Does being the Third Hokage mean you can ignore the rules laid down by the previous Hokage?

With everyone watching, Uchiha Jin slit Sarutobi Shōtarō's throat with his tachi.

Blood sprayed.

Shōtarō clutched his severed artery with one hand, his body convulsing uncontrollably as desperate gurgles escaped him.

"Bastard!"

The Sarutobi Elder rushed forward, his eyes bloodshot, and cradled his son's body as he roared.

"Someone, get a medical ninja here!"

A medical ninja in the crowd immediately stepped forward at his call. When she saw Sarutobi Shōtarō's condition, she fell silent.

His artery had been completely severed, and he had already lost too much blood.

With her medical skills, saving him was virtually impossible. Only if Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin, treated him personally might he have a slim chance of survival.

Although the medical ninja knew Sarutobi Shōtarō was doomed, she still crouched down and attempted to save him with the Mystical Palm Technique.

Whether she could save him was one thing; whether she had tried was another.

After half a minute of treatment, Sarutobi Shōtarō breathed his last.

Before he died, he pointed at the expressionless Uchiha Jin, his eyes full of venom.

I can't accept this!

I'd already made it out of the village, but this guy just had to come running to enforce his so-called justice.

All I did was kill three civilians.

Did he really have to go this far?!

He knew he was dying. All he hoped was that his father and uncle would avenge him.

That they would send that damned Uchiha Clan brat down to join him.

"My son! My son!"

The Sarutobi Elder placed a trembling hand over Sarutobi Shōtarō's eyes and gently closed his eyelids.

Then he turned his bloodshot eyes toward his son's killer.

"Uchiha Jin!"

His only son was dead. He no longer cared to argue right and wrong.

A life for a life!

I have to avenge my son!

"Uchiha Jin, do you know what you're doing?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Sarutobi Shōtarō's body and closed his eyes in pain.

Although Shōtarō killing a family of three out of lust had been outrageous, he was still his nephew!

Uchiha Jin taking it upon himself to kill Shōtarō was an appalling act.

Faced with the demands of the two men over fifty, Uchiha Jin flicked the blood off his blade and calmly met their eyes.

"I was eliminating a murderer from the village."

The Uchiha Clan members present stared at the boy standing across from them with complicated expressions.

Isn't this guy a little too extreme?!

If he dared say that to the Hokage's face, he must be even more unrestrained in private.

As fellow members of the Uchiha Clan, they often felt inferior because their personalities were not as extreme as Jin's.

It seemed they absolutely must not provoke this madman within the clan from now on.

Who knew what he might do...

"Boss, I need to pee."

Frightened by the situation, the black cat jumped off his shoulder and hid behind a tree, trembling as it peeked out.

Good heavens, meow!

Boss actually dared talk to the Third Hokage like that.

Wasn't he afraid something would go wrong?

It was just a gluttonous ninja cat with no fighting ability whatsoever.

If a fight really broke out, it would only hold its boss back.

So it had the sense to leave ahead of time.

"Jin, did you know I sent Shōtarō to an enemy nation to atone for his crimes?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded, his face dark.

He had reached an agreement with the Uchiha Clan yesterday. No one had expected Jin to pull this.

This was nothing short of throwing his dignity as Hokage to the ground and trampling on it!

"I knew."

Uchiha Jin made no attempt to evade the question, then tilted his head, looking puzzled.

"But what of it?"

He ignored Hiruzen Sarutobi's livid face. "Third, under the laws laid down by the two previous Hokage, there is no provision granting a murderer whose crimes are this heinous a chance to atone through meritorious service."

"The latest decree issued by the Second Hokage explicitly states that if a ninja massacres civilians in the village, any Jonin or Anbu present has the authority to kill the perpetrator on the spot, without reporting to the Hokage."

With every sentence he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew uglier.

This brat is actually using the previous Hokage's laws against me!

"Enough! I am the Hokage!"

Realizing he could not win an argument with Jin on this matter, he decided to deal with him the same way he dealt with Danzo.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Jin was not Shimura Danzō.

"Third, are you saying that being the Third Hokage means you can ignore the rules laid down by the previous Hokage?"

"I never said that!" Veins bulged on Hiruzen Sarutobi's forehead in anger.

Why does this brat love throwing accusations around at the slightest disagreement?!

Although he was now the village's Hokage, he would not dare say he could ignore the rules laid down by the First and Second.

Saying something like that could be considered an act of grave disrespect.

If someone happened to seize on it and use it against him, he would lose his position as Hokage.

"Since you agree that there is nothing wrong with the laws laid down by the previous Hokage, Third..."

Uchiha Jin twirled his tachi and slid it back into its sheath.

"Then what was wrong with me killing Sarutobi Shōtarō?"

"Hiruzen!"

The Sarutobi Elder immediately grew anxious.

He had been consumed by the grief of losing his son and had initially had no time to pay attention to their conversation.

By the time he came to his senses, it seemed Jin was about to walk free.

He absolutely could not allow that to happen.

This inherently evil Uchiha Clan brat had to pay for Shōtarō's death with his life!

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Jin's argument was sound. It seemed he really could not convict the brat.

Seeing the elder's fury, he could not help feeling a headache coming on.

What a mess!

If he had taken a firm stance back then and made Jin join the Anbu, perhaps there would not have been so many headaches.

As things stood, there was nothing wrong with Uchiha Jin's argument.

Under the village's laws, someone in Sarutobi Shōtarō's circumstances was indeed subject to execution.

He had thought the Uchiha Clan would show leniency out of respect for the Hokage.

But the facts proved that Jin showed neither his clan nor the Hokage any such respect.

"Third, if you can't prove I'm guilty, can I go back to work now?"

Uchiha Jin deactivated his Sharingan and looked calmly at the Third Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time before nodding.

"You can."

"Hiruzen!" The Sarutobi Elder was so distraught that he burst into tears. "How can you let this brat leave?!"

His precious son had been killed in front of everyone, yet the killer did not even have to face any punishment.

He could not accept this reality.

Why should a murderer get away scot-free?!

"Elder, calm down."

In truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to let Jin leave either, but the problem was that he could find no fault with what Jin had done.

He could hardly disregard the rules laid down by the previous Hokage.

"Clan leader."

Uchiha Jin walked up to Uchiha Fugaku and gave him a slight nod.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded in return.

Then, under the admiring or fearful gazes of all his clansmen, Jin left with the black cat.

An extremist madman was frightening enough.

What was most terrifying was that this madman also knew the village's laws inside out.

Even after he killed the Hokage's nephew right in front of him, the Hokage could only watch him leave.

There was simply no way to convict him!

They must absolutely, absolutely never provoke him in the future!

"Animal..."

The Sarutobi Elder watched Uchiha Jin's receding figure, making no attempt to conceal the killing intent in his eyes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it but said nothing.