The Uchiha killed someone!

"She doesn't even have a problem with it."

Uchiha Jin remained calm, a flicker of contempt crossing his eyes as he stared at the boy who had spoken.

"What are you barking about?"

"You!"

The speaker was none other than Konoha's second-generation elite, the youngest son of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Asuma Sarutobi, whose head would one day be worth thirty million ryo!

Asuma Sarutobi flushed with anger. This guy had humiliated him again.

It had been just like this back at school!

They hadn't been in the same year, but that didn't mean their paths had never crossed.

Especially since this guy had bullied everyone at school equally.

Even the geniuses in the elite class had been bullied by him.

"Asuma, let it go," Kurenai Yuhi said, unable to watch any longer. She didn't want the two of them to keep arguing.

Otherwise, Asuma would definitely be the one to suffer.

"Kurenai..."

Asuma Sarutobi felt as though his heart had taken a devastating blow.

Kurenai wasn't even taking his side...

His heart shattered.

"Jin, stop picking on Asuma," Kurenai Yuhi said helplessly.

Back at school, others had bullied her because of her red eyes, and Jin had appeared then and chased the bullies away.

Asuma Sarutobi had arrived too late.

He could only watch helplessly as the girl of his dreams gazed admiringly at that black-haired brat as he turned and left.

Someone else had beaten him to the chance to play the hero.

From then on, he had loathed Uchiha Jin. Why had this guy, who was a year below him, gone out of his way to help Kurenai?

Did he like Kurenai too?!

As the saying went, rivals in love saw red when they met. Asuma regarded Jin as a rival and frequently went looking for trouble with him.

But every time, he got beaten up badly...

"I wasn't picking on him."

Uchiha Jin spoke calmly, spreading his hands helplessly.

"He's the one who picked a fight without knowing his limits."

It wasn't as though he had nothing better to do.

If Asuma Sarutobi hadn't started trouble, he wouldn't have bothered with him at all.

"Bastard!"

His indifferent tone made Asuma Sarutobi flush with anger again.

He was the Hokage's son, one of Konoha's second-generation elite.

Who in the village didn't show him some respect?

Yet this Uchiha Clan had mocked him countless times.

The most infuriating part was that he couldn't beat him...

He could only watch helplessly as Jin talked to Kurenai, feeling like a useless suitor.

"Shoo. Stop bothering me."

Uchiha Jin found Asuma even more annoying than Shisui Uchiha. He kept treating Jin as an imagined romantic rival and frequently caused trouble for him.

Although he was no match for Jin, he never gave up picking fights.

Jin had originally thought a couple of beatings would make him behave, but it turned out that no matter how hard he hit him, Asuma would come back a few days later wrapped in bandages and leaning on crutches to taunt him.

He stopped paying attention to Asuma, his gaze settling on Kakashi Hatake, whose head was lowered.

Ever since witnessing Obito and Rin's deaths during the Third Shinobi World War, Kakashi had spent his days in a despondent state.

Might Guy had dragged him out to this gathering today. Otherwise, he would most likely have been lying around at home right now.

Sensing Uchiha Jin's gaze, Kakashi raised his head, revealing his one dead-fish eye. His other eye was covered by his ninja forehead protector.

"Well, if it isn't Kakashi." Uchiha Jin's expression turned mocking. "Two years apart, and you've really gone downhill."

Kakashi: "..."

"That eye isn't yours. If you ask me, you should just pluck it out. Otherwise, it'll keep draining your chakra twenty-four hours a day."

Leaving Obito Uchiha's eye with Kakashi really was a waste. If Jin could retrieve it early, he could transplant it and use it.

"No. It was a gift from Obito."

Kakashi spoke for the first time that day.

Although everything Jin said was true, and the Sharingan's inability to deactivate did mean it constantly drained his chakra, it was the gift Obito had given him before his death to celebrate his promotion to Jonin.

He couldn't give it to anyone else, no matter what.

"Suit yourself."

Uchiha Jin curled his lip. "You'll end up collapsing and surrendering after two Lightning Blades."

Kakashi: "..."

"My benefactor!"

Might Guy returned from the restroom, his eyes lighting up when he spotted Uchiha Jin among the group.

"Want to come eat with us?"

He had wanted to invite Jin in the first place, but hadn't had a chance on the way.

Who would have thought his benefactor would suddenly appear on his own while he was off using the restroom?!

"That's right, Jin. Want to have barbecue with us?"

Kurenai Yuhi blinked, asking with a hint of anticipation.

At the sight, Asuma Sarutobi nearly ground his back teeth to pieces.

Was this a joke?!

He could overlook that dead-last Might Guy, but why had Kurenai taken the initiative to invite that guy...?

He really wanted to tell Kurenai not to bring Jin.

But if he actually said that, Kurenai would definitely think he was petty.

He could only hope that this guy wouldn't accept.

He had finally finished his mission and gotten Kurenai to come out for a meal.

If this guy ruined it, he really would fall apart.

Heaven seemed to have heard his prayers.

"No, I have to patrol."

Uchiha Jin was busy fighting crime and had no time to catch up with them.

Besides, they didn't seem to be that close.

At least, that was how he saw it.

Back then, he had helped them purely because he found people picking fights annoying, using violence against violence to make those bullies behave.

Who would have thought these people would regard him as their benefactor?

Especially Might Guy...

"All right, then." Kurenai Yuhi looked disappointed before a smile blossomed on her face. "I'll treat you to a meal sometime when you're free."

"Mm."

Uchiha Jin nodded.

Usually, this sort of "when you're free" invitation was just a pleasantry.

He naturally wouldn't take it seriously. Besides, he wasn't short of money for a meal.

As a captain in the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force, with the merits he had accumulated during the Third Shinobi World War on top of that, the word poverty had nothing to do with him.

Kurenai Yuhi stood there, gazing dreamily at the boy's tall figure as he walked away.

Jin really was as quiet as ever.

Although Uchiha Jin was only eleven, he was already 1.7 meters tall.

Among their group of roughly twelve-year-old youngsters, he certainly counted as tall...

He felt different from the other Uchiha Clan members.

Seeing this, Asuma Sarutobi unconsciously clenched his fists.

Damn it!

If I hadn't gone to buy Kurenai water back then and carelessly let those bullies run into her, would that guy ever have gotten the chance to play the hero?!

He had only been a few minutes late.

And Uchiha Jin had rescued Kurenai and won her heart.

Every time he thought of that scene, he found it hard to breathe.

If I had gotten there sooner...

Would Kurenai look at me that way too?

No, I have to train hard and get stronger!

Once I surpass Uchiha Jin, she'll definitely regret it and fall for me.

After all, admiring the strong is a woman's nature!!!

Kakashi kept his eyes lowered to the ground, his mind filled with scenes of the time he had spent with his comrades.

"Rin... Obito..."

He had promised Obito that he would protect Rin.

Unfortunately, he had broken that promise.

The four left together, each lost in their own thoughts.

Meanwhile.

On the shopping street, members of the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force had gotten into a dispute with Konoha's villagers.

"The Uchiha Clan killed someone! The Uchiha Clan killed someone!"

At those words, the people nearby gathered to watch.