TitoVillar
patreon
NBB Chapter 7: Lessons from the Copy Ninja
🕑 Added 2025-05-15 03:09:55 +0000 UTC“Well, in that case—let’s head out.”
Kakashi didn’t waste any words. After giving Obito and Rin’s memorial one last look, he turned and led Kitagawa Gen away.
Leaving the village went smoothly. A simple form needed to be filled out, and with Kakashi’s reputation, everything was handled without issue.
In this era, Konoha’s backbone truly consisted of Kakashi’s generation.
Sometimes, Kitagawa Gen found himself wishing he had been born in the same era as Kakashi. Even if he couldn't outpace his peers, he might’ve still made a name for himself.
Of course, that was assuming he didn’t die on the battlefield—or get scooped up by Danzō.
“The shinobi world’s environment has improved a lot. At least it’s not like back then, when there was war everywhere.”
Kakashi had no idea what was going through Gen’s head. As they walked, he casually remarked, “But there’s one thing that’s never changed in the shinobi world—danger is everywhere. The power struggles between the great nations haven’t ended; they’ve just taken on new forms."
"And besides that, there are all kinds of mercenary groups, rogue ninja, and the like. They’re all incredibly dangerous.”
“Yeah, I know, Kakashi-sensei.”
Kitagawa Gen nodded. He had heard bits and pieces of this already.
Take, for instance, Akatsuki—the group that Uchiha Obito was a part of. It was technically a new kind of mercenary ninja organization.
Thinking of Obito, Gen tilted his head and suddenly asked, “Kakashi-sensei, those two—were they your teammates?”
Kakashi was silent for a moment before finally nodding. “...Yeah.”
“Didn’t Guy tell you?”
“Guy-sensei didn’t say much,” Gen replied with a blink. “Just mentioned that your title of ‘Copy Ninja’ came from them."
"He also stressed that they were heroes worthy of Konoha’s respect—just like you.”
“I’m no hero. They were.”
Kakashi shook his head with a sigh, then shifted the conversation.
“I heard you get along pretty well with that little guy Naruto?”
“Yeah, we’re neighbors.”
Gen nodded. He wasn’t about to lie about that. Rubbing the back of his head, he added sheepishly, “There are always some nasty voices around the village. I used to be scared of him too."
"But after spending some time with him, I realized—he’s kind of a dummy, but he’s a good person."
"Besides, his stipend is pretty generous, so…”
“You’ve got your eye on his stipend?”
Kakashi looked at Gen with a mix of exasperation and amusement, then eventually shook his head and said, quite seriously, “Forget it. That kid wouldn’t mind anyway."
"His situation’s... a little special. As for those voices—don’t pay too much attention to them."
"Just remember: he’s not a bad person. And I’m sure he values you as a friend."
"Friends are important to everyone—but especially to us shinobi.”
“I understand, Kakashi-sensei.”
Kitagawa Gen nodded earnestly. Whatever the reason, Naruto was a good friend. That much was beyond doubt!
“Hmm?”
But then, Gen’s brow furrowed—his system had triggered something.
[Kakashi Exclusive Side Quest Unlocked]
[These Are My Beloved Friends, Kin, and Brothers!]
[Help Kakashi find his lost friend, Uchiha Obito]
[Exclusive side quests will not interfere with standard side quests]
[Accept quest?]
“…?”
Kitagawa Gen stared at the prompt in disbelief, while Kakashi’s visible eye curved into a half-moon shape.
“Good that you understand. But for now, focus on what’s ahead—things won’t be so easy from here on out.”
...
The days that followed were anything but easy.
But the one struggling wasn’t Kitagawa Gen—it was Kakashi.
This time, Kakashi had planned a longer mission trip. His intention was to train Kitagawa Gen while having the kid carry out actual missions.
Yet along the way, he was surprised to find that things were going far more smoothly than expected.
This wasn’t what he’d anticipated at all. What happened to the 'trial by fire'?
To be fair, at the beginning of their missions, Kitagawa Gen had made a few rookie mistakes due to his lack of experience.
But it didn’t take long for the boy to adapt—and perform remarkably well. That alone had already caught Kakashi off guard.
However, once the training truly began, Kakashi’s surprise turned to shock.
He discovered that Kitagawa Gen had an incredibly solid foundation… and absurdly good talent.
Most of the time, all Kakashi had to do was demonstrate a technique—show him the hand signs and explain how to circulate chakra for that jutsu—and the boy would figure out the rest on his own.
And when he executed it, he was every bit as good as shinobi who had trained for years.
Even in taijutsu, it was the same story. Kakashi had once demonstrated his kenjutsu using just a kunai—and somehow, Gen had picked it up flawlessly.
As the days passed, Kakashi began to understand how his own teachers must have felt back when they trained him.
So this is what it feels like to teach a prodigy?
And this kid was even more outrageous than he had been back then. Not only did he learn fast—he constantly had his own ideas.
No matter the technique, he always seemed intent on altering it somehow—either simplifying the hand seals or modifying the nature of the jutsu.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
After a noticeably abbreviated sequence of hand signs, Gen spat out an enormous fireball.
The blazing orb roared toward the distant bandit encampment—then exploded into a sweeping inferno.
Inside, not a single scream could be heard. The bandits were incinerated before they even had time to react.
“Kakashi-sensei, mission complete.”
Gen turned and looked at the silent Kakashi beside him.
“Based on my recon, there were thirteen bandits inside. No hostages, so there’s no risk of collateral damage. Unless something unexpected happened, they should all be taken care of.”
“…Mm.”
Kakashi nodded numbly, then offered a mechanical compliment.
“Well done. Your progress is… beyond what I imagined.”
He didn’t even know how many times he’d said something like that already—it was getting repetitive.
And honestly, Kakashi was starting to think that teaching a genius wasn’t necessarily a happy thing. If they learned too fast, you’d soon run out of things to teach.
“Kakashi-sensei,” Gen said, blinking curiously, “It seems like we’ve pretty much wrapped up all our C-rank missions. Should we move on to that B-rank one now?”
“I remember it had something to do with a noble from the Land of Waves. For some reason, someone put a high bounty on him in the black market—so we might run into other shinobi.”
“…Right.”
As soon as they shifted to a professional topic, Kakashi snapped out of his daze.
“There’s a bit of an issue with this mission. The bounty on the black market isn’t low. There’s a decent chance we’ll encounter some skilled ninja.”
“Eh?”
Gen blinked in surprise. That didn’t sound like an easy mission at all.
“Then why is it only ranked B?”
“Because the noble has personal bodyguards—samurai who can use chakra. And those guys probably don’t like having extra shinobi tagging along.”
Kakashi shrugged as he explained, his tone casual.
“That kind of setup lowers the difficulty. Besides, the pay isn’t that great either. So overall, it only qualifies as B-rank.”
“I see…”
Gen nodded, though inwardly, he couldn’t help but complain a little.
So that’s the kind of mission this is.
Low pay, unclear circumstances, and chakra-using samurai who dislike ninja.
Other shinobi probably wouldn’t want to take it—but for a newcomer like him, it seemed like decent training.
Still, Gen didn’t mind this kind of mission. He blinked and turned to Kakashi once more.
“Kakashi-sensei, even though this mission doesn’t seem all that complicated… it is a B-rank mission, so…”
“...”
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that. He had heard lines like this plenty of times during the trip.
“What do you want to learn this time?”
“I heard from Guy-sensei that you’re especially skilled in Lightning Release,” Kitagawa Gen said, touching his chin thoughtfully. He had long wanted to ‘cleanse’ his Lightning Release and properly try out that Purple Electricity.
“After all, it’s your signature, Kakashi-sensei. And didn’t I test as having an affinity for Lightning Release too?”
“So while we’re still en route to the Land of Waves… why not teach me now?”
“But this technique isn’t really suitable for you…”
“I know. Guy-sensei mentioned that your Lightning Release works best when paired with the Sharingan. But I still want to give it a try.”
“...”
“Kakashi-sensei, surely you don’t want your only student to be completely clueless about your specialty, right?”
“...”
...
“Verification complete. Mission accomplished. Here’s your payment—keep it safe.”
“Mm.”
In the underground exchange center of the Land of Hot Water, two figures clad in black cloaks patterned with red clouds accepted a cash-filled envelope from the administrator.
After casually picking up another assignment, they turned and left.
“That’s another mission done,” said the taller man as they stepped out of the exchange.
He carried a massive blade on his back, had sharp, jagged teeth, a cross-shaped scar on his face, and crimson war paint. His voice was rough.
“And you’re really getting used to this life now, Itachi.”
“It’s been over a year. I’ve already adapted, Jūzō.”
The other man gave a slight nod. On his forehead, he wore a scratched-out Konoha forehead protector—a clear mark of his identity.
It was none other than Biwa Jūzō and Uchiha Itachi.
The Akatsuki was still in its accumulation phase. Right now, they were carrying out mission after mission to build up the organization’s funds.
It wasn’t exactly an exciting life—but it suited the two of them just fine.
“What’s our next job? Is it in the Land of Waves?”
Uchiha Itachi glanced over with interest. As someone who had only joined a year ago, he still deferred to Jūzō on many matters.
“Yeah. We’re hunting someone down. Apparently, it’s a noble.”
Jūzō took a quick look at the mission list before stashing it away.
“But that doesn’t concern us. The more peaceful the world is, the more work we get. We take whatever commissions come—doesn’t matter what they are.”
“So whether this noble is good or bad, or who wants them dead—it doesn’t matter.”
“Even if it’s just some prank commission, there’s no need to ask who or why. We just take the money and do the job.”
“You’ve said that many times already,” Itachi replied calmly, his gaze drifting into the distance.
“But don’t worry—I’ve already taken it to heart.”
“Good. Then let’s move.”
Jūzō gave a satisfied nod and turned without looking back.
“If we finish early, maybe we’ll even have time to do something we want to do…”
![MF [MALE FOCUS] from patreon](https://leaqio.com/kistorage/8544.jpg)
