[Congratulations to the host for killing a Red-Name Villain. Reward: 500 justice points.] [Achievement unlocked: "First villain killed." Special rewards: title "Intimidation" and ability "Judgment Aura."]
Uchiha Jin raised an eyebrow as he read the system's introduction.
This ability seemed pretty powerful!
Judgment Aura: exerted an innate suppression of the soul on targets bearing sin marks. The greater their sins, the stronger the suppression. Especially against villains with weak resolve, the host's approach would leave them feeling suffocated, unable to resist repenting for the sins they had committed.
He felt little about killing Sarutobi Shōtarō.
Everything he had done was in accordance with the village's laws.
Even the Hokage could not stand above the rules. Anyone with complaints could take them to Tobirama Senju!
As for Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō secretly conducting Human Experimentation in the original story.
Uchiha Jin did not believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Hokage, had been unaware.
With so many Anbu in the village keeping watch, he had simply turned a blind eye.
Only when ninjas and civilians later began disappearing without explanation, and things spiraled beyond any hope of covering them up, had he stepped in.
And in the end, he had not arrested Orochimaru, instead allowing him to leave the village despite being surrounded.
Uchiha Jin scoffed at Hiruzen Sarutobi's double standards.
The Hokage was the village's highest leader.
If he knew nothing about what was happening, that could only mean the other senior officials had stripped him of his power.
But in fact, of the three Hokage Advisors, only Shimura Danzō had any ambitions.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had no designs on the Hokage's position.
And Hiruzen Sarutobi had kept Shimura Danzō firmly suppressed all these years.
He surely knew about Danzo's little schemes behind the scenes, or perhaps even tacitly approved of them...
After all, the dark red health bar above Hiruzen Sarutobi's head could not lie!
At first, Uchiha Jin had insisted on killing Sarutobi Shōtarō to complete the system's mission, while also avenging the family of three who had been brutally murdered.
But now, he seemed to have become hooked on this feeling of upholding justice.
His position in the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force allowed him to openly uphold justice within the village.
"No one can escape the law!"
"Boss, what are you mumbling about, meow?"
Black Cat brushed his cheek with a fluffy tail. "I'm a little hungry, meow."
The sight of the boss refusing to show the Third Hokage any respect earlier had given the cat quite a fright.
When a cat's fur bristled in fear, it burned a great deal of energy, which had ultimately left the cat hungry again despite having just eaten breakfast.
Uchiha Jin: "..."
All this fat cat thought about all day was food.
Hadn't the cat seen him stand up to the Third Hokage just now?
Couldn't even offer him a little praise.
Forget it. The cat was just a simple-minded cat, after all.
At the grand elder's residence in the Sarutobi Clan Compound.
Sarutobi Shōtarō's body lay in the mourning hall, covered by a white cloth that revealed only its outline.
"My son!"
The Sarutobi Elder lay over Shōtarō's body, wailing, while his wife gazed at their son's corpse and sobbed uncontrollably as well.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his elder brother and sister-in-law, who had outlived their child. He wanted to comfort them but did not know what to say.
He truly had done everything he could to save Shōtarō.
Who could have expected Uchiha Jin to completely disregard the arrangement negotiated between the clan and the Hokage?
He had insisted on killing Shōtarō according to the village's laws.
His temperament was far too extreme!
"Hiruzen, I'll make Uchiha Jin pay for Shōtarō's life with his own!"
The Sarutobi Elder's eyes were bloodshot as he clenched his fists in fury.
His only son had been killed by Uchiha Jin right before his eyes.
It was murder that had torn his heart apart!
No matter what, he would make that inherently evil Uchiha Clan brat pay.
"Brother, calm down!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to dissuade him.
Although Uchiha Jin's actions had been far too extreme, he had acted entirely within the village's rules and regulations.
Even he could find no fault with them.
After all, at its core, this matter involved him abusing his authority, using his position as Hokage to let Shōtarō atone for his crimes through service.
If it truly became public, he would be the one in the wrong.
If anything happened to Uchiha Jin within the village, those lunatics in the Uchiha Clan would surely erupt.
They could not allow the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village to explode over a single Shōtarō!
"Hiruzen, are you going to stop me?"
The Sarutobi Elder questioned him coldly.
In truth, he harbored some resentment toward Hiruzen for failing to save his son.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi had used the Hokage's authority to change the law and simply ruled that Sarutobi Shōtarō did not need to be executed.
Then Uchiha Jin would not have dared take matters into his own hands.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, took one last look at his nephew's body, then turned and left the mourning hall.
"Consider me never to have come here today."
He understood that the grand elder was determined to strike at Uchiha Jin.
Since he could not stop him, he would leave him to it.
If something really went wrong, it would be the grand elder's personal responsibility.
It would not implicate the clan or the village.
Besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not think the grand elder could kill Uchiha Jin.
That boy was a young genius no weaker than Shisui Uchiha!
In some ways, he was even more terrifying than Shisui.
Late at night, in the Uchiha Clan Compound.
News of Uchiha Jin killing Sarutobi Shōtarō had long since spread throughout the clan.
The Pro-Peace Faction erupted when they heard.
They had only just agreed to the Hokage's proposal, and Jin had turned around and slaughtered the man.
Wasn't that a slap in the Hokage's face?
What would Hiruzen Sarutobi think of their Uchiha Clan now?!
That brat was nothing but a parasite within the clan!
The clan's Hawk Faction, however, felt that Jin had done nothing wrong.
A murderer paid with his life, just as a debtor repaid his debts.
Since the Uchiha Clan were in the right, why should they accept the Hokage's proposal?
The two sides argued endlessly and nearly came to blows.
Fortunately, several elders from the Pro-Peace Faction and the Hawk Faction stepped in to stop them in time, preventing a large-scale armed clash within the clan.
Uchiha Jin paid no attention to the clan's internal affairs.
He sat on the rooftop, looking toward the compound's entrance.
Before leaving earlier that day, he had seen the undisguised killing intent in the Sarutobi Elder's eyes.
He had killed the man's son, and he believed the man could not possibly let it go.
In the latter half of the night.
Uchiha Jin slowly opened his eyes, his pair of Three Tomoe glowing an eerie red in the darkness.
A hunched old man appeared in the courtyard.
It was none other than the Sarutobi Clan's Great Elder.
"Uchiha Jin, I've come to avenge my son. I have no wish to involve anyone else."
Clad in armor, the Sarutobi Elder pointed his blade at the youth on the rooftop.
"I'll give you a chance to go inside and change. In fifteen minutes, we'll fight to the death in the Forest of Death!"
With that, he vanished from the courtyard using the Body Flicker Technique.
Uchiha Jin watched the grand elder's departing figure, a fleeting trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.
He had not expected the old man to be so scrupulous about the rules.
He had thought the man would set an ambush with a group of assassins to gang up on him.
Instead, it was a one-on-one duel...
Of course, he could not rule out the possibility of a large number of assassins lying in wait in the Forest of Death.
But judging by the grand elder, that probably was not the case.
"Interesting."
He had no intention of going inside to put on armor and followed in his everyday clothes.
Not long after Uchiha Jin left.
The door to the room slid open.
Uchiha Kazuna gazed worriedly at her son's retreating figure and murmured softly.
"Jin, please be careful..."
She knew her son was walking an unusual path.
There was little she could do as his mother. She only hoped he could stay alive and well.
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