23 What it means to be a ninja

Jin went through her whole life in a couple of seconds, it felt like watching a tragedy. He instantly related to the love she possessed for her parents, it made him snap out of his frenzy.

"Damn. My past life wasn't so bad after all..." After having seen what he did, the notion of his life being a complete wreck last time around completely disappeared without a trace. In fact, he felt grateful for the position he had been put in, and for not having to suffer like this person in front of him.

"Should I kill her? If I don't, the one in trouble will be me..." Once again, he was faced with a troublesome decision. He remembered the fact that Sakumo sacrificed his mission to save his companions back in the original story. The village's and ninja's beliefs were so rooted in the notion that they were just tools, that they ostracized and shunned him because of sacrificing the completion of the mission itself.

Even his companions, who he had saved, joined in with them. Turning against their leader and savior.

Jin was mentally weaker than most people. If he had to live through such a thing, he would either break or fall into the pits of rage. He knew himself better than anyone.

Here, it was to kill or get killed. Such was the world he had been reincarnated into, and he had to assume responsibility. If he broke conduct laws, the first one to receive backlash would not be him, but his family.

The Uchiha were already in a sensible position ever since the second Hokage had taken leadership of the village, and Hiruzen was just a good for nothing that made the worst decisions a person could make in the anime.

While Jin was in deep thought, Renko looked at him with honest eyes.

"I admit my defeat. You have seen my memories, haven't you? Please help my parents out in the future if you have any mercy to spare in your heart. They are innocent, and like anyone in this world, have the right to live." She paused briefly as a tear started to fall through her cheek. "I know I have committed horrendous crimes and had my fair share of bad decisions in life... But one thing that I know for sure, is that my cause was noble! It is the only thing that kept me going..."

Jin snapped out of the mental realm, and Renko fell unconscious. The trauma that impending death and the realization that she had failed her parents, were too big for an eighteen-year-old.

"Jin! Kill her!" Fugaku, who had woken up, started shouting when he saw Jin gained the upper hand.

Jin looked at him with mixed emotions. He did not know what to do at this moment.

Hideki flickered next to him, with a kunai in between both of his hands. They were trembling so much that the Kunai could fall anytime. He looked at Jin who was next to him, fear apparent in his eyes.

He spoke with a choked voice "Aniki... What do we do now? I know that we have been taught to be cold... but... this is too much for me!" tears flowed out of the childish six-year-old kid's cheeks, as he started breaking down.

Jin could not see his cousin in that state and almost started crying as he hugged him tightly, letting his tears dry on his shirt. "It's okay, Hideki. We have to do this." He had a firm look I his eyes as he made up his mind.

Taking the kunai from Hideki's trembling hands, he walked slowly towards Renko's unconscious body. Ready to kill, he brought the weapon towards her heart and was about to thrust when Hideki stopped him, taking the weapon into his still trembling hands. He then spoke while wiping away his earlier tears.

"Aniki, I am going to become Hokage one day. I want to protect both of you and our family, as well as the whole village. In the future, I will have to make decisions like this very casually." He took a deep breath and brought the kunai towards her heart once more. "Aniki... I know you and Fugaku are strong, strong enough to not falter in these situations. But I have matured, I can't be the little kid that watches from behind. I will follow my ninja way till the very end."

Before Hideki could do the deed, Renko woke up. She looked at Jin with a pleading expression. "Please help them..."

Jin looked at her and his heart ached. He slapped both of his hands on his cheeks and clearly felt how cold his hands had become. "I... I will!"

Renko smiled, finally at peace. Her eyes let out tears as she took Hideki's hand, and guided the kunai to her chest. She died with a smile on her face, knowing her parents would survive.

Hideki killed for the first time. He was a pacifist, and he did not enjoy this at all. But something in his head matures, as his face became more resolute and his eyes graduated to a two comma Sharingan.

Jin saw this and smiled, He then started burying Renko. Fugaku had watched the whole thing and kept silent as he placed his hand on Hideki's shoulder before giving him an approving nod. He had always thought his cousin was immature and childish, but today he had earnt his respect.

Before they could finish the burial though, A strong laughter came from a nearby area.

"Who!?" Jin turned around instantly and became vigilant. Bot of his brothers was not in fighting conditions, either mentally or physically. If this was the enemy they would be in trouble.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"a fat, well-dressed man wearing jewelry appeared out of the nearby trees while being surrounded by around fifteen or so ninjas. One of them carried a big rectangular object behind his back and was wearing an eyepatch.

Jin and co. Immediately recognized him as the joint they would have to face in this mission. They were now in really big trouble.

"HA HA! I just saw the whole thing happen! you guys were too busy with your little conversation that you didn't even notice us! HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as he fondled the breasts of the slave girl from earlier.

"Was she talking about her ill-parents just then? Do you really think I would hire someone without taking proper precautions? I already locked them up somewhere to use as hostages against her..."

"Their expressions when I told them that their daughter was my sex slave were unbelievably good! They gobbled up the lie so easily! I guess they had lost faith in her long ago! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"You monster..." Jin, who had lived her whole life with his eyes felt sick in the stomach. This kind of thing was horrendous.

"She was useless anyway... lost to a bunch of kids. What a waste of money." He lit up a cigar and started puffing.

"I am Toga the slave trader! Anyone that dares interfere with my business will be shown no mercy. Men! Kill these kids!" He signaled and sat on the slave girl after she went on four legs, ready for the show.

"Oh no..." Hideki had heard everything and understood most of the discussion thanks to his intellect. He felt sick too, but now was not the moment, they were about to be killed.

"Gihihihihihih! Should I chop off your arm or your leg first?! Come here, little kid!" Reo unfolded his fan and readied a wind style attack immediately while the chuunin and genin burst forward.

"Guys! Combine your strengths with mine!" Jin shouted and started forming hand seals., the other two did not delay.

"Fire Style: Living Dragon Flame!" The three of them shouted at the same time as they unleashed their most powerful combined jutsu, hoping to take out the weaker enemies.

"Not good!" Reo felt the pressure of the dragon that was incoming, and choosing to not take any risks, he flickered away. The other lower-ranked ninjas were not so quick to react. The fireball landed on them and took out all of the genin and mercenaries. Leaving none.

The fire started to light the forest up, and Reo who was on the branch of a nearby tree felt wronged. "Damnit! If I use wind style now, I will only bolster the flames! I hate Fire style users to the bone!" He then saw the that the three kinds were each on their knees, seemingly having wasted all their chakra in that last attack.

"Heh! You're mine!" He sped towards them as he took out a saber from his mouth, it shined with an odd light.

When Jin saw this, he tried to run, but his body was not responding. He was now relying on willpower alone to even stay conscious. The other two had already fallen. into the dream realm.

"Am I going to just... Die like this?"

Jin looked back upon his actions ever since he had reincarnated. He had neglected most training and failed to reach the highest level he could have been at by now, leading to the current situation. He swore that if he had another life, he would use his knowledge better.

Just when the saber was going to make contact with his neck, a flash of white light collided with it and sent Reo backward by a couple of meters.

"Sorry, I'm late. You three did well, I am proud of you." Sakumo had in fact been watching since the beginning. He wanted them to gain experience in these situations, but he would interfere if anything went south.

These three had matured quite a lot today.