In Front of My Own Grave

"How does it feel to bury them with your own hands?" the Tiger Mask Anbu asked, hands on her hips, watching Uchiha Jie busily moving among the graves.

With no one around, she finally removed her mask. Unlike typical girls, she wasn't delicate. Her face shape bore a slight resemblance to her cousin, Asuma, being a bit square.

This slight squareness, however, enhanced her beauty, giving her a resolute look. Her smooth, dark hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, softening her resolute features into something more alluring.

Uchiha Jie didn't turn around. He slowly placed his own ashes into the freshly dug small pit, filled it with soil, and then placed the Special Jonin certification on top of the dirt.

"Heh heh, it feels really bad." Although the Cat-faced Anbu had already gone home to rest and there were no outsiders here, Uchiha Jie still wore his mask. If someone were to suddenly pass by and see this face, it would be rather troublesome.

"Uchiha Itachi is very powerful. I lasted less than a minute before he burned me to ashes." He said with a wry chuckle, recounting the previous day's events.

"You can't laugh out loud now, can you?" Sarutobi Kou chuckled a couple of times, then asked sternly, "So, who do you think is stronger, him or that old geezer Hiruzen Sarutobi?"

"The Third Hokage is still stronger." Uchiha Jie answered without hesitation.

"So sure? Didn't you say you could contend with the old man?" Sarutobi Kou frowned. "And didn't you used to highly praise Uchiha Itachi's combat power? Thought he could beat anyone?"

"The Third Hokage knows the Uchiha clan too well." Uchiha Jie replied while forming hand seals to use Earth Style jutsu to bury his clansmen's remains.

"The Second Hokage also developed more than one forbidden jutsu specifically targeting the Uchiha clan. If the Third Hokage completely disregarded the consequences and used all those forbidden jutsu, Uchiha Itachi would certainly not be his opponent."

"Besides, they wouldn't fight anyway." he continued. "As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Third Hokage, Uchiha Itachi will never attack him."

"It's that damn Will of Fire again. I really can't understand it. It's one thing for people in my clan, but why would Uchiha Itachi believe in that stuff?" Sarutobi Kou lowered her head, her ninja boots extending to crush a small stone underfoot.

As a member of the Sarutobi clan, she had been indoctrinated with the Will of Fire since birth. Being precocious, she was exceptionally rebellious. Every time she spouted grand theories about it, she'd get beaten and punished.

Gradually, she began to notice something was amiss. Some people in the clan deeply believed in the Will of Fire, while others, like her, thought it was utter nonsense.

However, due to their clan head, Hiruzen Sarutobi, everyone hid their true feelings well on the surface.

Soon, she too learned to hide, concealing her disdain for the Will of Fire. Her excellent ninja talent immediately earned her the appreciation of the clan head and the cultivation of the clan. From entering the Ninja Academy to becoming a Jonin, her path was smooth sailing.

Until she, as a captain, organized her own team and met the young man before her. Her long-standing doubts were gradually answered.

"Itachi, his situation is very similar to yours." Uchiha Jie curled his lips.

"From childhood, he heard things that were the opposite of the Will of Fire. Just like you met me, he also met someone else."

"Was it Uchiha Shisui, who committed suicide?" Sarutobi Kou asked.

"Yes." Uchiha Jie nodded. "Just as some people in the Sarutobi clan never believed in the Will of Fire, a very small number of people in the Uchiha clan have always believed in the Will of Fire. Uchiha Shisui was one of the most steadfast among them."

"So you should tell me why the Will of Fire has such an appeal." Sarutobi Kou slowly paced forward and stood in front of Uchiha Jie.

She was tall, almost as tall as Uchiha Jie. He was squatting on the ground, head down, carving characters on a stone slab with a ninja knife. The sunlight was suddenly blocked by her, and the characters on the stone slab became unclear.

"Haha, people naturally have infinite yearning for beautiful things." Blocked from the sun, Uchiha Jie, whose vision hadn't fully recovered to see clearly in the dim light, could only stand up.

His gaze was level, meeting Sarutobi Kou's bright eyes, and he smiled.

"Beautiful things?"

"The Will of Fire is naturally a beautiful thing. You've heard its content and interpretations far more than I have, and you understand it far more profoundly. You should know its meaning. It's certainly a good thing, so why do you resist it?"

"The will itself is beautiful, but the people who carry it out are not." Uchiha Jie patted Sarutobi Kou's shoulder, then lowered his head and squatted down again, starting to carve another stone slab. "Hiruzen Sarutobi might believe it, Danzo Shimura might believe it, but did everyone under them believe it? Even if they believed it, did they act accordingly?"

"Just like your clansmen, they still let you join the newly established Security Force, didn't they?"

"But I don't want to..." Sarutobi Kou said abruptly.

"No, you want to..." Uchiha Jie's hand grasped Sarutobi Kou's. "You will definitely join the Security Force and gain some authority over gatekeeping or barriers. This way, I can leave Konoha smoothly without being discovered immediately or easily tracked."

"Konoha is now completely in the hands of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. With the fall of the Uchiha clan, the Hyuga clan and other ninja clans will be unable to stand alone and will inevitably fall to them. To help Tsuki and Luyu in this environment, I can't do it." Looking at Sarutobi Kou's stubborn expression, Uchiha Jie still shook his head gently.

"Whether it's the equipment needed for experiments or the subjects of the experiments, it's very difficult to obtain them in the current Konoha, even with your cooperation."

What Uchiha Jie said was the truth. After Orochimaru became a rogue ninja, Konoha sealed dozens of laboratories of various sizes, confiscating countless pieces of equipment. Later, this equipment was resold to Orochimaru by Root.

This time, the Uchiha clan was also annihilated. Several small laboratories within the clan grounds were found by Hyuga clan ninja belonging to Root, and Uchiha Jie's was no exception. He only managed to seal the experimental data in time.

"We promised Tsuki and Luyu together back then."

Sarutobi Kou fell silent. She really had no reason to stop him. For the sake of her other good teammate, sending Uchiha Jie out of Konoha was the better choice. There was no room for human experimentation within Konoha anymore.

Wait, human experimentation?

She suddenly looked up and asked, "When you leave, you're not planning to abduct Hyuga Hinata, are you? Hiashi Hyuga would go crazy!"