"Quick!"
Jingxin's warning brought Minato back to his senses.
He knew what Jingxin's plan was...
No, it couldn't be called a plan at all.
It was more like a delusion.
Its chances of success were infinitesimally close to zero.
But the situation was extremely urgent, and Minato had no time to think it over. He said to Jingxin, "!@#￥%...&*(o.O)--+)/*-!"
???
Everyone turned their eyes toward Minato.
What had he said?
Was that even human language?
"I see. I've got it," Jingxin replied.
No!
Bro?
What did you get?
"Watch out," Minato warned Jingxin.
This time, Jingxin didn't dodge. He activated Susanoo and opened Aragami.
Reflect!
Bang!
The upper half of Minato Namikaze's Impure World Reincarnation body was smashed apart.
While the body was recovering, Jingxin moved in close to Minato and brought down his ninja blade.
Infused with Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation, the blade was razor-sharp. It severed the right arm of Minato's Impure World Reincarnation body.
Jingxin grabbed the severed arm. His left hand formed seals, a complex flurry so fast it became a blur.
A powerful sealing force surged from Jingxin's hands into Minato's right arm.
Just like that, Jingxin successfully obtained Minato's chakra.
He didn't pause for an instant. He immediately began to descend, landing beside Karin.
"Karin."
"Got it!"
Having always shared both hardship and joy, the two didn't need words to remind each other of certain things. Their teamwork was so seamless that they could practically have gone straight from there to piloting mechs in the Atlantic Rim without missing a beat.
Their fingers interlocked, and chakra flowed from their palms into each other's bodies.
Yours within me, mine within you.
Karin activated her sensory ability. The Mind's Eye of the Kagura locked onto the Flying Thunder God Mark Minato had left inside the Four Violet Flames Formation almost instantly.
With Karin's chakra inside him, Jingxin could vaguely "sense" it too.
Then Jingxin's hand, still gripping Minato's right arm, gathered a near-insane amount of chakra once more.
Under the influence of Jingxin's own chakra, the chakra in Minato's right arm began to circulate slowly.
Jingxin closed his eyes, sweat beading on his forehead.
Year after year of training.
Hundreds of thousands, millions of attempts to sense and control chakra.
Every drop of sweat, every night spent aching all over after releasing a Shadow Clone, pushed to the limits of human endurance and collapsing into bed.
All of it, combined with the system's Linear Potential,
had brought Jingxin's control and precision over chakra to a level unprecedented in the Ninja World.
Every bit, every trace of chakra circulated in perfect order, influencing the chakra inside Minato's right arm until it formed the chakra circulation pattern of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Then, with the sensory ability provided by Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he locked onto the Flying Thunder God Mark Minato had left inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Let's give it a try."
The next second,
Jingxin, Karin, and Minato's right arm vanished from where they stood.
Tap~
The faint sound of someone landing rang out.
A wave of horror showed in every pair of eyes as they turned toward the inside of the barrier.
"He... He got inside?"
"Is he a monster?"
The Flying Thunder God Technique had always been synonymous with difficulty.
Even the disciples of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, needed to work together in a group of four just to perform its inferior derivative, the Flying Thunder God Formation.
This guy had not only cut the number of users from four down to two.
He'd used the Flying Thunder God Technique itself.
Didn't that mean...
If this guy went home, glanced at a scroll, and learned some kind of sensory support technique, he'd be able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique all by himself?
"Why would a genius like him be forced to leave Konoha?"
"Quick! Save Lord Hokage!"
Jingxin's vision blurred. He appeared inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Yet he felt little joy.
He'd only meant to try it, but he hadn't expected to succeed on the first attempt.
Since he knew how to train in the Flying Thunder God Technique, even if he'd failed, he'd have learned it eventually once he got back.
But now he was inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Did that mean he had to help Hiruzen Sarutobi?
No!
He wouldn't help!
What did it matter if he lost face?
Could face feed him?
Jingxin looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was on the verge of death.
The next second, figures flashed.
Tobirama appeared behind Orochimaru, while Hashirama and Rasa's Impure World Reincarnation bodies vanished. Outside the barrier, Minato's body finished recovering, and he appeared at each of the Four Violet Flames Formation's four anchor points in turn.
In the blink of an eye,
Minato and Tobirama used the Flying Thunder God Technique to gather Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, and the Sound Four together.
Then...
They vanished.
In the instant before they disappeared, Jingxin could only catch a glimpse of the complicated look in Orochimaru's eyes.
Perhaps Orochimaru was marveling at Jingxin's talent.
Or perhaps he was surprised that he'd misjudged Jingxin's reason for attacking the barrier.
Either way, the Four Violet Flames Formation was collapsing.
The moment Orochimaru saw Jingxin enter the barrier, he hadn't hesitated or wasted a second. He'd chosen the safest way to retreat.
Ninjas surged onto the rooftop in a dense crowd.
The scene immediately descended into chaos.
"Medical Corps! Medical Corps!"
"Out of the way! I'm a medical ninja!"
Jingxin felt the gratitude and admiration in the gazes turned toward him. Asuma's voice sounded beside him. "Thank you, Kyoshin Uchiha."
Asuma had a cigarette between his teeth, and his eyes held the relief of someone who'd narrowly escaped death.
Jingxin's expression remained unchanged. He didn't seem particularly happy.
But no one noticed anything amiss.
That was just how the Uchiha were.
Jingxin hadn't been like that back when he was in Konoha, but after everything he'd been through, people could grow numb.
No one questioned whether he'd only pretended to save Hiruzen Sarutobi. All they saw was that he really had rescued Hiruzen alive from Orochimaru.
"It's no use..."
The exhausted voice of the head of Konoha's Medical Corps rang out.
The scene quickly fell silent.
Jingxin's expression remained unchanged.
A moment ago, he'd regretted it a little.
But now, he just had to keep himself from laughing.
Karin sensed the shift in Jingxin's emotions. Her red eyes filled with curiosity. "Big brother Jingxin?"
Jingxin gave her hand a gentle squeeze and put on a grieving expression.
His Mangekyō Sharingan had been built up through the system, little by little, by training with genjutsu. After experiencing everything within genjutsu so many times, Jingxin's state of mind and emotions had been trained to another level.
As long as he didn't want anyone to see what he truly felt, no one could tell from his expression—unless they had an exceptionally powerful sensory ninjutsu or Kekkei Genkai, like Karin.
Karin slowly lowered her head, not daring to let anyone else see her expression.
Jingxin turned his gaze to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He lay on the ground, surrounded by a ring of medical ninjas. Ōnoki floated in the air, watching with a complicated look.
A little farther away, Asuma and Konohamaru were heading this way. The crowd parted to make a path for them.
On the verge of death, Hiruzen's gaze passed over Asuma and Konohamaru before coming to rest on Jingxin's face.
That calm expression seemed to prove that a once kind and lively Uchiha boy had finally been forced to become a "normal" Uchiha.
"I understand now."
"What a good boy..."
There had never been any enmity between the village and the Uchiha.
Hiruzen's vision blurred.
It had all been his fault. If he'd seen everything sooner, perhaps he could have changed the fate of the Uchiha and Konoha.
But it was too late.
Overcome by unbearable grief, regret, and self-reproach, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, closed his eyes forever.
Yet a single cloudy tear slowly slid from the wrinkled corner of the Hokage's eye.
Not many could understand what it meant.
Before you continue