Kitagawa Gen's body crackled with violet arcs. But his clothes were in tatters, and his body bore multiple slashing wounds.
In their earlier clash, although Biwa Jūzō had been temporarily paralyzed by the lightning, he still managed to fight back thanks to his raw strength and combat experience. He hadn't sustained any critical injuries.
But now, he was clearly in worse shape than Kitagawa Gen—far worse.
His forehead protector had been knocked clean off, and his hair stood on end like a spiky hedgehog.
The once-pristine Akatsuki cloak he wore was now little more than shredded rags, hanging messily from his battered body.
He was also covered in multiple visible wounds—some resembling cuts, others scorched as if seared by lightning.
As for Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi…
Both of them looked mentally drained, though Kakashi seemed even more exhausted.
"Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kitagawa Gen took a moment to catch his breath before asking quietly.
"I can still stand."
Kakashi shook his head, feeling utterly fatigued.
As he spoke, he couldn't help glancing at Kitagawa Gen—especially the purple arcs of lightning still dancing around him.
"Was it that Lightning Release… the one that pulled me out of Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō illusion?"
He hadn't forgotten the strange scene he experienced within the genjutsu. It was clear now that all of it had been caused by Gen.
And Jūzō's current state was undeniable proof—this boy's Lightning Release was no ordinary technique.
"Did he really pull it off…?"
A flicker of astonishment appeared in Kakashi's eyes. Although he hadn't seen the details of Jūzō's battle, he was well aware of Gen's ideas about this jutsu—and just how difficult it would be to realize them.
But still…
Even if he had succeeded, there was still Uchiha Itachi to worry about.
That formless, inescapable Mangekyō illusion—just thinking about it sent chills down Kakashi's spine.
"I have to buy time. Let Gen escape."
Kakashi silently made up his mind. He slowly stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Kitagawa Gen, shielding him.
But before he could say anything, Biwa Jūzō coughed and spoke in a raspy voice.
"Not bad, brat. That jutsu of yours is impressive—I'll give you that. But now what? What are you going to do next?"
"What am I going to do?"
Gen spread his hands and gauged his remaining chakra. Without hesitation, the lightning around him surged more violently.
"Seems like you're forgetting something. Our goal is to stall you two. All we have to do is wait for the ANBU reinforcements. And let's not forget—it's two against two right now."
"ANBU…"
Hearing that, a trace of unease crept into Jūzō's heart.
Even at full strength, facing a group of ANBU would be troublesome—let alone in his current condition.
He instinctively glanced over at Uchiha Itachi. Though Itachi usually followed his lead, Jūzō knew well enough the caliber of this 'newcomer's' abilities.
"Let's go."
But Itachi merely closed his eyes slightly.
"I used my Mangekyō just now, but that purple Lightning Release broke through and interrupted it. I couldn't kill Kakashi. In a two-on-two, this won't end quickly. And if—"
"If we get delayed and Konoha's ANBU arrive, we're screwed."
Jūzō understood immediately. He let out a deep sigh and stared intently at Kitagawa Gen.
This hadn't been a must-complete mission, but the fact that it had been so thoroughly disrupted by a single kid—he never could have expected that.
Both he and Uchiha Itachi had been thrown off balance by this boy.
A genius like this was exceedingly rare.
"Kid, I hope the next time we meet… you're still just as lucky."
With a cold snort, Biwa Jūzō turned and retreated alongside Uchiha Itachi. It was clear they had no desire to continue the fight.
As Kitagawa Gen listened to Jūzō's parting words, he breathed a sigh of relief—but still couldn't help muttering under his breath: "Next time? You should worry about surviving the Fourth Mizukage first."
Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help but grumble internally, though he finally felt a sense of relief.
"It's over, Kakashi-sensei."
This battle had turned out to be far more dangerous than expected.
If not for Uchiha Itachi's hesitation—whether for the sake of his younger brother or the village—it might have ended very differently.
And combined with the impressive effects of his own technique, 'Violet Lightning', it was likely the only reason things hadn't spiraled further out of control.
"Yeah…"
Once he confirmed the two had truly left, Kakashi slumped to the ground.
Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Even as a fellow Sharingan wielder, the suppression exerted by the Mangekyō over an ordinary Sharingan was simply overwhelming.
"No wonder he managed to slaughter his entire clan on his own…"
Kakashi still felt a lingering dread. If Kitagawa Gen hadn't disrupted Itachi at the critical moment, things might have ended in disaster.
Especially that purple lightning—it left him with a strange, indescribable feeling.
However—
After shooting a glance at Kitagawa Gen, Kakashi's expression suddenly darkened.
"Didn't I tell you to run? You did well out there, and even managed to pull off that jutsu you'd envisioned, but—"
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei."
Before Kakashi could finish, Kitagawa Gen smiled and cut him off.
"Didn't we already fool them?"
"But have you considered what would've happened if they hadn't been fooled?"
Kakashi shook his head and asked gravely.
"If this keeps up, you're going to get yourself killed."
"But I couldn't just leave Kakashi-sensei in danger."
Kitagawa Gen blinked, then smiled as he replied softly.
"Maybe I disobeyed orders. But have you forgotten, Kakashi-sensei? 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' Anyway, you should rest now, Kakashi-sensei. I'm going to check on our employer."
With that, Kitagawa Gen stood up quickly, flashed a grin at Kakashi, and made his way toward the palanquin.
"This kid..."
Kakashi froze, staring at Gen's retreating figure with a complicated expression.
To be honest, when they encountered Biwa Jūzō and Uchiha Itachi, he truly thought things had taken a turn for the worse.
Because throughout his life, it felt like he had been destined for loneliness.
As a child, his father had taken his own life, leaving him an orphan.
Later on, his close friends—Obito and Rin—had perished in the war.
Then, his teacher and his wife were both killed during the Nine-Tails' rampage.
During that time, he had sunk into darkness, wandering aimlessly without a clear path forward, numbly completing mission after mission.
If not for the help of Guy and other friends from Konoha, he believed his best outcome would've been to die on some Anbu mission.
And after leaving the Anbu, he had finally met his first student.
At first, he hadn't cared much. In fact, when the student's teammates were hospitalized, he had even considered giving up on him.
But to his surprise, that student eventually repeated the very words that Obito had once told him.
And now, in this most recent ordeal, the same student had proven that he truly believed in those words.
"Well, we got lucky this time—nothing went wrong."
Kakashi's gaze grew distant. The last person who said those words had died on the battlefield after saving him.
And now, this new student had said them too—and saved him as well.
But this time… everything was different.
Slowly, Kakashi's focus returned.
He lowered his forehead protector to cover his Sharingan, and the exposed eye curved into a crescent.
"Looks like… this really is a new beginning."
[Side Quest Completed: The Light in Kakashi's Heart]
[Reward Obtained: Information about a Divine Artifact]
Just as Kakashi was lost in thought, new information surfaced in Kitagawa Gen's mind.
Seeing the mission complete, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help but sigh—Uchiha Obito's words really did hit Kakashi hard.
But then, his expression twisted oddly as he looked at the reward that had just appeared.
"What the hell is this?"
In his memory, the so-called 'divine artifacts' were just those crazy weapons used by those two lunatic brothers from Kumogakure, right?
But after examining it more carefully, he realized something was off.
"The Sword of Totsuka and the Yata Mirror?"
Kitagawa Gen furrowed his brow. He remembered that these two items were supposedly the weapons of Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo.
If memory served him right, Itachi had used the Sword of Totsuka to swiftly and cleanly seal Orochimaru.
Moreover, both weapons appeared in chakra form—Gen had always assumed they were standard components of Susanoo itself.
But now, it seemed the situation was more complicated.
"Could it be that these so-called divine artifacts were originally chakra constructs that Uchiha Itachi later equipped onto his Susanoo?"
Thinking it through, that possibility actually made a lot of sense.
When Itachi wielded the Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror, both Orochimaru, who fought him, and Black Zetsu, who was observing, had instantly recognized them.
More than that—they even seemed to know specific details about their abilities.
Which meant these two artifacts had existed in the shinobi world long before and had already become the stuff of legend.
Otherwise, there's no way those two bastards would've been able to identify them so quickly the first time Itachi used them.
As for how they ended up in Itachi's hands...
"Either he got lucky, or this information was already within the Uchiha clan."
At that thought, a glint flickered in Kitagawa Gen's eyes.
He didn't particularly care about divine artifacts, but if these two were truly tied to the Uchiha, then he was definitely interested.
That would strongly imply that they either belonged to their ancestor, Indra—
Or perhaps—
"They were once used by the Sage of Six Paths himself!"
In either case, chakra-formed weapons would certainly carry traces of their users' chakra. And that chakra might greatly assist in unlocking more of Gen's own bloodline potential.
Especially if it were the Sage of Six Paths… If he could really find something like that, he could skip an enormous amount of effort.
"Besides, now that they've left, they'll likely report back to Uchiha Obito about Kakashi's condition, right?"
At this moment, Kitagawa Gen's eyes gleamed with excitement. Even if he didn't like Uchiha Itachi, he couldn't help but mutter: "You're a good guy, Uchiha Itachi."