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NBB Chapter 94: All Roads Lead to Akatsuki
🕑 Added 2025-07-07 02:05:57 +0000 UTCKitagawa Gen’s name might not have spread across the shinobi world yet, but within the Akatsuki, everyone knew who he was.
It started with Uchiha Itachi and Biwa Jūzō, who had suffered a major setback when they first ran into him.
Then Kisame had been outplayed in the Land of Water.
Shortly after, Kakuzu and Hidan crossed paths with the kid—and Kakuzu had multiple hearts blown to bits.
Finally, Sasori himself had taken a mission in Iwagakure… only to have nearly all his puppets destroyed by Kitagawa Gen. His identity had likely been exposed in the process.
Both his own body and that of the Third Kazekage had been badly damaged—essentially wiping out most of his combat capabilities.
To make matters worse, that mission had forced Ōnoki to step in personally… and Deidara had ended up being lured away to Konoha. That alone meant they’d lost a major client in Iwagakure.
And if they factored in Uchiha Obito too—
This wasn’t just bad luck. These were grudges soaked in blood.
Honestly, they still couldn’t figure it out: how had their entire organization kept fumbling against the same kid?
But they had to admit—this brat named Kitagawa Gen… he was legitimately dangerous.
"That's right. Kitagawa Gen is there. Hatake Kakashi too. Even Jiraiya… and Tsunade. They’re all in the area."
Pain nodded. The intel had come from Uchiha Obito, and he had no reason to doubt its accuracy.
"A real reunion, huh?"
Kisame bared his teeth in a grin. Uchiha Itachi remained silent, while Kakuzu and Sasori looked absolutely livid.
After a while, both men shook their heads.
"I haven’t recovered yet. I’m in no condition to move."
"I still need to rebuild my puppets. I can’t join this mission either."
Pain nodded. He wasn’t surprised.
"Then you two will stay behind. Hidan, you’ll stay as well—help them with their recovery."
"Tch. Fine by me. Wasn’t in the mood anyway."
Hidan nodded indifferently. He hadn’t had much direct contact with that brat Kitagawa Gen…
But that damn Kappa demon—now that one he remembered vividly.
Still, that guy wasn’t around anyway, so he didn’t really care.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us and the leader, huh?”
Kisame glanced at Uchiha Itachi, then grinned as he spoke.
“But we might be a bit short-handed… and we’re still quite far from Sugi Village.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not just the two of you,” Pain said calmly, shaking his head slightly.
“Someone else will be joining. They’ll arrange your transport when the time comes.”
...
“Brat, I swear I’ll kill you!”
“Blah blah—no one walks into this world without catching a blade or two. And can you even keep up with me?”
“You bastard!”
Inside a cave near Sugi Village, Kitagawa Gen simply shrugged as the Fourth Raikage bellowed with rage.
The Raikage had finally regained consciousness—but he clearly wasn’t handling his situation very well.
As a taijutsu-based shinobi, suddenly losing an arm was understandably hard to accept.
“Come on, it was bound to happen eventually. Don’t dwell on it,” Gen said, his tone almost kind, trying to comfort him.
That only made the Raikage even more furious.
“Eventually? You little punk, you’ve got a death wish!”
“You’ve been saying the same lines on loop. Besides, your chakra’s sealed. What exactly are you going to do to me?”
Gen tilted his head, that casual attitude fanning the flames of the Raikage’s rage.
“Hmph! What, you think you can kill me? If you do, you’ll ignite another great shinobi war! You think you can bear the consequences? You’ll have no choice but to release me. And I—”
“Yeah, yeah. Classic bandit logic. You get to take what you want, but if something happens to your own people, suddenly it’s unforgivable. Whether it’s robbing others or whining about your own losses—it’s all the same. Looks like I wasn’t wrong about you.”
Before the Fourth Raikage could finish, Gen had already turned and walked away, clearly done with the conversation.
There was no reasoning with someone like that.
And frankly, the headache wasn’t his to deal with anyway—Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kakashi were all here.
Worst case, the Third Hokage was still in charge above them.
“Oh, and forget about reattaching that arm,” Gen thought to himself, ignoring the Raikage’s howls echoing behind him as he headed toward Kakashi and the others.
The moment his blade, wrapped in purple lightning, sliced through the Raikage’s arm, it had already scorched the nerves to ash.
It wasn’t intentional—the damage had simply been a side effect of the Purple Lightning itself.
Even Tsunade, with all her medical expertise, couldn’t do anything about it.
Well, that’s what she had said, at least.
Maybe it was just fate.
“Anyway, the mission’s done.”
[Side Quest Complete: One Big, Loving Family]
[Calculating rewards…]
Glancing at the system panel, Kitagawa Gen nodded to himself.
This mission hadn’t been especially difficult, though he wasn’t quite sure what kind of reward he’d get.
“But considering it involved Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Orochimaru—and even the Fourth Raikage—the reward’s bound to be solid.”
Stretching lazily, Gen let a smile spread across his face. Finally, a moment to relax.
“Next stop: back to Konoha. I need to pick up the pace on my other research too.”
There were still plenty of areas where he needed improvement—and he wasn’t about to stop now.
But just then, the system screen lit up again.
[New Side Quest Acquired]
[We’re All Just Trying to Survive]
[Life isn’t easy for anyone—prepare to face the Akatsuki’s assault.]
“…”
Staring at the new mission prompt, Gen couldn’t help twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“Seriously? Another one?”
Sometimes, Kitagawa Gen couldn’t help but wonder if he was just naturally at odds with the Akatsuki.
Otherwise, how could he possibly run into them so often?
Thinking back to his very first mission, he’d already crossed paths with them. And ever since then, their entanglement had never once ceased.
And each of those Akatsuki members—without ever having complete intel on him—ended up getting burned one way or another.
“So this time... it’s because we ran into Orochimaru and got targeted by the Akatsuki again?”
Kitagawa Gen wasn’t exactly sure, but in truth, it wasn’t that surprising that the Akatsuki had laid a trap. After all, he had sabotaged their plans more than a few times.
What goes around comes around, doesn’t it? Especially since he now knew what they were after.
“What’s wrong? Is the Fourth Raikage still fuming?”
Though Gen’s mind was filled with doubt, Jiraiya wasn’t privy to all of that. Seeing Gen emerge, he asked casually.
“That guy really has a nasty temper. Ever since he woke up, he’s been yelling about fighting and killing. Seriously, what a pain.”
“Tch. Let’s see you stay calm after getting your arm chopped off.”
Tsunade shot Jiraiya a disdainful glance, making him scratch his head awkwardly.
“Well... I guess it depends on the situation. But are you really saying there’s nothing you can do about his arm?”
Although Gen’s Lightning Release had done a number on that arm, Tsunade was still the strongest medical ninja out there.
Even if she had said “No can do,” Jiraiya couldn’t quite tell if she truly meant it or had some other reason.
“All right, Jiraiya-sama, why don’t we focus on what comes next?” Kakashi interjected in time.
At this point, whether she could or couldn’t didn’t really matter. In fact, maybe it was even for the better.
“It’s about time we head back anyway—and that Raikage needs time to figure out how he wants to handle things. Has the Third replied?”
“The old man told us to take care of him and avoid further conflict. Also, he said to be extra cautious on our way back.”
Jiraiya pressed his lips together, recalling the message Hiruzen had sent.
“The commotion we caused in Sugi Village was too big. There’s a good chance Kumogakure picked up on something, so he told us to stay alert.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been looking into it lately. Seems like they were after a secret technique from Sugi Village.”
Kakashi nodded and added, “If everything went smoothly, they probably got what they came for. But since something clearly didn’t go as planned, they came to Tsunade-sama for help. Still, after all this time without reporting back, there’s no way Kumogakure won’t react.”
“Bunch of damn bandits... Some things never change,” Tsunade muttered, clearly annoyed. “Running into you people is always trouble. I could’ve been out drinking and gambling without a care in the world.”
Turns out, not only did she lose her favorite hangout spot, but now she was neck-deep in trouble as well.
Maybe the only upside was that her debt issue had finally been taken care of?
“So, what do we do now?”
Kitagawa Gen asked with genuine curiosity. He knew full well that Akatsuki were still lurking, waiting for an opening.
Should they just let them fight each other and tear themselves apart?
Tempting—but also risky. If those guys ever ended up on the same page, he’d be the one out of luck.
“How about we take the route through the Land of Waterfalls?” Jiraiya suddenly suggested, rubbing his chin.
“We’re not far from it anyway, and passing through the Land of Waterfalls would give us a direct path into the Land of Fire.”
“Plus, we could drop the Fourth Raikage off at the Land of Iron on the way. If that doesn’t work, we could have the old man meet us at the border and figure things out from there.”
