"Xin, calm down. That's not what I meant," Hokage said, trying to defuse the situation.
"I appreciate all you've done for the village. I was simply hoping you'd be willing to take on this one mission."
"No way!" Xin's frustration continued to build.
"When others fight for the village, they're hailed as heroes. But when I fight for the village, no one even knows about it."
"Fine, I can deal with that. But then you try to keep me in the village, telling me it's for my protection, forcing me into this role as a Jonin instructor. Tell me, Hokage-sama, how can I- a mere child myself-be expected to guide three other children to grow?"
"Three children, no less-one of them a Uchiha, one a Hyuga, and from the main branch at that. The tension in the squad is unbearable!"
"Alright, enough, enough! Please stop," Third Hokage's head was spinning.
He was terrified that the next thing out of Xin's mouth might be an accusation that the village was targeting the Uchiha-and maybe even him, Usagi Xin.
The Third Hokage knew that Xin was aware of the village's treatment of the Uchiha, thanks to his close relationship with Tsunade. There was no doubt in his mind that Tsunade had filled Xin in on the details.
"Since the village no longer trusts me, I hereby request retirement from service. I will no longer be a shinobi of this village."
"I'm tired of being targeted because of the Uchiha. I just want to live a normal life."
"I'll submit my official resignation in writing soon. As for my squad, you'll have to assign someone else to replace me."
"That's not what I-"
But before the Hokage could finish, Xin had already stormed out of the office, leaving him in complete shock.
And those who had been eavesdropping were just as stunned.
Wait... what just happened?
Did Xin really just quit being a shinobi?
Was this for real? He was already talking about handing in his resignation letter.
It wasn't unheard of for shinobi to retire, especially when they could no longer handle the psychological toll of killing or due to other personal reasons.
They would submit a request to the Hokage's office, and if approved, their shinobi status would be revoked, allowing them to live as ordinary citizens.
But this?
Usagi Xin was taking the initiative and flipping the situation on its head before anyone else could.
Who am I? What just happened?
The Third Hokage sat there for a good while, too stunned to even process what had just occurred.
"Xin, what mission did the Hokage give you?" Minato asked, approaching Xin as he returned.
Xin shoved Minato's face aside with one hand.
"No special mission. But he sure tried to dump a heap of responsibility on me. Want to take it?"
"Uh... what?"
Minato blinked in confusion. What responsibility was he talking about?
"Oh, by the way, you're pretty good with words, right? Help me write up a resignation letter. I need to submit it to the Hokage's office tomorrow."
"A... resignation letter?"
Minato was now completely lost.