Target: The Mizukage!

Konoha's village gate.

Kitagawa Gen had gotten up early and headed over to assemble.

His one "little act of willfulness" seemed to have persuaded Hiruzen Sarutobi. At the very least, he had received the Anbu's notice last night.

"But did I forget something?"

As Kitagawa Gen walked, he couldn't help thinking. He kept feeling that after saying goodbye to Naruto and Hiruzen Sarutobi yesterday, he had forgotten to do something.

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it, because he had spotted Jiraiya and Kakashi!

"Morning, Teacher Kakashi, Lord Jiraiya."

Kitagawa Gen rubbed his face, put on a smile, and only then walked over.

"You little..."

Before Kakashi could speak, Jiraiya opened his mouth in some displeasure.

"You really can't sit still, can you? Didn't you come with me to look for Orochimaru? Don't you know how dangerous Kirigakure is?"

Clearly, both Kakashi and Jiraiya already knew that Kitagawa Gen was going to take part in this mission.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also told them about Kitagawa Gen's value in this mission.

And they also knew that having Kitagawa Gen come along was probably the same as when they had gone looking for Orochimaru before.

It was also a hope that they would think things through more carefully and not act recklessly!

Konoha was slowly recovering its strength. It couldn't afford more turmoil.

But understanding was one thing; a headache was still a headache.

"I know, but I think I still have the ability to protect myself."

Kitagawa Gen shrugged and said with a smile.

"And I don't have teammates I graduated with. Teacher Kakashi and Teacher Jiraiya are the companions I cherish most, so I also want to do what I can."

"You brat."

Jiraiya shook his head, torn between tears and laughter. Kakashi could not help speaking up at this point too.

"Gen, this mission won't be simple. It won't be like before. You need to be mentally prepared."

"I understand."

Kitagawa Gen smiled. He knew that both Kakashi and Jiraiya were worried about him, and even if they nagged a little, he did not mind.

Besides, this mission really was different from before. The danger level was simply too high.

"In that case, let's get ready to set out."

Seeing this, Kakashi simply nodded, but soon he smiled.

"And you don't need to be too nervous, either. No matter what, I'll protect you."

"Tch, no need for you to go to the trouble. This great sage will keep an eye on this brat too."

Jiraiya also gave a light snort from the side, then smiled and spoke.

"All right, let's go. There's still a pile of things to deal with over in Kirigakure."

With that, he turned and set off directly. Kakashi and Kitagawa Gen exchanged a glance, then quickly followed.

In truth, neither of them wanted Kitagawa Gen to take part in this mission, but Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders were not something they could easily disobey.

But in their hearts, they had already made up their minds!

No matter what, no matter the cost, they would protect this kid.

A few days later, they took a boat to the Land of Waves.

"I really didn't think I'd come here again."

Kakashi looked at everything around him and couldn't help rubbing the back of his head.

"Last time I came, my luck wasn't too good. I actually ran into Itachi Uchiha and Biwa Juzo. But it was also because I happened to run into them that..."

"All right, don't say anymore. That's all in the past."

Jiraiya patted Kakashi on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"People have to look forward. Besides, it wasn't exactly a bad thing. At least we figured out quite a few things, right, brat?"

"Mm."

Kitagawa Gen also looked around. Coming here last time had not been a bad thing for him.

Although he had run into Biwa Juzo, he had managed to get one over on him with Purple Lightning, and he had gained quite a few benefits too.

However, he had always had one regret.

"Teacher Kakashi, I heard from Konoha's merchants that Gato from the Land of Waves is getting more and more out of line. Should we..."

"Stop!"

Before Kitagawa Gen could finish speaking, Kakashi's expression immediately changed, and he hurriedly cut Kitagawa Gen off.

"We have more important things to do right now. Don't create unnecessary complications, understand?

Right now, we need to focus our energy on the mission!"

Kakashi just did not understand why Kitagawa Gen was always fixated on that Gato.

He admitted that Gato did indeed seem a little excessive, and that fellow really was rich.

But the problem was that there was no connection at all. How was that any different from robbery?

Konoha had a reputation to uphold.

"You little brat."

Jiraiya also found it a little hard to keep a straight face. He seemed to recall Kitagawa Gen's outrageous argument from before.

Now he was also wondering what exactly the Ninja Academy was teaching for Kitagawa Gen to have developed this sort of personality.

"Of course I know that, but I have my reasons too."

Kitagawa Gen looked somewhat innocent. Admittedly, he really had been eyeing Gato's money, but at this moment, he truly did not have that idea.

After all, once they were done, how would they retrieve the money?

Besides, it was not as if there would be no chance in the future.

"Teacher Kakashi, Lord Jiraiya, in order to better control the Land of Waves, what do you think Gato would do?"

"You mean..."

Kakashi and Jiraiya were both elites. Kitagawa Gen's words seemed to awaken them.

"He'd use ninja to control it? Wandering ninja, and rogue ninja?"

Konoha gathered intelligence on the surrounding small nations, but all of that was collected by the Anbu. Kakashi had long since left the Anbu, while Jiraiya would not concern himself with such things.

It was normal not to pay too much attention to certain things, just like when Kakashi would lead a team to the Land of Waves in the future and completely fail to anticipate encountering those rogue ninja from Kirigakure.

But once these matters were pointed out a little, they immediately reacted.

"Right. Wandering ninja and rogue ninja, especially rogue ninja."

Kitagawa Gen nodded.

"From the intelligence we already know, Kirigakure is in complete chaos right now. I'm afraid many ninja may flee, so..."

"So the most convenient direction for them to escape would most likely be the Land of Waves, and the Land of Waves also has a tyrant like Gato."

By now, Jiraiya already understood Kitagawa Gen's thinking, and he could not help nodding lightly.

"If that's the case, relying on these people's understanding of Kirigakure might save us some trouble."

"Indeed."

Kakashi also nodded, but the look he gave Kitagawa Gen seemed a little strange, because he did not even know what to say.

He felt that the reason Kitagawa Gen could think so much was most likely still because he was eyeing Gato's money.

Only, while eyeing it, he had actually managed to make it useful in another area?

"Also, Lord Jiraiya, do you still remember what I told you last time?"

Just then, Kitagawa Gen spoke again, causing Jiraiya to pause.

After thinking back for a moment, he quickly remembered.

"You mean that there's someone behind Obito Uchiha, and that he was incited into hating Konoha?"

"Mm. I've been thinking about this matter the whole time, and I have an even more frightening guess."

At this point, Kitagawa's expression became even more solemn.

"Although Teacher Kakashi's teammate died because of an accident, in the end, it was still because of Kirigakure. That hatred may be difficult for that guy to resolve.

Add in his hatred toward Konoha, and the Nine-Tails Incident. If all these things are connected, would you say this could be a rehearsal?"

"A rehearsal?"

Those words made both their expressions change outright.

Thinking about it carefully, it really was not impossible, especially since that guy had, barring any accident, truly come to Konoha to cause trouble!

Even though he had failed, it was hard to say he would not continue, and Kirigakure itself had a grudge with him, so using Kirigakure as an experiment...

"If that's the case, things are even more troublesome."

Kakashi's expression was somewhat complicated, but very quickly, it became cold and serious.

"That's right."

Jiraiya also nodded. He had realized the severity of the problem as well.

"The Mizukage was probably not hired. It's very likely..."

"We'll only know once we get there, but we also have a clear plan and target now, don't we?"

Kitagawa Gen smiled. He had waited a long time for this.

Since they wanted to catch Obito Uchiha, the simplest method was none other than going straight to find the Mizukage!

As long as they fixed their target on the Mizukage, many things would become simple.

"Now, all we're missing is someone to lead the way..."

Kitagawa Gen thought this to himself, but very soon, he noticed that someone seemed to be walking over from not far away.