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NBB Chapter 84: Old Men, Old Wars, and One Dead Salamander
🕑 Added 2025-06-28 00:19:57 +0000 UTCKitsuchi was momentarily stunned.
He couldn't quite understand what was going on with Deidara.
He knew that the old man had considered teaching Deidara the Dust Release. After all, Iwagakure wasn’t like Konohagakure—it didn’t randomly produce waves of prodigies out of nowhere.
Even if Deidara’s personality was frustrating to deal with, he was undeniably one of the village’s geniuses.
But hadn’t Deidara always hated the old man’s teachings? Why had a single visit to Konoha changed him so drastically?
“Kitsuchi-dono, seeing you is like seeing your father again. Although we stand on different sides, we’ve been old friends for a long time.”
Kitsuchi hadn’t even snapped out of his daze yet when Sarutobi Hiruzen’s voice suddenly came from beside him.
The words immediately jolted him back to reality—and at the same time, he couldn’t help but curse Deidara under his breath. The brat had completely ignored them no matter how much they questioned him.
They had even subjected him to thorough testing last night—confirming that Deidara wasn’t poisoned or under any genjutsu.
Kitsuchi truly couldn’t make sense of how Deidara had changed so drastically.
“Hokage-sama, my father often spoke of you as well.”
Although Kitsuchi appeared every bit the ‘tough guy’ type, he was still Ōnoki’s son—he had absorbed plenty through osmosis over the years.
“After all, among the Third Generation, only you and my father remain.”
“Indeed. Time truly flies.”
Hiruzen smiled, brushing aside any mention of his retirement. He responded with sincerity: “I had often wondered when we might find the chance to talk again. Never expected it to come like this.”
Coming to our village, stirring up trouble, and even luring Deidara away to Konoha—sure, that’s one way to create an opportunity, right?
Kitsuchi sighed inwardly but could only nod in response.
“That’s true. However, Hokage-sama, regarding this time—”
“In the past, for many reasons, we could never trust one another. Communication between us was practically nonexistent.”
But Hiruzen, the seasoned veteran he was, didn’t wait for Kitsuchi to finish. He smiled and continued smoothly: “Between Konoha and Iwagakure, there’s barely been any channel for contact. Yet now, I believe I see an opportunity. What do you think?”
“…”
If you want intel, just say it straight, dammit!
Kitsuchi might’ve been a bit slow to react, but he wasn’t stupid—he knew exactly what Hiruzen was getting at. And that was precisely what he hated the most.
He would’ve much rather fought on the front lines than deal with these political games.
“It is an opportunity, I’ll admit that… But Hokage-sama—”
Kitsuchi sighed in resignation, looking directly at Hiruzen.
“Establishing a line of communication may indeed be necessary, but the foundation must be mutual trust. So could you tell us—what exactly is going on here?”
“That day in the Land of Earth, and everything that happened then—I think only if we get things clear between us can anything move forward.”
“Indeed.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, pipe between his lips. Kitsuchi’s directness wasn’t exactly tactful, but it was exactly what he needed.
“For the sake of mutual trust, we do need to exchange some information. Only then can we truly understand each other. Especially regarding that mysterious organization…”
...
Konohagakure, in one of the training fields.
Kakashi and Kitagawa Gen had just finished a round of training and were now sitting down to rest.
Kakashi could involve himself in the current village matters if needed, but he didn’t have much interest unless someone directly called for him.
Gen, on the other hand, was curious—but as a chūnin, he wasn’t quite in the position to participate. And since they weren’t being assigned any missions for the time being, it was better to focus on training.
“You’ve really been getting stronger, kid.”
Kakashi sat beside him, running a hand through his hair as he gave a serious evaluation.
“Especially now that your missions are getting more difficult. Your combat experience is building steadily. Sure, there’s still room to improve, but your Flying Thunder God Technique covers a lot of ground."
"I believe someday, you’ll be a ninja that stuns the whole world.”
“Hehe.”
Gen grinned and then deliberately teased: “So I don’t already stun the world?”
“…”
Kakashi rolled his eyes and picked up his book.
“Try being a bit more humble. There’s always someone stronger out there. Every shinobi needs to stay cautious. The more widely known your abilities become, the more others will study and prepare for you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah—I get it.”
Gen nodded. He was well aware of that reality.
Even if he wasn’t weak, there were still plenty of powerful shinobi in the world. For one, he wouldn’t dare go head-to-head with Ōnoki’s Dust Release…
“But I am kind of glad the Iwagakure guys are here. Deidara still owes me money.”
“Huh? I thought Naruto said you already got it back from him.”
Just then, a voice chimed in unexpectedly. Turning around, they saw it was Jiraiya.
“Jiraiya-sama? What are you doing here?”
Kakashi looked surprised—he thought Jiraiya had gone to meet the people from Sunagakure.
“The old man’s meeting isn’t over yet. The folks from Sunagakure wanted some time to cool off, so I slipped out.”
Jiraiya chuckled carelessly. He didn’t want to be involved in those matters anyway, but his position made it impossible to fully avoid them.
“Things really are a pain over there.”
He shook his head and then sat down, making it a trio of white-haired shinobi.
“Sunagakure’s delegation is taking this seriously—Chiyo came herself. Good thing the two of you weren’t there. Otherwise…”
As they spoke, Jiraiya glanced at Kitagawa Gen and Kakashi with a slightly teasing look in his eyes.
That look instantly made Kakashi’s expression fall flat—his eyes dull and lifeless. Last time, that puppeteer had mistaken Kitagawa Gen for his father.
No one had said anything about it out loud, but everyone knew what had happened.
“Do I really look like him, Kakashi-sensei?”
Gen blinked and turned to look at Kakashi, only for the latter to promptly slam his book down on Gen’s head.
“Go dye your hair back!”
Irritated, Kakashi turned his attention back to Jiraiya.
“So, that guy… he was the legendary ‘Sasori of the Red Sand,’ wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, that’s likely the case.”
Jiraiya nodded, his tone becoming serious.
“That level of puppet mastery—especially the ability to turn people into human puppets while preserving their abilities from life—only the top puppet masters from Sunagakure are capable of that."
"And I heard something else: Sasori of the Red Sand used to be part of the Third Kazekage’s personal guard. He disappeared right after the Kazekage went missing."
"At first, everyone assumed he’d met some misfortune, but now it seems…”
“…it was hidden in plain sight,” Gen added. “As a member of the guard, he had private access to the Kazekage.”
“And that guy’s a poison specialist. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Third Kazekage was killed by his toxins.”
“Yeah. That’s entirely possible.”
Jiraiya let out a long sigh, then gave a bitter chuckle.
“Hard to believe the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War may have been triggered by something like this. Sure, that war was bound to happen eventually—but this cause? It’s just absurd.”
The shinobi world was a powder keg. The end of the Second Great Ninja War hadn’t wiped away hatred—it had only planted the seeds of deeper resentment.
Resource scarcity, uneven development—these were problems every shinobi village faced. And the simplest, most efficient way to deal with them? Plunder.
Especially a place like the Land of Fire. If you could bite off even a small piece, it was worth it.
Jiraiya understood all of that. So all he could do now was sigh.
“Enough of that. It’s too heavy. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Mm. Kakashi-sensei mentioned we might be heading out on a mission soon?”
Gen nodded, then asked curiously.
“Not just yet. It hasn’t been finalized.”
Jiraiya shook his head. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he continued.
“The intel came from the one-eyed old man you met before. It involves Orochimaru, which is why it caught my attention.”
"He’s also investigating something else. Apparently, he has some history with Hanzo of the Salamander. So for now… we wait.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Kitagawa Gen nearly burst out laughing. After all, Hanzo of the Salamander and Shimura Danzō had once practically fled shoulder to shoulder, howling as they were hunted down by Nagato.
That incident alone likely turned whatever past camaraderie they had into bitter enmity.
Of course, a grudge like that doesn’t really matter anymore.
'After all, Hanzo of the Salamander has already been diced up like spicy fish.'
With Hanzo’s death, Amegakure had changed hands. If Danzō still dared to inquire now, then maybe…
'Hiss… That’d be like a lamb walking straight into a tiger’s den!'
The grudge Nagato and the others bore wasn’t limited to Hanzo—the other major target was none other than Danzō himself.
Suddenly, Gen also realized why Orochimaru had conveniently resurfaced at this time.
It probably had Danzō’s fingerprints all over it. The guy most likely didn’t dare approach Amegakure himself, so he set Orochimaru in motion instead.
Even though some pieces were still unclear, Gen, who knew quite a bit of intel, had pieced together a rough picture.
So Danzō was about to stir up trouble again?
