Maria raised her hand, she was finally free from Naruto's grip on her head. "Question; how did you get scouts into the Underworld in the first place? As far as I know, humans don't have the demonic energy to create magic circles to get there. Also, it's not like devils or fallen angels would willingly let you in."
Jin said nothing for a moment, wry smirk still in place, only answering after slowly laying himself back on the couch.
"Who knows...?"
Naruto and Maria shared deadpanned looks with one another, expressing their discontent with his answer.
"Alright, to be serious for a moment, I can't just give you classified information on the Hero Tribe now can I?" Jin pointed out, before continuing. "Now, in light of the information that the scouts have gained, I've learned of a couple of things. First; this terrorist organization was called 'The Old Maou Faction'. Second; this organization had connections with other...morally suspect groups, possibly other terrorist organizations. This is what prompted me to go and personally face them myself."
Yuki frowned. "Otou-sama, why would you do something so reckless? Surely you could have simply had some scouts to investigate the home base of this...'Old Maou Faction'?"
Naruto nodded, eyes narrowing. "She's right, you didn't need to take that risk. You could have slowly gleaned information from those who were supporting this faction, carefully gaining more info without putting yourself in danger. Why rush this? You're pretty damn important, right?"
The Great Hero, still relaxing on the couch, just plastered a reassuring smile on his face.
"Now now, who said that my life had that much redeeming value?"
All of the teens stared at the older man for a moment, silent as many of them tried to process what he had just said so...casually.
Yuki said nothing, closing her eyes in resignation after processing his words. Even now...he was like this.
Jin just shrugged casually after seeing everyone stare at him. "To put it simply, I'm old. Really old. Isn't it the duty of the older generation to protect the younger ones? If I can't risk my own life, then I have no right to risk someone else's. It's just that simple."
The shinobi glanced quickly from the father-and-daughter duo, confused. "Wait, you may seem old in my eyes, but you're not that old. You're like...what? Around your 40's? You have plenty of life in you, don't squander it."
The Great Hero shook his head. "Brat, you don't get it. Do you know why I'm regarded as a legend? It was because I was able to face the Original Lucifer and stalemate him in one-on-one combat...now this wouldn't tell you how old I am...unless I added one more specific detail."
The brown-haired man leaned in conspiratorially, as in he was about to confide with everyone and share a big secret.
"I stalemated him during the Great War. Which ended about...oh...give-or-take three hundred years ago."
Naruto's eyes widened slowly, that was...
"Wait! How the heck is that possible!? You're a human, right!?" Maria cried out incredulously, eyes bulging out from what she has just heard.
Jin gave her a sardonic smile. "Quite incredible, isn't it? The devil leader was also very much surprised to see me as well, but he hid it much better. In the Hero Tribe, there is a method for legendary heroes to gain an extended lifespan, although it's reserved for the absolute best. So for all intents and purposes; I'm immortal, unless I fall in battle that is."
The shinobi whistled, that was some pretty impressive stuff.
Though the blond still gave the older man a sympathetic look, it was obvious that the longer lifespan wasn't exactly full of positives. Hell, if you thought about it, he very well could have outlived most of his family and friends.
Long-lasting life wasn't worth it for that kind of price...
The Great Hero shook his head. "We are getting off topic...where was I? Oh...right. So I personally invited myself into the premises of the Old Maou Faction; it's home base which consisted of a large citadel. I quickly cleaned the place up, eliminating the numerous devils that were inhabiting the structure and learning more about the faction. As I suspected, it's a group that aims to overthrow the current relatively moderate rule of the Yondai Maou, seeing their policies as a betrayal of their species. More importantly...I've learned that they have been keeping in-contact with other shady groups...one of which just so happened to be..."
Jin trailed off of his train of thought, sighing and placing the palm of his hand on his forehead.
He glanced silently at Yuki.
"...This is part of the reason that I wanted Yuki-kun to be here. There have been new developments involving the political situation of the Hero Tribe...you see...prior to my decision to go at this alone, there was an incident. Similarly to how we lost contact with some agents, we've lost contact with an entire branch of the Hero Tribe in China." Jin explained quietly, ignoring the shocked looks that he had garnered from the teenagers around him, Yuki in particular.
"I interrogated one of the devils that worked in the citadel, he happened to have been involved in communications so I believe his words hold merit; apparently there has been quite a lot of communication from the citadel to China...roughly around the same time that we lost contact."
Naruto straightened his back. "So you think that this faction...is connected with the loss of contact?"
Jin nodded, entirely serious.
The shinobi glanced down, frowning. These guys sounded like bad news, no matter how he looked at it, add in the fact that they were against the current devil government...
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