Jin's sudden move caught the three attackers off guard. He dove downwards, directly into the swarm of insects, letting them bury him.
"Is he trying to commit suicide?" the woman murmured, astonished.
The black-haired man coldly remarked, "This makes things easier. I'll knock him out and take him back."
Controlling the swarm of insects, he could adjust the intensity, ensuring that Jin would only be rendered unconscious, not killed. Though he didn't understand why Jin chose such a reckless move, the outcome seemed inevitable. This time, there would be no mistakes.
"Don't let him pass out so easily. Make him suffer a bit first," the black-haired woman growled, still seething from Jin's earlier insult about her appearance.
"Root ninjas must eliminate emotions," the orange-haired man said coldly, rejecting her suggestion.
In Root, it wasn't just positive emotions that needed to be eradicated, but also negative ones. Danzo Shimura believed that the ideal ninja was one devoid of any emotion—a tool to be used without hesitation or personal conflict.
Despite knowing this, the woman reluctantly obeyed. Disobedience in Root was not an option, and the punishments were severe. But deep down, she resented this. She hadn't joined Root to become a mindless puppet; she wanted to unleash her bloodlust. Yet after becoming part of Root, there was no way out.
"Bring him up, Min," the orange-haired man ordered.
However, there was no response.
Both he and the woman turned to the Aburame clan member, Min. His hands were clasped together, his body trembling. If his mask had been removed, they would have seen his face drenched in cold sweat.
Something was wrong.
After a long silence, Min finally spoke. "My insects... they're dying."
He could feel it—his controlled insects were dying in large numbers, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"What?!"
The other two looked down simultaneously.
Within the sea of insects, red chakra swirled through the swarm. Initially, it was just a faint, dim glow, but as time passed, the red light grew brighter and more prominent. The insects were shriveling and falling, as if their bodies had been drained of all life.
Soon, a mountain of insect corpses had piled up on the ground.
Then, a hand emerged from the top of the mound, enveloped in red chakra, clenching into a fist. The next moment, an overwhelming surge of red chakra exploded outward.
"Boom!"
A violent gust of wind erupted, causing the clothes of the three attackers to flap wildly. The sheer force was undeniable.
The insect corpses were blown away, revealing Jin standing in the center of the swarm. His clothes had been completely eaten away by the insects, but his body was now surrounded by a thick aura of red chakra, and his eyes—his pupils were completely gone.
"Eight Gates Formation! Modified! Six Gates of the Celestial Thief!"
Jin raised his head, his white, pupil-less eyes staring directly at the three attackers. He looked like a demon that had crawled out of the depths of hell.
"What kind of technique is this!?" Min's voice was dry with disbelief. The chakra was so intense, it was almost like facing a jinchuriki. Yet they knew the jinchuriki of the village wasn't Jin.
The next moment...
"What are you looking at?" Jin's voice came from behind the three.
Their pupils contracted as they instinctively turned around, retreating to another tree. They looked back at their previous position only to see Jin... standing in midair, his feet moving back and forth as though he were stepping on air.
"Six Styles – Moon Step."
The three were stunned by the disorienting experience. They had been watching him the entire time, yet somehow he had moved behind them without them noticing. It was as if there were two Jins.
Such speed...!
"You—" the woman started to say, but before she could finish, she disappeared from her spot. In the distance, Jin had his hand pressed against her face, slamming her into a tree with tremendous force. It was as though a section of the scene had been cut out, leaving only the violent conclusion.
"Boom!!"
The sound of impact finally caught up with the action, and the force of the blow left a huge crater in the tree. Unable to support itself, the tree slowly toppled. The woman's mask shattered, revealing her delicate features, though her eyes had already rolled back in unconsciousness.
That kind of blow wasn't something she could easily endure.
"Retreat!!" the orange-haired man quickly commanded.
He planned to abandon the woman and escape immediately. Jin's strength was beyond anything they could handle. Only an elite Jonin could deal with him now.
However, the next moment...
Both men froze, unable to move, cold sweat streaming down their faces.
Jin had appeared between them, casually draping an arm over each of their shoulders, as if they were close friends.
"Going somewhere? Let me see you off," Jin said calmly.
Min's eyes were filled with terror. What kind of monstrous speed was this? How could any form of taijutsu reach such a level? And he was still just a Genin...
What kind of monster had the Uchiha clan produced this time?
Before Min could process any more, Jin forcefully slammed the two men's heads together. Their masks shattered with a dull "thud," and their faces collided with such force that their noses bent out of shape. Both men's eyes rolled back as they lost consciousness.
Jin casually tossed the two unconscious men toward the unconscious woman, the three of them tumbling into a heap on the ground.
Their faint breathing indicated they were still alive.
Although Jin wanted to kill them, doing so would only create more trouble. After all, Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi were, at least on the surface, allies. If he killed them, it would cause problems that a mere Genin like him couldn't handle.
Leaving them alive gave him some room to maneuver.
He'd remember this grudge for later.
Jin gracefully landed on the ground, ignoring the three unconscious bodies, and instead turned his gaze toward another direction.
In the fading twilight, a shadow slowly approached. From the distance, Orochimaru stepped into view.
"Orochimaru," Jin said, his expression cold as he stared at the man. "Enjoying the show?"
Orochimaru nodded slightly. "It was quite entertaining. Even though I didn't get to see you awaken your Sharingan, that jutsu you used was rather intriguing."
From the moment Jin was ambushed, Orochimaru had been aware. He had arrived on the scene immediately but chose to remain hidden, observing the battle unfold.
Jin had only sensed Orochimaru's presence after unlocking his current state.
Orochimaru hadn't stepped in because he wanted to push Jin to the edge and force him to awaken the Sharingan. After all, for an Uchiha to reach their full potential, the Sharingan was crucial. Moments of life-or-death danger were often the trigger for the awakening of the Sharingan—a theory Orochimaru was well aware of from Tobirama's research.
Unfortunately, Jin hadn't awakened his Sharingan. Instead, Orochimaru witnessed the use of this astonishing jutsu. A fair trade, he thought.
Jin grinned maliciously. "Orochimaru, aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?"
In his current state, Jin's power was immense. He wasn't sure if he could defeat Kage-level ninjas, but he was confident in his ability to handle elite Jonin.
Orochimaru's promise to protect him had clearly been a joke, since the man had only observed from the shadows.
Orochimaru's smile didn't falter. "The chakra you've absorbed will only last you for another minute. How do you plan to kill me?"
He licked his lips with a snake-like tongue, clearly unbothered by Jin's threat. Orochimaru had already analyzed Jin's current strength and determined that it was temporary, tied to the chakra he'd absorbed.
"Well spotted," Jin admitted, the red chakra around him dissipating. As it faded, his body wobbled, and he collapsed onto the ground, sitting with a thud.
The Six Gates of the Celestial Thief was the eighth jutsu he had created. It had originally been designed to enhance his body's healing and increase the rate at which he could synthesize chakra.
The principles behind it were incredibly complex, rivaling S-ranked jutsu. If he hadn't mastered it instantly, it would have taken him a long time to train.
The technique worked by circulating chakra through six organs and eight chakra pathways in his body. Normally, it allowed him to absorb chakra—either from his enemy or his own reserves—enhancing his body's recovery and chakra synthesis. It even allowed him to consume food to rapidly increase his chakra reserves.
Because it ran through the pathways used in the Eight Gates Formation, he could open the Eight Gates with minimal damage to his body.
However, the cost of using the jutsu was ten times the normal chakra consumption of the Eight Gates.
The Aburame clan ninja had summoned a swarm of chakra-infused insects. Individually, the insects held little chakra, but together, they provided an enormous amount, more than what most ninjas possessed. This allowed Jin to fulfill the conditions for opening the Eight Gates.
However, this jutsu required all eight gates to be opened simultaneously. If any gate remained closed, the cycle would fail, and the technique would collapse.
While the jutsu was powerful, it was also a chakra-consuming monster—activating it would drain an elite
Jonin's chakra reserves completely.
The power Jin had displayed was only equivalent to the strength of opening the Sixth Gate in a normal Eight Gates sequence. The benefit, though, was that it wouldn't kill him—a reasonable trade-off in terms of cost and benefit.
Unfortunately, this jutsu had no potential for further power increases, as it was merely a clever workaround. Unless he had another opportunity to absorb a massive amount of chakra, he wouldn't be able to activate it again.
It was, essentially, a one-time use technique.
"Even if you could maintain that form for longer," Orochimaru continued, "you still wouldn't be a match for me."
Jin narrowed his eyes, sizing up Orochimaru. Even in his enhanced state, Jin wasn't sure if he could defeat someone of Orochimaru's caliber. If Orochimaru had already reached his future peak strength, then things were about to get interesting.
At his peak, Orochimaru could go toe-to-toe with Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
Jin wondered what kind of ripple effect this would have on the future.