Konoha Hospital—
Kitagawa Gen stepped into Kakashi's hospital room, carrying a fruit basket—only to find Jiraiya already inside.
"Kakashi-sensei... oh, and Jiraiya-sama's here too?"
"Oi, brat, what's so surprising about me being here?"
Jiraiya gave Gen an annoyed look, while Kakashi lay on the bed, reading Make-Out Paradise. Only when he saw Gen walk in did he set the book aside.
"Hey, Gen. You came."
"Yeah. I wanted to see how you're recovering."
Gen set the fruit basket down and nodded, giving Kakashi a once-over before smiling.
"Looks like you're recovering well, Sensei. Who knows—maybe we'll be back on missions in no time."
"Oh, come on. We just returned to Konoha. Don't rush it."
Kakashi let out a dry laugh.
"But honestly, it's gone better than expected. Probably because you reacted quickly—my injuries didn't turn out as bad. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to join in last night."
Gen nodded in agreement. He could tell—Uchiha Itachi had probably held back.
After all, that guy still saw himself as a spy for Konoha. His comrades were preoccupied during the fight, so he likely didn't want to harm fellow Konoha shinobi.
But within the village? That was a different story. With Kisame watching and backup on the way, it made sense for him to go all out to escape quickly.
"Still, I didn't expect things to go down like that last night."
Kakashi sighed and tilted his head toward Gen.
"Good thing you're alright… But listen, even though you handled things well, I don't want you rushing in so recklessly next time."
"Enough. You should be resting."
Jiraiya shook his head from the side, his tone laced with helplessness.
"You don't need to dwell on this while you're recovering. Once you're healed, you won't be able to avoid it anyway. For now, just let it go."
He already knew about Kakashi and Uchiha Obito's history—he understood the pain Kakashi was going through.
After all, he was still chasing after Orochimaru himself.
And he definitely didn't want Kakashi constantly tormenting himself over this. That wouldn't help him heal at all.
"Brat. You're with me for a while."
Turning his head, Jiraiya fixed his eyes on Gen with a thoroughly disgruntled look.
Hiruzen-sensei's gaze last night had already made Jiraiya feel uneasy—and sure enough, after the meeting, the old man had pulled him aside.
And the reason was simple: he wanted Jiraiya to cover for Kakashi during his recovery.
A task Jiraiya couldn't exactly refuse… even if he had a thousand complaints.
"Seriously, your sensei gets injured, and I'm the one who gets stuck picking up the slack. Unbelievable."
"Huh?"
Gen blinked. He hadn't expected to get this lucky.
Sure, Jiraiya could be a bit… unreliable—but there was no doubt about it: he was one of the best instructors in the entire shinobi world.
Almost every student he taught had turned out exceptional.
"Alright, let's go. Don't disturb your sensei's rest."
Jiraiya stood up and walked over to Gen, giving him a once-over before grinning wickedly.
"But brace yourself, brat. Since the old man dumped this on me, I'm not going easy. What I'm gonna teach you... is really tough."
Although he had no idea what exactly Jiraiya intended to teach him, Kitagawa Gen wasn't afraid in the slightest.
The confidence granted to him by the Ōtsutsuki bloodline was far from ordinary. If not for the concern that appearing too gifted too suddenly would raise suspicion due to the drastic change in his performance—
'I could've earned the title 'Copy Ninja' myself by now!'
Following Jiraiya out of the hospital, the two of them headed toward the bustling center of Konohagakure, which left Gen feeling puzzled.
"Jiraiya-sama, are we going the wrong way? Why are we heading in this direction?"
"There's a training ground here. It's small, but it'll do."
Jiraiya responded nonchalantly. After glancing at Gen, he suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"I know you're quite talented, but what this great sage is going to teach you won't be simple. Take your time figuring it out—meanwhile, I'll go gather some research material!"
"You mean you're going to the hot springs?"
Gen couldn't help but crack. Who did this man think he was fooling?
"And also—Kakashi-sensei's copy of Make-Out Paradise... That was your work too, wasn't it, Jiraiya-sama?"
"Eh? You've read it?"
Jiraiya blinked in disbelief, then shook his head quickly.
"Don't spout nonsense. Kakashi would never let you read that. And don't even think about buying it—it's strictly 18+!"
"What about the Transformation Technique?"
Gen shrugged. If he really wanted to get it, there were plenty of ways.
"You little brat… You're seriously a handful."
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead in exasperation, though he quickly composed himself. This time, however, his tone turned a bit more serious.
"Try to go easy on your sensei. What happened recently... anyone would've taken it hard."
At that, Jiraiya came to a stop. He didn't seem willing to say much more, but that only piqued Gen's curiosity.
The mission may have been completed, but he still wanted to know what came after.
"That guy from last night—was he someone Kakashi-sensei knew?"
Gen asked curiously.
"You can tell me, right? After all, I was the one who found him, and I was the one who uncovered the intel. You're not seriously planning to leave me in the dark after all that, are you?"
"Besides, that guy came knocking—who knows who he's really after? If I run into him again, I should at least know who I'm up against, right?"
"You really are a troublesome brat."
Jiraiya massaged the space between his brows. Truth be told, he hadn't wanted to say much about this—but Gen had a point.
That guy's true objective was still unknown. And since he'd already clashed with Gen, there was no harm in sharing a bit of information.
"There are some things I can tell you," Jiraiya finally said after a pause, "but even if I do, you still have to follow the shinobi confidentiality code."
He nodded slowly as he spoke, resolving to reveal only what was safe to share.
"There are too many layers to this. You understand, right?"
"Yeah, of course I do."
Gen nodded. Besides, he already knew Jiraiya wasn't going to tell him everything, so he wasn't surprised.
"That man... is suspected to have once been your sensei Kakashi's teammate."
As Jiraiya finally opened up, he couldn't help himself from chuckling again.
"You brat—how come you don't even have a single teammate?"
"That's not my fault. They all got eliminated—I couldn't do anything about it."
"Fine, forget I said anything. Let's focus on the real issue."
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead again before continuing.
"Your sensei Kakashi once had a teammate named Uchiha Obito. He didn't perform very well—he was at the bottom of the class."
"But he was kindhearted and always willing to help others. In the end, when he graduated, he was assigned to the same team as Kakashi."
Jiraiya truly was a talented storyteller—no surprise, given his career as a novelist.
Even if all his serious novels had flopped, he'd still struck it rich thanks to his adult books.
Under his narration, the story of a bottom-tier student rising to become a hero of Konoha—full of passion and positivity—came to life vividly.
He even went into detail about the death of Nohara Rin!
At this moment, he had clearly transformed into 'Jiraiya the Intelligence Master', and managed to figure out everything that needed figuring out.
Of course, in his telling, he had still left out a lot of things.
For example, anything related to the Fourth Hokage, or how Nohara Rin died—he merely described it as an accident.
Many parts were vague and glossed over, but Kitagawa Gen still listened with great interest.
He thought Hiruzen could easily adapt this story—it was practically tailor-made to spread the 'Will of Fire'!
"Eh?"
But as he listened, his eyelid suddenly twitched.
[New Side Quest: Kakashi Exclusive - 2]
[The Jaded Obito, Shattered Within]
[Assist Kakashi in investigating the truth about Uchiha Obito]
[Accept?]
"…"
Gen stared at the interface, speechless.
How the hell did listening to a story end up triggering a quest?
Still, it was an exclusive quest… and the rewards looked pretty substantial.