On the way back to the village, Jiraiya spoke up.
"Minato, Hiyasu, Hizashi… why are you all so skilled?"
Skilled? Skilled at what?
This was clearly the first time, alright?
Wait… hold on.
Hyūga Hizashi suddenly reacted.
Thinking back to Minato's ever-present smile and the smooth-talking tactics of his cousin Hiyasu…
???
The clown was actually me.
He turned around and shot a disdainful look at Minato and Hyūga Hiyasu.
You two even kept it from me—do you have any conscience at all?
Minato: "Is there a possibility that I just always smile normally? Today was actually my first time too."
"Today was my first time as well, but usually I've heard Shiken and Kamito talk about it a lot."
Minato explained.
He really didn't want to be misunderstood.
"How come I've never heard them talk about this?"
"Because every time Kamito started discussing which part of the human body is best to cut, you'd walk away. And then you'd mutter something about 'those evil Uchiha.'"
Hyūga Hiyasu said.
Right now, the most widespread phrase circulating in Konoha was "the evil Uchiha."
Even though people didn't dare say it openly, it had already spread everywhere in private.
The planner, Senju Tobirama, deserved great credit.
The executor, Shimura Danzō, carried it out diligently.
The observer, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was still… observing.
With the joint efforts of the three, the Uchiha reputation had already become thoroughly notorious.
But did the Uchiha need a good reputation?
Not really.
If they didn't need it, then it didn't matter.
Originally, Hiyasu and the others had even asked Kamito if he needed help.
But after hearing that he had his own plans, they stopped interfering.
Hyūga Hizashi thought about it.
It did seem like that was the case.
But who would've guessed that when you guys were researching this stuff, you were using bandits for practical experiments?
Next time, no matter what you guys talk about, I'm going to listen all the way through.
After clearing up Hizashi's confusion, Hiyasu looked toward Jiraiya, who seemed hesitant to speak.
"What's wrong, Jiraiya-sensei? Do you want to hear the story about us and the bandits?"
"Uh… as your teacher, it's necessary for me to understand your past experiences."
Jiraiya realized something.
It wasn't just him—among the four jōnin instructors, none of them seemed to know these kids very well.
Hyūga Hizashi also perked up his ears.
There seemed to be quite a few things he hadn't heard before either.
Damn it… from now on I'm not going to waste time learning from Ryoha about how to flirt and date. That's clearly delaying important things.
Minato stepped slightly back to keep watch.
He already knew all the stories about his friends, so he didn't bother joining in.
"The bandit incident… I think it was two or three years ago. I don't remember exactly."
It went like this…
...
"What? You want us to go kill bandits with you?"
Senju Hideki shouted.
Uchiha Kamito hurriedly covered his mouth.
"Idiot! Are you trying to summon everyone in Konoha here?!"
Inuzuka Ryoha said, "Shiken, how could you even think of something like that? We're not the type to kill people for no reason. I don't care about others, but the five of us definitely have our own bottom line."
Hyūga Hiyasu glanced at Ryoha.
"A bottom line? Can you recite the criminal code? Or the civil code? Talking about a 'bottom line'—do you even know what the legal bottom line is?"
"How could I remember that stuff? If I could memorize all that, I'd have gone to take the judicial exam already. Who'd still want to be here? The bottom line I'm talking about is simple: don't kill without reason, and don't kill innocent people."
Inuzuka Ryoha retorted.
It sounded a bit confusing, but somehow very philosophical.
"Uh… I didn't call you here to debate what a bottom line is. As for the bottom line… just look at this."
Aburame Shiken said.
Then he took out a crystal-clear bug with a huge eye.
Bang.
A blue screen suddenly appeared.
"Damn. A TV."
"A blue light screen."
"Can you make one that works permanently?"
"I don't want a TV. Next time can you develop a phone instead?"
"I don't want a TV either—I want a phone."
"+1."
"+9527."
"+10086."
"Stop."
Did I tell you to focus on that?
And do you think phones are that easy to make?!
Do you know how much effort I spent making this recording bug?
I even traded several of our clan leader's A-rank mission permissions just to exchange for the Third Hokage's exclusive ninjutsu—the Telescope Technique.
Damn it, what a rip-off.
A B-rank Telescope Technique cost us several A-rank permissions.
And after that there were modifications, seal carvings, insect cultivation… all those investments.
Do you know how much the Aburame clan paid for this?
And all you guys want are phones and TVs?
Isn't that a bit too much?
…Although, to be fair, that was also why I went for it in the first place.
But the technical difficulty was just too high.
After venting a little internally, Aburame Shiken refocused.
"Could you at least look at what's playing on the screen?"
"Beasts."
"They deserve death."
"They must die."
Uchiha Kamito's Sharingan had even appeared—looking like it might evolve into two tomoe.
What's going on?
Aburame Shiken hurriedly looked at the screen.
Oh no.
Wrong setting.
The recording bug had been switched to the camera bug.
He had meant to play a movie, but instead it turned into a live broadcast.
And by coincidence, the bandits on screen were doing extremely obscene things.
Several half-dead men lay nearby, staring helplessly as their wives—or perhaps daughters—were being violated.
Seeing this—
Senju Hideki clenched his fists.
Uchiha Kamito's eyes spun wildly.
Inuzuka Ryoha bared his fangs.
Hyūga Hiyasu's veins bulged across his forehead as his Byakugan activated.
At this point…
If he said he had played the wrong thing, he'd probably get beaten up.
"That's right. As incarnations of justice, how could we ignore something like this?"
"We can't."
And so, the Justice Squad was officially established.
Under the leadership of Captain Aburame Shiken, they set out riding their mounts.
Inuzuka Ryoha and Eimaru (Ryoha used Human-Beast Combined Transformation, turning into a giant ninja dog the same size as Eimaru.)
One hour later, they successfully arrived at the scene.
Ten minutes later, every bandit had been beheaded.
"Beasts."
"Scumbags."
"Shameless trash."
"Garbage."
Senju Hideki and the other three collectively condemned Aburame Shiken—who stood there completely clean.
"What incarnation of justice? What captain of the Justice Squad? Do I deserve that?"
"I'm ashamed to stand with you."
Shiken, who had rushed straight toward his original target—the storage area for the stolen loot—the moment they entered, could only accept the criticism.
But when he saw the women whose eyes were still filled with lifeless despair… and the nearly dead husbands and fathers lying on the ground… he instantly turned the situation around.
After that, no one knew exactly what happened, but Aburame Shiken somehow really did become the captain.
...
After the memory ended, Hyūga Hiyasu only told the parts that could be told.
Finally, he repeated a few lines Aburame Shiken had said during that incident.
"Eliminating evil halfway is worse than not eliminating it at all. Saving people halfway is the same as not saving them."
"If victims aren't allowed to take revenge themselves, then where are their grievances supposed to go?"
"We cannot rescue them from the abyss of their enemies, only to push them—unprepared—into another abyss called life."
...
Jiraiya fell into thought.
Hyūga Hizashi also fell into thought.
Minato thought to himself: no matter how many times he heard those words, they still struck like thunder.
...
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