"This grudge, I'll remember for later."
Uchiha Jin held one side of the scroll with one hand while gripping its center with the other.
His eyes turned crimson in an instant, the three black tomoe spinning as he began to read quickly.
He ignored the dark-faced Mitokado Homura.
He hadn't expected Uchiha Jin to have such a move up his sleeve.
Jin's eyes darted over the contents of the Scroll of Seals, catching every word, every hand sign. Instead of memorizing it, he continued to read.
Homura wasn't too worried about Jin memorizing everything.
After all, in the ninja world, there was no such thing as a photographic memory.
Moreover, the Scroll of Seals was extremely extensive. One couldn't possibly memorize everything just by glancing at it.
Besides, anyone allowed to see the Scroll of Seals was already considered a trusted member of Konoha, so there wasn't much to guard against.
Unfortunately, Jin was an exception.
The upper echelons of Konoha never considered the Uchiha as one of their own, and thus Jin was regarded as an outsider.
Watching Jin quickly skim through the Scroll of Seals without trying to memorize anything eased Homura's anxiety.
"Maybe this brat knows his limits."
This way of glancing over it wouldn't help him remember much.
Jin kept his head down, flipping through the pages at a rapid pace.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Spirit Transformation Technique, Demonic Bud Technique, Four Symbols Seal, Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tag… Edo Tensei."
A mix of techniques he had heard of and others that were entirely new to him passed before his eyes.
These techniques were all extremely powerful, but each carried its own side effects and high difficulty level.
The lowest-ranking techniques recorded were at least A-rank, chosen for their tremendous power.
However, he did not see the Eight Gates Technique—it wasn't recorded in this scroll yet.
Half of the techniques were those invented by Tobirama Senju, but many were new even to Jin.
Soon, he had finished skimming the scroll.
Right then...
"Time's up." Mitokado Homura swiftly took the scroll back.
He didn't want to give Jin even one more second.
Jin smiled broadly at him.
He'd already memorized everything anyway.
Jin could call up the scroll's contents anytime with his mind; he had nothing to worry about.
"You need to leave with me immediately."
Homura warned him.
There were not only the contents of the Scroll of Seals here, but also a number of other jutsus.
The Scroll of Seals only contained forbidden jutsus that had high risk and extreme difficulty.
Jin clicked his tongue, then followed Homura outside.
They retraced their steps out of the area.
Seeing the clear blue sky outside, Jin turned his gaze upward.
"I need to return to report. You don't need to come unless summoned."
Homura said to Jin.
The moment Jin had pressured Hiruzen Sarutobi into letting him see the Scroll of Seals, it became clear Jin would never be one of them.
Although he didn't understand what Jin would gain from just glancing at the scroll...
Jin didn't care what Hiruzen thought.
He turned around and left without a word.
"The Uchiha—none of them are good people," Homura muttered, displeased, as he watched Jin leave.
Back home, Jin rushed into his storeroom and pulled out a blank scroll.
He laid the scroll out.
Jin pressed his hands on it.
"Ninjutsu: Photographic Technique!"
As chakra flowed out from his hands, it gradually turned multicolored, quickly spreading across the scroll like water.
Originally created to catch White Fang in the act, Jin hadn't expected it to come in handy like this.
It was a technique that allowed one to write down their memories.
"I must find a chance to get White Fang's weakness."
He had no intention of letting White Fang off the hook.
Kindness repaid with kindness, enmity repaid with enmity.
None shall be forgotten!
Soon, the entire contents of the Scroll of Seals appeared on his blank scroll.
"Heh, trying to outsmart me." Jin chuckled. The old geezers were truly delusional, thinking they were so clever.
He ignored whatever they might think of him.
He began carefully studying the contents of the Scroll of Seals.
He paid special attention to the sealing techniques.
He planned to use his time in the village to thoroughly upgrade his basic internal energy technique.
Later that night.
Danzo Shimura kicked open the door to the Hokage's office.
"You actually let Uchiha Jin see the Scroll of Seals!!"
The office was brightly lit, and the two advisors and Hiruzen Sarutobi all fell silent.
"Danzo, you can't blame Hiruzen. Back then, he was under duress," Koharu Utatane spoke up in Sarutobi's defense.
"That kid was merely skimming through the Scroll of Seals; he didn't have time to memorize anything," Mitokado Homura chimed in.
"You two!!"
Danzo pointed at the two, too furious to speak.
"Do you not understand that kid is a genius in ninjutsu research?"
"He doesn't need to memorize it! He just needs to use the techniques as a reference, and he can develop his own!!"
Danzo's rage boiled over into shouting.
What made Uchiha Jin truly concerning was not his personal strength, but his skill in developing jutsus.
The moment he heard Jin wanted to see the Scroll of Seals, he understood Jin's real intent—to find material to create his own techniques.
"How could that be?" Homura refused to believe it was possible.
There was no way such high-level techniques could be that easy to replicate.
"Don't you remember what our teacher's research capabilities were like?"
Danzo almost laughed in frustration at his companions.
Tobirama Senju had developed numerous practical jutsus without anything like the Scroll of Seals, using only basic ninjutsu.
If he'd had the Scroll of Seals from the beginning, Tobirama's ability to innovate would have been even greater.
"How could it be? With just Uchiha Jin?"
Koharu also couldn't believe Jin had that capability.
Danzo's temper flared even more.
He pointed at her, shouting, "Are you saying the basic internal technique he developed doesn't exist?"
Danzo was currently focused on researching the basic internal energy technique himself.
He understood very well just how valuable it was.
A person who could develop such a technique couldn't be much weaker than Tobirama.
Koharu and Homura were left speechless.
They hadn't thought of that aspect.
"Now, to be safe, Hiruzen, kill him. Otherwise, Uchiha Jin will become a major threat sooner or later!"
Danzo couldn't sense any respect for the village in Jin.
He was just a genius researcher, and the village could afford to lose someone like that.
"You're too extreme, Danzo."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"Uchiha Jin is part of the village, and his research is indeed contributing to its strength."
"From now on, we'll monitor Jin closely, but I don't want to hear any more talk of killing our own villagers, Danzo."
While Hiruzen Sarutobi had his own thoughts, and had inherited Tobirama's prejudice against the Uchiha, he wasn't willing to kill a member of the village under these circumstances.
Not even an Uchiha.
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen."
Danzo warned in a deep voice.
If Uchiha Jin were allowed to grow, he'd eventually turn on them.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage."
Hiruzen stared coldly at Danzo.
Danzo took a deep breath, then slammed the door as he left.
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