The continuous explosions, impacts, and clashes of weapons coming from the central area of Konoha Village created a symphony of chaos.
Yet, Jin's face still had a calm and composed expression as he strolled leisurely towards the commotion.
Just as Jin, leading the loli trio, Hiashi, and the others, was about to reach the central battlefield, a black shadow traced an arc through the air high above.
With a heavy thud, it crashed heavily in front of Jin's group.
"Well, well~ If it isn't Jiraiya? Haven't seen you in a few days, and you've fallen so low?"
Orochimaru said with a laugh.
"O-Orochimaru! And Uchiha Jin!"
Jiraiya quickly scrambled up from the ground.
The torn flesh on his face and the blood flowing from the wounds suggested that the people summoned from the One Piece World had given him quite a bit of trouble.
Thump! Thump!
At that moment, Smoothie, having enlarged herself to over ten meters tall using the Shibo Shibo no Mi ability, caught up. (T/N: Wring-Wring Fruit)
The sight left Hiashi and his group dumbfounded.
Upon seeing Jin, Smoothie immediately reverted from her giant form and knelt on one knee, saying:
"Captain Rin."
Jin glanced at Smoothie.
Her body also had several injuries, but fewer than Jiraiya.
After all, the One Piece World was famous for its tough skin and thick flesh, where fights could last five days and nights, or even ten.
The Naruto World, in contrast, was known for high attack power but low defense.
Even someone at the level of Six Paths Madara could have his heart stabbed by Black Zetsu.
"Where did you find these monsters, kid? They almost killed me!"
Jiraiya shouted angrily at Jin.
"It seems you're siding with the Third Hokage, then, Jiraiya-san~"
Jin didn't answer Jiraiya's question but instead posed another.
Among the Sannin, Jiraiya was arguably the one with the best relationship with Hiruzen.
Though it always felt like he didn't go all out during the Konoha Crush Plan.
Hearing Jin's words, the people behind him, and Smoothie on the other side, all drew their blades.
If the situation changed even slightly, they would undoubtedly launch an all-out attack on Jiraiya without mercy.
Regardless of whether you were one of the Sannin or anything else.
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment.
"...Does it have to be this way?"
Only after a full two minutes did Jiraiya speak again.
"I prefer Kaido's methods over Doflamingo's."
Jin gave an answer that left Jiraiya baffled.
But from the tone that brooked no argument, he could already discern Jin's attitude.
"Your best choice right now is to immediately pack your bags and leave. Don't worry about peeping at women's bathhouses or anything else. Otherwise... you know my methods."
Jin pointed towards the village gate, his tone flat as water yet filled with an undeniable pressure.
"I do quite admire you, Jiraiya-senpai. Don't force my hand."
This statement was indeed not a lie from Jin.
If he had to find faults with Jiraiya, Jin felt it was probably only that he was too easily fooled.
His entire life was like a chess piece, manipulated by that damned toad from Mount Myoboku.
It told him to write novels, so he wrote novels… it told him to take disciples, so he took disciples.
He lived completely according to that toad's so-called prophecies, even sacrificing his own life for it.
Jiraiya gritted his teeth.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally made a decision:
"Let me take Minato and Kushina away."
He still firmly believed that among the boy with the Rinnegan he had taken as a disciple in Amegakure and Minato, one of them must be the Child of Prophecy.
He couldn't let Minato get caught up in this meaningless civil war.
Jin waved his hand, signaling 'as you wish'.
Seeing this, Jiraiya quickly turned and rushed back towards the battlefield.
He happened to see Minato rapidly shuttling across the battlefield using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The moment Minato appeared behind Katakuri, he reached out, caught a Flying Thunder God Kunai in mid-air, and stabbed it into Katakuri's side.
However, like a toothpick hitting an iron plate, the Flying Thunder God Kunai not only failed to pierce Katakuri's skin, but its tip broke in two from the impact.
"Wha-!?"
Minato, who had never seen Armament Haki defense before, was wide-eyed with astonishment.
The next second, a large hand shot out and grabbed Minato by the throat.
"Good speed. Poor attack."
Katakuri said deeply.
This was also the reason Minato was currently stuck at his current level.
Without having developed the Rasengan yet, he lacked a one-hit kill attack.
"Wait! Let Minato go! Your Boss, Uchiha Jin agreed to this!"
Seeing that Minato was about to be choked unconscious by Katakuri, Jiraiya hurried over and shouted at him, invoking Jin's name.
Katakuri glanced at him with narrowed eyes.
After a few seconds of thought, he released Minato.
"Minato! Let's go! You don't need to be involved in this war born from a power struggle."
Jiraiya helped Minato up.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I..."
"You think you can leave just because you want to? Namikaze Minato! Don't forget Kushina is still in my hands!"
Seeing Jiraiya about to escape with Minato, Danzo, who was being pushed back by Cracker, dropped all pretense.
"This..."
Minato's expression froze.
"Are you talking about this girl?"
Tsunade's voice instantly drew the attention of many on the battlefield.
They saw Tsunade, accompanied by several dozen Senju Clan's members, holding Kushina, who had shackles on her wrists and ankles, tucked under her arm like a chick.
"Kushina!"
Minato panicked and rushed towards Kushina.
Danzo's eyes bulged like copper bells, "Tsunade, you!"
"This girl usually comes to report her physical condition to me every week, but she was late today."
Tsunade sneered:
"It wasn't hard to guess the reason, Danzo. Your methods are as underhanded as ever."
"Pretzel... Impact!!"
Seizing the moment of Danzo's distraction, Cracker launched a surprise attack.
The rapidly spinning sword instantly pierced Danzo's right shoulder.
The rotation didn't stop, brutally tearing his right arm off.
"Gahhhh!"
The pain of losing an arm made Danzo cry out involuntarily.
"Now we don't have to see that sanity-draining arm anymore."
Jin, who had just walked over and witnessed this scene, couldn't help but smile.
In the original work, that arm transplanted with ten Sharingan, which caused sanity to plummet, was truly memorable.
It was also the battle that confirmed Danzo was just trash.
After all, with a full ten extra lives, he still couldn't beat a half-crippled Sasuke.
In the end, he bet his old life just to seal a bridge.
"Uchiha... Jin!"
Seeing the protagonist strolling onto the battlefield as if taking a post-meal walk, the four members of Konoha Council all showed expressions of resentment, anger, and hatred.
"Well, esteemed elders."
Facing these four bosses who ranked among the top trashes even across the entire 2D World, Jin didn't show any negative emotions.
After all, no matter how much they squandered, they were squandering the legacy left by Hashirama.
It had nothing to do with him.
To be honest, if these people were simply foolish, Jin really wouldn't have bothered to target them.
Just like what Jin thought about Sakazuki before-
If Sakazuki were the Hokage, he wouldn't even bother rebelling.
After all, Luffy, as a leader of an organization, had plenty of problems too.
Acting without considering consequences, always charging ahead recklessly when emotions took over, liking to meddle in others' business... blah blah blah, a whole list.
But at least he had one thing the Konoha Council couldn't match:
He never turned on his own people.
And this was precisely an important reason why Jin targeted the Konoha Council.
Even if he expressed no interest in their pathetic power, as long as they felt one's strength was enough to threaten their authority, they would definitely try to eliminate them.
Konoha couldn't allow any awesome person to exist!
It was just absurd.
Jin even wondered if these guys were spies sent to Konoha by other villages.
After all, they're so eager to persecute their own geniuses.
From Sakumo during the Second Great Ninja War in the distant past, to Shisui after the Third Great Ninja War.
To be honest, if Orochimaru hadn't given Hiruzen that fatal blow during the Chunin Exams, these old schemers might have tried to kill both Naruto and Sasuke.
They're talented, truly talented.
...
"Don't get cocky! Uchiha Jin! Even if you seize power from Hiruzen today, no one will accept you!"
Koharu shouted unwillingly:
"Everyone in the village has seen all that Hiruzen has done for Konoha over the years! Do you think you can just take the Hokage's position from the most respected Hokage in Konoha's history through sheer violence?"
Koharu concentrated Chakra in her throat. The voice of the 50-year-old old woman echoed across half of Konoha, making the ordinary villagers hiding in their houses, trembling with fear, shudder.
Seeing Jin remain motionless, Koharu, this old monster who would live until the Boruto Era, shouted again:
"Families of Konoha! Is there no justice left? Jin wants to forcibly seize the Hokage's position relying on his power! Do you think someone like that is fit for the role of Hokage?"
"The hardships Hiruzen has endured, devoting himself to Konoha all these years, you've all seen it, haven't you?"
"It doesn't matter if we die! But do you really want such a warmongering madman to become Konoha's master?!"
"Stand up! Villagers of Konoha, let us resist these terrorists together!"
Hearing Koharu's words, Hiashi, Hizashi, and the others' expressions turned somewhat strange.
'When have you old bastards ever devoted themselves to Konoha?'
'During the Second Great Ninja War, while others fought on the front lines, you drinking tea in the rear counts as contribution?'
But whether Hiashi and the others agreed with Koharu's rhetoric wasn't important.
Being able to deceive the general villagers was enough.
After all, hiring online trolls wasn't something the Konoha Council did for the first time.
Think about how White Fang died, and Naruto's childhood experiences-
These were bloody examples.
"Give it up, Uchiha Jin! The place is surrounded by Ninjas!"
Sure enough, someone immediately took the bait.
"The Third Hokage-sama is the greatest Hokage! You can't do this to him!"
"Only Sarutobi Hiruzen is our Hokage! No one else will do!"
"Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing this?!"
"Third Hokage-sama, we all support you!"
Voices supporting the Konoha Council arose one after another, and within less than five minutes, they resounded throughout Konoha.
Hearing these villagers' voices of support, the Konoha Council's members showed smiles of success.
Konoha had a population in the seven figures, after all.
'No matter how strong you was, could you kill all these millions of people?'
'Even Hatake Sakumo couldn't withstand the moral blackmail from the Konoha's villagers.'
'Could you, Uchiha Jin, possibly handle it?'
Thinking of this, Koharu and the others couldn't help but look at Jin with smug expressions.
However, contrary to their expectations, whether it was Tsunade, the three lolis, Hiashi, or the others…
their faces all showed varying degrees of worry, fear, and apprehension.
Yet, not only did Jin's face show no negative emotions, it even revealed an expression of anticipation and excitement.