In spite of his and Sai’s victory over the now sealed away immortal Hiruko, Jin mopes while sitting on a boulder. While hunched over in the same position as the Thinker sculpture, he surveys the destruction on the foggy battlefield with a gloomy expression.

It’s still not enough to survive the Fourth Great Ninja War and the Otsutsuki clan… Jin laments as he continues to sit. As Jin continues to pout, he deactivates sage mode while Ayanami quickly runs to his side.

“Hey, how do you know Naruto’s jutsu…?” Ayanami whispers into Jin’s ear.

“I saw it in the anime and manga, I just copied what Naruto did once I got older and stronger.” Jin whispers back as Naruto and friends walk up to once again surround their unlikely ally.

“Now that Hiruko’s taken care of, why are you here, Jin?” Shikamaru continues to question.

“Because I can.” Jin responds curtly.

“How do you even know my move?!” Naruto asks while pointing at Jin in an angry yet comedic manner.

“Why don’t you ever tell us anything, Jin?” Asks a girl with light blue hair.

YUP, they're just going to keep asking--wait, who said that? Jin thinks as he looks up at the young woman with a mix of confusion and indifference. “Who the hell are you?!”

“Who am I…? You should remember your teammates, Jin!” The girl says with anger in her tone. “I’m Yuno Tamaki and like you, a member of squad 1!”

Yuno, yuno, yuno… I remember a Yuno Gasai, but she’s from another anime and manga. Oh, wait! Now I remember! Jin thinks hard and then snaps his finger. “Oh, yeah… you’re that annoying, clingy girl that kept bugging me.”

“I’m the… annoying, clingy… girl…?” Yuno says as she slumps over with depression. Everyone present (excluding Jin) looks at her with pity. Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten go to console her.

“Man, Jin… now that is just cruel...” Says a sympathetic Kiba.

“The fact that I have to try and put in effort to even remember her should tell you how little she means to me.” Jin points out nonchalantly as Tsume lands behind him. The leaf ninja take stances, prepared to fight. Since she’s here, I might as well do what I should’ve done earlier…

“Hey, Rito, can you hand me that bag?” Jin asks his friend.

“Got it!” Rito replies.

A few moments later, the young boy jumps off of Tsume and hands Jin a clear, plastic bag containing items that are unusual to the leaf ninja. Jin uses his Probe Jutsu and shares his knowledge on Rito to Ayanami who nods in response. Jin then makes his way to Ino with Shikamaru and Choji stepping in front to protect her. Jin shoots the two boys with death glares and they step out of Jin’s way with fear sewn into their hearts. Jin continues to walk and stops right in front of Ino.

“I know this isn’t the right time, but is it ever the right time? So, here.” Jin says as he bows and offers the bag to her. “You apologized to me for the bullying, so I’m apologizing for what I did to you back in the Chunin Exams.”

“Oh, thanks… What is it…?” Asks a surprised and confused Ino, taking the bag.

“There are various sweets in the bag. The brown stuff is chocolate, the pink stuff is cotton candy, and there is a drink called ‘Coke’ in a plastic bottle.” Jin answers as he stands up straight, scratching the back of his head. “I would’ve given you a bouquet of flowers, but I didn’t even bother to pay attention when the Yamanaka clan taught us about flowers and their meanings.”

“You didn’t… heh heh heh, you lughead.” Ino giggles as she begins to relax.

“Well, you know me.” Jin shrugs as he turns around and walks back to Rito and Tsume with his right hand waving. “Later…”

“Wait, first you leave the village, you help strangers, join up with Orochimaru, and now you help us prevent the Fourth War…” Kakashi reasons as Jin keeps walking. “...Just whose side are you on?!”

Oh, right… They don’t know about Orochimaru yet. Jin thinks as both he and Rito jump back onto Tsume. “I’m on no one’s side, but my own.”

“Be seein’ ya!” Jin shouts as Tsume flaps her massive wings and flies away.

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“Yo, Jin so we’re going to meet up with Sasuke now, hey…?” Rito asks after a few minutes of flying. “Afterall you did what you wanted to do and failed epically at it.”

“Yes, but we’re making a slight detour to the prison, Hozuki Castle of the Hidden Grass Village.” Jin answers as he stuffs his face with a rice ball. After swallowing, he continues, “The warden, Mui possesses two jutsu that I want to copy and make mine.”

“AH--did you know that you sound like Ken Kaneki?” Rito says, trying to change the subject.

“Say wha-?” Jin questions. The red-haired rogue tilts his head to one side with confusion and amusement.

“Yeah, you sound a lot like Ken from Tokyo Ghoul.” Rito continues as he uses his phone to play the recording of their previous conversation.

“No way, that is so fucking awesome!” An ecstatic Jin announces as he listens to the recording of his voice. “I guess there’s no need to point out how much you sound like Lelouch from Code Geass. Right, Rito…?”

Now that I think about it, Ayanami has the same voice as Toru Hagakure from My Hero Academia… Jin thinks as the Hozuki Castle appears on the horizon.

“Master Jin, do I land?” Tsume asks as she flies closer to the prison.

“Just circle around, we don’t need to land or make close contact with anyone.” Jin orders.

Tsume follows Jin’s directions and circles the perimeter from up high. Various attacks are fired at the group, but Tsume easily dodges them all. Jin clears his mind and builds up chakra, activating his Probe Jutsu.

Okay… there’s a guy who poisoned a whole village, a guy who disobeyed orders, another guy who--HOLY SHIT!! That is messed up as fuck! A now disgusted Jin thinks as probes and searches for Mui’s mind. Oh, there’s Mui… deep regrets over sacrificing his own son, strong sense of duty and loyalty… AH! There it is…

Jin releases the jutsu and then holds out his right arm. A moment later, Jin’s right hand brings up a large flame, which soon after takes the form of a sword. After making a few slashing motions, he undoes his new jutsu.

“Celestial Prison Flame Sword… Alright, let's meet up with Sasuke at the Southern Hideout.” Jin says, satisfied at copying two new jutsu.

“Yes, Master Jin.” Tsume responds as she begins to change course.

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“So, why are we walking the rest of the way again?” Rito asks Jin as they both walk across the ocean towards the Southern Hideout. “We could be there already.”

“Because Tsume was tired, needed to rest...” Jin explains as they get closer to their destination. “Also, the summoning was about to run out of time. If she had kept flying us, she would’ve returned to wherever she was when I summoned her from and we’d be falling for miles.”

“Anyway… if you’re trying to make yourself stronger, I heard there’s this meteorite in the Hidden Star village…” Rito asks, changing the subject.

“No! Out of the question, a thousand times, no!” Jin snaps back, dismissing the suggestion.

“Why…?” Asks a confused Rito.

“First of all, Naruto destroyed it before he even left to go and train with Jiraiya.” Jin explains to his fellow reincarnation. “Secondly, that damn meteorite also emits radiation...”

“OH, I see now…” Rito remarks, realizing what Jin is talking about. “Sorry, forget I asked.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ve arrived.” Jin responds as the island where the hideout is located appears on the horizon. Jin peers into the distance and sees two people also walking towards the Southern Hideout. “And it looks like Sasuke and Suigetsu have just arrived as well.”

Jin and Rito quickly sprint to Sasuke and Suigetsu, leaving a trail of splashing water in their wake. As Sasuke turns to face the commotion, both reincarnations come to a sudden stop just a few feet away from them.

“Oh, hey Sasuke. What have we missed?” Jin questions his sibling student.

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YUNO TAMAKI:

OVERVIEW

A member of Jin’s old squad. Is the Azure Fang character of the MMORPG, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Online. Feels unrequited love for Jin as Sakura does for Sasuke. Has no relevance to the plot of HIRIN, don’t expect to see her again. I don’t even know why I made a character sheet for her LOL

APPEARANCE

-Looks exactly like Azure Fang from Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Online.