Capítulo 72: Chapter 72 - A Welcome From Konoha
Abandoning flight so as not to garner too much unwanted attention, Jin steadily followed the dirt road Konan pointed out that would take him to Konoha's front gates. Hinata quietly slept in a swaddled blanket tied to his chest.
Way off in the distance, Jin eventually spotted the famous clifface with faces of the first four Hokages carved into it. His heart rate sped up slightly at the thought of visiting a place firmly cemented in his memories. Unfortunately, some rapidly approaching life signatures interrupted his anticipation.
Halting his steps, Jin narrowed his eyes and turned his head toward the treeline at his right. Three individuals flickered in front of him a few seconds later. All three of them wore the typical gray and black Konoha Anbu uniforms as well as unique Anbu masks.
The frontmost Anbu was a man who looked like he was in his twenties and had neatly trimmed brown hair. A pig-like mask covered his face. On the other hand, the two standing behind the pig-masked Anbu made Jin raise a brow since both looked several years younger than himself.
On the left stood a teenage girl with long purple hair who had swords strapped to her back. Her mask had feline features and a squiggly red mark cutting down the middle of her forehead.
On the right stood a teenage boy with short and spiky black hair. His mask looked like a crow with a red triangle pointing downward on the forehead.
'Those two are quite young to be Anbu, but considering the timeline…'
Although Jin had zero idea about the identity of the older Anbu member, he certainly had suspicions about the two younger ones, especially the girl with purple hair.
"Sorry for the interruption, sir, but the village is on high alert at the moment. Please state your business."
Raising a brow, Jin lowered his gaze to look at Hinata who stirred awake upon hearing an unfamiliar voice. She whimpered and clutched Jin's clothes in her little fists. Jin smiled wryly before raising his gaze toward the Anbu again. His gaze briefly lingered on the eyes of the teenage boy with short black hair, but then he focused on the adult Anbu.
"I found this girl being held by people from Kumogakure and ended up rescuing her, so I'm bringing her back to the village."
The three Anbu suddenly focused on Hinata. As though feeling their stares, she squirmed and onto Jin with all the might her toddler body could muster.
The leading Anbu briefly gestured to the young lad behind him. Then, bright red eyes illuminated behind the teenage boy's mask.
Although the scenery remained unchanged, Jin frowned. Something immediately felt wrong. He stared at the teenage boy for a moment.
"You really saved this girl?"
Upon feeling an inexplicable urge to answer honestly, Jin narrowed his eyes and held his tongue.
"Where are you from?"
"..."
"Answer."
"Hmm…"
'Jin. It's a Genjutsu.' Kokūnokoe's voice echoed in his mind.
'I figured.'
Jin's Reiatsu flared outward and distorted the surroundings. Within moments, the teenage boy flinched. Then, cracks spread through the air like glass.
'Did it actually dispel?' Jin inwardly asked.
'Yes. It didn't seem like he put his maximum effort into the Genjutsu.'
'Good.'
Now aware that the Genjutsu broke, Jin forced a massive wave of Reiatsu over the three Anbu. Each of them crumpled to the dirt, wholly unable to move. Even the dirt itself compacted under the pressure until it created a noticeable crater.
The teenage boy struggled enough to push himself a few inches off the ground before Jin multiplied the pressure weighing on him by casting a spell using his minimal understanding of Gravity magic. The boy's bones popped and cracked under the combined weight of Jin's Reiatsu and Gravity magic.
The other two failed to move a muscle at all.
'Surprising. Would have expected Anbu to handle it better. My Reiatsu improved quite a bit after the last battle,' Jin mused while observing the three Anbu.
Sensing more life signatures rapidly approaching, Jin released both the Reiatsu pressure and gravity spell before asking, "Would you still like to doubt whether I have the capabilities to rescue this girl?"
"Who are you?" The adult Anbu groaned while struggling to rise to his feet. A hint of anger laced his words.
"A wandering swordsman. I'd rather not come into conflict, though, so don't threaten me again or cast any more Genjutsu, please."
The Anbu met Jin's eyes for a moment. Behind him, the teenage boy helped the purple haired girl to her feet. Eventually, the Anbu asked, "Could you please follow me to the Hokage's office?"
"Sure."
In the treeline, Jin noticed a few more Anbu and Leaf Shinobi arriving. However, when Jin began following the Anbu trio toward the village, most of them left to attend to their own business. Only a group of four Anbu followed at a safe distance.
When they reached the village gates, the guards greeted them and filled out some paperwork about Jin's entrance. At the same time, the pig mask Anbu whispered something to the teenage boy Anbu with the crow mask. Then, the boy body flickered away. One second he was there, and the next he wasn't.
While the two remaining Anbu led Jin through the village, many of the villagers followed him with curious gazes. Both his modern clothes and the fact that he was carrying a toddler around certainly made him stand out, yet nobody commented anything since he was following members of the Anbu.
Although not the welcome he expected, Jin smiled lightly while observing the village. The architecture looked like he remembered, but he did not see any particularly memorable buildings aside from the Hokage's office in the distance.
When they reached the office, the Anbu leader looked at the purple haired girl and ordered, "Go inform the girl's parents about her return."
"Yes, sir."
The teenage girl body flickered away, though Jin found himself able to follow her movement to some extent unlike with Konan or the crow mask Anbu from before. That fact served as extra confirmation of his guess about the crow mask Anbu's identity.
After that, the pig-mask Anbu led Jin through the building and up a rounded flight of stairs. At the top, they arrived at a set of double doors guarded by sentries wearing green Chunin vests and Konoha headbands.
Returning a nod of greeting from the guards, the pig mask Anbu knocked on the door before stating, "Lord Hokage, Boar has arrived with the package."
"Come in."
As the doors creaked open, Jin ignored the hard stares from the two guards and followed the pig mask Anbu into the Hokage's office. Once inside, he looked around in a curious manner. He couldn't stop a slight smile from crossing his lips since this was the first place in this world that truly gave him a feeling of nostalgia.
"Thank you, Boar, you may leave."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage."
With the Anbu disappearing from sight, Jin observed a group of people seated around a table in the middle of the room. His gaze calmly observed each of Konoha's four elders. In particular, his gaze lingered on a middle aged man with brown hair and strikingly narrow eyes. Bandages covered the man's right arm, and Jin's brows furrowed upon sensing an overflowing life force flowing out of it.
'So he has the arm but not all the Sharingans yet. Good.'
Unaware of Jin's thoughts, Danzo snorted lightly and said, "Mind your gaze, outsider."
"Now, now, old friend. No need to antagonize somebody who rescued one of our own," The middle aged man wearing the red and white Hokage uniform responded before Jin could say anything. Then, he stood, bowed slightly, and said, "Thank you for saving one of our village's people. May I ask the name of the hero of the day?"
"Jin. Nice to meet you, Third Hokage."
"Likewise," Hiruzen replied with the gentle smile of an aging man. Then, he walked over to Jin, extended his hands, and said, "Now, if you don't mind, I can take the girl until her father arrives."
"N-nh!" Hinata denied vehemently by shaking her head and stuffing it against Jin's chest. "Big bwudda, where is Papa?"
"He'll be here soon, I'm sure," Jin consoled her while rubbing her head. "Sorry, Mister Hokage, but she's been like this since I rescued her."
"Mhm, understandable," Hiruzen responded with an awkward chuckle. "Anyway, we plan to give you a reward for returning her to us."
"I see. Thank you," Jin casually responded.
"And if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"
"A small town pretty far from here. I'm just a wandering swordsman at this point in time. Enjoying my youth while I still have it."
"Ah, I see. I can certainly understand wanting to enjoy your youth," Hiruzen responded, his lips curling upward into a knowing grin.
'I don't think we're on the same page here,' Jin thought.
"Ahem. My subordinates mentioned that you seem to be quite capable. Should you ever choose to settle down somewhere, our village would be more than happy to welcome someone as capable as you."
"I suppose I can consider it," Jin politely responded while maintaining some level of ambiguity. He ignored the frowns on the faces of the three elders seated at the table next to them.
Smiling at the fact that Jin did not outright deny the proposal, Hiruzen nodded. Then, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up rescuing her?"
The other three elders turned their heads as though they were more interested in this subject.
"It was honestly a lucky coincidence. The Kumogakure Shinobi fought another group of unknown origin which left only a few enemies for me to pick off before rescuing her."
"And you expect me to believe a random passerby would happily rescue a stranger at their own peril? What are you really after?" Danzo suddenly asked in an interrogating tone.
Hiruzen frowned but refrained from chiding his closest advisor.
"Some people might like to watch the world burn from the sidelines, but then there are others who have things they are willing to fight for. Mine just happens to be that I particularly dislike seeing children be hurt or abused," Jin instantly retorted with pointed words.
An awkward hush fell over the room. Up in the rafters, the crow-masked Anbu Jin met before shifted uncomfortably.
Luckily for the rest of the people in the room besides Jin, the office doors flew open to dissipate the awkward tension.
"Where is my daughter?!"
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