Chapter 22

"Where's my big brother?! Where is he?!"

Just as the whole village was bustling with excitement, an angry shout suddenly cut through the noise, dragging everyone's attention toward it.

Beside Kakashi, Asuma shoved his way out of the crowd like a madman and rushed up to Xuan Zhe and Jiraiya at the front, roaring with reddened eyes, "Where's my big brother? Where's Rie? Where are the others from our clan?!"

The commotion set the Konoha villagers watching on both sides whispering among themselves.

"Who's that kid? Doesn't he have any manners..."

"Shh, keep it down. That's Lord Hokage's younger son."

"I heard Lord Hokage's elder son died on the front lines."

"Really? Poor kid..."

Asuma's shouted questions left Jiraiya bewildered.

His big brother?

Did he mean old man Sarutobi's elder son?

Hatake Sakumo sighed and patted Asuma on the shoulder. "Shinnosuke was killed by the Kazekage while on a mission with Xuan Zhe. He was a hero of Konoha. I'm sorry for your loss."

"But don't worry. I've already slaughtered the Kazekage, so you could say I avenged him."

Xuan Zhe added that from the side with a smile.

The Hatake brothers' words left Jiraiya rooted to the spot in disbelief.

What?

Sarutobi Shinnosuke died on a mission involving the Kazekage?

Xuan Zhe and his partner went to the Land of Wind together.

The two of them joined forces to kill the Kazekage in that battle.

From beginning to end, there hadn't been so much as a glimpse of Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

And now someone was telling him that the guy had died at the Kazekage's hands?

Jiraiya's brain crashed on the spot.

"That's bullshit! No way!"

Asuma roared furiously:

"My big brother was so strong! How could he die?"

Xuan Zhe rolled his eyes.

Your big brother was an ordinary Jonin at best. He wasn't weak, but he had nothing to do with the word "strong," either.

"He was caught by Sand Gate's Sand Binding Coffin and died a glorious death for the village. It doesn't matter whether you believe it."

Xuan Zhe spread his hands, his tone flippant.

"You... you're full of shit!"

Beside himself with rage, Asuma pointed right at Xuan Zhe's nose and cursed:

"You were on the same mission as my big brother! Why didn't you save him? You just watched him die?"

"Oh, brat, that's a really interesting thing to say."

Xuan Zhe's smile grew wider.

"Last time, my brother saved Young Master Shinnosuke, and how many people in Konoha pointed fingers at him and cursed him for it? Your big brother was one of them. This time I didn't intervene, so I gave him what he wanted, didn't I?"

He paused, then added:

"If I'd actually dragged him back alive and he turned around and called me useless, who would take responsibility? Everyone, isn't that right?"

With that, Xuan Zhe turned to look at the Konoha ninja gathered around them.

The entire crowd fell silent.

Asuma was only six. His face flushed crimson, and after struggling for ages, he barely managed to squeeze out half a word.

"Am I right?!"

When no one answered, Xuan Zhe abruptly raised his voice and roared the question again.

Several Genin and the civilians beside them trembled in fright.

"Yes, yes! Lord Xuan Zhe is right!"

"It was for Konoha's victory!"

"My lord put the village first in everything! There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Lord Shinnosuke's spirit in heaven would agree!"

As Xuan Zhe listened to the bootlickers around him thunder out their flattery,

he couldn't help feeling a little pleased with himself.

He knew perfectly well that hardly any of them meant it.

But that didn't change how good it felt!

At that moment, Xuan Zhe finally understood why that fellow surnamed Ma from his previous life had loved showing off so much.

"Lord Xuan Zhe, I really cannot agree with what you're saying."

Just as everyone's flattery reached a fever pitch,

a voice rose from the crowd.

Everyone's eyes instantly turned toward it.

It was a boy of about fifteen, with dazzling blond hair and features that naturally gave him a warm, kind air.

Even Xuan Zhe had to admit inwardly that the nickname "little sun" was well earned.

Minato Namikaze.

Among ninja without a kekkei genkai, this guy could be called the pinnacle of the Naruto world.

The more Xuan Zhe thought about Minato Namikaze, the more absurd he found him.

After dying, he could actually train the other half of the Nine-Tails' power into Nine-Tails Mode in the Netherworld?

How was that remotely fair?

Was the place he went to called the Soul Society or something?

Feeling Xuan Zhe's gaze on him, Minato Namikaze, who wore a Konoha forehead protector, pressed one hand to his chest and introduced himself:

"My name is Minato Namikaze, Lord Xuan Zhe."

With little expression on his face, Xuan Zhe asked flatly:

"And?"

Minato Namikaze was young, but he spoke quite steadily:

"No one can deny that you won the war for Konoha. But just now, you said that comrades' lives could be discarded to complete a mission. I cannot agree with that."

He paused, then continued:

"Nothing is worth more than a life. If we have to weigh our comrades' lives against victory or defeat every time we carry out a mission, then the very foundation of the Will of Fire is gone."

Perhaps his face gave him an advantage.

After Minato Namikaze finished speaking, no one gave him the disdainful looks they had given Asuma.

Quite a few people actually lowered their heads in thought, and some even nodded.

They felt that the boy did have a point.

Standing behind Xuan Zhe to his right, Jiraiya's eyes lit up at Minato Namikaze's words, his expression that of someone who had found a treasure.

Xuan Zhe suddenly asked him:

"Do you know about how that idiot brother of mine was nearly hounded into shutting himself away?"

Minato Namikaze paused in surprise:

"Uh... I've heard a little."

During the Second Shinobi World War, Minato Namikaze had only been a Chunin, stationed in the village to guard it.

After White Fang failed that mission, Konoha's entire ninja community erupted.

For a time, it seemed that anyone who didn't curse White Fang wasn't a Konoha ninja.

The ugly trend grew so fierce that even someone as young as Minato Namikaze sensed something was wrong.

But he was a little better than those fools whose names wouldn't even be remembered; he wouldn't rush in to hurl abuse after hearing a few rumors.

Xuan Zhe asked again:

"Do you know what you should do to keep your composure when something like that happens?"

Minato Namikaze didn't quite understand why he was asking, but he still nodded honestly.

Xuan Zhe said:

"Never argue with an idiot."

Minato Namikaze frowned. "Well... I don't think that's quite right..."

Xuan Zhe added expressionlessly, "Mm, you're right."

"Pfft-"

Standing behind him to his left, Tsunade couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

She quickly reached up to wipe the saliva from the corner of her mouth. She couldn't lose her princess-like bearing.

Minato Namikaze: "..."

He felt stifled inside, but he still had to keep the smile on his face.

In the crowd, Obito stared, dumbfounded:

"Seriously impressive. He shut him down so hard he couldn't say a word."

Rin Nohara lowered her head, turning it over and over in her mind:

Comrades or the mission-which matters more...? If I had to choose...

Kurenai Yuhi murmured beside her, "So handsome."

Shizune's curious gaze swept between Xuan Zhe and Minato Namikaze as she pressed, "Kurenai, which one do you mean?"

The moment the words "Will of Fire" came out of Minato Namikaze's mouth, Xuan Zhe had labeled him an idiot in his mind.

Still, he wasn't unlikable.

After that little interlude ended, Xuan Zhe led the main force of ninja into the Administration Building one after another.

They reported the battle's outcome to Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. All that remained was to wait for Orochimaru on the front lines to send over Sunagakure's armistice agreement.

Then the Second Shinobi World War could officially come to an end.

Compared with Asuma, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reaction to his elder son's death was much more subdued.

Even as Xuan Zhe reported the details of the Second Kazekage's assassination, he expressed no doubts about his son's death.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, remained utterly bewildered from beginning to end.