Surrounded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he chose to face them alone

Not a single person present said a word.

Everyone stared at Jin Uchiha as though they had just seen a living god.

Good grief!

Anyone who did not know the full story would probably think he had already become a rogue ninja.

Every word out of his mouth was an open slap in the Hidden Leaf's face.

If this went wrong, they would have no choice but to become rogue ninja.

After hearing him out, Shisui shook his head and sighed.

"Isn't that far too risky?"

Aya Hyuga still said nothing.

She was like someone on the verge of drowning who had finally spotted a lifeline.

But actually reaching out to grab it meant gambling with her life.

Her mind was a tangled mess, and she had no idea which way to turn.

Shikaku Nara, on the other hand, laughed after giving it enough thought.

"So that's an option!"

"Jin is absolutely right. I was the one limiting our options."

"Once we look beyond the Hidden Leaf, there are plenty of ways to settle this."

"To think even the brains of our Nara Household could have such a huge blind spot."

"In the end, we're just a bunch of people who think we're clever."

He let out a long sigh.

At this point, Kazama Nara had no interest in dealing with Aya Hyuga's predicament anymore. Instead, he had gotten caught up in his own household's problem.

Members of the Nara Household could not afford to be slow-witted.

Now that he had uncovered such a glaring flaw, he had to think it through properly, lest he fall into the same trap again.

Jin Uchiha's expression remained unchanged.

He swept his gaze over everyone, then shrugged indifferently.

"If you want something out of this, you'd better be ready to pay."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. That thing on Aya is the caged bird."

"We don't have a way to break the curse. To work around it, we have to fool everyone. At the very least, the Hyuga Household must never connect that main-family member's death to Aya in any way."

"You want to pull this off without taking any risks?"

"Shisui, are you dreaming?"

Shisui could only fall silent.

Indeed, that was exactly how it was.

Aya Hyuga's predicament was no ordinary problem.

Even all those clever minds in the Nara Household could not come up with a good solution.

It was already impressive that Jin had managed to find a way.

And now he wanted to get through it easily, without any risk?

Was he dreaming?

But if I really do this, how am I any different from a rogue ninja?

Success or failure aside, he could not get past that hurdle in his own heart.

His brows knitted tightly together, and he seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Seeing this, Aya Hyuga drew a deep breath.

"Let's just forget it."

"This is too risky. It was my problem to begin with. How could I drag everyone into the fire with me?"

"I've accepted my fate. You don't need to worry about me anymore."

"But I truly appreciate all of you being willing to think this through for me."

"I'm happy enough to have met you."

In the end, she chose to let go.

This gamble was far too dangerous.

If she were the only one taking the risk, she might have been willing to stake everything for that little bit of freedom.

But that was not the situation.

Carrying out Jin Uchiha's plan would require everyone to act together.

And that was out of the question.

They had only known each other for a few days. Their friendship had not reached the point where they could lay down their lives for one another.

If the truth got out, all of them would be branded rogue ninja.

None of them could bear those consequences.

Unless they shared a bond forged through life and death, most people would never do such a thing.

So she could only snuff out the thought.

And yet.

Though she had said she was letting it go, the curiosity and puzzlement in Aya Hyuga's eyes became increasingly difficult to hide whenever she looked at Jin Uchiha.

This Uchiha was simply too strange.

He looked so ordinary that she could forget him entirely if she let her attention slip.

Put simply, toss him into a crowd, and she would never find him again.

Yet the schemes that came out of his mouth were ruthless and vicious, with someone's life at stake every time he spoke.

He truly was an Uchiha she could not figure out.

She had to admit that Jin Uchiha had genuinely caught her interest.

Even as a ninja, she could not suppress that inquisitive streak, the urge to dig into whatever he kept hidden.

Meanwhile, Shisui suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I'm in!"

"I was being an idiot earlier. I still have to help Aya."

"When a teammate is facing something like this, I can't pretend I don't see it."

"Aya is our friend."

"I, Shisui Uchiha, will never abandon a friend."

His words rang with unwavering conviction.

Even his Sharingan activated without him realizing it.

Kazama Nara stared in disbelief. He had never imagined Shisui would make this decision.

It sounded utterly fantastical.

One wrong step, and Shisui's entire life would be ruined.

In fact, he was not the only one stunned.

As Jin Uchiha looked at Shisui, a jumble of emotions churned inside him too.

The Uchiha clan.

For all their flaws, once they accepted someone, they would give that person their whole heart.

And Shisui, in particular, was one of the rare Uchiha who was kind to his very core.

Jin fell silent, his mind racing through the calculations. If they really went through with this, what were their chances of success?

He might have been able to steel himself and ignore Aya Hyuga, whom he barely knew, but he could not do that to Shisui.

The most shaken of them all, however, was Aya Hyuga.

She had never imagined that Shisui, who had only been her teammate for three days, would be willing to go this far for her.

But before she could decide how to respond, her expression abruptly changed.

"Everyone, be careful."

"Seven Hidden Mist ninja are coming this way. Their chakra feels heavy."

"They're Elite Jonin at the very least."

The moment Aya Hyuga spoke, everyone's heart lurched.

This was certainly no good sign.

Without another word, they all sprang to their feet and took up defensive stances.

But just a second later, seven Hidden Mist ninja appeared without warning, surrounding them.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen."

Shisui forced the words through clenched teeth, his voice sinking low and his face darkening.

Yes, he was a genius of the Uchiha, but he had yet to truly come into his own.

At the very least, he had not awakened his mangekyo yet.

Against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen before him, he might have been able to defeat one in a duel. If he fought with everything he had, he might even kill one.

But all seven had come together.

Against a coordinated assault by these sword-wielding Hidden Mist ninja, the best he could manage was to escape alone.

The problem was that his three teammates were right beside him. He simply could not bring himself to leave.

What do I do?

Shisui's thoughts churned wildly as cold sweat trickled down his temples.

Just then, Jin Uchiha took a step forward and stood directly in front of Shisui.

"Shisui, snap out of it."

"You can't handle this. Let me take over."

"..."