I’m Not Naruto, But I Got a Better Bloodline

The Fourth Raikage immediately had a bad feeling when he heard that Jiraiya intended to let him go.

'That bastard… he's planning to release me in front of the people from Takigakure, then have that brat come and finish me off, isn't he?'

The Fourth Raikage wasn't afraid of battle—in fact, he enjoyed it. He was a true battle maniac.

But what he wanted was to be taken down head-on—not ambushed by some bastard who popped out of nowhere while he was unprepared.

And certainly not to live in constant fear of being attacked at any moment. If that was his fate, he'd rather die in battle.

At least that way, he could keep his dignity!

...

"You really won't go?"

On the way back to Konoha, Jiraiya couldn't help but confirm again. But the Fourth Raikage wasn't having any of it.

"If you're going to kill me, then do it to my face. I'd be more than happy to fight you all to the death—but don't pull that sneaky crap!"

"You lunatic!"

Tsunade couldn't stop herself from cursing. Her gaze drifted over to Kitagawa Gen.

But seeing that 'I'm totally innocent' look on Kitagawa Gen's face, she immediately felt a headache coming on.

This brat—

"Forget it. Jiraiya, you go deal with the old man yourself."

"I got it… what a pain."

Jiraiya was just as exasperated. He was starting to suspect whether the Fourth Raikage had overheard something while that brat was bullshitting with them earlier.

Or maybe… he saw something he shouldn't have during the fight with Yahiko?

'Speaking of which—what exactly happened on Yahiko's side?'

With that doubt lingering in his mind, Jiraiya couldn't help but ask as they left Takigakure.

"You didn't explain it clearly yesterday—he…"

"The one I fought was a puppet."

Kitagawa Gen didn't hide anything. He glanced at Jiraiya, then pulled out a fragment of the black rod and handed it over.

"I could sense that the real body was far away. He was controlling the puppet using this thing, making it fight me."

"But they realized I was trying to pinpoint the location, and that's when they slipped up and gave me an opening. Too bad the real body escaped. Seems they can fly."

"Remote control… and flight?"

Jiraiya took the fragment and examined it carefully. Before long, his expression grew even more serious.

"This chakra…"

He could clearly feel how unusual the chakra was. He knew this must have been created by the power of the Rinnegan.

And hearing what Kitagawa Gen had just told him—it made him feel even worse.

Because he understood—Yahiko was likely dead. And Nagato…

"You've done well, Gen."

Jiraiya carefully put the fragment away before speaking in a low voice.

"And remember, don't get cocky. I don't know exactly what happened, but those people definitely aren't easy to deal with. After all, they're—"

"Don't worry. I know."

Seeing Jiraiya hesitate, Kitagawa Gen simply nodded.

He knew what Jiraiya was struggling to say. It was nothing more than the Rinnegan.

As an 'intelligence source', he knew far too much—and he understood the complicated emotions weighing on Jiraiya.

'But… I guess Nagato must really hate me now, huh?'

Just thinking about how he'd smashed that Deva Path Pain's body in half—especially when the original body was Yahiko's—Nagato had probably already lost it.

'Not just Nagato. Uchiha Obito probably wants to strangle me too.'

At the mention of Uchiha Obito, even Gen felt a rare flicker of embarrassment.

He hadn't expected that his first time impersonating someone to cause trouble… he'd be caught red-handed by the victim himself.

And he had said and done plenty of things that had genuinely broken Obito's composure.

Still, Obito had left behind a few things for him. Not voluntarily, of course—and they weren't of much use to Gen right now.

'…But I guess that makes him a decent guy.'

Gen nodded subtly to himself. Just then, Kakashi quietly walked up beside him and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Gen. I want to ask you something."

"Hmm? Go ahead, Kakashi-sensei."

"Last night… Uchiha Obito seemed mentally unstable. It felt off. Do you know what happened?"

"Well…"

"If we can figure out the cause, maybe I can try the same thing next time. It'd help me fight him more effectively!"

"…"

"So go ahead—tell me in detail what happened last night."

"…"

...

"You bastard!!"

While Kakashi was still trying to figure out what exactly Gen had done to Obito, deep within the Land of Rain, Uchiha Obito let out a furious roar.

The failure of this operation wasn't a huge deal to him—the real goal had only been to divert Konoha's attention and keep them away from the Land of Rain.

But still—

"Kakashi! This is the fine disciple you trained!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Obito genuinely couldn't wrap his head around it—how could someone be so shameless?

"Obito, calm down. The battle's over now."

Black Zetsu, unable to bear watching anymore, quietly tried to comfort him.

"The battle's over. Just let it go. That kid's way too unpredictable—we need to start taking him seriously."

"What the hell do you know?!"

Obito shot Black Zetsu a furious glare, completely cutting him off.

That glare actually stunned Black Zetsu into silence—because, truthfully, he hadn't been there at the time. He really didn't know the details of what had happened. All he knew was that Obito had clearly been messed up badly.

He glanced at White Zetsu out of the corner of his eye—that guy probably knew more.

But too much had happened yesterday, and with Kitagawa Gen defeating the Deva Path of Pain, Black Zetsu had been so rattled that he hadn't paid much attention to anything else.

"Anyway, there's no point dwelling on this. Nagato lost too—and badly."

Left with no better option, Black Zetsu tried to redirect the conversation. But Obito just let out a cold snort.

"Nagato overestimated himself. He only sent one body to handle the situation. Sure, that Path was decent—but Kitagawa Gen can use Flying Thunder God. What the hell made him think he stood a chance?"

Obito had been against Nagato's approach from the beginning. He himself wielded space-time ninjutsu—and yet even he had repeatedly fallen victim to Flying Thunder God.

"Besides, that little bastard Kakashi trained—he's vicious and calculating. He won't let a single opening slip by. Hmph!"

"…"

Black Zetsu stared silently at Obito. Just how badly had he been humiliated?

"Forget it. Enough about that."

As if recalling that Earth-Style Wall from last night, Obito flinched at the memory and promptly changed the subject.

"What about that Pain body—did you retrieve it?"

"I already recovered it," Black Zetsu nodded.

"That Pain body was one of Nagato's close friends. So once the battle ended, I retrieved it immediately. But it's heavily damaged."

"Return it to him. And see if you can fix it up."

Obito paused for a moment, then spat the words out with venom.

"This time… Nagato probably hates that brat just as much as I do. Helping him now will make sure he never forgets this humiliation."

"…"

Black Zetsu blinked. Wait a minute… is Obito actually thinking straight for once?

Did that brat hit him so hard it actually rattled some sense into him?

He's… acting smart all of a sudden?

"Heeey, Obito—didn't you say that brat was nothing special?"

While Black Zetsu was lost in thought and Obito was busy planning his next move, White Zetsu—who no one had paid attention to—suddenly blurted out.

"So now you finally take him seriously, huh? I told you ages ago that kid wasn't normal! He was stronger than you were back then, and he even dodged that—"

"Are you trying to die?!"

Before White Zetsu could finish his sentence, Obito was already glaring at him, his icy gaze practically radiating the intent to strangle him on the spot.

But in the end, Obito restrained himself. After shooting White Zetsu a fierce glare, his body suddenly began to distort.

"I'm going to check on Nagato. You two handle the rest. And make sure to scan for any Flying Thunder God markings!"

With those words, Obito's figure vanished from the spot—leaving White Zetsu finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Phew… he really looked like he wanted to kill me just now."

"Then shut up."

Black Zetsu looked like he was barely holding it together. The task Obito had dumped on him wasn't just a pain—it was truly troublesome.

Repairing that body was no simple matter.

No way he could use White Zetsu's body for it, right? Sure, it was convenient—but if anything went wrong, they'd be in for a world of trouble.

After all, Nagato's bloodline wasn't ordinary.

Even if it was just being used for a puppet, he had to be extremely cautious.

"I'll figure something out… By the way, what exactly happened yesterday in Takigakure? Why is Obito acting so unhinged?"

"Oh, I had a clone watching it all yesterday!"

White Zetsu finally spoke up after a moment of thought, but the look in his eyes was one of pure, innocent confusion.

"But it's weird, you know? Even if that guy disguised himself as Obito and did some shady stuff, it shouldn't have made Obito that mad. I mean, I've got tons of clones running around too."

"…"

"And I remember—when Obito was unconscious, he used to mumble about Kakashi, and Rin, and all that. But yesterday, that brat used Earth Release to show him the two of them—and he somehow got even angrier."

"…"

"What's there to be mad about, though?"

"…"

Now Black Zetsu understood. No wonder Uchiha Obito had lost his mind like that.

That brat really doesn't treat people like people.

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