The Story Begins

Jingxin turned his gaze toward the one-armed rogue ninja.

The latter realized that this was a battle he was destined to lose. He immediately dropped to the ground and said, "I... I surrender! I'll tell you everything!"

"No need." Jingxin's reply left him confused.

What did he mean, no need?

The one-armed rogue ninja raised his head, and Dust Release crashed down toward him.

Zzzzt~

The battle was over.

Apart from the rogue ninja who had died when Aragami reflected his attack back at him, the other two had not even left behind corpses.

Deidara and Kurotsuchi returned from a distance and rejoined Jingxin.

Kurotsuchi's dark eyes sparkled as she looked at Jingxin. "Huh? Kintsuchi, you can already use Dust Release? That's incredible!"

Jingxin descended from the air and shrugged. "It's all thanks to my teacher."

Karin and Kurotsuchi had different opinions on that. Dust Release wasn't something you could learn just because someone was willing to teach you.

Before Jingxin, Ōnoki had worked unbelievably hard.

Whenever anyone in the village showed even a hint of talent, Ōnoki would try to cultivate them in the direction of Dust Release.

Unfortunately, most people couldn't even get past the prerequisite for learning the prerequisite.

Deidara didn't join the discussion. His gaze moved from the two deep craters Dust Release had left on the battlefield to the man skewered into the ground, eyes still open in death.

Deidara swallowed and cautiously glanced at Jingxin from the corner of his eye. "D-did you really have to kill them all? He said he'd tell us everything, hmm..."

"What could they tell us?" Jingxin pointed at the rogue ninja whose corpse remained. "We can already make a pretty good guess from looking at him."

"Besides, isn't it only natural for traitors to die?"

So you're using a cannon to swat a mosquito?

Deidara muttered, "You defected from Konoha too, didn't you? Hmm."

"Deidara?" Jingxin looked over curiously. "What did you say?"

"I said, Captain, you're absolutely right!" Deidara's eye twitched. "Also, leave checking the rogue ninja's bodies to me."

Jingxin nodded. "Then I'll leave it to you."

Jingxin had actually heard him, but chose to ignore the remark.

After all, from Konoha's perspective, he had indeed defected.

But from his own perspective, Konoha had abandoned the Uchiha. The Uchiha had become a people without a village, so joining any other village didn't count as defecting.

Put simply:

Defecting meant quitting of your own accord, possibly taking company secrets with you.

But Jingxin had been fired without compensation, and the company wanted to kill him because he knew its secrets.

And before Konoha fired him, Jingxin had never even worked for another "company."

How the hell was that the same thing?

After Deidara finished his work, the group returned to Iwagakure with what they had gained.

Time passed.

At the training ground, Jingxin sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, practicing and refining his chakra.

He had outgrown his childish appearance. He was much taller now, his shoulders broader, and the lines of his face more defined.

He still had a youthful handsomeness, but the composure and calm in his eyes far surpassed that of his peers.

When his training was over, Jingxin opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Twelve years old.

The story should be starting soon.

As someone who had been reincarnated into this world, he had to go see what all the fuss was about.

At the same time, he would secure some tangible benefits for Iwagakure, the village that had done so much for him.

Over the years, only Jingxin knew how absurdly indulgent Ōnoki had been toward him.

It was no exaggeration to say that Ōnoki had absolutely no limits.

If Jingxin had no morals and was a real child, without an adult's way of thinking, his personality might have ended up a lot like Cao Gongzi, who refused to eat beef.

As for his strength, Ōnoki trusted him completely.

Jingxin had total freedom. He could roam the entire Ninja World, and Ōnoki wouldn't worry.

After the way the "company" had treated him, what else was there to say?

This wasn't a company. This was my home!

And since it was my home, of course I had to find a way to build it up.

Jingxin recalled the story from the original work.

After graduation, Team 7 was formed.

They chased cats and dogs, and then came the Land of Waves mission.

So what could he get out of it?

Jingxin thought of two things.

First: Gato.

A ruthless man who cracked open bones to suck out the marrow and squeezed every last drop from a stone.

Money went a long way in the Ninja World, of course... in most situations.

No one ever complained about having too much money in their wallet.

Second: talented people.

Team 7's enemies in the Land of Waves were Zabuza and Haku.

Zabuza was a rogue ninja from Kirigakure. Recruiting him could cause diplomatic trouble.

Besides, Obito had a hand in Kirigakure's affairs. It was best to avoid any connection with them if possible.

That wasn't because Jingxin feared Obito. He simply understood the situation both sides were in.

Itachi Uchiha's body was nearly ruined.

As time went on, Itachi Uchiha would only grow weaker.

Obito Uchiha was shouldering the mission of the Eye of the Moon Plan. His strength wasn't going to increase much over the next few years—in fact, it might not increase at all.

As for Jingxin, though he was confident he could beat the first two now, he still had a great deal of room to grow.

And he hadn't exposed himself. Everyone in Iwagakure only knew him as Kintsuchi; only a handful of people and the village's higher-ups knew the name Jingxin.

If his enemies weren't going to get stronger for a while, while he steadily grew stronger himself, why expose himself early?

The stronger he was, the safer he'd be!

He'd already waited several years to take revenge. He could wait a little longer.

In short... Jingxin couldn't go after Zabuza.

At the very least, he couldn't openly bring him back to Iwagakure.

So he'd go after Zabuza's little sidekick, Haku.

Haku had a Kekkei Genkai. Unfortunately, he had died young in the original story, so no one could know what he might have achieved in the future.

But it was safe to say he could have reached at least elite jonin level.

As mentioned before, there were nowhere near as many elite jonin in the entire Ninja World as one might imagine, even across the span of twenty years.

In the past, when Ōnoki wanted Jingxin to get used to Anbu missions and gain experience, he had found two elite jonin to serve as his teammates. Even then, he'd had to pull strings everywhere before he could free up a month in their schedules.

Then it was settled.

His primary target was Haku.

He'd think it over carefully and see if he could bring him to Iwagakure.

His secondary target was Gato's money.

After getting his hands on it, he'd use some to provide disaster relief in the Land of Waves and pocket the rest.

"Kintsuchi~"

A clear voice interrupted Jingxin's thoughts. He looked toward the training ground's entrance.

It was Kurotsuchi. She held a bottle of specially made recovery drink and walked over to offer it to Jingxin. "Just finished training, right? Have some of this. I added Rock Honey and Recovery Herbs. It works better than an ordinary Military Ration Pill."

Jingxin took the bottle and drank.

It was just sweet enough, with a fresh herbal fragrance. It really did taste much better than a Military Ration Pill.

"Thanks," he said.

Kurotsuchi smiled, then casually linked her arm through his. "Come on, go to the shopping district with me. I heard a new ninja tool shop opened. I want to see if they have any good Shuriken."

Her gesture was casual, and so was her tone, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.

But Jingxin could feel the other ninjas training nearby watching them. Some looked envious, others curious.

Over the past two years, Kurotsuchi had become more and more direct with him, more and more bold.

She had gone from showing concern in subtle ways to actively seeking him out, and now she didn't hide her feelings at all.

She brought him drinks after training, took him out for meals when they returned from missions, invited him shopping on days off, and even linked her arm through his as they walked together like a couple.