You don't want to go down with them?

Their drunken antics dragged on until evening.

Kazama Nara was the first to give out. He flopped down and fell asleep.

Jin Uchiha could clearly hold his liquor much better.

His head was a little fuzzy, but his mind was perfectly clear.

He sprawled on his bed, staring aimlessly outside through the tent window.

His mind wasn't idle.

Was that plan Kazama Nara had cooked up any good?

More importantly, could he trust the man?

He had no answer.

But he wasn't too worried about it, either.

For now, they were only feeling each other out. He certainly wouldn't reveal anything that could get him killed.

Besides, even if Kazama Nara messed things up on his end, Jin was confident he could get away unscathed.

At worst, he could make a run for it and become a rogue ninja.

As long as no one uncovered his trump card—the system—nothing else could get completely out of hand.

He didn't mind lying low a while longer.

Once he'd laid low long enough to become an absolute powerhouse, returning to the Hidden Leaf for a triumphant comeback would be a piece of cake.

The only thing that bothered him a little was that, until he had the strength to protect his family, he'd have to apologize to all those pretty girls.

Someone lifted the tent flap from outside.

Shisui burst straight in, reeking of blood.

The next instant, a heavy stench of alcohol hit him square in the face.

It made him cough several times.

It wasn't that he couldn't stand the smell of alcohol. It had simply caught him completely off guard.

Honestly, who in their right mind would expect anyone to dare get drunk in a frontline camp?

Especially when the enemy could attack at any moment.

Were they that eager to get themselves killed?

After coughing for a while, Shisui finally caught his breath—and lost his composure.

"Jin, how much... have you two had? Are you out of your minds? This is a frontline camp!"

He truly didn't know what to say.

Lying on his bed, Jin Uchiha barely blinked when Shisui suddenly barged in.

He'd already expected Shisui to come looking for him.

At the question, he merely shrugged.

"What's the big deal? It's nothing."

"Our squad just crawled out of a pile of corpses. Our nerves were stretched to the breaking point."

"It's not like the higher-ups are going to send us straight out on another mission."

"Why shouldn't we take the chance to unwind?"

Shisui was left speechless for a long moment.

He really didn't know what to do with Jin Uchiha.

No matter the situation, Jin always had an argument ready.

And Shisui could never win against him.

This guy wasn't like an Uchiha at all.

Shaking his head, he decided not to waste any more breath on the matter.

He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking.

"You don't look too drunk. Come outside with me."

"There's something I need to talk to you about in private."

Jin Uchiha didn't refuse.

He'd seen this day coming long ago. There was no reason to make a fuss.

He got up with a yawn and followed Shisui out of the camp, returning to that quiet stretch of beach.

The two sat side by side on the sand.

The sea breeze blew steadily, and overhead, clusters of white clouds drifted across an endless blue sky.

Their restless thoughts gradually settled as well.

A long while passed.

Shisui's face was expressionless as he asked, seemingly offhandedly, "Why did you say those things to me the day we left the Hidden Leaf?"

"You've been too good to me. I didn't want to lie to you," Jin Uchiha said in an ordinary tone.

Shisui didn't answer.

He knew Jin Uchiha wasn't lying.

Thinking back over every interaction they'd had, that really did seem to be how things had gone.

Only after he'd opened his heart to Jin again and again had he received those few brief words of truth before their departure.

But no matter how hard he thought about it, he still couldn't understand.

Of course he couldn't.

Someone like him, who'd stood out since childhood and spent his days thinking about how to help the Uchiha and the village get along, could hardly unravel the twists and turns of Jin Uchiha's mind.

But now that he knew Jin genuinely considered him a friend, he didn't want to keep playing games to sound him out.

"You're strong." Shisui kept his voice level, but his eyes stayed fixed on Jin. "Stronger than what ANBU has uncovered over the past few days. You led your squad around the Land of Whirlpools for six whole days, evaded the Hidden Mist's main forces countless times, and still killed so many of their ninja. Not to mention that you spent half a day fleeing Fuguki Suikazan, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, with two subordinates in tow, and somehow held out until the Hidden Leaf's main force arrived. Tell me why. With that kind of ability, why hide it?"

The more he spoke, the harder it became to keep himself in check.

He'd spent days turning Jin Uchiha's actions over and over in his head, yet he still couldn't wrap his mind around them.

He simply stared at Jin Uchiha, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

He truly didn't understand.

Jin Uchiha, however, sounded as relaxed as if they were making small talk. "Why else? I don't feel like showing it."

"Why not?" Shisui immediately pressed.

"I can't be bothered getting mixed up in all that crap between the village and the Uchiha." Jin Uchiha's voice was flat, with a hint of disdain. "As far as I'm concerned, the Uchiha are finished. There's no escaping their extermination. If I show what I can do, those useless idiots in the clan will definitely latch onto me. But I don't want to get too deeply involved with the Uchiha. When the clan really does get wiped out, the village is bound to come after me to settle accounts. Sure, my surname is Uchiha, but I don't have many ties to the clan. Why should I go down with them? Isn't this arrangement just fine? When the Uchiha are finished, they'll probably treat me as an orphaned survivor and spare me. I don't have much attachment to the Uchiha anyway. At worst, I'll become a rogue ninja. Since I'm not close to the clan, the village won't put much effort into hunting me down. They'll probably just post a bounty on the black market and leave it at that."

Shisui sucked in a sharp breath.

Jin Uchiha's barrage of words left him utterly stunned.

His head buzzed, unable to form a single thought.

He'd considered all sorts of possibilities before, but never once had his thoughts gone in this direction.

But how could that be possible?

How could the Uchiha be exterminated? The village...

No!

Absolutely impossible!

Shisui drew a sharp breath, even lowering his voice as he hurried to reassure him. "Jin, don't worry. The clan and the Hidden Leaf won't let things get that far. I've been working on this for years. I promise you, what you're afraid of will never happen. I have a way to deal with the clan's Radical Faction."

Hearing that, Jin Uchiha couldn't help laughing outright.

"Uh, sorry. I don't usually laugh much unless I really can't hold it in. But Shisui, stop telling me jokes. Since when have the Uchiha had a Radical Faction? If they really had people like that, would they have ended up in such a pathetic state? As far as I can see, all the clan has left now are the Moderate Faction and the Surrender Faction, plus a clan leader who's good for nothing. It makes sense, though. Old relics from the Warring States era like the Uchiha have no idea how to play by this new world's rules. Their extermination is only a matter of time. Sooner or later, it won't make much difference."