Chapter 113: This Time, I Say No!

"Grown-up matters, kids shouldn't pry."

Uchiha Gin patted the head that Izuna had leaned in, his face straight as he spoke. He didn't know how much longer he would have to raise this brat; the worst-case scenario was that he'd have to let this kid see him off to his grave.

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words, Itama Senju at the dining table chose not to bicker with him again; he obediently stood up, went to the kitchen, brought out two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and set them on the table.

"Alright, stop pulling a long face and eat."

Uchiha Gin helplessly nudged his eldest cousin, who was standing there like a post, urging him to sit down quickly. Frowning, Madara Uchiha couldn't resist his cousin, so he pulled out a chair in the corner and sat down.

"Eldest cousin, eat more!"

Picking up a piece of tofu and placing it in Madara Uchiha's bowl, Uchiha Gin looked up and asked curiously,

"Is the war still going on lately?"

"Yes, the Senju clan has received aid from the Uzumaki clan, and the situation on the battlefield is very intense."

After blowing on the scalding tofu a few times, Madara Uchiha swallowed it cautiously before saying,

"The Uzumaki clan?"

Uchiha Gin's dead memories were awakened once more. A figure with a broad back and thick waist but delicate features appeared in his mind. Had the Uzumaki clan really joined the war this early? He wondered how Mito was doing.

"That's right. The commander of the reinforcements is the young clan leader of the Uzumaki clan, Huadao Uzumaki. That guy has very strong taijutsu and his sealing jutsu is not weak either. Big brother exchanged a few moves with him and didn't gain any advantage."

Izuna, who was currently staring daggers at Itama Senju, turned his head and complained to Uchiha Gin,

"That guy is also strange; whenever he fights us Uchiha, he always asks a weird question first."

"What question?"

Uchiha Gin asked curiously. He hadn't encountered that guy before, and he didn't have this weird habit back then.

"Every time he meets a member of the Uchiha clan, he asks, 'Do you know a curly-haired Uchiha?' Hahaha, don't you think that's strange?"

Izuna tapped the table and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, what a weirdo."

Uchiha Gin echoed with a dry laugh, then silently lowered his head, hiding his merit and fame.

"Stare -_-" Itama Senju beside him.

"Cousin, how did you get this mark on your forehead? It looks pretty cool."

Izuna, who was at the age of middle-school rebellion, noticed the diamond-shaped mark on Uchiha Gin's forehead and said enviously,

"It's just like the Heavenly Eye, give me one too!"

He was the last person who wanted to be called that; he wasn't some trendy youth.

"Heh, I'll teach you when I have time, and I'll even help you tattoo a shrimp line while I'm at it."

"By the way, why did you two come back so early this time? I remember last time you went to war, it took you a full half-year to return. You haven't even been out for a month this trip, so why are you back?"

Uchiha Gin changed the subject and looked at the two brothers as he asked.

"Butsuma Senju is dead."

Putting down his chopsticks, Madara Uchiha stared straight at Itama Senju, who was bowing his head to eat, and slowly delivered this explosive news.

"Snap!"

The chopsticks in Itama Senju's hands broke with a sound, but he kept his head down, as if nothing had happened.

"The quality of these chopsticks is poor; go get another pair."

Uchiha Gin, sharp-eyed, saw the liquid dripping from the brat's cheeks beside him and used it as an excuse to let him go out and have some quiet time alone.

Itama Senju stood up and walked toward the kitchen, his thin back trembling slightly.

"Why bother?"

Knowing that this news was aimed specifically at Itama Senju, Uchiha Gin sighed, shook his head, and said to the culprit, Madara Uchiha.

"Leaving him his life is already out of consideration for you, cousin. If he were allowed to continue living so peacefully, how could the clansmen who died on the battlefield rest in peace?"

Having experienced too much death, Madara Uchiha turned cold again. He had always had complaints about Uchiha Gin's attitude toward this remnant of the Senju.

"War is never born from one person's thoughts, nor will it end because of one person's death."

Uchiha Gin looked up, squinting his dead-fish eyes, and said to Madara Uchiha,

"The life or death of a child cannot sway the course of war. A world that cannot understand one another will always have strife."

After saying this, Madara Uchiha stopped dwelling on the matter of Itama Senju and instead began to ponder what Uchiha Gin had just said.

*Phew*, this eldest cousin is getting harder and harder to fool. He had almost finished feeding this kid all his toxic chicken soup.

After eating and drinking their fill, Madara Uchiha, still wearing a thoughtful expression, dragged the reluctant Izuna home, leaving Uchiha Gin alone to clean up the mess.

"These two have learned bad habits. They used to help me clean up voluntarily, but now they run faster than rabbits one by one."

After cleaning up, Uchiha Gin walked to Itama Senju's door and knocked a few times. There was no movement for a long while, so he sighed and said from outside the door,

"Brat, don't do anything foolish."

"Creak~"

The door was pushed open. Itama Senju, his eyes red and swollen, looked up with a pitiful expression, his voice choked with sobs.

"When can I go home?"

"Wait until the war is over."

Seeing the kid like this, Uchiha Gin's heart softened. *No, no! How can I be bewitched by a little trap! Uchiha Gin quickly shook his head, cleared the strange thoughts from his mind, and gave Itama Senju a promise.

"Father is already dead; there is no reason for you to keep me anymore. Kill me."

Hearing Uchiha Gin promise a time, Itama Senju gave a miserable smile. The war between the two clans had been fought for thousands of years with no end in sight; this promise was just empty talk.

"Thump!"

A righteous knuckle-rap landed on the head of this brat who was begging for death. Uchiha Gin calmed the agitation in his heart and spoke slowly,

"You kid, you've been with me for so many years, yet you haven't learned a single bit of a positive attitude toward life, only learning how to be EMO."

He reached out to calculate the time, then lowered his head and promised the indignant Itama Senju,

"It won't be long. The war will end in about ten years. I'll send you home then."

Looking at the firm Uchiha Gin, Itama Senju, clutching his head, pouted and said nothing more. He had heard such words countless times; it was clearly just to trick a child.

"Didn't you have plans to play with Zhili? Take this money; go out and buy whatever you want."

Seeing the kid had calmed down, Uchiha Gin finally breathed a sigh of relief, then pulled out a large handful of money and stuffed it into Itama Senju's hands, letting the brat spend money to relieve his worries.

After soothing the EMO kid, Uchiha Gin felt exhausted all over, lamenting that his life was truly too difficult. He was basically raising this kid like a son, and he had to shoulder the responsibilities of a father before even getting married.

Returning to his room and lying on the bed, only a good sleep could relieve the inexplicable fatigue in his heart. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, the long-dormant system flashed with a faint light, and then a familiar voice echoed in his mind,

"Ding, detected that the host has reached the age of thirty. The system is about to activate. Confirm activation?"

Uchiha Gin was instantly jolted awake by the sudden voice. Hearing the prompt in his mind, he was surprised but did not rashly choose to activate it.

Recalling when he had first transmigrated, he had rashly chosen "Yes" and was ruined by the missions assigned by this half-baked system.

A medieval system with a type as ancient as the Warring States period—it was always threatening to erase him at every turn, leaving him on pins and needles all day. Now that he had another chance to choose, he had learned his lesson and naturally wouldn't be fooled again.

"No, no, no, no!!!"

This time, he would never fall for this damn system's tricks again.

"Detected the host's strong rejection. The system is entering cooldown. Complete cumulative missions to unlock. During the cooldown period, the host's age will be fixed at thirty."

???

There's such a good thing?

Awakening a medieval system during the Warring States period is very reasonable, right?

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(End of chapter)