The Honest Man Actually Counters the Joker

The morning mist still carried yesterday's dampness.

After tidying his hair, Satoru Inoue walked into the office and immediately spotted Meimei Suzuyama, whom he had been teaching since first grade.

Her flaxen hair was braided into a neat, efficient ponytail, and even her ninja flak jacket could not hide her full figure.

Meimei Suzuyama was organizing the materials for teaching a new batch of children.

Teachers at the Ninja Academy had to take a class from the very beginning all the way through graduation, then start over again with a new group of young students.

Satoru Inoue adjusted his clothes again, flashed what he considered a charming smile, and rushed over to Meimei.

"Teacher Suzuyama, would you like to have dinner together tonight?"

"No." Meimei Suzuyama replied without even raising her head, her gaze remaining on her lesson-preparation documents.

Dejected, Satoru Inoue returned to his desk. This was the time teachers used to prepare, and class would not begin for a while yet.

After sorting out her textbooks, Meimei Suzuyama picked up several notebooks and suddenly asked Satoru Inoue about Uchiha Jin.

"Teacher Inoue, I heard that Uchiha Jin was transferred back to your class?"

Satoru Inoue instantly perked up.

"Yes. I remember Uchiha Jin transferred to Teacher Suzuyama's class last year."

Meimei Suzuyama had taught Uchiha Jin for a year as well.

Whenever he thought of Uchiha Jin, who always looked as if he had not slept the night before and made up for it during class, his head began to ache.

He was an even bigger problem than Kushina, who blew up at the slightest provocation. At least Kushina listened during class.

Jin's ninja combat evaluation was still zero, and it was not even because he had deliberately given him that score. Jin simply did not care and slept through the entire day! How was he supposed to grade him?!

Seeing Satoru Inoue's troubled expression, Meimei Suzuyama deeply sympathized.

"That child really is a major problem. Not only does he sleep in class, he keeps asking me out for meals."

Meimei Suzuyama sighed. She knew her figure was attractive to men, but even an underage child kept asking her out.

Was the problem with her, or with that little brat?

And the look in his eyes was no different from the way Satoru Inoue looked at her!

He was only twelve!! Were children this precocious nowadays!?

What had she been doing when she was twelve!?

She had been secretly in love with a handsome Hyuga boy.

Then never mind.

Early maturity had long been a Ninja Academy tradition.

Still, Jin had caused her constant trouble. For a while, he had been sending her flowers and asking her out, making it seem as though he attended class just for her. A child could hardly be called harassment, though.

"What!? That little bastard dared to harass Teacher Meimei?" Satoru Inoue's eyes widened. He had never expected that brat to share his taste... pfft... to dare harass his goddess!

"He is only a child, so it is nothing." Meimei did not seem to care.

"Still, I think Teacher Inoue should keep an eye on him. That child really likes skipping class."

Meimei Suzuyama recalled that during the previous year, Uchiha Jin's attendance rate had only been fifty percent. Especially after she firmly rejected him, he had vanished completely.

"What!?" Satoru Inoue's expression turned grave. If Jin skipped class, would that not leave a stain on his teaching career? It would not affect his future employment, but—

It would make him doubt his own teaching ability.

With that thought, he hurriedly rushed out of the office and ran to the classroom.

Once everyone had arrived, only one person was still nowhere to be seen.

Just as expected.

"Uchiha Jin!!"

That was right, Uchiha Jin was openly skipping class.

He walked down the street with a yawn. He had practically memorized the Ninja Academy textbooks backward and forward. If they were being serious about it—

"I understand the curriculum better than Satoru Inoue."

Unfortunately, Meimei—the teacher with that incredible figure—was no longer teaching him, which greatly diminished his interest in attending class.

Though Konoha's streets were bustling, there were very few pedestrians on the road.

Jin glanced at a passerby. The man wrapped his thin clothing tighter around himself, his face full of worry as he hurried onward.

Most of the open shops along the street were restaurants. Aside from hurried pedestrians, ninjas with furrowed brows also rushed past.

The war had not fully begun yet, but its presence was already gradually spreading throughout the village.

On the commercial street, Jin saw Might Duy helping a merchant unload goods.

Bent over with five or six sacks of cargo on his back, he was nowhere near his teammates.

Jin clicked his tongue in amazement. Might Duy was not yet at his peak, but opening the Sixth Gate should not have been a problem for him. Yet here he was, doing manual labor.

He stepped forward and greeted him.

"Yo, Uncle, we meet again."

The moment Might Duy saw Jin, his expression turned to terror.

"Uchiha!!"

With a huge leap backward, he looked as though he'd developed a lasting trauma from Jin's scare last night.

"Watch where you're going."

This drew the dissatisfaction of the merchant waiting nearby for the goods to be unloaded.

"Sorry, sorry." Might Duy hurried forward to apologize.

Jin raised an eyebrow, but the merchant merely glanced at the Uchiha crest on his clothes and didn't dare say anything. He even took a few steps back.

In Konoha, the Uchiha were a form of deterrence as well.

"Wait for me a moment," Might Duy said quietly, then began working at full speed. He swiftly carried over a dozen bags at a time and finished moving the goods.

Afterward, he bowed and scraped to the merchant for a while before the man finally let him leave in satisfaction.

Jin, who had been leaning against a utility pole waiting idly, could only keep raising his brows.

The ninja world was a deeply warped one. Those who truly held power were the ordinary daimyo, while ninjas were merely blades in their hands.

Though sometimes, those blades weren't very obedient.

The noble class led by the daimyo and the merchant class greatly feared ninjas, yet also looked down on them.

It was simply unbelievable.

It wasn't that ordinary people couldn't hold power. The problem was that the people in power didn't act like decent human beings, yet strutted around like they owned the world.

In a normal world, they would have been overthrown long ago.

"Hahaha, sorry to keep you waiting, young man."

Might Duy wiped his hands against the sides of his pants.

In truth, he didn't understand why this young Uchiha had come looking for him.

"Uncle, did you practice the ninjutsu I gave you?"

Jin looked up, his face carrying the expectant expression of a child.

His strength might not have amounted to much over the years, but his acting skills came effortlessly.

"I did. It was much easier than I expected." Might Duy laughed loudly. That ninjutsu was perhaps one of only two techniques he could successfully learn.

Then why haven't you even gotten started?

Jin kept smiling, though he dearly wanted to question him. Minato Namikaze and Kushina had both gotten started in one night, so why wasn't it working for Might Duy?

"Is there anything you don't understand, Uncle? I can explain it to you."

"Ah, you practiced it too? But doesn't practicing that mean you can't use ninjutsu?" Might Duy looked at Jin in surprise.

It was clearly written in there that once someone began practicing it, they would be unable to use normal ninjutsu. Since he had little talent for ninjutsu, he had decided to train in it.

"But... Uchiha, unable to use ninjutsu..."

"You're Uchiha Jin!?" Might Duy suddenly realized, pointing at Jin with a stunned expression.

"I didn't expect you to have some brains after all, Uncle." Jin wasn't surprised in the least. His reputation had spread to an absurd extent.

Did people really hate the Uchiha that much? He was the only one who couldn't use ninjutsu, yet everyone knew about it.

He truly couldn't understand it.

"Hahaha." Might Duy laughed awkwardly.

Was that praise or an insult?

"So, Uncle, if there's anything you don't understand, just ask. After all, it's a ninjutsu that came from the Uchiha. If you can't complete it, then I'll have no choice but to tell everyone that you stole—"

Before Jin could finish, Might Duy clamped a hand over his mouth. Cold sweat streamed down his face as he guiltily looked back and forth around them. Only then did he release Jin and lower his voice to question him.

"Wasn't that my mission reward?"

"That's true, but I'm the only one who knows that. What I submitted to the Hokage Building was a payment request."

Jin showed not the slightest shame as he openly revealed his scheme to frame someone else.

Might Duy's face turned deathly pale, and his body swayed unsteadily.

He had actually been framed by someone from the same village. Could no one in the village be trusted?

"Now, I'll give you two conditions. As long as you fulfill either one, we'll let this matter go. If you can't... heh heh."

Jin snorted in threat as he watched Might Duy's expression continually change.

Bullying an honest man was really fun.

"My lord, please show mercy. My wife is still pregnant." Might Duy swiftly dropped to his knees and pleaded.

Jin awkwardly scratched his cheek. It seemed he had gone a little too far. He hurriedly pulled Might Duy back up, and now it was Jin's turn to nervously look around.

Luckily, no one had noticed them. Only then did Jin speak slowly.

"First, hear my conditions. Either finish the ninjutsu I give you tonight, or..."

"Defeat me."

Might Duy scratched his head. Both his eyes had practically turned into question marks.

Still, since Jin was not asking him to do anything excessive, he relaxed a little and asked uncertainly, "That's all?"

Seeing that Might Duy did not believe him, Jin hurriedly said, "That's all."

All of a sudden, he felt that honest people were terrifying.

He really would not dare provoke one again in the future.

Might Duy frowned and thought for a while before suddenly coming to a realization. He raised a thumb at Jin. "So the young man is trying to motivate me. I'm so touched."

Tears streamed from both his eyes.

He had finally fooled him.

Jin wiped away the nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead. He had gotten a little too carried away just now.

"That's right."

"Don't worry, young man. I'll definitely complete the ninjutsu." Might Duy patted Jin on the shoulder, his face full of confidence. Even if it took ten or twenty years, he would master it.

"If you can't do it, I'll definitely tell everyone."

"Mm... Huh?!!!" Might Duy stared at Jin in horror. He felt that every word Jin said made his heart tremble.

"If you think the ninjutsu will take too long, then you only have one choice."

Jin patted... Might Duy on the back. He really could not reach his shoulder.

"But..." Might Duy still hesitated. After all, the other party was a student at the Ninja Academy. Wouldn't this be bullying a child?

Seeing Might Duy's hesitation, Jin flashed a toothy grin.

"Don't underestimate me. I'm very strong."

The reason he had come today was to witness the legendary...

Eight Gates Formation...

The technique that could kick the story straight to its ending with a single blow.