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NBB Chapter 124: Not Just a Pretty Eye
🕑 Added 2025-08-02 00:25:03 +0000 UTC“Finally heading home.”
While Orochimaru silently plotted his next move, in the Land of Rivers, Kakashi, Guy, and Kitagawa Gen were finally on their way back home.
“Come to think of it, the Akatsuki’s operation this time was a bit odd.”
After leaving the Land of Wind, with no ANBU following them, Guy finally felt free to speak his mind.
“They were still as troublesome as ever, but… I got the sense they weren’t quite as dangerous as we expected.”
“Maybe most of their attention was focused on the treasure in Rōran,” Kakashi replied. His recovery was going smoothly, and after thinking it over, he finally spoke.
“Still, their behavior was definitely unusual. It felt like they were testing us.”
“Agreed.”
Kitagawa Gen had noticed it too. In his memory, it had taken Jiraiya a long time just to confirm the Akatsuki’s movements.
After all, not everyone had the advantage of being a transmigrator, with access to all that chaotic intel from the future.
“The intel we got was oddly simple—and almost too accurate. It’s as if someone wanted us to go there.
“And there’s something else I noticed during the fight. Two squads—one from Sunagakure, one from Kumogakure—charged in while I was fighting Orochimaru.
“They attacked both me and Orochimaru simultaneously. That says a lot about their motives and allegiances… and not in a good way.”
He still remembered those who’d charged in like they were on a death mission. Unfortunately for them, their timing couldn’t have been worse—and they’d picked the wrong place too.
They arrived just as the Tenseigan’s “orbital cannon” came crashing down—leaving nothing behind, not even bones.
“They’re all dead, so let’s not bring it up again.”
Kakashi was alert. After mulling it over, he finally said, “I’ll report this to the Hokage when we return. As for Sunagakure… if they’re not saying anything, we’ll just pretend we don’t know either.
“Gen, remember this: other than our own comrades, you should never fully trust anyone else—not even allies.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, Kakashi-sensei.”
Kitagawa Gen nodded. He already understood without being told.
After all, in his memory, Sunagakure had blatantly violated their alliance agreement and even colluded with Orochimaru to attack Konoha.
“Just as I thought. Betrayals you can see aren’t scary—it’s the ones you can’t see that are terrifying.”
He muttered this casually, which made Guy raise an eyebrow in confusion, but Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.
“That’s a deep line. What made you say that?”
“Well… Uchiha—”
“…”
“Itachi!”
Seeing Kakashi’s dead fish eyes nearly roll back in exasperation, Kitagawa Gen immediately said the name aloud.
“That’s right. Who would’ve thought that guy would do something like that? A betrayal you never saw coming.”
Guy nodded at that, then suddenly perked up, curious.
“Hey, Kakashi, speaking of the Uchiha, something just came to mind.”
“Hmm?”
“Our class loser—he had spiky hair, didn’t he? Could that have been Uchiha Obito?”
“…”
Kakashi facepalmed.
Guy really had a terrible memory for faces. If he didn’t interact with someone regularly, he couldn’t remember them to save his life.
And now… his prized student might have truly been corrupted by Jiraiya’s influence.
The three of them chatted and laughed as they traveled, and after several days, they finally returned to Konohagakure.
“Gen, do you want to come with us to make the report?”
Standing at the village gate, Kakashi checked his physical condition carefully. After confirming he didn’t need to go to the hospital, he finally spoke.
“You’re about to become a jōnin anyway—it wouldn’t hurt to start getting used to it a little early.”
“Yeah. Unless something unexpected happens, this year’s evaluation will probably be handled by Tsunade-sama or Jiraiya-sama.”
Guy stroked his chin as he stood beside them, then turned to Kitagawa Gen with a smile.
“Whichever of them it is, I believe you’ll pass with no problem. Your promotion speed is already rare enough as it is!”
Graduating and becoming a jōnin within a single year—something like that may have happened before in Konoha’s history, but it was definitely an uncommon feat.
“Eh, I think I’ll just head home and rest.”
After giving it some thought, Kitagawa Gen ultimately smiled and shook his head.
“I’ll deal with the promotion when it comes. It’s only a matter of time anyway. Might as well use the break to slack off a little.”
“Suit yourself.”
Kakashi didn’t mind. After a moment of thought, he added, “By the way, in a few days I’ll introduce you to some of the other people I’m close with in the village.
“You’ve been doing missions nonstop since graduation—you don’t know many people yet, and that won’t do.
“And you are my student. If anything happens in the future, you should have people you can go to for help.”
“Sounds great. I’ve been wanting to meet some of those senpais anyway.”
Kitagawa Gen nodded with a smile. He had no reason to refuse that offer.
The shinobi who graduated with Kakashi were now the backbone of Konoha—and would remain so for years to come.
And Naruto’s generation would form the next backbone of the village.
As for someone like Gen, caught right in between, you could say he wasn’t quite at the top nor the bottom… or you could say he was in a perfect spot to benefit from both ends.
'I know everyone above me, and everyone below likes me—how can I lose?'
Kitagawa Gen was starting to feel like he was really winning.
Watching Kakashi and Guy wave him off as they turned toward the Hokage’s office, he simply turned and began walking home.
'I’m not just scraping by in Konoha—I’m thriving.'
As he strolled through the streets of the village, head tilted toward the sky, he mused silently.
'Now that I’ve shown off enough ‘talent,’ it’s time to go one step further.'
He had always planned to legitimize his jutsu. Until now, he’d played the part of someone who succeeded through sheer learning and effort—because that was the only safe option.
After all, he was just a freshly graduated genin. Talented and capable, yes—but if he went overboard, it would raise suspicion.
He needed a gradual, believable progression. Something like Minato’s story—becoming a true ninja, then undergoing a complete transformation.
'Just like those two from the Uchiha clan—already shaking the entire shinobi world at this age.'
Truth was, he had already achieved that level himself.
Now was the time to go even further.
'Kekkei Genkai…'
Kitagawa Gen didn’t plan to ask for too much. He had zero intention of letting anyone know about the Tenseigan.
Everyone needed to keep a trump card in their back pocket. The less people knew about his true capabilities, the easier it would be to strike decisively when the time came.
But Kekkei Genkai were different.
In the future, he would obtain more of them.
Revealing one or two in a believable way ahead of time would be far better than pulling them out during combat and catching unwanted attention.
"Hey, Gen? You’re back?"
"Hmm?"
Kitagawa Gen turned his head, a bit puzzled—only to see Naruto standing nearby, looking at him with a strange expression.
"Naruto?"
"Yeah, you—"
"You skipped class again, didn’t you?"
"...Can’t you ever assume something good about me, you bastard?!"
Naruto looked completely fed up. He really thought Gen was being way too unfair.
"I was training with that pervy sage, damn it! I told you I’m going to—"
"—become Hokage. Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it a million times already."
Gen didn’t even let him finish. He already knew exactly what Naruto was going to say.
"But if you’re training, what are you doing here?"
"Tch. Look around, will you?"
Naruto pointed behind him, full of grievance.
"You think I dare go in there? You think I can go in there?"
"..."
Gen turned to glance behind him—then gave Naruto a somewhat pitiful look and patted him on the shoulder.
The bathhouse was technically a proper, official one. Not the kind of “proper” you’d find in the Land of Hot Water—but even so, if Jiraiya was in there, odds were he wasn’t up to anything good.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Gen furrowed his brow and gave Naruto a strange look.
"This is…"
His hand rested casually on Naruto’s shoulder—but in that very instant, even though his vision hadn’t changed at all—
He seemed to sense it.
Deep inside Naruto, something stirred.
The Nine-Tails, hidden within him, suddenly snapped to attention—eyes flying open, fur bristling, glancing around in confusion!
And not only that—Naruto suddenly clutched his stomach.
"Ugh, it’s so hot… What the hell—"
"You’ve been standing right outside a bathhouse. Of course it’s hot."
Gen pulled his hand back and gave a casual, dismissive reply.
But inside, he hadn’t expected the Nine-Tails to be that sensitive.
'Was it triggered by my recent power-up?'
A quick glance at his panel confirmed it: ever since he’d started absorbing the Dragon Vein Chakra, which had also activated the chakra of the Three-Tails and Seven-Tails within him, the development of his bloodline had been steadily climbing.
The feeling of "boiling blood" had mostly faded now, though its aftereffects still lingered.
Obviously, those residual effects would continue for a while longer, but the impact likely wouldn’t be as strong as before.
'But that’s not the main point. The key lies in the eyes.'
Having already undergone the “indoctrination” of a Giant Tenseigan, and with the chakra of the Three-Tails and Seven-Tails still continuously pouring into his eyes—
He’d unexpectedly gained two new abilities!
'Absorption Seal. Mental Layer Dive.'
One allowed him to absorb chakra.
The other enabled him to probe a target’s memories.
You could say both were quite practical.
What puzzled him, though, was—
'Wait a second… Aren’t these Rinnegan abilities?'
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Maybe, for someone like him, whether it was the Rinnegan or the Tenseigan… they were all just products of relics left by the God Tree—nothing more.
Only by continually absorbing tailed beast chakra could he continue to evolve his bloodline, further develop his eyes.
