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NBB Chapter 96: One Mask Too Many
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 20:09:57 +0000 UTC“Can’t sleep?”
It was deep into the night. In a valley within the Land of Waterfalls, the Konohagakure group had set up camp to rest.
Kakashi was reading a novel when he noticed Kitagawa Gen suddenly walking out. He couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“It’s not time to change shifts yet. You could’ve just used a Shadow Clone.”
“You’re not asleep either, Kakashi-sensei,” Gen replied with a smile as he sat down.
“Besides, you don’t have a Shadow Clone, do you?”
Kakashi shrugged. He couldn’t exactly say he just wanted to read his book under the moonlight.
And knowing Gen as well as he did, he figured the kid must be up to something again. After all, this was someone bold enough to use a Shadow Clone just to make a getaway.
“What are you planning now? Don’t tell me you want to sneak into Takigakure?”
“You really do know me well, Kakashi-sensei.”
Gen didn’t even try to deny it. He nodded earnestly and said, “Takigakure is way too mysterious. Even though from the materials I studied, they don’t seem particularly impressive...”
“But that guy from the Akatsuki is ridiculously strong. So I want to go check things out first.”
“By yourself?”
“Yeah. Trust my skills. Besides, getting in and out is easy for me. There’s no way anyone could stop me.”
Gen looked completely confident, and even Kakashi couldn’t help but nod.
To be fair, when it came to escaping combat, this kid really was impressive.
And honestly, Takigakure was suspicious. Scouting ahead might not be a bad idea.
“Then go.”
However, before Kakashi could give the go-ahead, a voice came from behind them.
“You’re up too, Jiraiya-sama?”
Kakashi turned and saw Jiraiya stepping out while yawning.
“This place is boring as hell. And when have I ever gone to bed early?” he grumbled, plopping down beside them.
“Go ahead if you want. The Fourth Raikage still has the Flying Thunder God seal on him anyway. Just don’t make a scene, and definitely don’t let anyone see you. Got it?”
“No worries.”
Gen smiled and gave a quick nod. Then, after a moment of thought, he raised one hand vertically and completed a Transformation Technique in an instant.
“How about this?”
“...”
The corner of Jiraiya’s mouth twitched, while Kakashi didn’t even feel like reading anymore.
Because the form Gen had taken was none other than Uchiha Obito—complete with mask.
Even if they knew it was just a disguise, wasn’t that going a little too far?
“But… why is your hair short?”
The atmosphere was quiet, but Kakashi suddenly thought of something. He turned to look at Kitagawa Gen with a puzzled expression.
“It makes me easier to tell apart.”
Gen replied matter-of-factly.
“Every time we go on a mission, we seem to run into him. What if someone mistakes me for the wrong person?”
Right now, Uchiha Obito still wore his long hair, similar in style to Uchiha Madara’s. Who knew when he had last trimmed it?
But that only made it more convenient for Gen to exploit the resemblance. He knew perfectly well these Akatsuki members would show up.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
Gen waved casually, and the next moment, his figure vanished from sight.
“What a jinx. Kakashi, your mentorship’s really questionable,” Jiraiya muttered as he stared at the spot where Gen had disappeared.
Kakashi wasn’t having it.
“Jiraiya-sama, he picked up all those bad habits from you. I never took him to a hot spring inn!”
“Funny, I could’ve sworn the first time we met, he was already eyeing that rich merchant in the Land of Waves.”
“…”
“And don’t forget, he scammed Naruto out of his stipend and got the Third Hokage to foot his bills. That wasn’t my doing.”
“…”
“And just now, he—”
“Enough. This is clearly a Konoha education problem!”
...
Elsewhere, on the opposite side of Takigakure, Uchiha Obito stood bathed in moonlight, eyes fixed on the waterfall in the distance. He spoke in a low voice.
“How’s the setup going over there?”
They hadn’t attempted a nighttime ambush on Jiraiya and the others. Shinobi were always more alert at night—especially those particular individuals, each of them formidable.
Rather than stir up trouble in the dark, it was smarter to lie in wait along the path ahead.
“It’s about done. Everything should go smoothly,” Black Zetsu murmured beside him, his gaze also drifting toward the waterfall.
“What is it? Want to go in and take a look?”
“Yeah. Better to get a read on the situation early. Even if the Seven-Tails isn’t much, it’s still a tailed beast.”
Obito didn’t deny it. Infiltrating a village was hardly difficult for him.
“I don’t know how long Nagato will take, but we need solid intel on these tailed beasts. I don’t want our operation to officially begin, only to fail because we didn’t have the right information.”
“Agreed.”
Black Zetsu nodded. The situation was already complicated enough.
And as for Kitagawa Gen… he still hadn’t figured that kid out, which only deepened his unease.
Right now, more than anyone, he was probably the one hoping this would all be over soon—if only to stop worrying so much.
“I’ll go check it out. You keep watching that useless Kakashi and the others.”
Uchiha Obito didn’t waste words. He made his decision instantly, and Black Zetsu immediately responded.
“I’ve had White Zetsu on them the whole time. But he can’t get too close—those guys are very sharp.”
“I know. I’m heading out.”
As he spoke, Obito’s body twisted, and in the next moment, he vanished from sight.
“What a pain… Let’s hope nothing goes wrong this time,” Black Zetsu muttered, watching Obito disappear. But even as he said that, an uneasy feeling stirred in his chest.
After all, every single time they crossed paths with Kitagawa Gen, something bad happened.
...
“Takigakure, huh?”
Within the hidden village, space rippled slightly as Uchiha Obito emerged silently in the shadows.
He gazed down at the village below and couldn’t help shaking his head.
Takigakure was more run-down than most. But on second thought, that was to be expected.
The Land of Waterfalls wasn’t a major nation to begin with, and even with a tailed beast in their possession, Takigakure had never grown into a proper large shinobi village.
Surrounded by two great powers—Konohagakure and the Land of Earth—their mission commissions had long been siphoned away. To make matters worse, many of their shinobi had been massacred by Kakuzu in the past.
Really, the only things this village had going for it were that so-called 'Hero Water' and the Seven-Tails.
“But I guess thanks to the Seven-Tails, the Great Ninja War never reached this place.”
The beast might not have been one of the strongest, but a rampaging tailed beast was still no joke—who’d want to deal with that?
“First, I need to find the Seven-Tails’ jinchūriki and assess the situation.”
With that thought, Obito’s body shifted slightly—and in the next instant, he phased into a ghostlike blur and headed toward Fū’s location.
He already knew, more or less, where she was. The groundwork had been done long ago.
“Wait... something’s off.”
As he drew closer, a strange sensation crept in.
“Why is it so quiet? Where are the ANBU?”
It didn’t make sense. Takigakure might be small and in decline, but surely they wouldn’t leave their jinchūriki completely unguarded?
But when he found a Takigakure ANBU lying unconscious in a corner, he instantly knew something was wrong.
“What the hell happened? Did something go down in the village? Or is someone else after the tailed beast too?”
Questions flooded his mind as he surged forward at full speed toward Fū’s quarters.
Yet the moment he used Kamui to teleport directly into her room, he froze completely.
And in that stunned, bewildered gaze of his—
He saw himself standing inside the room.
His sudden appearance didn’t go unnoticed. The other figure in the room immediately sensed something was wrong and snapped their head up.
For a brief, frozen moment, two figures—dressed identically, wearing the exact same mask—just stared at each other in stunned silence.
...
“Nagato, are you sure sending only one Path is enough?”
Inside a tree hollow within the dense forest surrounding Takigakure, Konan looked at Nagato with concern.
“This time, we’re up against Jiraiya-sensei. And he’s not alone. Just one Path...?”
“This isn’t the time to reveal everything,” Nagato said, shaking his head. “And besides, maintaining control over all six Paths isn’t easy.”
He wasn’t unwilling to bring out the others—he simply wasn’t ready to expose all his cards.
More importantly, the Gedo Statue was consuming too much of his strength, preventing him from fully mastering the six bodies.
Maybe once the Gedo Statue was fully prepared, he could operate without restraint.
“Having the Deva Path should be enough. Don’t worry—it’ll be fine.”
Nagato still had full confidence in the power of Deva Path Pain. Truth be told, if Yahiko’s body had been able to withstand his full power, he wouldn’t have needed any of the other bodies.
Since Yahiko’s death, the overlapping convictions he once shared with him had faded.
Now, all that remained was to show Yahiko the world they would create—and to use Yahiko to bring that world of peace to life, with his own hands.
Perhaps in Nagato’s heart, Yahiko had always been the true leader of the Akatsuki.
“Get some rest. Tomorrow—”
Nagato shook his head, trying to move on, ready to suggest Konan get some sleep.
But before he could finish, an overwhelming surge of chakra suddenly exploded outward.
[Boom—!]
The force of the eruption startled both of them. Nagato immediately activated the Deva Path.
“What was that?!”
Uchiha Itachi and Kisame rushed over as well, equally clueless about what had just happened.
“What the hell? Don’t tell me that brat blew his cover—and picked a fight on top of it?”
