Black clouds covered the sky, and relentless rain poured over the village. Even with the downpour, not a single bolt of lightning tore through the gray heavens.
The three of them, gathered in Kushina's house, stared out the window at the rain. As for why they chose this place, that was something you should ask Kushina herself.
"I'm telling you, when you have guests over, you don't even prepare any snacks?" Jin slapped the table, voicing his dissatisfaction.
Smack. Kushina threw a plate onto the table, and the fruit on it rolled off. Her expression was anything but friendly, probably because of a certain annoying bastard.
Namikaze Minato sat with impeccable posture, but his face wore a completely dazed, lovestruck look.
Jin could not help asking, "Minato, how can you use that cute face of yours to make such a perverted expression?"
"Huh?" Minato looked at Jin, confused. When he saw the disgust on Kushina's face, he forced a stiff, awkward smile.
"Even more perverted," Kushina commented, raising her level of contempt.
Minato, devastated, dropped his head onto the table, feeling like his life was over.
At that moment, Kushina pulled a scroll from behind her back and tossed it to Jin. "This is for you."
Jin caught it in midair and opened it right away. To his surprise, it contained records of several Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques) he did not yet have in his collection.
"I don't owe favors," Kushina said, turning her face away in classic tsundere fashion as she sat beside Minato. "Read it here. You can't take it with you."
Fūinjutsu had been a specialty of the Uzumaki clan, but with the clan's destruction, that knowledge effectively belonged to Konoha now. If Jin carried it back to the Uchiha clan, trouble would be inevitable. Even living alone, Kushina understood those rules well.
"Ah, so that was your goal," Jin said, finally realizing why she invited them.
He took the scroll and began memorizing it seriously. By now, he had a deep understanding of Fūinjutsu. At the start he understood nothing, but after deducing Basic Internal Energy, all related knowledge appeared in his mind automatically. It was like an idiot proof tutorial. He learned it instantly. Now he could honestly call himself an expert in Fūinjutsu. The only problem was that he could not use it.
"By the way, why is today a holiday?" Jin asked while rapidly committing the contents to memory. With the Deduction Goldfinger, any knowledge could be stored as an instant backup to study later.
The fact that they were gathered here was due to an unexplained holiday at the Ninja Academy, since it was not the weekend.
The room fell silent. No one answered Jin's question, which made him lift his head. Both Minato and Kushina had their heads lowered.
"Senpai Nawaki…"
"Brother Nawaki sacrificed himself." Kushina spoke with a dark expression. That gentle older brother who had always looked after her would never be seen again.
"Today is Senpai Nawaki's funeral," Minato added in a low voice.
"What?!" Jin could not hold back and slammed his palm on the table. BAM. His expression shifted fast, swinging between shock and something darker.
"So Nawaki really is dead."
"You knew Senpai Nawaki?" Minato asked, seeing Jin this unsettled for the first time.
"I knew who he was, but I didn't know him personally." Jin shook his head. He was from the same generation as Nawaki, but since he was in Class B, he never had the chance to meet the elite of Class A.
That left Minato and Kushina confused. It looked like Jin was more affected by Nawaki's death than they were.
Jin fell into deep silence while his eyes continued scanning the scroll's contents. Nawaki's death meant nothing to him personally, but the timing carried a fatal weight. His memory of Naruto's timeline was a little vague, but there was one thing he was sure about. After Nawaki died, at most a year would pass before the Second Shinobi World War erupted.
More importantly, that old fox, Sarutobi Hiruzen, would lower both the graduation age and the difficulty at the Ninja Academy, allowing large numbers of children to graduate early and become cannon fodder in the war. The First War had not exhausted Konoha too badly, but the constant conflicts that followed consumed a huge number of ninja. The battlefield was short on manpower.
Which meant he would get an "opportunity" to go to war. Who wanted an opportunity like that?
"I have something to take care of. I'm leaving." Jin set the scroll down. He had already recorded everything into the Goldfinger.
"But you haven't even finished reading…"
Jin did not listen. He was already out the door. Minato and Kushina looked at each other, not understanding what had gotten into him.
Heavy rain hammered the earth. Jin crouched on top of an electrical pole, looking down.
A figure in a tight green jumpsuit lay in the bushes below, working desperately to pull a cat out from inside.
"Don't be scared. I'll take you back to your owner." The man, with a thick beard and heavy eyebrows, tucked the cat into his clothes, using his own body to shield it from the rain. Sadly, his clothes were already soaked and offered little protection. The kitten's head peeked out from his collar and stayed there, quiet and obedient.
"So he really came," Jin sighed inwardly.
Might Duy.
Jin had spent a long time searching for this man. An unknown Genin with no fame in the village was not easy to find. Duy worked extremely hard, but because he lacked innate talent, he did not train with the same desperate intensity his son would show in the future, the man who would make the entire shinobi world remember his name.
Jin's Basic Internal Energy could be mastered quickly by those with talent, but those who worked hard would not fall behind either. If we were talking about effort in Konoha, who could compare to the Might father and son? Duy naturally became Jin's target. Still, it would be strange for an Academy kid to approach an adult Genin without a reason. That was why Jin had been waiting for an opportunity.
The last two missions Duy took to find cats had been issued by Jin. The cat in his arms was actually a Nekonin disguised.
Jin had to beg Granny Cat (Nekomata) for a long time before the old lady agreed to let her cats cooperate with him. Originally, Jin planned to wait for a casual encounter to meet Duy. But Nawaki's death threw everything into chaos. For the sake of his own survival, Jin could no longer afford to wait for coincidences.
He landed lightly on the ground, dropping down from the pole.
"Uncle, that cat is mine." Jin lifted his head, letting the rain strike his face. Height was a serious problem at this age. He had to look way up to see Duy.
"Huh?" Duy looked confused. The client had appeared right in front of him?
Taking advantage of Duy's confusion, Jin called out, "Kitty."
The white cat hopped from Duy's collar onto Jin's shoulder, meowing repeatedly. Since Jin had deduced the "Cat Language," he understood it perfectly. "One year of premium cat snacks, or I'll tell everything about you."
"Alright, alright." These days, even cats are not honest. This was extortion in broad daylight. Could he file a complaint with Granny Cat for blackmail?
"Uncle, thanks for finding the kitty. You're soaked. Come to my place and have some hot tea."
Without waiting for Duy's reaction, Jin grabbed him and started dragging him toward Jin's house.
"Wait, there's no need! This is my mission!" Duy braced himself, trying to refuse.
"I'll give you the mission reward at my house."
"But…"
"But what? Uncle, are you looking down on me…" Jin raised an eyebrow, pretending to be angry, then turned to show the fan emblem on his back. "Or are you looking down on the Uchiha?"
"Uchiha?!" Duy jumped in fright. As expected, the Might family also had a natural talent for comedy.
"I wouldn't dare."
"Then let's go."
Tricking honest men was way too fun.
The two walked in, one in front and one behind, entering the Uchiha clan district. With the rain continuing, the streets were deserted except for a few shops still open. As for attending Nawaki's funeral, the odds were low. The village would not allow it, and the clan did not want to involve itself with the Senju.
Once he stepped into the Uchiha district, Duy trembled with fear, worried that Konoha's police would appear and arrest him. The reputation of the Uchiha Police was terrifying. Thankfully, nothing like that happened. When they entered a large mansion, Duy was stunned.
"This place…"
"You don't need to be nervous. I live here alone."
Jin walked into the genkan, bowed to the two black and white photos, then turned to Duy. "Sit wherever you like. I'll prepare some sweets."
"Excuse me." Duy sat down very carefully in a spot where his wet clothes would not stain anything important.
Not long after, Jin brought tea and sweets. "There's a bathroom upstairs. Uncle can take a bath and change clothes. Wait for the rain to stop before you leave."
"Thank you, and sorry for the trouble."
Duy came out of the bath still a little dazed, wearing casual clothes without any clan emblem. He sat seiza on the tatami, not daring to touch the tea or the sweets.
Jin, who had also taken a quick bath, pushed a scroll toward him. "This is my reward."
"This is…?"
"A small ninjutsu."
Duy reached out to take it, then hesitated and clenched his teeth. "Could you pay with the mission money instead of this? I did the mission to earn money. I can't get greedy for other things."
"Sorry." Jin put on a sad expression. "I don't have enough money to pay the reward. I only have this ninjutsu."
"Then forget it." Duy shook his head, smiled, and gave a thumbs up. "Young man, you have to work hard and live well! You don't need to pay the reward this time."
Jin returned a radiant smile. "So you're saying we Uchiha skip out on our debts? Are you looking down on us?"
Duy waved his hands frantically. How had his words been twisted like that? "That's not what I meant!"
"Then…" Jin pointed at the scroll.
Duy surrendered and took it.
"Uncle, you have to learn it properly. It's a ninjutsu anyone can learn as long as they work hard."
"Thank you very much."
Jin's third "victim" left the house still dazed, holding the scroll and an umbrella that Jin had shoved into his hands by force.
After Duy left, Jin took a small notebook from his pocket. It was filled with names. He drew a circle around Might Duy's name. Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina already had circles around theirs.
"For now, it's these."