Old Squad One Disbands

"Hiss~"

A giant snake appeared around Gennosuke and the others, and the sudden turn of events left everyone frozen in place.

Cicada suddenly said, "Why is Crow here? And there's an extremely cold chakra too..."

"Orochimaru, you... Lord White Scale!" Manda had just been about to start cursing when he suddenly discovered an extremely familiar chakra presence above his head...

"Hmph, Manda, you've got quite the temper." White Scale coiled around Jin's neck and snorted coldly. "Want me to give you a private lesson when we get back?"

"No... no..." Manda shook his head again and again. To vent the fury in his heart, he could only tear even more recklessly into the surrounding Hidden Cloud Anbu.

Jin leaped down from Manda's head and drew the Kusanagi Sword in one smooth motion, thrusting it at the Hidden Cloud Anbu around Gennosuke and the others. "Lightning Release: Thunderclap!"

"Why did you come, kid?" Sparrow asked curiously, back pressed against Jin's. Jin chuckled. "If I didn't come, how could we show off Anbu Squad One's team spirit of always being together in a crisis?"

"Stop joking. The captain's badly hurt. Let's retreat." Cicada urged them on. Gennosuke had already relaxed and passed out the moment he heard Cicada say Jin had arrived.

"Snake Uncle!" Jin shouted. Orochimaru merely nodded calmly from atop Manda's head, then immediately undid Manda's summoning. "Ninjutsu: Ten Thousand Snakes Formation."

Dense swarms of little snakes poured from Orochimaru's mouth and attacked the few remaining Hidden Cloud Anbu.

"Snakes... so many snakes..."

"O-Orochimaru of the Three Ninja!"

"Ah..."

Seeing that the danger was gone, Fangs started joking too. "Sparrow, Lord Orochimaru's ninjutsu is even more disgusting than yours..."

Sparrow couldn't be bothered with him. Instead, he looked at Jin and said, "Couldn't tell at all. You actually know Lord Orochimaru."

"It's all right. I've got pretty good relations with all three of the Three Ninja." Jin put away the Kusanagi Sword and said "modestly."

Once they had retreated to a safe distance, Orochimaru said calmly, "The Hokage's orders. Return to the village at once." Orochimaru's "you" naturally included Jin.

"Yes!" they answered in unison, then carried the unconscious Gennosuke and hurried away.

"Give the captain to me." After hesitating for a long time on the road, Jin suddenly spoke. "My ninjutsu is faster than you. I marked the way when I came."

"Can you do it alone?" Fangs asked. "Want Cicada to go with you?"

"I can take one person at most right now." Jin explained the situation. "And that's only after overcoming a huge mental barrier."

"Mental barrier?" The others looked at Jin curiously, but Jin had already taken Gennosuke and ignored them. After all... it was pretty embarrassing.

With Jin forcing himself to use Flying Thunder God, stopping and going all the way, they finally arrived at Konoha Hospital by the evening of the next day.

Jin had long since gone to a tree by the roadside to throw up... White Scale transformed into human form beside him, patting Jin on the back while mocking him. "Trash. You've been puking the whole way."

"What kind of thing is that to say! Can you blame me?" Jin said helplessly. The main thing was that on the way back, Jin hadn't been able to hold it in and had vomited while flying, and just then White Scale had happened to crawl out from Jin's neck to get some fresh air...

"Hope you puke yourself to death!" White Scale smacked Jin's back even harder.

Jin, who really couldn't take it anymore, used what little strength he had left to undo the summoning. After spending these past few days together, this thing's mouth hadn't stopped once...

"Brother Jin? What are you doing?" A girl's voice came from behind him. Jin turned and saw Rin and Kurenai looking at him curiously.

"What are you two doing here?" Jin asked. Kurenai lifted the bag in her hand. "We're going to Obito's house for dinner tonight. Brother Jin, do you want to come too?"

"Obito, huh." Jin nodded slightly. He suddenly realized something... wasn't Obito one of the final bosses? Maybe he should take this chance...

"Brother Jin?" Rin looked at the dazed Jin and called softly again. Jin came back to his senses. Thinking that he hadn't eaten anything good these past few days, he agreed. "Oh, yeah. Fine, then I'll go mooch a meal."

"Then let's go together!"

On the road, Jin slowed his steps, his gaze fixed on Rin the whole time. Wasn't the cause of everything because of her? If he stopped that incident from happening...

Thinking up to that point, Jin still shook his head and muttered to himself, "Forget it. I'll deal with future things when they come."

By the time the three of them arrived at Obito's house, it was already evening. Jin surveyed the surroundings. Though it couldn't compare to his own place, it was still pretty nice, with a courtyard that was neither too big nor too small.

In the courtyard, Guy was still dragging Kakashi into a youthful barbecue contest no matter what, while Asuma and Obito traded barbs, neither giving an inch.

"Ah~ it really is nice to have people from the same class." Jin sighed as he watched the scene. Kurenai, standing beside him, naturally heard him and asked softly, "Brother Jin, don't you have classmates from your year?"

"My year?" Jin tilted his head and thought. "When I graduated, they hadn't graduated yet. When I was a genin, because of the war, I was assigned to a squad led by Brother Minato, but it disbanded not long after."

"Then! Then, Brother Jin, was the war exciting?" Obito rushed over after hearing that, staring at Jin with shining eyes.

Jin sat cross-legged and said, "It was pretty exciting. I remember my first S-rank mission was with Brother Minato. But by the time I became captain, it was all simple missions."

"Whoa~ Brother Jin, you were a captain too? As expected of my idol..."

"Then, Brother Jin, where are your team members..."

Faced with their questions, Jin answered them one by one and seized the chance to brag about his experiences on the battlefield. Even Asuma was drawn over to the side, listening with great interest.

"Gennosuke's body definitely won't allow him to continue as captain." Hiruzen said softly to the young man beside him. "I've decided to disband the members of Anbu Squad One."

"Eh... then why are you telling me? For something like this, couldn't you just send someone to notify me?" the young man said, leaning against the window.

Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe. "Jin, Sakumo and I discussed it. You'll be the captain."

"Ah...?? Huh?" Jin was suddenly startled. "Why? A squad captain at my age? That's obviously unrealistic, right? Other people won't listen to me either."

Hiruzen ignored all that and directly made the final decision. "Shut up. From now on, you are the captain of Anbu Squad One."

Jin could only ask again, "...Then... what about Fangs and the others?"

"Them..." Hiruzen pondered for a moment, then the pen in his hand tapped against the desk as if he had made some kind of decision. "All of them will be transferred out of the Anbu. You'll go notify them."

"This..." Jin looked at Hiruzen somewhat awkwardly. "Can't they rejoin Anbu Squad One?"

"They are team members brought up by Gennosuke, and as the new captain, you should lead new team members." Hiruzen got up and walked to Jin's side. "Jin, your duty is not only to be a captain, but also to be the bridge between the village and the Uchiha."

"I understand." Jin nodded, sighed, and left the office.

Hiruzen sighed softly as well. The rift between the village and the Uchiha seemed to have never truly disappeared...

"Perhaps he can bring true peace between the village and the Uchiha..."