Kushina hurried along at the front with flushed cheeks. That redness was from the collision.
Especially the two tiny holes on her nose, which were extremely obvious.
It was simply too embarrassing.
Kushina buried her head and followed behind Jiraiya.
Minato scratched his face and followed behind Kushina.
Jin followed at the very back.
Crossing open fields, traversing a single-plank bridge over a lake, and climbing over steep peaks.
The group finally arrived near the border within three days. Before reaching the border itself, they saw a village in the distance.
The moment they saw the village.
Jiraiya frowned and made a hand signal.
The group quickly hid.
The closer they got to the border, the more nervous the three became.
Even the smile disappeared from Jiraiya's face.
The four hid behind a rock, looking at the distant village.
It was already dusk, yet no smoke rose from the village chimneys.
Even more...
Jiraiya's nose twitched slightly.
They were downwind. Thanks to his sharpened senses from Internal Cultivation, he could smell the scent coming from the distant village.
"The smell of blood."
It seemed something had happened to that village. That was also why Jiraiya had ordered them to hide.
Jiraiya didn't speak. Instead, he made rapid hand signals to the three.
At a time like this, they couldn't fool around like they did in the village.
To prevent detection by potential enemies, everything was done in silence.
The three understood the hand signals and nodded to show comprehension.
Only then did Jiraiya rush out. Leaning forward, he sped towards the village entrance like an arrow fired from a bow.
Kushina stayed behind.
Jin and Minato circled to another direction and advanced quickly.
Jiraiya needed to rush into the village first to investigate the situation.
Minato and Jin needed to scout outwards with the village as the center.
Kushina's task was to provide support for any battle that might occur at any time.
Jiraiya rushed into the village without causing a single ripple. The entire village was devoid of human presence.
There was only the pungent smell of blood and a scene like hell.
Stepping on roads paved with fresh blood, looking at the corpses and severed limbs lying on the ground... through the broken gates, he could see many dead bodies.
Soon, Minato and Jin, having finished their scouting, also entered the village.
Both shook their heads at Jiraiya simultaneously.
There was no activity in the surroundings.
Kushina was the last to walk into the village.
"What... is this!?"
Looking at the severed hands and feet, and the corpses cut by sharp blades.
Kushina's pupils trembled. Covering her mouth, she rushed to a corner of the village and began to vomit.
Although she had a record of killing ninjas, the enemy ninja had completely vanished under a Tailed Beast Ball. Kushina hadn't felt anything.
This was her first time seeing such miserable corpses. Her body's stress reaction couldn't be held back.
Minato's face also paled a few shades, and the smile he always maintained disappeared. His situation was similar to Kushina's, and he hadn't truly killed an enemy yet, but he wasn't as unbearable as Kushina.
Jiraiya's gaze couldn't help but turn to Uchiha Jin.
Uchiha Jin's reaction made him mutter in his heart.
There wasn't a single fluctuation in Jin's expression. He still wore that slightly cynical look, using a kunai to poke at the wounds of the corpses on the ground.
"All kunai and shuriken wounds, plus some sword and blade marks. No damage from ninjutsu."
Sure enough, Uchihas are a bunch of freaks.
Jiraiya muttered internally.
Few Genin seeing such a tragic scene for the first time could be as calm as Jin, even capable of analyzing traces.
These were actions only veterans among ninjas would take.
Jin didn't know Jiraiya was criticizing him internally. He turned and walked into a villager's house.
After searching inside for a while, he walked out.
"A large amount of wealth in the village has been looted."
Jin walked out and reported the information from inside the house to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya shook his head regretfully. He couldn't determine who did it.
It wasn't just a problem of Iwa-nin here. Takigakure, Kusagakure, and even Sunagakure might come here to loot.
Not to mention the wandering ninjas everywhere.
Villages on the border never had it easy.
By this time, Kushina had recovered a little, but she no longer had her initial overflowing energy.
Minato sighed and was about to gather the corpses for these people.
"Wait a minute, Minato!" Jiraiya hurriedly stopped Minato's action.
Minato stopped what he was doing and looked at Jiraiya in confusion.
Jiraiya looked at Minato seriously. "Never turn over any corpse on the battlefield."
No one knew if an explosive tag was hidden under the corpse.
Even Jin had only moved the clothes slightly, mostly to look at the wounds. He hadn't turned the corpses over.
Minato sighed and stood up.
"War is truly cruel."
"This doesn't count as war yet."
Jin denied Minato's statement. It was still a damn peacetime right now, just with tense situations.
But the number of dead people wasn't decreasing. The ones suffering the most were these civilians.
Most ninjas wouldn't treat civilians of other countries as humans.
A slight noise.
The three looked towards the village well simultaneously.
Kushina followed the others' gazes.
A faint sound came from the weather-beaten well mouth. If one didn't listen carefully, they might think it was the movement of insects.
Jiraiya walked to the edge of the well. He took out a kunai and placed the sharp end over the well mouth. Through the reflected light, he saw the figure of a young girl inside.
"It's a civilian."
Only then did Jiraiya poke his head over.
The girl in the well was submerged up to her neck in the water. She had stuck her head out to breathe, but seeing someone peek over the well, she immediately buried her head back down. When she saw Jiraiya's forehead protector through the transparent water surface, she popped up again.
She reached out a hand upwards.
"Save me!"
Jiraiya's hair grew rapidly, wrapping around the girl and bringing her up.
Reaching the ground, the girl was soaked through, curling up against the well curb and shivering.
Staying in well water wasn't pleasant, especially in this cold weather.
The group gathered a pile of firewood and lit it with Fire Release ninjutsu. As the fire burned, the girl felt a bit better.
After the girl recovered for a while.
Jiraiya finally asked.
"What happened here?"
The girl looked up at Jiraiya, her eyes revealing fear.
"Three Iwa-nin suddenly attacked the village. They killed everyone they saw."
Thinking of those people's ferocity, the girl trembled even more violently, her voice carrying a sob.
"Why did you Konoha people only come now?"
Jiraiya could only respond heavily.
"Sorry."
He could only apologize. Even if Konoha ninjas had been here, they might not have been able to protect this village.
Killing enemies was far more important than protecting this village.
They were ninjas, not the Daimyo's soldiers. They wouldn't risk their lives for another village.
"I want revenge!" The girl looked at the group. Although her eyes were teary, her pupils reflected the burning flames, containing bone-deep hatred.
"If you want revenge, prepare two hundred thousand ryo and go to Konoha to issue a mission," Jin poured cold water on her from the side.
"I have no money." The girl lowered her head. Even when the village was still there, they couldn't scrape together two hundred thousand ryo.
"Then forgive us for being powerless."
The other three showed sympathy on their faces but didn't stop Jin's words.
Although it was ruthless, it was the truth.
"You shouldn't..."
"We have no responsibility to make selfless sacrifices for anyone in the Land of Fire. Ninjas act for rewards."
Jin interrupted the girl's attempt at moral kidnapping.
"If I deem that you are interfering with our mission..."
"I will kill you."
Jin didn't have any killing intent or aura, just a plain description. Yet it made the girl feel that even the firelight in front of her couldn't warm her.
"Please, as long as you help me take revenge, I'll do anything."
The girl could only beg humbly.
Jin wanted to say something more, but Minato and Kushina pulled him back together, stopping him from continuing to speak.
Jin didn't care. The three's gazes turned to Jiraiya.
"Sorry." Jiraiya apologized again.
They couldn't do anything for the girl.
Under the illumination of the firelight, the girl's face seemed twisted.
The three didn't say anything more and just left silently.
The mission was the priority now. None of the three were willful people, so naturally, they couldn't take time out to escort the girl. Even Kushina, who had a temper, didn't say much.
She knew the priorities.
They couldn't send the girl to a safe place, and it was even more impossible to take her to the outpost. Border outposts were hidden. Even finding them wasn't simple for ninjas.
Taking the girl along would risk exposure.
In this period, not a single trace of exposure could be allowed.
Leaping through the forest.
"You were too heartless, Uchiha Jin."
Kushina called Jin by his full name, which was rare. Her expression was serious as never before. She indeed knew the priorities and the choices.
But the girl's experience forced her to recall the past. Her own clan also had only her left.
"Kushina, not acting on emotion is one of the ninja rules."
Although Minato didn't agree with Jin's language, he didn't think what Jin did was wrong.
"Shut up!" Kushina shouted sternly, stopping Minato.
The three figures stopped.
Kushina looked at Jin, waiting for his answer.
Jiraiya stood at the highest point watching his students argue, choosing not to intervene.
Jin rubbed his chin with an indifferent look, which made Kushina's anger rise sharply. But this time she didn't explode. Instead, she waited for Jin's answer.
Jin considered for a moment and spoke slowly.
"Ninjas are originally tools. No need for emotions, no need for thinking. They are the sorrowful products driven by the era."
"Kushina Uzumaki... are you really qualified to be a ninja?"
Jin asked Kushina in return.
"Ninjas aren't like what you say!!"
"But that is the truth!"
"Absolutely not!! I will prove it to you!!"
Kushina absolutely didn't agree with Uchiha Jin's thoughts. How could ninjas just be sorrowful tools? This wasn't the Ninja Way she believed in.
"But this is a ninja."
Jin looked at Kushina with a smile on his face.
Minato looked at Jin silently. It was the first time he had seen Jin smile so falsely, with such malice.
BOOM!!
Kushina smashed her fist into a tree. The immense force snapped the tree in half.