In the chat room, Hashirama and Tobirama fell into silence once again.
Through the incident of Sakumo's death, they had come to realize-
That their four disciples had been completely corrupted by power.
Anyone who threatened their position-
Regardless of who it was, would inevitably become a target for elimination.
Sakumo was the first, but he would definitely not be the last.
[Hashirama: @Jin: Jin-kun, can I ask you to protect Konoha?]
After the matter concerning Sakumo, Hashirama felt that Konoha had probably truly reached a time when it needed a change in leadership.
But Hashirama's current state of mind was similar to that of his still-living wife, Mito.
They both feared that if Jin and the Konoha Council were to clash, Konoha would be the one to suffer heavy losses.
Hashirama's bottom line was that even if Jin wanted to rebel, he hoped that while Jin took over Konoha's power, he would also shoulder the responsibility of protecting Konoha.
[Jin: Have you misunderstood something? After being in this group for so long, do you think I'm as obsessed with authority as your disciples?]
Jin only really liked three things.
Power, beautiful women, and freedom.
Or one could interpret the last one as 'being unbound by law or convention'.
He truly had no interest in something like authority.
The reason Jin was at odds with the Konoha Council had nothing to do with whether they were good or bad people.
But because these old foxes were far too jealous of talent and ability.
He didn't care how much of a wastrel Hiruzen was, the problem was that the guy kept bothering him.
Jin himself had absolutely no interest in the position of Hokage or the authority within Konoha.
[Hashirama: Alright, I misspoke. Then, can I ask you to protect Konoha?]
Faced with this request from Hashirama, Jin thought for a moment before replying:
[I have no interest in Hiruzen's Konoha. But if it's Tsunade's Konoha, I can at least guarantee that no one would dare to cause trouble.]
[Hashirama: Good! It's a deal!]
Hashirama's tone seemed very excited.
Although he felt that his granddaughter, Tsunade, who had been spoiled by him and had even picked up his own bad habit of gambling, was a somewhat unreliable choice for Hokage, but who else could he chose?
Hiruzen's actions over the past two years had been too disappointing for him.
[Ding! Group member, Senju Hashirama, sent a dedicated red envelope to group member, Jin, containing [Sage Art Training Method], [Wood Release Training Method]...]
[Tobirama: Big brother! You, this...]
Tobirama was utterly dumbfounded.
To be honest, his current perception of Hiruzen was similar to Hashirama's.
Rather than letting them continue to mess things up, it might be better to let their descendant give it a try.
'But wasn't big brother being overly generous here?'
'You should at least post a commission task!'
'Giving it away for free is a bit too much, isn't it?'
'What if this kid goes back on his word?'
[Jin: Don't worry, Second Hokage. I'm different from your disciples who say one thing and do another. When I say I'll do something, I do it.]
Jin didn't consider himself a good person.
But at the very least, when he said he would do something, he would definitely do it.
Just like before, when he made an agreement with Ace, that if he met the Straw Hat Pirates in the future, he would only take Nami and Robin, and would spare Luffy's life.
Also, Gin wanted to use his Shinso as a bargaining chip to hire Jin to protect Rangiku.
But Jin didn't agree.
Because he knew very well that his current self didn't have the capability to go up against Yhwach.
If it were someone with a two-faced personality like Danzo-
He would absolutely verbally agree to Gin first and trick him into handing over Shinso.
And then, he would finally go back on his word, turning hostile and denying the agreement.
Tobirama immediately fell silent.
Because he understood in his heart that his disciples-
Had truly become that kind of person.
…
During this time, two major events occurred in the Ninja World.
The first was the death of White Fang.
It was rather ironic.
This event, which caused little stir within Konoha Village itself-
Actually caused an uproar abroad.
Many hostile nations, such as the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning, couldn't help but applaud and cheer upon hearing the news.
After all, Konoha was simply too strong now.
Even without counting Hiruzen and Danzo drinking tea and eating popcorns in the rear, with White Fang, the Sannin, plus the new generation's Jin and Minato-
Well, Konoha's Kage-level powerhouses were almost breaking into double digits.
It was just ridiculously strong.
Under such circumstances, White Fang's death, of course, excited the enemy nations.
Speaking of which, were the Konoha Council actually spies?
Why did they so enjoy persecuting their own village's geniuses?
The second major event was the death of the Second Kazekage, Shamon.
That's right, even though the assassination mission failed, Shamon still died.
After all, he was already quite old to begin with.
Having been severely injured in his previous battle with Jin, after being sent back to Sunagakure, the rescue efforts failed, and he died.
However, the war between Konoha and Sunagakure did not end with the deaths of White Fang and Shamon.
Instead, it intensified.
Chiyo, who was the Acting Kazekage, was absolutely hysterical in her command, driven by the deaths of her son and daughter-in-law.
She attacked fiercely, desperately, swearing to avenge her son and daughter-in-law.
Even though White Fang was dead, Chiyo knew that Jin and Minato were also involved in this matter.
'Flame Emperor and Yellow Flash!'
'I will definitely kill them and use their heads to pay respects to my son and daughter-in-law!'
Shinsuke: '...Am I really that insignificant?'