraiya had said just now was, "that guy has quite the temper."

Suddenly, a rather bad thought emerged in his mind.

Could it be...

"Besides that, while I was waiting for reinforcements, he said, 'Konoha's people are always late,' and he seemed to be carrying a lot of resentment."

Seeing that no one responded, Kitagawa Gen simply continued speaking.

"And he seems to have some connection to Teacher Kakashi."

"Kakashi?"

Those words instantly made everyone look toward Kakashi, who was still somewhat dazed, while Kitagawa Gen's voice rang out again.

"Mm. He kept saying Teacher Kakashi was trash. From the looks of it, they seem to have a grudge against each other."

"Besides that, his Sharingan was in his right eye, while Teacher Kakashi's is in his left. Could there be some connection there?"

"!!!"

This series of words instantly stimulated everyone's nerves, while Kakashi's already blank eyes became even more hollow at that moment.

"Hey, hey, hey, could that guy be..."

Guy could not help muttering quietly from the side, but soon fell silent again.

Because that person had died in the line of duty as a hero of Konoha!

For a moment, everyone seemed somewhat silent.

Even Kitagawa Gen could not help glancing at Kakashi, inwardly saying, I'm sorry.

But very soon, his eyelid suddenly twitched, and then he lowered his head slightly.

Side Quest completed: Dead Last, Don't Be Arrogant

Calculating reward

Kakashi-exclusive mission completed: help Kakashi find his friend, Obito Uchiha

Calculating reward

Seeing these prompts, he could not help pursing his lips.

"Some things are better to hurt sooner than later."