Three years had passed, and Kitagawa Gen's home had long since changed.
Although the location was still the same, as his status had risen steadily, of course he had to dress up his little house properly.
Not only had all the furniture and decorations been replaced, but in order to keep that idiot Naruto from continuing to fall from the second floor, he had specially built a balcony.
What's more, now it wasn't only Naruto who sometimes jumped onto his windowsill, so such a change was indeed necessary.
"Next time don't jump in through the window, that's not something a lady should be doing."
Kitagawa Gen moved aside to make way and smiled at Ino, which made her feel a bit embarrassed.
"Senpai, I came to check on the flowers."
Perhaps because Naruto and Karin, those two, had actually managed to water Gen's well-kept flowers to death.
Over the past three years, Ino would sometimes come by as well, in name to look after those flowers.
"Come on in."
Gen called out, then turned and went inside, while Ino, smiling, took off her shoes and hopped in.
"Senpai, it seems you've been on missions again these past few days. Even Naruto isn't around, and Karin seems busy too, so I came to check in. I didn't expect you'd already returned."
"I went to the Land of Waterfalls, just came back yesterday."
Gen gave Ino a glance. By now she had shed the childishness from his memories.
Her golden hair was tied into a ponytail, her delicate features set off a pair of clear, light blue eyes.
Her figure had grown taller as well, and her fair skin made it hard to look away.
Only, that had no effect on Gen—because he was even paler than Ino.
"You've worked hard, Senpai."
Ino carried her shoes barefoot to set them at the entryway, while Gen, watching, found it rather amusing.
"Not that hard, really. But you—why not just walk through the front door? Why bother with all that trouble."
"I hardly ever see Senpai using the front door to come home."
Ino stuck out her tongue, her face full of mischief.
"Isn't it possible that I don't even need to open the door, I could just use Flying Thunder God to come home?"
That left Gen a bit speechless; he realized these little brats, even after growing up, hadn't changed some of their 'bad habits.'
The education in Konoha really was lacking.
"Anyway, I still have to thank you. If not for you, Naruto and Karin, those two idiots, would have killed off my flowers again."
"That's just because they care about Senpai."
Ino sat across from Gen. She blinked her eyes, then smiled and smoothly shifted the topic.
"Senpai, what kind of powerful mission did you all take on this time? I saw outsiders in the village… of course, if it's inconvenient to say…"
"It wasn't much. We went to the Land of Waterfalls naturally because of their Seven-Tails jinchūriki."
Gen didn't mind and said with a smile.
"But this time wasn't exactly smooth—we ran into members of Akatsuki."
By now, Akatsuki was no secret in the ninja world. Their existence was a danger to the entire shinobi world.
Only under Gen's heavy blows of 'sustainable fishing the pond dry' had such a threat not yet become more obvious.
Of course, there were also the unlucky ones.
Just like with Kirigakure.
Therefore, there really was nothing hidden about Akatsuki, especially since Ino truly wasn't ordinary.
As a member of the Yamanaka Clan in the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, there were many things she would naturally know, so there was no need to conceal anything.
"Never thought so much had really happened."
Only after Kitagawa Gen finished speaking did Ino sigh with some emotion.
"And also, Sasuke has already taken down that Uchiha Itachi? That's truly remarkable."
"Indeed, remarkable."
Gen also nodded along, then curiously asked.
"Speaking of which, how have you all been lately?"
"All still fine, about the same as before."
Ino rested her chin on one hand, golden hair falling against her cheek, as she smiled and spoke.
"The missions aren't troublesome, but Shikamaru still likes to complain, Chōji eats nonstop every day, and Asuma-sensei often just hands the missions to us while he goes off to find Kurenai-sensei…"
Once she started talking about her team's little stories, Ino couldn't stop, and Gen listened with great interest.
He himself hadn't experienced that much—getting stuck with that unreliable Kakashi, even the simplest mission could turn into a nightmare.
On top of that, he hadn't had teammates in the beginning, so naturally he hadn't felt much of that.
Later, once Naruto and Sasuke joined, there were indeed plenty of funny moments, but as the jōnin leading the squad, there were some things he couldn't really take part in.
'But Asuma seems to have avoided Hidan and Kakuzu. Damn that wicked old Sarutobi, you owe me another favor!'
Gen thought to himself, while Ino, by now, had also stopped and gave an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry, Senpai, I just couldn't control myself for a moment."
"It's fine, I found it quite interesting."
Gen smiled casually, but Ino shook her head lightly.
"Compared to Senpai, what's all this? You're already far ahead of us all, leaving us in the dust. And I even heard Senpai is about to become the Fifth Hokage, I—"
"Ino, looks like you've forgotten what I told you before."
Gen tapped the table, shook his head, and cut her off.
"Do you still remember what kind of flower I like?"
"Flowers…"
Ino tilted her head, glancing toward the windowsill where blossoms bloomed among the grass, and Gen's voice sounded again.
"Yes, just like flowers. Whether strong or not, whether becoming Hokage or not, it makes no difference to me."
Saying this, Gen stood and walked to the window. Looking at the blooming flowers before him, he smiled.
"That idiot Naruto is always thinking about becoming Hokage, wanting to gain everyone's recognition by becoming Hokage. But later I told him—"
"It's not that only those who become Hokage can gain everyone's recognition, but that those who have gained everyone's recognition can become Hokage."
Though the words carried a touch of jest, now that he used them, they didn't feel out of place at all.
"I'm the same. Rather than standing above others, it's better to be among other flowers and grass. So—"
Turning his head, Gen looked at Ino, who had also walked over beside him.
"Don't say things like that anymore. And haven't I told you many times already—just call me Gen."
"Is that so?"
Ino looked at Kitagawa Gen, then suddenly she smiled and blinked mischievously, a glint seeming to appear in those light blue eyes.
"But I remember you also said, the ones you liked best were the flowers blooming on the edge of a cliff."
"Ah—"
Gen was stunned for a moment, while Ino was already leaning with both hands on the windowsill, her golden hair fluttering in the breeze.
"Because those fearless flowers can take a step toward the sky."
Looking at the girl's smile and those clear light blue eyes, Gen suddenly realized—damn, had he been tricked?
But at that moment, his gaze sharpened, instantly locking on something in the distance.
'What are the Senju Clan people doing?'
...
Meanwhile, deep underground in Konoha, after Black Zetsu received the shared information from White Zetsu, his expression turned strange.
"They must have looked at the Uchiha stone tablet and started suspecting whether the Senju had any relics."
It had to be said, Black Zetsu as an old schemer reacted extremely fast—he had already guessed the general idea in an instant.
"This is a good thing!"
Black Zetsu grew excited. Originally, he had been pondering how to make Kitagawa Gen discover the things he had left behind.
Now that they were taking the initiative to search, it couldn't be better!
"Dig, dig, once you find it, put in a bit more effort and you'll uncover it."
Black Zetsu was overjoyed, which made White Zetsu beside him look rather puzzled.
"Black one, what are you getting so excited about?"
"You don't understand. Just know that something good is about to happen."
Black Zetsu couldn't be bothered to explain. Although White Zetsu had participated in the 'Chronicle of the Years' operation, this guy was still clueless about the details.
That was just perfect!
Black Zetsu didn't want anyone else knowing too much, lest it bring trouble to himself.
"Put in more effort, soon you'll find it."
Black Zetsu muttered inwardly. When it came to the Senju Clan's relics, he had originally thought of choosing a stone tablet.
But after thinking it over, he decided a stone tablet was too obvious. Even if the Senju had 'lost' something, it was impossible they would misplace such a monument.
So he could only choose something easier to lose. In the end, Senju Hashirama's Wood Release gave him great inspiration!
"Although Wood Release isn't the symbol of the Senju, you people used it after all. And what's more, the chance of losing something like that is much higher than losing a stone tablet."
So, he chose a piece of bark, which he then treated using White Zetsu's chakra and his own Yin–Yang Release.
He truly had no combat strength, but he did have other abilities.
Otherwise, how could he have both controlled Obito and spoken so openly with Uchiha Madara?
"A pity, I didn't expect things to develop so quickly. Otherwise, I should have emphasized more about Ōtsutsuki Hamura."
Even Black Zetsu felt a bit vexed. He had long suspected whether Kitagawa Gen had come from the moon.
But the Senju bark had been meant to help him shake off trouble, so he had only added the surname and concept of the Ōtsutsuki.
And a bit of the Senju's past—everything else he simply left unwritten. After all, the more you wrote, the more mistakes you made!
"But this is already enough. The rest can be placed with the Hyūga Clan's relics."
After all, forgery—
With something like the Chronicle of the Years, whether you did it once or countless times made no difference.
The people involved were all dead. Couldn't he say whatever he pleased?
"Alright, let's go to the Hyūga Clan. I need to think carefully about how to handle this."
Having settled on this, Black Zetsu spoke out, and White Zetsu couldn't help but complain.
"The Hyūga Clan? Are you planning to help Orochimaru, or planning to keep forging things?"
"Shut up!"
Black Zetsu snorted coldly. He really disliked White Zetsu's tone—it annoyed him greatly.
"What forging? If you keep talking nonsense, watch how I deal with you!"
"But, Black one…"
"You just need to remember, what we're doing is the right thing. You don't want Madara-sama to fail to return because of our inaction, do you?"
"…"
"Remember, everything we do is for Madara-sama!"
At this point, Black Zetsu felt Uchiha Madara had to be brought back.
Otherwise, many matters were about to collapse. Only, to 'piece Madara together' required Orochimaru.
The jutsu was his, and constructing a complete state of Madara also needed his hand.
No matter how displeased Black Zetsu was, he had to lend aid. Besides, acquiring a suitable Shikotsumyaku could also serve as an extra hand.
"Though against Ōtsutsuki Genshiki it's basically useless, and I fear against Kitagawa Gen it would be the same…"
Still, at least against others it should be fine, right? Even if it was only capturing a tailed beast for chakra, that could work.
Black Zetsu pondered this, his figure already appearing in a corner of the Hyūga Clan's grounds.
Only, he himself failed to notice—he had barely shown himself before someone was already watching him.
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