Anbu

Jin timed it perfectly and arrived at the Ninja Academy right on schedule, just as Kakashi and the others were getting out of school.

"Didn't I tell you not to come pick me up?" Kakashi complained the moment he saw Jin.

Jin did not indulge him. He pointed at Kurenai, who was standing not far away with a lively-looking boy beside her, and said, "You're overthinking it. I'm here to pick her up."

"Hello, Brother Jin," Rin and Obito said in unison when they saw Jin.

"Hello, hello." Jin smiled in response, then raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, as if to say: Brat, even other people have better manners than you.

Kakashi gave a disdainful snort. Jin merely rewarded him with a flick to the forehead before stepping over to Kurenai's side.

Asuma looked as if he were facing a great enemy the moment he saw Jin. He immediately blocked Kurenai and said, "You... you-you-you, what are you going to do to Kurenai?"

"Do what?" Jin paused, then looked curiously at the little guy in front of him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sarutobi Asuma!" Asuma puffed out his chest. Jin only nodded casually. "Oh, so you're Old Ma."

"Old Ma?" Asuma was still confused when Jin pulled him aside, then said to Kurenai, "Lord Shinku asked me to pick you up."

"Thank you, Brother Jin." Kurenai's face was slightly red, probably because Asuma had blocked in front of her just now and made her shy.

Jin walked side by side with Kurenai with one hand in his pocket. Neither of them said anything the whole way. It was not until they reached her front door that Jin spoke. "All right, Kurenai, I'm heading back."

"Sorry to trouble you, Brother Jin." Kurenai bowed politely to Jin, which instead made Jin feel embarrassed...

Just as he was about to leave, Shinku's voice sounded from behind him. "Jin, come in and have dinner."

"Huh? How could I impose like that? It's fine, Senior Shinku, I'll just go home and eat." Jin quickly turned around and said.

"It's fine. You can try Kurenai's cooking while you're here." Shinku smiled. Seeing that he could not refuse... or rather, Jin, who had never really planned to refuse, could only agree. "Then I'll trouble you, Senior Shinku, and trouble you too, Kurenai."

Kurenai had no objections either. It was only adding one more pair of chopsticks anyway.

Jin chatted with Shinku for a while, while Kurenai's small figure bustled around in the kitchen.

At first, Jin felt too embarrassed and wanted to go help, but Shinku stopped him. "It's fine. Kurenai has been sensible since she was little. Ever since her mother passed away, I've been so busy with work that I haven't had time to take care of her. So she started learning to cook and do housework on her own."

"Ah... Mm..." Jin did not know how to answer and only nodded. Shinku continued, "I'll have to trouble you to look after Kurenai more in the future."

"Of course, Senior." Jin agreed to this without the slightest hesitation. "As long as I have time."

"Let's get back to the main topic. Genjutsu is actually..."

By the time he came out of Shinku's house, it was already dark. The streets were deserted, and Jin's heart was also feeling pretty cold... The reason was that Shinku had told him Minato had already informed him.

From now on, he would be responsible for assigning homework, while Minato would be responsible for supervising Jin as he finished it...

"What even is this..." Jin looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. That sigh directly drew Minato over.

"Jin, come with me." Minato spoke from the rooftop with a grave expression.

"Hm?" Jin leaped onto the roof. Minato motioned for Jin to follow him and said as he ran, "A spy's identity was exposed, and he fled the village. We're going to catch him and bring him back."

Jin followed behind him, baffled. "Isn't this an Anbu mission? Why do they need us?"

"...The situation is more complicated." Minato sighed. If Lord Hokage had not urgently summoned him, he probably would never have known such a unit existed...

The two sprinted all the way and gradually left the village. It was only when they reached a river that Jin saw a person staggering along at the very front. What was strange was that there were two teams of Anbu chasing him from behind while fighting each other...

"Jin! Stop them!" Minato said as he charged out.

"Sou desu ne, it's Anbu and Root, huh." Jin muttered and followed closely behind Minato.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Without another word, Jin directly used ninjutsu on all the Anbu. In an instant, the Anbu who had been wrestling together all scattered, the two sides facing each other off.

The Anbu directly under the Hokage had long known that Lord Hokage had sent someone, so one Anbu asked, "May I ask who Jonin Minato is?"

"Me." Minato said with a solemn face, "Lord Hokage sent me to assist. Take the spy back."

"Thank you for your hard work." The cat-faced Anbu in the lead nodded slightly, then left with his subordinates.

"We won't let you leave!" The Root members also began moving, but Minato stopped them. "Please go back, everyone. Lord Hokage has already gone to negotiate with Lord Danzo."

"You're asking to die!" Seeing that this jonin did not know what was good for him, a Root member raised his blade and slashed straight at Minato.

"Water Release: Water Chains!"

Jin hurriedly activated his ninjutsu. The water beneath that Root Organization member's feet turned into a chain and wrapped around his blade.

"Take them down!" the leader ordered viciously. Ten Anbu members surrounded Jin and Minato. The two stood back to back and assumed defensive stances.

Jin activated his Sharingan. After all, he could not afford to be careless when fighting Root. It would be troublesome if they played dirty...

"Brother Minato!" Jin shouted. As a friend of his for so long, Minato understood instantly. He said with full confidence, "Mm! Let them see the power of our Flying Thunder God Twin Stars!"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Snake!"

Jin was the first to use ninjutsu, throwing out two ordinary kunai. The Lightning Snake flowed along the wires on the kunai and into the water.

At that moment, Minato also threw out multiple kunai marked with Flying Thunder God formulas. "Come on, Jin! Flying Thunder God Technique: Twin Polar Instant Flash Continuous Slash, Form One!"

"Scatter!"

Although he did not know what trick these two were trying to pull, the captain still subconsciously gave the order based on instinct.

With the Sharingan, Jin clearly saw where Minato's kunai landed. The instant Minato used Body Flicker, he also activated the Flying Thunder God mark he had left on Minato.

At this moment, the Lightning Snake erupted into a massive flash of lightning as Jin increased his chakra. Jin's lightning-boosted Body Flicker followed closely behind Minato's Flying Thunder God.

"This... this..." The Root members were dumbfounded. How were they supposed to fight this? They could not even see the people, only a streak of blue lightning and a streak of yellow flash weaving through them.

"Focus!" the captain shouted, forming hand seals at the same time to activate ninjutsu. "Earth Release: Earth-Flow Wall!"

The other members also reacted quickly. "Water Release: Water Bullet!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

"Wind Release..."

Ninjutsu was released toward the flashes as if it cost nothing. With his Sharingan, Jin could clearly perceive their movements, while Minato also dodged with his agile footwork.

"Retreat!" Seeing this, the captain understood that they could not drag this out and had no choice but to order a retreat. Though he was confident he could beat them...

Aside from the three team members who had been injured, the remaining members all poured into the darkness.

"What about them?" Jin pointed at the three people wearing Anbu uniforms. Before Minato could answer, the three Anbu took poison in perfect unison. Within seconds, white foam was spilling from their mouths...