Whoosh!
The moment he heard the system notification, a roaring sound of flames erupted from Jin's arm.
A tongue of fire about ten centimeters long shot up from his elbow.
Surprisingly, it didn't ignite his clothes.
'So hot!'
Jin himself was startled.
He quickly calmed himself down.
The previously uncontrolled flame gradually died down and subsided.
"What was that?!"
Minato, who happened to be sitting with Kushina in the back corner of the classroom, caught a glimpse of this.
His eyes widened in astonishment.
[Ace: @Jin, I've given it to you. We have a deal, you can't kill Luffy!]
To be honest, Ace would have preferred to issue a task forbidding Jin from acting against Luffy at all, or even one ordering him to assist Luffy in becoming the Pirate King.
But Ace knew very well in his heart that if he really issued such a task, Jin would never accept it.
[Jin: Don't worry. Even though I don't like Monkey D. Luffy, since I've taken your deal, I'll keep my promise.]
Jin felt he'd never realized before how chatty Ace could be. It took a lot of talking to finally reassure him.
Ding ring-
Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day at the Ninja Academy.
"Konan, how was it?" Jin walked to the first-grade classroom door and ruffled the little blue-haired loli's hair as he asked.
"It's way too simple compared to what Tsunade-nee taught me," Konan said confidently.
With her Kage-level potential, this answer didn't surprise Jin.
"I don't want to waste any more time here. Let's apply for early graduation," Jin decided.
The original work didn't specify exactly how old Kushina was when she became the Jinchuriki.
But from his conversation with Mito yesterday, he learned that the Konoha Council planned to transfer the Nine-Tails when Kushina's body was more developed, closer to adulthood.
If they were lucky, the Konoha Council wouldn't dare make any major moves for seven or eight years.
But who could guarantee Mito would live that long?
In the original work, Tsunade left Konoha immediately after the Second Great Ninja War ended.
If Mito had still been alive then, would Tsunade have left so decisively in the face of her aging grandmother?
Jin felt it was safer to assume he should acquire power that would make those old foxes too afraid to covet it during the Second Great Ninja War.
There was no time to dawdle at school anymore.
"Huh? Jin, are you also deciding to graduate early?" Coincidentally, Minato walked up with Kushina at that moment.
"Also?" Jin raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Yesterday, the Third Hokage-sama approached me. He hopes I can graduate early and plans to assign me to the front lines to become Jiraiya-sama's disciple," Minato said, his face full of gratitude, "The Third Hokage-sama is truly too good to me."
Seeing Minato's grateful expression, Jin thought to himself, 'Minato... I hope I won't have to kill you in the future...'
In the later stages, the Sannin of Konoha didn't seem to have a great relationship with Hiruzen.
Although Jiraiya despised some of the Konoha Council's actions, when it came to critical moments, he would undoubtedly stand by Hiruzen's side without hesitation.
The same went for Minato, who would become Jiraiya's disciple.
In the original work, after he became the Fourth Hokage, he actually allowed Hiruzen to 'rule from behind the scene'. That was spineless enough.
If it were Jin, he would have long since kicked that old fossil out and told him to get lost.
In the future, there was a 99.99% chance he would clash with the Konoha Council.
If Minato stood on their side then...
"Don't blame me when the time comes."
After leaving these words, which left Minato and Kushina rather puzzled, Jin left the Ninja Academy with Konan.
…
"Is this the method you came up with, Hiruzen?"
At the same time, in the highest-level meeting room in Konoha Village.
Danzo sat opposite Hiruzen, a trace of disdain flashing across his face.
Also seated were Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
The topic of this gathering of the four was a plan to contain Jin.
Hiruzen's proposed solution was to nurture Minato.
He had observed him through his Telescope Technique.
Minato came from a civilian background but had exceptional talent, solid Kage-level potential.
More importantly, his character was simple and honest, obedient enough… in simpler terms, easy to manipulate.
Hiruzen wanted to nurture him, build up another genius to counter the young prodigy Jin.
Danzo, however, thought Hiruzen's method was way too damn convoluted.
"Just transfer that Jin kid into my Root's division! I'll keep a close watch on him!" Danzo, not yet blind in one eye, revealed a greedy expression.
The Mangekyo Sharingan capable of killing Hanzo... it made his mouth water.
"Heh, you're the one being naive, Danzo," Hiruzen said with a mocking laugh, "Do you think he would agree? And if he doesn't, would you try to force him? Would Mito-sama agree?"
This series of questions left Danzo speechless.
Indeed, no matter how arrogant Danzo was, he didn't dare to ignore the wishes of the 'Queen Dowager', Uzumaki Mito.
'Damn that kid, he's really hit the jackpot, latching onto Uzumaki Mito.'
'But don't get too cocky.'
'In a couple of years, when Uzumaki Mito passes away from old age, I'll dig out your Mangekyo and implant it into my body!'