“Hm?”

As he led Naruto out of the room, heading toward the barbecue place, Kitagawa Gen suddenly felt his system flicker—instantly realizing what had happened.

[Naruto Exclusive Side Quest Unlocked]

[Naruto’s grades are far from ideal]

[Bear witness to the transformation of the dead-last]

[Exclusive side quests do not interfere with normal side quests]

[Accept?]

Kitagawa Gen stared in disbelief at his interface. The Naruto-exclusive quest he had been waiting for all this time… had finally arrived?

“To witness his graduation?”

Kitagawa Gen muttered unconsciously. It almost felt as if he didn’t need to do anything, and the task would still be completed.

But after thinking it over, as he walked he took off his own forehead protector and placed it on Naruto’s head.

“Dead-last, you’ve graduated.”

“Huh?”

Naruto froze, bewildered. Kitagawa Gen, however, felt a twinge of disappointment. As expected, it didn’t really work like that.

Still, no matter what, it seemed he had finally seen a glimmer of hope. And exclusive quests were never limited to just one.

'The chakra of Indra and Asura… it’s finally going to start unfolding, isn’t it?'

This was the day he had been waiting for, for so long!

Taking back his forehead protector, he looked at Naruto, who was still staring blankly, and smiled.

“Just messing with you. Come on, I’m starving.”

“Oh…”

Naruto felt both excited and let down. He truly wished he could graduate just like that.

But of course, it wasn’t possible. Still, his goal hadn’t changed.

“I don’t need you to do that for me. I’ll graduate and become Hokage on my own!”

“Tch.”

Kitagawa Gen smirked dismissively, but just then he caught sight of Karin approaching with a few ANBU escorting her.

“Huh? Karin? What are you doing here?”

“Uh—hello!”

Seeing Kitagawa Gen, Karin couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. After all, she had truly witnessed his strength before.

“The elders sent me to find you. They’re all busy right now…”

“Looking for me? What’s going on?”

“The Hokage-sama… after hearing about Kusagakure, he suddenly fell ill…”

“…”

“So they rushed Hokage-sama to the hospital, and that’s why…”

“…”

Kitagawa Gen said nothing. Naruto’s eyes went wide in shock. Something like this could happen?

It was a long while before Kitagawa Gen finally let out a sigh, turning his gaze back to Naruto.

“Remember to go buy flowers from Ino for me.”

“Seriously, with my money too? And who is this?”

“Don’t worry about who she is. Anyway, you’ve seen it yourself—being Hokage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“…”

Thus, Konoha passed its days in a strange mix of harmony and chaos.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Grass, Black Zetsu stood before a coffin, sinking into deep thought.

At the same time, within Otogakure in the Land of Fields—

Orochimaru unrolled a scroll in his hands. After reading it carefully, a faint smile appeared on his pale face.

“It looks like preparations are nearly complete. Only a few details remain to be filled in.”

“Konoha… I’m coming for you!”

Ever since he was set up by Danzō, which led to his crushing defeat in the Land of Wind, he had been plotting his revenge.

It might have seemed petty, but he knew full well that for someone like Danzō, death was better than life.

“Especially with my sensei being far too soft-hearted. Even with key evidence laid bare, he wouldn’t kill him. But someone like Danzō…”

Orochimaru believed he himself had no morals, yet Danzō was like a black hole, something far worse.

As long as that man lived, Orochimaru couldn’t find peace. Better to send him off as soon as possible.

“Pity there aren’t enough people. Otherwise, this could have been stirred up much bigger.”

Orochimaru let out a sigh. This year’s Chūnin Exams were far grander than ever before.

Besides the many minor hidden villages, the shinobi villages of the Five Great Nations had also declared that they would take part in this joint exam.

Part of it was to save their own expenses, but it was also a chance to flex their strength.

At that time, Konohagakure would inevitably fall into chaos—giving him a perfect opportunity.

“If I had more hands, there’d be so much more I could do.”

Orochimaru was a bit frustrated. He knew that the Kage themselves might come in person. Such a chance was once in a lifetime.

The relations between Iwagakure and Konohagakure were uncertain at best. After all, during the Third Great Ninja War, they had fought until their brains were nearly bashed out.

That grudge was not so easily forgotten.

As for Kumogakure…

The Fourth Raikage had been blindsided by Kitagawa Gen—rumor had it he’d even lost an arm. They surely bore no small hostility toward Konohagakure.

And as for Sunagakure’s Rasa, Orochimaru didn’t take him seriously at all. He had even considered killing Rasa and posing as the Kazekage himself.

“If someone were to impersonate the Mizukage as well, stirring up trouble at that moment… Konohagakure would become quite the spectacle.”

The thought made Orochimaru feel a twinge of regret. He truly wished to carry out a “Konoha Crush Plan.”

The timing was so perfect, but lacking manpower, and with Konohagakure not as simple as it used to be, all he could do was sigh again.

“I’ll just watch and see. Maybe someone else will make a move. But the main target remains Danzō.”

...

“Danzō… I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”

While Orochimaru plotted his moves against Konohagakure, Uchiha Obito was working just as hard.

“How’s the situation in Konohagakure? Have you found out?”

He twisted his neck and glanced at Black Zetsu, who immediately replied.

“The general situation has mostly been investigated. Many people are heading for Konohagakure, and its security won’t be lax. But in fact, that works in our favor.”

“With all sorts mixed together… Hmph, Konohagakure really is confident.”

Obito nodded, his gaze turning cold.

“The Nine-Tails has already been locked onto, correct?”

“It has. But there’s a problem—Kitagawa Gen is staying very close to that Nine-Tails brat.”

“Not surprising. Of course Konohagakure would arrange it that way.”

“…”

Black Zetsu fell silent for a moment, unsure how to respond. To him, Obito was far too quick to assume.

Kitagawa Gen and Naruto had known each other since they were children, living not far apart. This hardly seemed like something Konohagakure had arranged on purpose.

After all, he had investigated Kitagawa Gen’s background, and what he found left him deeply unsettled. How could such a genius exist?

It made him feel that perhaps Kitagawa Gen wasn’t nearly as simple as he seemed. Could it be some kind of atavism?

Shaking his head, he dropped the thought, too weary to argue with Obito any further.

“Actually, there’s no need to worry too much. That guy’s already a jōnin. For this Chūnin Exam, he’ll definitely have other missions. He won’t be focused solely on the Nine-Tails.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Uchiha Obito gave a small nod, but before he could finish speaking, White Zetsu suddenly piped up with curiosity.

“Hey, Obito, Kitagawa Gen became a jōnin at fourteen. What were you doing at fourteen?”

“I controlled the Nine-Tails and destroyed Konohagakure. Satisfied?”

Obito really couldn’t be bothered with this idiot, but when it came to what he accomplished at the same age, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

“And now I’ll do it again. The only question is—does Kitagawa Gen have Namikaze Minato’s resolve?”

“This time will be even more chaotic than before.”

Black Zetsu glanced at White Zetsu in surprise. For once, the fool had actually asked a good question.

“According to intelligence, the Fourth Raikage will also be heading to Konohagakure. I don’t know what he’s planning, but his relationship with the village isn’t exactly good.”

“You think he’ll make a move?”

“Not certain. But he’ll definitely have his own agenda. And once Konohagakure is thrown into disorder… given his history with Kitagawa Gen—”

“This might be something we can use.”

The relationship between Kumogakure and Konohagakure had never been good. Forget the Third Great Ninja War—back then, even the incident with the Hyūga Clan nearly started a war between the two villages.

And Kitagawa Gen had severed the Fourth Raikage’s arm in Sugi Village. The story hadn’t spread across the shinobi world, but they knew the truth.

“What about the others besides Kumogakure?”

Obito rubbed his chin and continued his questioning.

“Kirigakure seems to be on decent terms with Konohagakure, Sunagakure is their ally, and Iwagakure… hard to tell where they stand. Annoying.”

And whose fault is Kirigakure’s situation?

Black Zetsu almost rolled his eyes at that.

Kirigakure had originally been under their control. But Obito had been too hasty. Even if he wanted revenge, it should have been done in a way that didn’t burn all bridges at once.

Now, yes, revenge had been taken, but the follow-up troubles were piling up.

“Kirigakure is uncertain, but Sunagakure can be set aside.”

Though irritated, Black Zetsu still explained patiently.

“Because of their alliance with Konohagakure, the daimyō cut their funding. If chaos breaks out in Konohagakure, it might not be bad for him—he could use it to force the daimyō into loosening his purse strings."

"As for Iwagakure, there are a lot of issues. Deidara has already made them hostile toward us. But if something really happens in Konohagakure, perhaps…”

“Tch, nothing but conflicts of interest.”

Obito snorted coldly. Human nature was nothing if not greedy. Always greedy.

But that greed also gave them an excellent opportunity. One they had no reason not to seize.

“Then it’s settled. As long as we achieve our goal, nothing else matters.”

At that, Obito paused, lowering his voice as he spoke again.

“Can you be certain that Ōtsutsuki Genshiki will appear?”

“We can’t be sure, but what we can do is prepare for everything.”

Black Zetsu shook his head, speaking with rare seriousness.

“Besides, after all we’ve done, it’s about time we see the results.”

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. /TitoVillar

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