Uchiha Jin made no attempt to hide it.
He never considered himself an upright or honorable person. The experiences and ideologies from his past life in China taught him the simplest of truths.
"The Son of Heaven is whoever has the strongest soldiers and horses!"
"Whoever wins is right!"
"You can lose a hundred times, but as long as you win the last one, the scholars will naturally debate and justify your actions."
To him, a man who judged heroes by results, Jiraiya's little provocations were not even as significant as a light breeze.
"Shameless!"
Looking at Uchiha Jin, who seemed completely unbothered, Jiraiya stood frozen on the spot, clearly not expecting that there could be such a shameless person in this world.
Damn it.
Are you even proud of that?
But, forget it!
Anyway, he hadn't come here expecting to persuade the other party.
So.
He began to look past Uchiha Jin, turning his gaze toward the Edo Tensei Strongmen surrounding him.
"First Hokage, Second Hokage, Sakumo..."
"You are already dead men; why must you interfere in the affairs of the living world?"
"This behavior is wrong; you should return to the Pure Land."
"You are all Ninjas I admire, and I do not wish to fight against you."
"Do me a favor, and return to the Pure Land."
Jiraiya's tone was low, and his eyes held a hint of longing.
Although even if these Edo Tensei Strongmen were sent back to the Pure Land, Konoha's remaining strength would still be formidable, but even a slight reduction in Konoha's power would be a good thing for him.
However, it was a pity.
Faced with Jiraiya's words, the expressions of the Edo Tensei Strongmen present did not change in the slightest.
Nonsense!
They had all stood at the pinnacle of the Ninja World; such powerful individuals all had their own 'Way' in their hearts.
Even Sakumo Hatake, the weakest in strength who was forced to commit suicide, possessed his own unique 'Way' and had even been willing to die for it previously.
Did Jiraiya really think a few empty words could rattle them?
Dream on!
Sakumo Hatake was the first to draw his White Fang, and then slanted the blade steadily to aim it at Jiraiya.
Clearly.
He was not a man of many words, so he expressed his stance directly through his actions.
Senju Hashirama's expression was calm.
Without his usual simple honesty and silliness, he radiated a sense of profound dignity: "Junior, you have chosen the wrong path. We are all doing this for the sake of peace."
"I advise you to turn back, do not continue to make mistakes!"
Senju Tobirama did not speak; he simply snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and couldn't even be bothered to look at Jiraiya.
Yes!
He had made the same choice as Sakumo Hatake, though their reasons were slightly different.
Sakumo Hatake was slow of speech and didn't know what to say.
Senju Tobirama was eloquent, but he didn't want to waste time on an 'idiot'.
Although he hadn't interacted with Jiraiya and had only just met him, hearing those two sentences made it clear that this was an idiot comparable to his own older brother.
They had their own ideals in their hearts and would absolutely not be easily persuaded by anyone.
Persuade?
It was meaningless!
It was just a waste of time.
It was precisely because he determined this that he naturally couldn't be bothered to waste his breath; it would be simpler to just kill him with one strike.
After all, he didn't have any friendship with that Jiraiya, did he?
"Jiraiya, save your breath."
"I have no intention of controlling or forcing these Edo Tensei Strongmen. They are willing to stay here and work for me, Uchiha Jin, entirely because they genuinely agree with my methods from the bottom of their hearts."
"Every strong person has their own persistence and their own ideals; it is absolutely impossible to be easily persuaded by others."
"Just as I never thought of persuading you, because I knew it would be useless."
"So, let's fight!"
"Only the strong are qualified to uphold their own philosophies and reshape this corrupt world according to their own ideals."
"Also, don't try to gild the lily; in reality, your methods are no different from ours."
"You are also trying to impose your own ideas on all of us; otherwise, you wouldn't have appeared here today."
"Therefore, let us discard that gentle facade and use real strength to decide the path the Ninja World will take from now on."
Uchiha Jin's face was full of disdain, and he immediately revealed his Mangekyo.
Yes!
This was also where he looked down on Jiraiya: you want to promote your philosophy, that's fine, but you shouldn't force others to accept it.
By what right do you think your own philosophy is correct while others' is trash?
By what right do you so hastily define others' differing opinions as villainous?
When it comes down to it...
Isn't it all just relying on your own strength?
Anyway, everyone would have to fight in the end, so he had no intention of chatting with Jiraiya, especially considering that Jiraiya had the backing of Mount Myōboku and, in all likelihood, the support of that guy Otsutsuki Hagoromo. Therefore, he immediately activated his Mangekyo and even prepared his Dōjutsu early.
If there was even the slightest hint of something wrong, he would unleash his strongest power!
Meanwhile.
Senju Hashirama and the others shared similar thoughts to Uchiha Jin, after all, they had learned about Otsutsuki Hagoromo from Uchiha Jin...
Even if the Jiraiya before them appeared completely harmless, they dared not truly view him as a mere junior.
Jiraiya fell silent!
Looking at the group that was battle-ready and didn't even want to talk, he completely put away the last shred of his desire to resolve this matter peacefully.
"Is that so? Understood!"
"Since this is your choice, then let strength decide it."
"Edo Tensei — Release!"
Accompanied by a loud shout from Jiraiya, he suddenly performed a very special hand seal.
Almost instantly.
The Edo Tensei bindings on Senju Hashirama and the others began to crack inch by inch.
How could this be?
Everyone who saw this scene was shocked; no one had expected Jiraiya to use such a move.
But why would this guy, Jiraiya, know how to release Edo Tensei?
More crucially, the Edo Tensei on Senju Hashirama and the others had been optimized by Senju Tobirama during this period!
In a sense, even Orochimaru, the one who had summoned them with Edo Tensei, did not have the qualifications to undo this curse seal.
Why would Jiraiya know how?
Wait — Otsutsuki Hagoromo!
Uchiha Jin reacted instantly; it must have been that Six Paths Sage who intervened.
As the manager of the Pure Land, over the long years, he had been researching souls and Chakra in the Pure Land...
If anyone could come up with a way to undo Edo Tensei, it could only be that Six Paths Sage in the Pure Land — Otsutsuki Hagoromo!
What to do?
Uchiha Jin's brain raced, constantly trying to figure out how to solve this.
The Edo Tensei of the group absolutely could not be released; otherwise, once Senju Hashirama and the others returned to the Pure Land, they would certainly be under even stricter control by Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
Subsequently.
Summoning these few with Edo Tensei again would not be as easy as before.