When in Doubt

"Uchiha Qingfeng, you disappoint me."

Jiraiya's sudden remark nearly left Uchiha Qingfeng at a loss. As far as he could tell, he had never done anything outrageous enough to incur universal condemnation.

"Huh? Well, sorry about that. As long as I haven't disappointed myself, that's enough."

The Six Paths of Pain tacitly stopped fighting as well. He wanted to see what Uchiha Qingfeng was trying to do. These two definitely had some connection.

After all, they carried the same kind of scent.

"Konoha raised you, yet you betrayed the village."

If they went by seniority, Uchiha Qingfeng's teacher was Minato Namikaze, Minato's teacher was Jiraiya, and Jiraiya's teacher was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

By that reckoning, Uchiha Qingfeng was practically a proper heir of Konoha. At worst, he was third-generation Konoha royalty, guaranteed a place in Konoha's future.

But Uchiha Qingfeng had never cared for seniority. Otherwise, what was he supposed to call the Third Hokage? The whole thing was absurd—completely unacceptable.

"You call this betraying the village? Then does a Konoha Ninja who hasn't returned to Konoha for decades count as betraying the village? Someone who hasn't done anything for Konoha for years, who even stood by and watched Konoha fight one against three during the Third Great Ninja War—how is that any different from being a Rogue Ninja?"

Jiraiya: ...

That single sentence left Jiraiya speechless.

Because Uchiha Qingfeng was stating facts. Among the Sannin, aside from Orochimaru, the other two had never shown themselves from beginning to end. Thinking about it, that was utterly ridiculous.

"Even if being a Rogue Ninja can be forgiven, trying to overthrow the Ninja World absolutely cannot. Do you know how many people die in a war?"

"No, no, I think you've got it wrong. Is war really something we can