NSGT: Chapter 59

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".~Whatever you do, it will have no effect before these eyes of mine."

The reflection in the crimson Sharingan showed Orochimaru's instantly changed expression.

"Big talk."

Orochimaru forced out hoarsely.

This severed hand was already beyond his expectations. Itachi Uchiha... had he really underestimated him!?

He hadn't expected Itachi's strength to be so formidable. Approaching this guy rashly was indeed his mistake.

He still needed to lure Itachi to his own territory to make a move more conveniently.

"I don't know what would be more appropriate to do with you. Kill you right here, or use you for other purposes."

"Your desires are already too many..."

Itachi walked down the steps, the kunai in his hand pointed directly at Orochimaru.

Interested in his eyes... keeping such a person alive would only cause trouble. Perhaps killing him now is more appropriate.

Just as the kunai's tip was about to touch Orochimaru's brow, a spinning shuriken suddenly dropped from above.

Itachi quickly dodged backward. Kabuto dropped down out of thin air, directly blocking in front of Orochimaru.

"Lord Orochimaru!"

Before Itachi could react further, Kabuto stood before Orochimaru, abruptly swinging his arm.

Immediately, a barrage of explosive tags flew up, detonating violently beside Itachi.

"I will definitely repay this favor."

As Orochimaru's hoarse voice sounded, it was followed by a series of roaring explosions.

"Bang bang bang!!!"

After several loud bangs, dust and debris filled the surrounding area.

Itachi had already moved from that spot the moment the explosive tags detonated. When the dust settled, Orochimaru and Kabuto's figures were already gone.

Itachi looked thoughtfully down the winding, densely packed stairs.

Orochimaru defected from the Akatsuki organization then, fleeing to the Land of Wind.

Half a month after parting with Itachi, Hatake Kuroshi sat in his office, resting his cheek on his hand.

Juzo Biwa, indeed, having previously worked for the Mizukage, adapted to the work faster than anyone.

Although complaining quite a bit, his habit of planning things brought considerable order to Mangetsu Hozuki's regime.

Shisui was good in many ways, but being too naive, he tended to be overly lenient with Mangetsu Hozuki.

Watching the ANBU bustling about, constantly trying to fill his desk with various documents... Hatake Kuroshi slammed his head onto the desktop with a thud.

A few cards covered in stickers, which he got from the hot springs and water park earlier, lay scattered on the table.

"Played all I wanted to play, done all I needed to do."

"Ah—so boring!"

Hatake Kuroshi lay slumped on the desk for half a second, then suddenly shot up as if remembering something.

With a long stride, he stepped directly over the desk and dashed towards the Mizukage's office.

After a rustling sound, the documents piled on the desk scattered downwards.

The surrounding ANBU exchanged glances, then resignedly lowered their heads and gathered around to tidy things up.

Anyway, sooner or later, they would be the ones cleaning up. The number of times Hatake Kuroshi came back to handle documents was negligible.

Most of the time, he pushed Shisui over to take the blame.

"Too boring, so I quit!"

"I'm going out to play!"

Hatake Kuroshi zipped through the small connecting door into the Mizukage's office, slammed both hands on the desk, a bright smile on his face.

"Eh—!?"

Mangetsu Hozuki and Juzo Biwa standing beside him both paused, looking inexplicably at this guy who seemed to have suddenly run out of a hospital.

They questioned him in unison.

Shisui pushed up his sunglasses nearby. Compared to their strong reactions, he had long known this would happen.

But thinking even with your toes, how could someone like Hatake Kuroshi possibly stay put doing high-level work here?

"Yep! After all, I've finished playing around here!"

"I've collected all the stickers from the water park and hot springs, so Shisui can take over my work!"

"That's all!"

Hatake Kuroshi's expression and every gesture clearly resembled a corporate slave who had successfully resigned and found freedom.

Juzo Biwa looked at Hatake Kuroshi with some disbelief.

Is this guy serious?

Building this place up, only to just drop everything and leave?

Originally thought Mangetsu Hozuki was just a puppet Mizukage they propped up, didn't expect him to actually let this kid do the job.

"Understood! Then I'll pack my things and go with sensei!"

Mangetsu Hozuki's eyes instantly lit up as he stood straight up from his chair.

"Go where? You're the Mizukage now!?"

"Don't make it sound like nobody wants the job?!"

Juzo Biwa and Shisui, one on each side, directly pushed Mangetsu Hozuki back into the chair.

Mangetsu Hozuki struggled, wanting to get up and argue, but Hatake Kuroshi flicked his forehead.

"You just stay here and do a good job—!"

"Well, maybe I'll come back someday to inspect your work. If you don't do well, I'll beat you up~"

Mangetsu Hozuki winced, clutching his forehead and leaning back, slumping into the chair.

"I know, I know...!"

Hatake Kuroshi straightened up, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"Ah, right. I'm also taking Kimimaro, the one who's been staying at your place with your brother."

"It's probably inconvenient for him to always stay at your house. Better he just comes with me!"

Mangetsu Hozuki instantly wanted to swap places with Kimimaro, but the words stuck in his throat, forced back by the glares from both sides.

"That's it. If anything comes up, just have Shisui contact me with a crow, okay?"

"But don't let him expand the breeding range anymore. You've already got a whole shed full, right?"

Hatake Kuroshi's gaze suddenly fell on Shisui.

Shisui swallowed awkwardly, couldn't help pursing his lips and averting his gaze.

He had raised crows back in the Uchiha compound, but back then, missions outside the village were frequent, so he only kept a few for fun.

But now in Kirigakure, with most activities within the village, having both time and space, he simply raised a whole flock.

After leaving the Mizukage Tower, Hatake Kuroshi went to Mangetsu Hozuki's house to find the two little ones.

The moment he slid open the entrance door, he was greeted by an extremely startling sight.

A head was flying menacingly towards him. Suigetsu was even screaming loudly while flying.

"Whoa oh oh!!!"

"Gonna crash!!!"

What the heck?

Even though Hatake Kuroshi was worldly-wise, thinking he'd feel no more joy or sorrow in this life, he was still bewildered by the head flying towards him.

Hatake Kuroshi caught Suigetsu's head with one hand.

With a splat, the head instantly turned into a puddle of water in Hatake Kuroshi's hand, dripping down through his fingers.

Kimimaro stood in the hallway, looking somewhat bewilderedly at Hatake Kuroshi, while Suigetsu's headless body stood beside him.

"Your toys are really quite... unique."

Hatake Kuroshi looked at the two children, hesitant to say more.

"It's not a toy! I was having Kimimaro help me practice my Hydrification Technique!"

The water on the floor climbed up along the floorboards, reconnected with the neck, and coalesced into a child's head.

Suigetsu quickly grabbed a water bottle and took several gulps (glug glug), arguing back quite indignantly at Hatake Kuroshi.

His childish yet defiant appearance was almost identical to Sasuke's when he was younger.

Kimimaro's expression clearly read, 'I also think this is ridiculous, but he made me do it, so I had no choice.'

"Mm-hm... practice, practice."

"Ah, well, I actually came looking for you, Kimimaro."

"I'm going to travel around the Five Great Nations for a while. Want to come along and see~?"

"After all, you were stuck in that dungeon before, haven't really seen much, right?"

Hatake Kuroshi crouched down at the entrance, pinching Kimimaro's cheek.

This little one was clearly living well at the Hozuki residence; his cheeks felt much softer than when he was first rescued.

Kimimaro seemed to enjoy it, rubbing against his palm.

Hozuki Suigetsu stood aside, blinking his long white eyelashes somewhat blankly.

In Kimimaro's heart, Hatake Kuroshi and Shisui were the ones who rescued him from the dungeon; emotionally, he leaned towards them.

Although Suigetsu was a good playmate, since Hatake Kuroshi came calling for him, it meant his benefactor needed him.

Being needed.

Thinking of this, Kimimaro immediately perked up and readily agreed.

"Yes! I want to go with you."

"If you're sneaking out to play, take me too! I'm really bored at home!"

Suigetsu tugged at Kimimaro's arm, clamoring incessantly.

So energetic. And surprisingly, these two get along quite well.

Considering Kimimaro seemed to die before Suigetsu appeared in the original story, these two shouldn't have even met according to canon.

Hatake Kuroshi looked at the two little ones circling his legs, then picked them both up, one in each hand.

He didn't have any particular hobby of taking two kids out.

Besides, no matter how you looked at it, whether for learning or living, Suigetsu was better off staying home.

Kimimaro had always been used as a human weapon; forget self-defense, starting a massacre wouldn't be a problem for him.

"You're too weak, so no~ can~ do~!"

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