Gojo Satoru

Lin Qing knew that darkness existed in Konoha.

Yet, to ignore a murderer while bullying a survivor?

Is there any justice left?

Is there any law left?

Lin Qing wanted to ask:

Does this Konoha belong to the Fire, or does it belong to Danzo?

"I cannot stay here any longer."

"If I keep staying in Konoha, even if I don't die this time, I will eventually be plotted to death sooner or later."

"Besides, with the JOJO System, the world is vast; where can I not find a place to live?"

If all else fails, Lin Qing could just use Star Platinum to farm and hunt; he would never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of his life, so why suffer this indignity in Konoha?!

Lin Qing made his decision.

The most urgent priority was to leave this place.

He was imprisoned in the underground base of Root.

The base was like actual tree roots, with corridors winding and twisting, intertwined, and filled with numerous traps.

Even if he escaped the interrogation room, leaving would not be an easy task.

However, Lin Qing had a method unique to him.

"Hermit Purple."

Purple vines spread outward, scouting the path for him and pointing out the direction.

Lin Qing ran through the corridors, but he stopped when he passed a room.

Sasuke was inside.

Escaping with a child would obviously be troublesome...

Lin Qing hesitated for half a second before switching to Star Platinum, ripping the heavy metal door right off its hinges.

Saving once is saving, and saving twice is also saving.

"Brother Qing!"

Sasuke's eyes were red and swollen, his voice thick with nasal congestion.

Lin Qing said, "Danzo wants to kill us. Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming!"

The young Sasuke and Lin Qing, who knew nothing of the plot, had no idea that in tonight's disaster, Sasuke was absolutely the safest spectator.

They were simply making the most correct judgment based on the information at hand.

Hum—hum—

A sharp alarm sounded overhead.

Lin Qing scooped up Sasuke and commanded Star Platinum to charge forward.

In such a narrow space, and with Danzo having given a strict order not to harm Sasuke—after all, the threat of Itachi Uchiha loomed, and Danzo knew well enough which was more important: his subordinates' lives or his own—the ninjas dared not throw kunai recklessly, nor could they use ninjutsu at will, leaving them to rely solely on taijutsu to fight.

But unless that Blue Beast of Konoha showed up, who could defeat Star Platinum in taijutsu?

For a time, Lin Qing was unstoppable, moving as if through an empty land; the so-called ambushes and surprise attacks were useless against the precision and speed of Star Platinum.

Within a two-meter radius of Lin Qing, there was an absolute vacuum zone.

He fought his way from the underground all the way to the surface, smashing through dozens of heavy sealed doors.

The Root ninjas surrounding them had initially been full of confidence, thinking that since it was just a piece of trash and a child, there was no need for so many people to be deployed.

But the moment they clashed, that confidence turned into anger and disbelief.

By now, watching Lin Qing step one foot out of the underground base and bathe in the moonlight, the faces of these battle-hardened ninjas showed unconcealable fear.

It had been less than ten years since the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

Many of them were veterans—old ninjas—who had once been on the battlefield.

Lin Qing's back reminded them of the heroes of the past who could fight a hundred men alone on the battlefield.

Even though they were restrained by Lord Danzo's orders, still...

The Root ninjas looked back.

Blood permeated the path behind them, and elite after elite lay collapsed in pools of blood, their fates unknown.

This combat power was simply too terrifying!

Seeing that Lin Qing was about to leave, one Root member instinctively took a step forward, meeting the gaze Lin Qing cast back over his shoulder.

"Get lost!"

The crowd of ninjas was so intimidated by the single shout that they stood frozen in place, not daring to take a single step in pursuit.

Star Platinum slammed a fist into the entrance of the base.

The door lintel collapsed, and a massive amount of brick and stone shattered, completely burying the underground entrance.

Thud!

Danzo slammed his fist onto the table, his expression sinister, resembling a malevolent ghost. His sharp, venomous gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, as if he wanted to carve a piece of flesh off Lin Qing.

"Danzo, you have gone too far."

An aged voice appeared behind Danzo.

Danzo turned off the surveillance screen.

The screen went pitch black, reflecting the figure of the person behind him.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"What has gone too far?" Danzo asked.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice rose slightly, his tone gradually surging with anger.

"Do you still need me to remind you?"

"I do. Of course I do."

Danzo turned around to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze, his eyes steady, without the slightest hint of evasion.

"Is it the matter of me ordering Itachi Uchiha to slaughter the entire Uchiha clan? Or is it the chaos caused by my attempt to kill Uchiha Qing? Or perhaps it is me ordering men to collect the corpses of the Uchiha clansmen?"

Danzo stood up, hands behind his back, and stood before Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"You are no fool—if you were, I would have finished you off and taken your seat long ago—you know everything. Therefore, I must ask, 'what exactly is it that has gone too far?', so that I may give you an accurate answer."

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent.

After a full thirty seconds of saying nothing, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Tonight was destined to be a busy night.

Amidst flashing blades and shadows, Konoha ninjas, both known and unknown, lunged from corners, swinging their kunai at Lin Qing. From time to time, genjutsu-type ninjas would drag Lin Qing into illusions.

Fortunately, Lin Qing discovered that pain could break him free from the effects of genjutsu, so he gave Star Platinum an order to "gently" tap him every five seconds.

Covered in blood, Lin Qing held the young Sasuke, possessing an invincible aura reminiscent of Zhao Zilong charging in and out of enemy lines.

However, if someone familiar with the layout of Konoha were to carefully identify the ninjas wailing on the ground, they would find that the more famous ninjas were not among them.

Even more so, there was no sign of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, the Ino-Shika-Cho, or the Aburame clan's insects and other veteran families.

Lin Qing was never an arrogant man.

Itachi Uchiha was merely a half-grown child; he could not possibly be the strongest ninja in the village.

Why were there no other powerhouses coming to intercept him?

Lin Qing thought about it the whole way, and he had an answer in his heart:

This matter was dirty.

The true powerhouses and the veteran families were not stupid.

The overnight extermination of the Uchiha clan was the kind of wretched, messy business that was like mud falling into one's trousers—whoever got it on them would find it disgusting.

Every family had found excuses to keep their doors closed.

Those who came to intercept were basically powerless ninjas—corporate slaves who, once their leaders issued an order in the middle of the night, had to crawl out of their wives' beds and reply "received" at the first opportunity.

Naturally, they had nothing to do with being strong.

"Hold on, we'll be out soon."

Lin Qing gently patted Sasuke's little head.

Sasuke looked in the direction of his home.

A place without family could no longer be called a home; it was just an empty box stuffed with sorrowful memories.

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know."

Lin Qing knew no more about this world than Sasuke did, "But there will always be a place where we can live like human beings."

"And if there isn't?"

Lin Qing was silent for a moment, then said, "There will be."

Sasuke nodded firmly.

He heard the sound of wind from behind and caught a glimpse of a cold glint streaking toward Lin Qing out of the corner of his eye.

"Watch out!"

Sasuke called out a warning.

Before the words had even faded, a kunai was pinned in mid-air.

Star Platinum precisely pinched the incoming kunai, turned, took a step, and arched its body, its thick, powerful arm whipping out like a lash to hurl the kunai back.

Bang!

A thunderous sonic boom rang out in the air as the kunai grazed past someone's ear.

"My, my, that was truly dangerous. Is this the 'invisible guardian' mentioned in the records? An unheard-of ability."

A lazy, frivolous voice emerged from the shadows.

A man landed lightly, blocking Lin Qing's path. He stood in a casual posture, holding a book in his hands, wearing a mask, and with a forehead protector covering one eye.

"You two little ones, passage ahead is prohibited."

Lin Qing stopped in his tracks.

White hair, a lazy temperament, an eye covered...

Lin Qing remembered the other party; he was a very famous character, and a name he had long heard of slipped out:

"Gojo Satoru?"