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NBB Chapter 97: The Chains, the Lies, and the Graduation Photo
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 23:10:08 +0000 UTCKakashi and Jiraiya were still awake, waiting for Kitagawa Gen’s return. But the moment they felt that chakra shockwave, their eyes went wide.
Even Tsunade, roused by the sudden eruption, came stomping out of her tent in irritation.
As they felt the massive chakra ripple in the distance, all of them sensed something had gone very, very wrong—and they immediately bolted toward Takigakure.
...
Inside Takigakure, Kitagawa Gen and Obito were already clashing.
“You bastard! How dare you impersonate me?!”
Uchiha Obito was about to explode. Of all things, he’d come here just to do a quick recon—only to run smack into Kitagawa Gen.
Running into him was bad enough—but then Obito realized this guy had disguised himself as him, and he had no idea what the bastard had done to the Seven-Tails’ jinchūriki.
That thought filled him with both fury and unease. Had his cover been blown? Or was this guy also after the tailed beast?
“Relax. Even if I impersonate you, it’s still not convincing.”
Kitagawa Gen stood atop a nearby rooftop, looking down at Uchiha Obito with a faint sigh after a moment of silence.
“After all, I truly admire you.”
“???”
“No matter how hard I try, I just can’t manage to cast a genjutsu on myself—can’t bring myself to believe that the dead could come back to life… and pretend it’s all real.”
“...”
“Because no normal person would ever choose illusion over reality. But you? You’re a true hero!”
“Go to hell!!!”
With a furious roar, Uchiha Obito flung his arm, sending a string of iron chains whipping out from his sleeve.
In the very next instant, he charged forward like a beast unleashed!
“Psycho.”
Kitagawa Gen raised an eyebrow and shot forward just as fast to meet him head-on.
[Buzz—]
Their short blades clashed in a brief blur, crossing paths for only a moment before they parted again. But in the blink of an eye, Obito twisted his body mid-motion—his chains howling as they sliced through the air from behind.
[Whoosh—]
The chains swept past—yet Kitagawa Gen was no longer there. His voice rang out from behind Obito instead.
“Your taijutsu’s a little slow. Also, I heard you used to be dead last in your class?”
“Shut up!”
Obito’s figure blurred again as he lunged toward Gen, chains snapping forward once more.
There were no Flying Thunder God markers on Obito right now, so as long as he didn’t do anything reckless, he wasn’t worried about losing.
Besides—he was absolutely livid!
It wasn’t just the fact that this bastard had disguised himself as him—it was the things he was saying.
Even though Obito had already let go of the past, already made peace with his decisions, hearing those words still made something inside him snap.
“What right do you have to judge me?! You’re just another fool blindly obeying this hellish world!”
“At least I don’t mistake fantasy for reality.”
Gen clearly wasn’t done kicking him while he was down. At that moment, he struck out again with his White Fang short blade.
“And besides, haven’t you noticed something? The chains whistle through the wind—that means…”
[Clang—!]
In an instant, Gen deflected the chain’s trajectory with a flick of his blade.
At the same time, his left hand flared with crackling purple lightning—and he drove it straight toward Obito’s chest.
“You’re physical right now!”
“Hmph!”
Obito let out a cold snort. The moment Gen reached out, he spun sharply, his Mangekyō Sharingan beginning to whirl rapidly.
It looked like he was trying to suck Gen into Kamui!
[Whoosh—!]
But just as Gen felt the pull of the space-time distortion, he flickered away, vanishing from his original spot in an instant.
Obito, however, had clearly anticipated this. No sooner had Gen reappeared than a wave of searing flame was already rushing toward him!
Gen didn’t hesitate. He slammed his palms against the ground, and a thick wall of earth rose up in front of him just in time.
[Boom—!]
Flames surged violently, illuminating the once-dark village of Takigakure in a sudden burst of blazing light and chaos.
In fact, the very moment the two had begun their clash, the village had already started to stir…
Even if Takigakure was far from prestigious, it was still a shinobi village. Within moments, hundreds of shinobi had already evacuated the civilians and encircled the two fighters.
“What’s going on?”
“No idea. Looks like these two started fighting right by Fu’s place.”
“Damn it—who the hell are they?!”
“Could they be after Fu?!”
The surrounding Taki-nin wanted to step in, but the fight was bizarre. Those two kept vanishing mid-combat—no one could track their movements.
Not only that, but the sheer force behind each of their clashes was staggering, putting everyone on edge.
“Should we prepare the Hero Water?”
“Go get it. If the situation worsens, then...”
The higher-ups of Takigakure were already making calls. One of them glanced at the bewildered Fu, feeling a splitting headache come on.
But while the village leaders stressed over what to do, the fight between Kitagawa Gen and Uchiha Obito continued to rage on.
Watching Obito whip his chains through the air, and noting the growing number of Taki-nin forming ranks around them, Kitagawa Gen suddenly remembered something—didn’t he promise Jiraiya something important?
“Don’t make too big a scene.”
Clicking his tongue, Gen quickly used the Flying Thunder God Technique to put distance between them. Just as Obito moved to pursue, Gen flared his chakra and called out: “What the hell are you really after? I saw you sneaking into Takigakure. Don’t tell me you’re after the village’s Seven-Tails?”
“???”
Obito froze, his expression shifting instantly. This bastard—he was framing him?!
But before Obito could even respond, Gen was already attacking again while shouting at the top of his lungs: “I’m a shinobi from Konohagakure! I came here with Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama to formally visit your village—only to run into this lunatic! Stay on your guard!”
“You bastard!!”
Obito’s eyes flared crimson. It suddenly hit him—when a missing-nin goes up against a legitimate shinobi, the bias was very real.
He’d caught Gen in the middle of something shady, and yet because he was a rogue, no one would even listen to his side of the story.
Even if the Takigakure shinobi didn’t fully buy Gen’s blatant lie, just hearing the names 'Jiraiya' and 'Tsunade' from the famed Konohagakure was enough to sway them. That kind of status had to be respected—no matter what.
“If he’s a guest from Konohagakure, then everyone—cooperate with the Konoha shinobi and help subdue this attacker!”
“Yes, sir!”
As expected, a small village like Takigakure didn’t have the spine of Kirigakure. They made their decision in an instant.
And in that moment, Uchiha Obito was hit with a creeping sense of déjà vu—a cruel feeling that screamed: The world really has abandoned me.
“You’re dead!”
Uchiha Obito let out a furious roar—and in the blink of an eye, countless massive shuriken burst forth from the Kamui dimension.
At the same time, he charged straight at Kitagawa Gen like a madman—only to freeze in confusion as he realized that Gen… wasn’t dodging.
Instead, Gen simply pressed both hands calmly to the ground, his chakra pulsing faintly.
“You enjoy yourself—I won’t be joining in anymore.”
Gen’s voice slipped into Obito’s ears quietly. Just as the gigantic shuriken were about to strike, a towering Earth-Style Wall surged up from the ground!
And in that exact instant, Obito’s eyes flew wide open.
Because he saw—
Carved into that damned earth wall… were the faces from their graduation photo.
And right in the middle, Rin was smiling brightly, staring straight into the oncoming shuriken.
“No!!”
Obito’s expression changed drastically as he immediately activated his eye technique, trying to absorb the enormous shuriken with Kamui.
But at that very moment, Kitagawa Gen shattered the wall of earth.
His White Fang short blade flared with violet lightning as it came crashing down toward Obito.
...
Outside the village, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kakashi had just arrived on the outskirts of Takigakure. Tsunade couldn’t help but ask in a low voice: “What the hell is that kid doing?”
Following close behind them was the Fourth Raikage—currently under Shizune’s watch.
To be honest, none of them had wanted to bring him. But leaving him behind was even riskier, especially since his chakra had been sealed.
And even without chakra, given his sheer physical strength and combat instincts, they were worried Shizune might not be able to restrain him alone.
“I have no idea,” Jiraiya replied, visibly baffled. He truly didn’t understand what was going on.
“Normally, Gen is extremely cautious. He wouldn't stir up any unnecessary chaos. Plus, with his skillset, there’s no way he’d make a careless mistake, so…”
“He’s encountered an enemy,” Kakashi cut in decisively.
Despite Gen’s peculiar personality, Kakashi had absolute faith in his abilities.
“If Gen’s going this far, then it must be serious. He must’ve run into someone dangerous—this could be trouble.”
“Sounds like it,” Jiraiya muttered, nodding slowly. Then he couldn’t help but grumble to himself: “Don’t tell me his cursed tongue actually predicted the future…”
But before he could finish the sentence, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.
And it wasn’t just him—Kakashi’s eyes had gone wide as well.
Because just up ahead, on the opposite ridge, figures clad in black cloaks with red clouds began to appear.
The moment those figures noticed the newcomers, they, too, came to a sudden halt.
Both sides stared at one another in shock—an eerie silence hanging thick in the air.
