In Leaf Village: Starting by Slapping White Fang — Chapter 18

As he spoke, Genetsu slowly raised his blade and said disdainfully,

"But he had another problem: weakness. He was so weak that he was cowardly. Forget having no evidence—even if he had it, he wouldn't dare do anything."

Slash—

The sword light fell, along with Sarutobi Shinnosuke's head.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Genetsu did not sheath his blade. Instead, as though slicing potatoes, he slashed dozens more times.

He truly cut Sarutobi Shinnosuke's corpse into dozens of pieces.

Then, as if sweeping the floor, he swept them into the pile of corpses beside him.

There were corpses everywhere in the Land of Rain anyway. One more made no difference.

That was also the main reason Genetsu had chosen to act in the Land of Rain.

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"The Second Kazekage probably died within the past few years, right? It hasn't been long, but just to be safe, I should make a trip there."

Genetsu did not spare another glance at the stack of "potato slices" in the nearby corpse pile as he began considering his next route.

The Third Great Ninja War, which would occur about six years from now in the original story, had been caused by the Third Kazekage's disappearance.

By that logic, the Second Kazekage, Saimon, was bound to die within those six years.

If he simply went back now, it would be easy for flaws to appear.

He should still make the trip.

Genetsu was quite interested in crossing blades with the Second Kazekage, the developer of the Puppet Technique and Magnet Release.

It would probably raise the system abilities' development level by another tier.

"Hmm?"

Genetsu turned his gaze toward the left.

Four presences were approaching.

Like criminals in Conan's world.

As a fellow murderer, Genetsu did not rush to leave just because outsiders had arrived.

Instead, he waited where he was.

Of course, it was not because he was as brain-dead as the criminals in Conan's world.

He intended to wipe out the newcomers and eliminate the roots completely.

However, once he saw who they were—

Genetsu lowered the right hand resting on his sword hilt.

There was no need to eliminate the roots.

Because he knew the newcomer—

A former classmate, one of the Sannin, Mad Ghost Jiraiya.

"...Is, is that Genetsu?"

Jiraiya stared at him in surprise. Relying on the Hatake Clan's distinctive white hair, he scrutinized him wide-eyed for quite a while before finally calling out his name.

"I never thought I'd run into you here, Jiraiya."

Even Genetsu, a transmigrator, had not expected to encounter Jiraiya in the Land of Rain.

Come to think of it, Tsunade had mentioned it before.

After his battle with Hanzō in the Land of Rain back then,

he had not gone on to the next battlefield with her and Orochimaru. Instead, he had remained in the Land of Rain to care for three little brats.

"Seriously... plans can't keep up with changes."

Genetsu could not help shaking his head. Then his gaze shifted to the child versions of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.

Especially Nagato.

Beneath the Uzumaki Clan's distinctive red bangs were the Rinnegan, eyes that, once obtained, were practically equivalent to joining the world's top tier of combat power.

Should I dig them out?

Genetsu could not help entertaining the malicious thought.

Of course, he did not covet the Rinnegan's abilities, nor was he like Fifty-Fifty, forcibly stuffing eyes unsuitable for his body into himself

and ending up constantly short on chakra.

The abilities the system had granted him were already no weaker than the Rinnegan.

Not to mention that he had no idea what level they would grow to in the future.

Genetsu merely felt that without the Rinnegan, there would be far fewer troublesome affairs.

But after thinking it over, he decided against it.

Nagato had not done anything wrong yet. Digging out someone's eyes for no reason

would be going a little too far.

"You've always lived a secluded life in the mountains. Why are you in the war-torn Land of Rain?"

Jiraiya asked in confusion.

"To assassinate the Second Kazekage."

Genetsu's casual reply instantly made the expressions of the master and his three students drastically change.

"As-assassinate the Second Kazekage..."

Jiraiya swallowed.

Although he was one of the few who had known Genetsu's true strength long ago,

he still could not help shuddering upon suddenly hearing about such a horrifying mission.

"I'll explain the reason later."

Genetsu shifted his gaze back to the future three leaders of Akatsuki.

"So these are the disciples you stayed in the Land of Rain to adopt?"

Genetsu gently rubbed Konan's little head twice.

A beauty doomed to die young—those words described women like Konan.

She had hardly lived a comfortable day in her entire life.

Konan blinked her large eyes and looked at Genetsu with slight bewilderment.

Why was this person touching someone's head the first time they met?

He felt a little frivolous...

"Yeah. I came to say goodbye to them today. Now that they have the strength to protect themselves in this war-torn country, it's time for me to return to Leaf Village."

After Jiraiya said this, the atmosphere immediately turned sorrowful.

All three lowered their heads, their voices tinged with tears. "Sensei..."

"Then come with me."

Genetsu did not say anything more to Konan. Turning to Jiraiya, he said, "Let's go kill the Kazekage."

Genetsu did not say much to these three equally tragic children.

More accurately, there was really nothing to say.

After all, Genetsu could not exactly tell them not to trust some Masked Man because he was a walking disaster, could he?

That Masked Man was still only a six-year-old little brat.

Saying it would not accomplish anything, and Genetsu himself would most likely be treated like a lunatic.

"Hatred only creates a new chain of hatred. What you're doing is wrong!"

Suddenly, Konan raised her little head and shouted at Genetsu.

"Huh?"

Genetsu looked down at the Big Loli's stubborn face. The next second, he laughed speechlessly and pinched her cheek. "You're so innocent. The world will beat that out of you someday."

Konan puffed out her cheeks in anger, already equating Genetsu with the words Annoying Ghost in her heart.

"Jiraiya, it's one thing for you to believe the words of an animal, but could you not teach kids that stuff?"

Genetsu turned to Jiraiya and said with an amused smile.

Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Naruto Uzumaki.

These three generations of master and disciple could practically be called some of the rare few people in the Naruto world who had no black marks to dig up.

But ever since Jiraiya had accidentally reached Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sage Regions, as a child,

he had firmly believed in the so-called prophecies of an animal known as the Great Toad Sage.

He had successively judged Nagato, Minato, and Naruto to be Children of Prophecy.

In the original story, during his battle against Pain, he had had a chance to escape.

But because he firmly believed in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, he had actively chosen death.

In Genetsu's view, Jiraiya had spent his entire life living for others.

People said he was carefree, but in truth, he was not as carefree as Tsunade or Orochimaru.

Jiraiya tried to argue,

"But that is the Great Toad Sage, who has lived from the era of the Sage of Six Paths until now. It—"

"Come to think of it, isn't it already strange enough to give livestock like toads the title 'Sage'? They weren't humans to begin with, were they?"

Genetsu chuckled, then released Konan's cheek and said,

"After you say goodbye to your disciples, we'll set off."

Jiraiya let out a heavy breath.

Forget it. Ever since they were children, he had never won an argument against this White Hair.

He turned his gaze back to his three disciples, especially Nagato. Because of the Rinnegan,

Jiraiya had already completely regarded him as the Child of Prophecy.

"Seeing that you can stand on your own now, I can leave without worry, Yahiko, Konan, and... Nagato."

Jiraiya said with a gratified smile.

"Sensei..."