Looting Minato's Corpse, Gouging Mizuko's Eyes

"Long time no see. I'm back again."

Late at night, in the Leaf cemetery, Jin stared at the Fourth Hokage's tombstone, a faint smile flickering across his face.

He set out the Three-Color Dumplings and sake he'd prepared in advance, then muttered to himself for a while.

This ritual had been going on for three years now.

Ever since his Flying Thunder God Technique could cover over two hundred meters, he'd been openly slipping past the Anbu to come pay his respects.

Of course, "paying respects" was just a nice way of saying—looting the corpse.

Because of corpse cooling times, he could only come once a year.

This was the third time.

After finishing his tribute, like a devout boy completing a ceremony, he bowed his head and clasped his hands in prayer: "Minato, big bro, how about giving me something good this time?"

Three years.

All he'd gotten were two trashy green affixes.

For the Fourth Hokage, that was a total disgrace!

With that, he took advantage of the moment no one was watching and quietly reached his hands forward into the grave.

A faint, paper-thin layer of golden light gradually coated his palms.

Golden Body of Light!

Six years had passed, and his control over this skill had improved tremendously.

He could even partially transform into light.

But this time, when he plunged his hands into the earth, he was stunned.

He groped around.

Empty.

He groped around Kushina's grave next door.

Also empty!

Where were the bodies?!

Jin was baffled.

The bodies that had been there the last few times—how had they suddenly vanished?

"Orochimaru?"

"Did that guy get here this early..."

He sighed, shifting his gaze from the couple's tombstone to the others.

There were no First or Second Hokage bodies here.

Though their tombstones stood, he'd checked three years ago—empty.

As for the other ninjas...

Most of their bodies had rotted beyond recognition, yielding nothing.

On the outskirts.

In a tree.

Kakashi watched Jin's small figure, a wave of emotion washing over him.

"Paying respects?"

"Sensei... so you had a little admirer like this."

"Maybe he really is an oddball among the Uchiha?"

"Looking at it that way, it makes more sense why he's good to Naruto."

In that moment, a string in Kakashi's heart was plucked again.

So many years since the Nine-Tails' rampage, and as Minato's student, he himself had come to pay respects far too few times.

Instinctively, he turned his gaze in another direction.

There, the small figure's face seemed to carry a hint of resolve.

But when he looked over, his eyes suddenly narrowed:

"Rin's favorite flowers? Fresh..."

"But Rin's family died long ago—how would anyone in the village know about that?"

At that moment, the shock in Kakashi's heart grew even stronger.

He vaguely felt like he was about to grasp something.

But it was stuck right under his lips, on the verge of coming out.

Yet it couldn't rise up.

And because of that, his own aura was slightly disturbed.

The cemetery.

After Jin sensed the chaotic chakra behind him, His brows and eyes curved in an unreadable way. "So they've finally noticed the problem with Rin..."

He was quite curious to see what would happen if Kakashi and Obito met ahead of schedule.

Would anything be different?

As for Obito, Jin felt no goodwill toward him at all.

There are few purely villainous characters in Hokage; most just hold onto different meanings of persistence.

Even One-vs-Seven can sometimes be redeemed.

But!

Not Obito!

He could blame others for his lover's death.

But!

Killing the teacher and his wife, who had saved him countless times—that was hard to wash away.

Most importantly...

During the Nine-Tails' rampage, he even dared to lay a hand on the newborn Naruto.

Those two points nailed him to the pillar of shame forever.

"Just wait. Once I copy Kamui from Kakashi, I'll be throwing crap in there every single day!"

He muttered to himself, about to get up and check another grave, when a faint sound suddenly reached his ears.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Outside the cemetery, several swift figures suddenly flashed by.

Extremely fast.

Extremely quiet.

If his five senses hadn't been greatly enhanced by the fusion of various traits, he wouldn't have heard them at all.

He turned his head in confusion, murmuring, "A dozen figures? There's nothing around here—no, wait, Danzo?! Root?!"

Suddenly, he realized that near the cemetery was the Root division, the very foundation of Leaf!

He had discovered this by chance three years ago.

Who would have thought Root had a base here?

"What's Root up to, mobilizing like this in the dead of night?"

With curiosity, the scarlet and bulging veins in his Eyes appeared almost simultaneously.

Sharingan + Byakugan!

Abbreviated—Red-White Eye!

Under the effect of these eyes, he clearly saw the masks on these people's faces, painted with various animal patterns.

"Definitely Root..."

After confirming, Jin quietly followed.

In the dead of night, they couldn't be up to any good.

He'd just sneak a couple of corpses from behind—what's the big deal?!

As he went further and further, the trees on both sides decreased, then slowly began to increase again.

Clearly, this had gone from one side of the village to the other.

Compared to the unfamiliarity of the cemetery, Jin knew this area much better.

Cliff!

To be precise, the dense forest above the Cliff!

More and more Root ninjas flashed into the dense forest above the Cliff and hid themselves.

In their hands, they clutched Kunai, Shuriken, or samurai swords tightly.

Their gazes were all fixed on one spot.

There, an old man in a dark purple kimono, with gray-white short hair tied with bandages, was slowly walking in.

His steps were slow and heavy, each landing silent, yet crushing the surrounding leaves to dust.

Like a lurking Snake, exuding a silent pressure.

"Danzo? So it's really you, you bastard!"

At this point, the situation was already clear.

That old bastard Danzo was up to his usual tricks again, scheming to harm someone.

But who was the target?

Jin glanced at the dense forest around him, the corner of his mouth twitching as he thought to himself, Brother Mizu, you'd better remember what I told you.

But then he reconsidered—that was unrealistic.

The Uchiha clan, aside from Itachi, were all more or less lacking in brains.

Even that laughing madman, after having his heart ripped out by Obito, still got his heart taken by Black Zetsu later.

Clearly, his strength was formidable, but his brain was nowhere to be found.

"Looks like I might have to expose myself soon..."

"The days of coasting by might be coming to an end."

Anticipating the battle about to unfold, Jin took a slight breath.

Though Shisui was a pure naive fool, Jin had hinted and outright told him many times!

But since he'd run into this now, he didn't mind lending a hand.

He'd try his best to beat Danzo to death!

This was the key to delaying the Uchiha clan's annihilation!

As for how Itachi would awaken his Mangekyo?

He'd figure that out later.

But just as he was about to make his move, the Danzo in front of him suddenly vanished with a "bang," dissolving into smoke.

The next second, almost all the Root ninjas, as if receiving a signal, swiftly dashed toward another direction.

Watching the dissipating clone behind him, Jin furrowed his brow:

"So, he's already taken them?"

"This isn't the place where he gouges out eyes?"

Damn it!

That old bastard Kishimoto, his memories misled me!