Chino spoke quietly. Her tone gradually calmed, settling into a numb expression. She had cried before, and she had despaired before. Now, her tears had run dry, leaving only the burning fire of hatred.
Zi Xu's expression grew colder as he listened. His desire to leave Konoha had only grown stronger. He had been prepared for this, repeatedly telling himself, "Konoha is a terrifying organization. No matter what they do, don't be surprised." But now that it was happening right before his eyes, he still struggled to keep his emotions in check.
"Isn't it dangerous to openly oppose the Main House? Won't the Branch Family members who choose the Independence Faction be wiped out by the Main House?" Zi Xu asked Chino, his tone tinged with indifference. His dark red hair fluttered in the wind, giving him an imposing air.
Chino put her forehead protector back on. She seemed to hate the mark that represented her enslavement. Hearing Zi Xu's question, she gently shook her head and brushed her messy blue-black hair back before explaining:
"The Main House wouldn't dare do that openly. Murdering fellow villagers in plain sight is a major taboo. After all, the village's foundation is the false and fragile equality and peace..." There were rules everywhere, and lines that could not be crossed. You could call Konoha a den of monsters that devoured people without a trace, but even Konoha had a red line: you could not kill your fellow villagers.
At this, Chino turned to Hatsumi, who wore an angry expression, and parted her lips as if to say something. Looking at the innocent, adorable Hatsumi seemed to remind her of her younger self. After hesitating for a long while, she finally spoke, her tone tinged with sympathy.
"The Aburame Clan has its own way of controlling its members..." Once again, she had dropped a bombshell. The shock it dealt Hatsumi was no less than what Chino had felt when the Caged Bird Curse Seal had been carved into her. But the more Zi Xu listened, the more something seemed off.
"W-what...?" Hatsumi stood frozen as if struck by lightning, like a stone statue—or someone on the verge of death, with all hope gone.
"After all, the ability to control insects at will is far too dangerous. Insects are so discreet that they can kill someone without anyone noticing, or even kill from a thousand miles away... How could the higher-ups not put restrictions on people like that?" Zi Xu slowly voiced his thoughts.
Chino nodded and added:
"The Pot Poison Technique was classified as a forbidden technique by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Once its poison takes effect, it's fatal, with no antidote. Before that, there were many other techniques that could be called forbidden, though I don't know much about those. But when each member of the Aburame Clan is born, a parasite is placed near their heart. The clan head and successive Hokage jointly kept the mother insect, but in this generation, it's kept solely by the Hokage..."
As Chino spoke, she glanced at Hatsumi, who was still dazed, her eyes filled with complicated emotions. But Zi Xu wasn't entirely convinced. He thought this might just be a story she had made up to bind the two of them to her cause. After all, there was no way to verify whether it was true.
"The mother insect is used to control clan members, just like the Caged Bird..." Chino gave Hatsumi some time to think, but when she saw that Hatsumi seemed to have completely shut down, she walked right up to her and shook her hard, forcibly bringing her out of her shock.
"Let me guess. Is there something Konoha left inside my body, too?" Zi Xu pointed to himself. He had already begun to suspect as much. How could Konoha not give special "attention" to the last surviving member of the Uzumaki Clan?
Chino left the now-conscious Hatsumi to one side and looked up, answering matter-of-factly. "That's right. Hmm... Root Organization members are responsible for screening orphans and people from outside the village. According to their methods, all outsiders are injected with a toxin."
"The toxin doesn't normally take effect, but if Root decides your actions might harm Konoha's interests, they release another drug. The two combine to produce a deadly poison..." It was rare for Chino to say so much at once.
Zi Xu wasn't too worried when he heard it was a deadly poison, but then he remembered that he hadn't even reached one-tenth of Kaido's Physique yet, and he started to panic. Kaido might be immune, but Zi Xu himself might not be.
"System, examine my body. Do I really have an unknown toxin in me?" He didn't fully trust Chino's words, so he decided to check for himself.
"The host's body is healthy, with no injuries or signs of poisoning."
"Is there a toxin inside me like the one Chino mentioned?" To be safe, he asked again.
"Three detected." The system's cold voice sounded in Zi Xu's ear. He couldn't help feeling glad he'd been cautious.
"How much of Kaido's Physique do I need to fuse with to become immune to these toxins?"
"25% to gain immunity to this toxin and most common toxins."
Zi Xu lowered his head and calculated. The reward for establishing an organization was 10,000 points, and raising his Fusion Level by 1% cost 500 points. After training, his Fusion Level had reached 6%, so it would take 9,500 points to reach 25%, leaving him only 500 reward points. He still didn't know what it would take to unlock Devil Fruit Ability and the Haki System. The more he thought about it, the less optimistic he felt.
"How do you know so much?" Hatsumi, who had been quiet until now, asked weakly, looking completely overwhelmed. Everything Chino had said today had shattered her worldview. So-called freedom was nothing but enslavement beneath a false, polished exterior. So-called equality meant using violence to silence those who didn't fit in. They were living in an age when evil stood exposed in the sunlight...
"My father told me all of this. At this point, I won't hide it from you anymore. All three of us are under Konoha's control. Zi Xu was right earlier: the Inheritance of the Will of Fire has long since been twisted. Konoha might once have been good, but at least as it is now, it doesn't deserve to be called the inheritor of the Will of Fire..."
Listening to Chino, Zi Xu felt something was strange. This was giving him a powerful sense of déjà vu. Was the little girl about to...
"We can start an organization, just a framework for now, to uphold the true Will of Fire and bring genuine peace and equality to the world."
Just as he'd thought. Zi Xu raised a hand to his forehead, amused and exasperated by how things were unfolding. The mission had asked him to establish an organization, but Chino had started one before he'd even lifted a finger. Still, if he joined in, he could count as one of its original founders. With that in mind, he spoke up in support of Chino.
"I think Chino is right. If we can't even control our own lives, how can we talk about freedom and peace? It's nothing more than a false appearance created by power and violence—in other words, a terrorist organization. Only by acting under the guidance of the right ideals can we achieve the right results. I fully support Chino's idea."
"I knew you'd understand me." Chino gave Zi Xu a look that said, "I knew I was right about you," making him feel a little guilty.
After her initial worldview had been shattered and rebuilt, Hatsumi accepted the reality before her. People were most easily influenced while their worldview was being reshaped. After giving it some thought, she nodded and reached for the hands they held out to her.
"All right. I believe in you!" As the three of them clasped hands, a system notification appeared at the same time.
[Mission Updated] [Mission Name: Establish an Organization] [Mission Details: Establish an organization before the end of this semester. It must have at least three members, all loyal to the organization and in agreement with its ideals.] [Mission Status: Complete] [Unlocked the Faction panel. 10,000 reward points and 3 random item draws have been sent to the system space. The host may check them at any time.] [The first stage of the mission is complete. The second stage may be activated at any time.]
At this, Zi Xu paused. He hadn't expected it to be a chain of missions, but thinking about it, it made sense. They were only Ninja Academy students, and the organization they had established was just a framework. They would need to graduate from the Ninja Academy before they could take any real action. For now, their so-called "organization" was nothing more than an ideal meant to attract like-minded people.
"So, what should we name our organization?" Hatsumi quickly accepted the situation and seemed no different from before, though they couldn't know how she truly felt.
"A name, huh? Our goal is to spread a new Will of Fire, and Konoha will become the nourishment for our growth. Then let's call it Jin—the Jin born anew from Konoha's ashes..." Zi Xu suggested. Chino and Hatsumi accepted the name.
"Now that we've chosen a name, it's not too much to pick a leader, is it?" Zi Xu said with a smile. From his words, the two girls naturally assumed he wanted to be leader, but Hatsumi still thought the stronger Chino was the better choice.
"I think..." Hatsumi began, but Chino cut her off.
"I support..." But Zi Xu waved a hand and cut Chino off in turn. Smiling, he spoke with complete sincerity.
"I think Chino has to be our leader. She's the strongest among us, and she knows the most. She has access to plenty of information, so there's no one more suited to the position."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Both girls were surprised. Zi Xu wasn't one of those young hotheads who got swept up in the moment. Though he looked like a child, his soul belonged to a jaded young man who had weathered more than twenty years of life. And Chino didn't seem easy to fool, either. The way she'd tied their fates together showed that she was no simple person.
A leader needed not only strength, but also political skill. Though he didn't want to admit it, someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi, a politician, was quite suited to the role.
Their little organization's framework was fine for now, but if it grew, it would inevitably attract probes from other organizations or villages. Chino was better than Zi Xu at dealing with that sort of thing.
"Besides, it's not like you'll be leader forever. Be careful I don't surpass you. If I get stronger than you, I'll take the position." Zi Xu smiled.
"Ah, all right." Chino had already been planning to give the position to Zi Xu. After all, compared to her, who only wanted to train, Zi Xu had a sense of responsibility, even if his various abilities were average, and seemed better suited to the job. But since Zi Xu didn't want it, she wouldn't refuse.
And so, amid laughter and conversation, an organization destined to hold a pivotal place in the shinobi world was born.
------Author's Note------
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