Jiraiya led the three up the mountain.
The trees, withered by winter, made the mountain look bald, allowing one to see the entire peak at a glance.
There were no signs of human activity, let alone the aura of life.
The three behind Jiraiya were silent for a while. Uchiha Jin's words had made quite an impact on Kushina and Minato.
They walked until they reached the mountainside.
Jin was momentarily dazed. The surrounding scenery seemed to shift, and many tents appeared before his eyes. Konoha ninjas wearing green flak jackets were walking back and forth.
He realized what this was.
"Genjutsu Barrier."
A combination of Sealing Jutsu and Genjutsu. It could distort everyone's vision, making them ignore this place, thus achieving a concealment effect.
This kind of barrier jutsu wasn't something a single person could cast.
It required multiple Jonin to create.
Truly a big operation.
When the group walked into the outpost.
The moment a passing ninja saw Jiraiya, he quickly blew a sharp whistle with his fingers.
Vwoom!!
A sound like a bird's cry spread slowly outwards.
Everyone in the entire outpost heard it clearly.
Instantly.
The ninjas walking around stopped what they were doing and rushed towards Jiraiya.
Following that, puffs of smoke rose as ninjas appeared one by one.
The next moment.
All the ninjas in sight half-knelt on the ground in front of Jiraiya with respect.
"Greetings, Lord Jiraiya!"
The voices converged like an oncoming ocean wave, shaking people's hearts.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone." Jiraiya replied with furrowed brows, waving his hand. All the ninjas returned to their business, and many used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Now, it meant Jiraiya had taken control of this place.
Jin hadn't expected the current Jiraiya to have such authority.
This kind of atmosphere couldn't be seen inside the village.
Or rather, this befitted the status of an Elite Jonin and the disciple of the Third Hokage.
Seeing the three little ones somewhat shocked, Jiraiya explained.
"I am the commander here. The relationship between superiors and subordinates must be strictly observed here."
The main purpose here was to monitor the movements of incoming ninjas. At critical moments, it was the front line against enemy villages.
There couldn't be any carelessness in anything. A single mistake could cause extremely serious consequences, which naturally led to the strict rules here.
Seeing the thoughtful looks on the three little ones' faces.
Jiraiya continued, "From now on, I can't be with you all the time. You will need to act on your own for the missions assigned to you."
He needed to preside over the overall situation here. Under normal circumstances, such an outpost would run by itself, but when an Elite Jonin appeared here...
It meant they were about to face a major war.
The things to follow wouldn't be so simple.
"Jin and Minato can leave first. Kushina, stay."
Jin and Minato nodded in response. "Yes."
Their figures moved, using Soru to vanish from the spot.
"Kushina, come with me." Jiraiya looked at Kushina's still-serious expression. He knew she hadn't figured it out yet.
He led Kushina into the central tent.
If Jiraiya were to judge, Uchiha Jin's words were correct, but he didn't quite agree with them.
If it were Orochimaru, he would agree highly with Jin's words.
But Jiraiya felt that such thinking was destined to never become Hokage.
Although he didn't really want to be Hokage.
Unlike the current Team 7, among the three Sannin, the one who wanted to be Hokage the most was Orochimaru, who was called a genius and always stayed quiet.
Although ninjas were products of darkness, the Kage needed to be the sunlight recognized by everyone.
He didn't think people with thoughts like Orochimaru and Jin could become Hokage.
He just couldn't evaluate them easily.
"As long as you hold on to your heart, anyone can become a strong person."
"Teacher Jiraiya." Walking into the tent, Kushina looked up at Jiraiya. Jiraiya, who should have maintained a serious demeanor, revealed a gentle smile.
Just like Minato.
A smile also blossomed on Kushina's face.
"I won't be defeated by that hateful Uchiha's few words. I am the woman who will become Hokage!!"
"I believe in you."
Jiraiya encouraged Kushina.
The three had their own characteristics: Kushina's passion, Minato's gentleness, and...
Uchiha Jin's darkness.
He had long noticed that Uchiha Jin harbored some darkness he couldn't understand.
Was he the so-called Child of Darkness?
Jiraiya didn't dare guarantee it, nor did he know what to do.
After all, the Child of Darkness didn't bring destruction. Although the scene described by the Great Toad Sage was eternal strife, that god-like ninja...
Even Jiraiya felt ripples in his heart.
So he actually didn't know what to do.
He gathered his thoughts.
Then he returned to a serious expression. This was business.
"Genin Kushina, from now on, without my order, you are not allowed to use the Nine-Tails' power unless your life is in danger."
If the news that the Nine-Tails was here leaked, he didn't even need reconnaissance to know that Iwagakure would definitely attack.
"Yes!" Kushina half-knelt on the ground to receive the order.
She naturally knew the stakes.
Walking into the guard post, a boy with white eyes greeted them.
Looking at his height, he seemed three or four years older than Jin.
Hyūga Clan.
The boy looked at the two, his gaze sweeping over Uchiha Jin with emphasis, without any attempt to hide it.
"Did I offend you?"
Jin asked bluntly. Guessing was too troublesome. If the other party really wanted trouble, it would depend on whose fist was harder.
The other party's behavior didn't seem friendly.
The Hyūga boy stared at Jin, like staring at his prey.
Just as Jin was about to lose patience and attack.
The boy spoke.
"My name is Hyūga Hizashi."
This name.
Jin looked the boy up and down. Wasn't this Neji's father, who would be aggrievedly sacrificed by the village and the Hyūga clan together in the future?
He didn't expect to meet him here.
Jin's gaze made Hizashi uncomfortable, like looking at a dead person, which annoyed him quite a bit.
"I am also known as a genius of the Hyūga clan. Let's have a match sometime."
Hyūga Hizashi looked at Jin with full fighting spirit.
Over the past few months, he had heard the name Uchiha Jin until his ears grew calluses.
Seeing the real person in front of him.
He naturally wanted to compete.
The Uchiha clan had always been vying with the Hyūga family for the position of Konoha's number one clan.
Only then did Jin realize.
The Uchiha and Hyūga had always been at odds.
It was just that in the Academy, he had always borne the title of "trash," so the Hyūga clan wouldn't target him. He only became famous after becoming a ninja.
But back then, he had scolded the clan elders.
To this day, no Uchiha clan members had contacted him.
As for the duel in front of him.
"Next time for sure."
Jin still didn't understand the situation here and had no desire to spar with anyone here.
Hyūga Hizashi didn't intend to pursue it relentlessly. He just nodded and then told the two about the outpost matters.
"You are newcomers. Because you are Lord Jiraiya's disciples, you can rest temporarily for a day. Tomorrow, reconnaissance missions will be assigned."
"Completing missions will earn you a certain amount of merit. You can use merit to exchange for various ninja tools and medicinal herbs in the central tent, or exchange for ninjutsu from Lord Jiraiya."
Hearing Hizashi finish, Jin couldn't help but ask.
"By the way, why aren't houses built here instead of cloth tents?"
"The outpost changes location every once in a while. Tents are convenient to move."
Hizashi explained to the two.
"I see."
Hyūga Hizashi wasn't a talkative person. After finding tents for the two to live in, he left.
When Kushina arrived, the three each took a tent to rest.
The journey during this period had been exhausting.
It was just right to take a break.
The noisy sounds weren't loud, but gathered together, they were like the buzzing of mosquitoes, annoying people.
Jin dressed neatly and walked out of the tent.
The morning sun shone from the sky, hitting his face, feeling very dazzling.
The frequency of ninjas coming in and out of the outpost was very high. A ninja squad wouldn't stay in the outpost for more than a day.
He met up with Kushina and Minato.
Their auras were also much better than yesterday.
It was just that when Kushina saw Jin, she snorted "Hmph" and turned her gaze away.
Minato smiled awkwardly.
Jin shrugged indifferently.
There was still a slight rift between the three.
It wasn't that they would part ways, but their philosophies would inevitably conflict.
This kind of thing wasn't uncommon in the ninja world. Just like Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura had conflicting philosophies but still wore the same pair of pants to pit the Uchiha.
The three walked to the mission point, which was a tent with some personnel distributing missions.
These personnel weren't ninjas. They were a group of ordinary people whose main job was to record and convey missions.
Although they weren't ninjas, general ninjas didn't dare to underestimate them.
The taijutsu of these people wasn't weak. They just couldn't extract chakra.
Most were members of the village's ninja clans.
"Team 7?" A man wearing white clothes and glasses, looking relatively wealthy, glanced at the three.
After all, a ninja squad led by Jiraiya was very eye-catching.
The flesh on the man's smiling face trembled.
"Your mission is to scout this village. It is said that this village encountered rogue ninjas, but the ninja squads that went there to scout found no abnormalities."
Facing Jiraiya's disciples, he naturally could give some easy missions.
He placed the map and mission scroll on the table.
This mission was extremely safe, as the outpost had already scouted it many times.
Mainly because this village was located at a key point for the outpost's movement, there could be no mistakes.
That was why it was scouted repeatedly.
Minato took the two items. In Jiraiya's absence, Minato was the captain of this team.
The captain was never chosen by strength, but by comprehensive quality and the ability to mobilize the squad smoothly.
If Jin or Kushina became the captain, they would have to worry about whether the other party would execute their orders.
"The team mission has been registered. We're counting on you."