SWNOVELXO Chapter 96: Chapter 106
"Hmm?"
"You stirred up something?" Tobirama looked a little confused.
Kakashi also looked over curiously.
"Don't tell me… Pain from the Akatsuki and his Rinnegan…"
"That thing has nothing to do with me," Kitahara Kaede replied.
"…" Tobirama. "So, you're willing to take on the mission?"
"Yeah." Kitahara Kaede nodded.
"Good!"
Tobirama then clapped his hands lightly, as if feeling quite relieved—or perhaps worried about getting rejected.
"Then it's settled."
"No time to waste. The three of you, move quickly."
"Kakashi, hand them the ninja tool packs needed for travel, and give them all the explosive tags too."
"Food and other necessities for the journey have been sealed into the scrolls."
Hearing all this, Kakashi quickly piled the tools mentioned by Tobirama onto Sasuke and Naruto.
"Eh…" Naruto was stunned.
Even Sasuke was surprised.
Because—where did Tobirama get so many explosive tags?
"…" Kitahara Kaede.
?!?
He had just been thinking that the Shukaku incident might have been something Black Zetsu had stirred up under his manipulation, so he planned to handle it…
But looking at Tobirama and Kakashi's eager expressions now—it seemed like he had walked right into their trap.
"…" Kitahara Kaede.
But really, these two were just trying to push Konoha's responsibility onto him.
And if Tobirama was still holding on in Konoha, it meant he still wanted to revive the village.
In other words… after returning from this mission, there was a very high chance that under the guise of a mission reward… he'd be handed the position of Fifth Hokage?
Is the big-boobed female Hokage gone?
Kitahara Kaede felt a bit regretful, but if it was Tsunade, she'd probably start assigning him all kinds of missions—more trouble than it was worth.
And besides, the female Hokage had a different kind of pressure than a male Hokage.
Kitahara Kaede wasn't sure if he could resist.
Looking at it that way, the Third Hokage actually wasn't that bad—at least he didn't assign so many tasks because he didn't have many ambitions.
So under the Third's rule, being a ninja had been pretty chill.
But letting the Third rule for two more years, and Konoha would probably fall apart.
If that's the case…
"Then I'll accept the mission," Kitahara Kaede said.
Rather than stressing over what kind of superior he'd get, he might as well take charge himself.
"I hope you won't regret today's decision," Kitahara Kaede said. "It's the first time I've seen someone dig a hole for themselves and jump into it willingly."
"Regret?" Tobirama said. "If there was a medicine for regret in this world, I'd like three bottles, please."
Is that so?
Kitahara Kaede stared at him calmly.
When you're reduced to a workhorse later, I hope you can still talk tough like this.
"…" Being looked at with that calm, cold, and oddly sympathetic gaze, Tobirama suddenly had an ominous feeling.
Because… he had this weird sense that he really had just dug a hole for himself.
But.
What more could Kitahara Kaede possibly do to him? He was already a workhorse now—could it really get any worse?
At least, that's what he thought.
But many years later, he'd realize… he completely misunderstood what the word "workhorse" really meant.
Chapter 063: Black Zetsu, You're So Annoying—Oh No, Wait, Your Mom's on the Moon. Why Don't You Go Dig It Up? (Please Subscribe)
Kitahara Kaede originally found Black Zetsu's constant lurking really annoying. Although it's true that Black Zetsu was the most devoted child in the ninja world…
His moral character deserved praise.
But it was like admiring a dragon—just because you appreciate them doesn't mean you'll enjoy it when one actually shows up. It won't turn into a dragon maid. Heck, it might not even be a dragon butler.
He could accept Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, but not Black Zetsu.
Yet Black Zetsu was such an unlucky, wretched kid that Kitahara Kaede, out of kindness, had tricked him into leaving.
Originally, he thought Black Zetsu would be busy for a while—at least for a few years. But…
The guy immediately arranged for the Akatsuki to attack Shukaku.
Still, this also proved that the "Black Zetsu → Obito → Pain" manipulation route was running smoothly.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have found manpower so quickly to begin capturing Tailed Beasts.
This time, it was indeed Kitahara Kaede's mistake. The task had been too easy, so Black Zetsu succeeded too quickly.
And he forgot to tell him that the One-Tail belonged to Konoha's side.
Now he had to clean up the mess himself.
Luckily, helping Shukaku was easy. What he needed to think about was coming up with a new excuse to get Black Zetsu to stay away.
Preferably, out of the entire ninja world.
Kitahara Kaede didn't want to raise a cute little bunny like Kaguya and then be peeped on by her creepy devoted son in the middle of the night.
As he rushed toward Sunagakure to rescue Shukaku, he pondered these things.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto had started talking.
Kitahara Kaede just listened.
Because these two were Sasuke and Naruto—the most overpowered characters in the original story, and also the ones who protected Konoha the most.
As long as they stayed in Konoha, once they grew stronger, they'd handle most problems on their own without even being told.
Super reliable.
For Kitahara Kaede, now that it was confirmed that his little bunny was indeed the real Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, he had to be on guard against the Sage of Six Paths.
Since Sasuke inherited the chakra of Indra, the Sage's elder son, and Naruto inherited Asura's chakra, he could make preparations through them.
Kitahara Kaede didn't want to get tripped up by some underhanded move, so he wouldn't put it past the Sage of Six Paths to show up again.
Setting a trap for that guy was important.
Otherwise, if the Sage found out his bunny was actually Kaguya, he might try to seal her again.
The bunny was his. He wouldn't let anyone mess with her.
So Naruto and Sasuke growing stronger on their own was very good news.
The free-range strategy was working.
So he listened in on Naruto and Sasuke's conversation.
For them, this was their first mission as Chūnin.
As Konoha ninja, doing missions was a duty—and a way to gain experience.
They both had goals they were working toward.
Full of drive.
"Ahh, I'm kinda nervous—" Naruto said as he ran.
"What's there to be nervous about? If anything, I'm excited."
"Because…"
"We finally get to see what Kage-level strength looks like." Sasuke joined in.
Their thoughts were written all over their faces.
Naruto had worked his way up from the bottom, so he understood the importance of hard work and perseverance.
Facing an opponent at Kage-level made him feel uncertain.
But Sasuke was different. He wanted to defeat his brother, Uchiha Itachi—a true Kage-level genius of the Uchiha clan. So Sasuke wanted to gauge his brother's strength…
And figure out how to catch up.
In this version of events, Danzō took the blame, and the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre wasn't revealed. So Sasuke still harbored deep hatred for Itachi.
He saw him as a target to be killed.
To avenge the clan.
It was a misguided mindset, but Kitahara Kaede didn't stop him.
Because people need a goal in order to keep growing stronger.
And Itachi was the perfect training dummy to push Sasuke forward.
"This mission… it's hard to believe Kakashi-sensei isn't leading it," Naruto added.
"But with Kitahara-kun here, I feel much more reassured." Naruto said, patting his chest.
"Yeah."
"I've thought about what to do if we can't win, but with Kitahara-kun around, it really puts my mind at ease," Sasuke said.
"…" Kitahara Kaede.
So these two were… relying on him?
Do they realize that Kakashi-sensei might cry if he heard this?
And in the private chat group, Kakashi really was on the verge of tears.
"This mission's enemy is at Kage-level…"
"If we're talking about Kage-level, they could wipe out other villages."
"That's gotta be worth how many Kakashi-senseis?"
"Thirty?"
"Or maybe twenty-five?"
Sasuke and Naruto debated.
"Maybe even sixty-six," Naruto added. "After all, Guy-sensei once said that Kakashi-sensei ends up in Konoha Hospital after every mission."
"So if we're using Kakashi-sensei as the metric, we need to lower the value a bit."
"…" Kakashi.
"…" Kakashi.
At that moment, Kakashi's soul projection stared blankly at his two disciples through the group chat's livestream.
He felt like his dignity as a teacher was steadily dropping—minus one, minus one…
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