If You're a Man, Accept My Challenge!

"Let's go. Someone will come deal with this," Minato said calmly.

"Sure." Jin had just started to get up when a sharp pain shot through his left foot, making him stagger and nearly fall.

"What's wrong?" Minato hurriedly supported Jin, then carefully checked him over before letting out a breath of relief. "It's just a sprain. Maybe it's from using Flying Thunder God repeatedly at high intensity."

Jin propped both hands on the ground and leaned back slightly. "No way. I only used Flying Thunder God twice. After that I used the Body Flicker Technique. Otherwise I'd have thrown up by now."

"Hahahaha." Minato stood up, hands on his hips, and burst out laughing. "Come on. I'll carry you back."

"Ah, that's kind of embarrassing." Jin chuckled, then shamelessly climbed onto Minato's back.

The midnight moonlight stretched their shadows longer and longer. The road was quiet, with only their laughter drifting through the night...

Early the next morning.

Jin figured there was nothing much to do, so he chose to keep playing babysitter as usual. He arrived at Shinku's door at the calculated time in the morning, just as Kurenai happened to be heading out.

"Brother Jin." Kurenai greeted him with a smile.

"Let's go." Jin walked ahead with both hands in his pockets, except... he was limping.

"Brother Jin, what happened to your foot?" Kurenai ran up and asked with concern.

"Ah, little problem. I had a mission last night and twisted it because I wasn't paying attention," Jin said as if it were nothing.

"A mission? Was it really dangerous?" Kurenai looked at Jin with her round eyes.

Jin figured nothing much would happen along the way anyway, so he might as well find something to talk about and pass the time. "It was all right. A spy in the village got exposed. Brother Minato and I were ordered in the face of danger to go capture them..."

Hokage Building.

"Hiruzen, I want Uchiha Jin to enter Root. I want to personally train him." Danzo stood before the desk as if it were perfectly justified, like he was not asking for Sarutobi Hiruzen's approval, but merely notifying him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not hesitate in the slightest and rejected him outright. "Impossible." What a joke. If he handed such a good seedling over to Danzo, who knew how many strange messes would be stirred up?

"It would be a real pity for such a fine seedling not to enter Root. Hiruzen, you need to think this through!" Danzo said earnestly.

But Hiruzen remained firm. "As for that boy, I have my own arrangements." At this point, Hiruzen paused and looked at Danzo sternly. "You'd best keep your subordinates in line. Otherwise, there will be no need for Root to exist."

Seeing Hiruzen being so forceful, Danzo did not dare say much for the moment. He could only snort coldly and leave.

After Danzo left, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave orders to the Anbu waiting in the shadows at any time. "Invite Jonin Minato Namikaze here. I have some matters to discuss with him."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Before long, Minato hurried to the Hokage's office. Hiruzen got straight to the point. "I intend to arrange for Uchiha Jin to stay by your side."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" Minato had no objection to this whatsoever. The only strange thing was why he had been summoned over in such a hurry.

Sure enough, Hiruzen lit his cigarette, took a drag, and only then continued, "That boy's talent is a pleasant surprise, but he's too young... If someone with ulterior motives were to approach him..."

At this point, Hiruzen stood and looked out the window. "He reminds me of an old friend of mine. He was also from the Uchiha Clan, and also extremely outstanding. He was also an inheritor of the Will of Fire. It's just a pity that he sacrificed himself."

"Please rest assured, Lord Hokage. I'll look after Jin properly!" Minato immediately understood what Hiruzen was implying.

Hiruzen continued, "Having Sakumo and Shinku teach him only gives him strength. But between people of the same generation, there are bonds. The power of bonds is boundless."

Hiruzen's words gave Minato an even stronger sense of responsibility and mission. Putting everything else aside, he really had poured his heart and soul into Jin... Perhaps even when he had a son in the future, he might not go this far.

"That boy Jin didn't start as a proper genin. Of course, with his strength, there's no need for that. He could even become a jonin..." Hiruzen took another drag of his cigarette. "Have him help you lead some genin."

"As you command!"

At this moment, Jin knew nothing about it. With just the tiniest bit of resistance in his heart, he was standing in front of the door of Konoha's current number one rich woman.

"Come in. Why are you standing outside?" Kushina opened the door and looked at Jin curiously.

"Heh... heh, good morning, Sister Kushina." Jin forced a smile. Kushina nodded. "You haven't eaten, right? I just made some breakfast. Come in and eat."

"Oh, okay." Jin nodded while sighing inwardly. Sigh, I really judged a noble heart by my own petty standards. Sister Kushina is pretty nice...

"Are you an idiot? It took you half a day to read one page of theory?!" Kushina slammed the table furiously.

Looking at this scene, Jin could not help swallowing, then tried to argue, "Sis... L-listen to me explain. The main thing is... these words..."

"I'm not listening!" Kushina glared at Jin, who had shrunk into the corner. "If you don't finish learning all the theoretical knowledge on genjutsu today, don't even think about eating!"

"No way, sis! Dear sis! Just let me have one bite! I haven't eaten all noon! I'm still growing!" The moment Jin heard that, he dropped to the ground and begged.

At noon, because he had been reading too slowly, Kushina thought it might be because he had eaten too much in the morning, so she refused to let Jin eat...

"No!" Kushina said heartlessly. "Aren't you going to pick up Senior Shinku's daughter? You can get lost now. Remember to come back after you pick her up!"

"I still haven't eaten..." Jin stared longingly at the food on the table, but Kushina shoved him out the door. "Don't be late for something you promised someone else. Hurry up!"

"Sigh~ I really don't know how that blond can stand it." Jin looked up at the sky and sighed. He wanted to buy something to eat on the street, only to discover that he did not have a single coin on him...

When he arrived at the Ninja Academy, Asuma was already waiting for Jin at the school gate. This morning, seeing Kurenai and Jin come over together, chatting and laughing, had made his heart feel as if it had been stabbed by a knife.

"Uchiha Jin!" Asuma said through gritted teeth.

"Hm?" Jin looked in confusion at the spirited youth who was more than a head shorter than him.

It happened to be school dismissal time, and Asuma's shout drew quite a few onlookers. Kurenai came out together with Rin and Rin's bodyguard—Obito—and when they saw many people gathered ahead, curiosity drove them to walk over together.

"Uchiha Jin! On behalf of the Sarutobi Clan, I challenge you!" Asuma pointed at Jin.

Jin said with a baffled expression, "You? Challenge me?" A brat who had not even graduated from the Ninja Academy was challenging a ninja with strength close to jonin level?

"That's right! The loser has to stay away from Kurenai! If you're a man, accept my challenge!" Asuma said smugly, as if victory were already in his grasp.

"Oh my~ Kurenai, this is a challenge being fought for you." Rin teased her. "If you had to choose between Brother Jin and Asuma, which one would you pick?"