Chapter 128: Time Has Passed and Things Have Changed; You Are No Longer the Youth You Once Were

The girl, having fallen into an emotional slump, began to let her imagination run wild due to the stimulation. Just then, she heard a noise outside again. Having learned from her previous lesson, she no longer took it lightly this time; she pricked up her ears and listened intently.

"Simple and easy, the sealing jutsu is as good as done."

The girl, having roughly grasped the meaning, instantly perked up. At this moment, she could perceive the stagnant time around her beginning to flow; she had returned to the normal timeline, and she would soon be free!

The ecstatic girl was just about to use her strength to push open the coffin lid that had sealed her for so long, but when her charcoal-like fingers pressed against it, she hesitated.

She looked down at her own stark-naked self, then sniffed the smell of burnt hair. The hand that was originally pushing the lid instantly changed sides, gripping the coffin lid tightly to prevent it from being pried open.

At this time, Uchiha Gin outside raised his head in confusion, looked at Uchiha Madara not far away, and spoke up,

"Uncle, I..."

"I understand. You haven't seen each other for so many years; you must have a lot to say. I won't disturb you, Uncle."

Uchiha Madara, having misunderstood, wore a look of awkward amusement. He turned and jumped out of the deep pit, walking into the distance, thinking to give the two young people some private space.

I really am a good uncle in the ninja world.

"Huh? No, I meant to say, why won't this thing open?"

Watching Uchiha Madara's back as he left without the slightest hesitation, Uchiha Gin muttered in speechlessness.

However, since Uncle had just avoided the scene, he could use his Byakugan to see what the situation was.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Gin activated his mutated Byakugan again. After one glance at the stone sarcophagus, he instantly turned his head away, muttering incessantly to himself,

"How is it still like that? I remember I turned the power down!"

That one glance had actually revealed the plain-looking girl again, but he had specifically lowered the penetration of his Byakugan to avoid suspicion; it should have only been able to see through the coffin lid. It seemed this pair of eyes needed some serious study.

Sigh! Uchiha Gin would rather question if something was wrong with his eyes than suspect that there was a problem on the girl's side.

"I am doing this to save someone, I am doing this to save someone..."

Uchiha Gin used self-hypnosis, then opened his eyes with a gaze as clear as a saint's, calmly scanning the stone sarcophagus to check for any traps left behind to seal people.

The girl inside the stone sarcophagus felt something; for some reason, she had the illusion of being spied upon, and she subconsciously let go to cover her vital parts.

"No traces of chakra."

Uchiha Gin rubbed his eyes in confusion. Confirming there were no traps, he forced himself not to peer into the scene inside the sarcophagus and once again reached out his large hands to grip the coffin lid tightly.

This kind of thing requires the coordination of waist and horse stance. He planted his feet firmly to stabilize his base, and a continuous stream of chakra was poured into his arms.

Uchiha Gin held his breath, and as the veins on his arms bulged, his muscles knotted.

Lift for me!!!

Something completely unexpected happened: the coffin lid, which had been heavy as a thousand jun just a moment ago, had suddenly become light. Uchiha Gin, having used too much force, flew backward while hugging the lid and fell heavily to the ground.

"My waist! My brand-new, zero-wear electric motor, my sturdy, manly waist!"

He couldn't care about the stone sarcophagus anymore; Uchiha Gin wailed miserably while clutching his waist and writhing on the ground.

"Uh, this voice?"

Hearing the voice she had been longing for in the darkness, but finding the tone and manner of speech completely different from the person in her memory, the girl, carefully huddled in the stone sarcophagus, quietly poked her head out to look toward the source of the sound.

Uchiha Gin, still clutching his kidneys on the ground, felt a scorching gaze and looked over subconsciously, only to see a black sea-urchin head shivering in the stone sarcophagus.

Discovered!

The girl saw that the figure lying there was not the boy from her memory. Her heart gave a jolt, and as the other person raised his head, she was so scared that she quickly shrank back.

But unfortunately, the aftereffects of the electric therapy had not worn off; the girl's long black hair had been electrocuted into a sea-urchin shape, and the narrow stone sarcophagus could no longer contain her.

"I've already seen you!"

Uchiha Gin flipped himself up, patted the dust off his body, and revealed a smile he thought was warm, intending to give the little light in his memory a wonderful reunion.

"D-don't come over here!"

Before Uchiha Gin could get close, the girl's terrified voice came from the stone sarcophagus,

"If you dare to come over, I won't be polite to you!"

Tsk, she's even shy.

Uchiha Gin chuckled. It seemed the other party hadn't recognized him, so he decided to give the girl he hadn't seen in years a big surprise.

Tiptoeing toward the stone sarcophagus, Uchiha Gin leaned his head inside with a smile and said softly,

"Welcome back, Little... Hey, hey? Hey! ~~ Who are you?"

What met his eyes was not the quiet and intelligent girl of his memory, but an unidentified creature that was stark naked, pitch-black all over, and sporting a sea-urchin hairstyle.

Following his three-part questioning, the girl, who was huddled in a defensive squat, raised her head in astonishment. Seeing a human face hovering in front of her—and not yet seeing clearly in the darkness—the shame and anger the girl had accumulated for so long erupted violently.

"Go to hell!"

Uchiha Gin was still stuck in a shocked expression, but the girl in the stone sarcophagus had already struck out in hatred. The pitch-black unidentified creature's eyes turned scarlet, and a familiar pattern emerged in them.

A pair of cherry-red giant hands quietly extended from behind the girl, grabbed Uchiha Gin—who hadn't yet recovered his senses—and lifted him into the air.

"Kill you, and Gin won't know about this, hehe."

The pitch-black creature was actually emitting visible black energy. Uchiha Gin, having been ambushed, felt his sphincter tighten in fear.

"Wuwuwu, I'm a law-abiding citizen!"

Uchiha Gin, suddenly grabbed, almost couldn't catch his breath. Looking in surprise at the cherry-red skeleton emerging behind the pitch-black creature, Uchiha Gin hurriedly explained. Since this move had been brought out, the identity of the strange creature in front of him was self-evident.

"Little Light! Little Light! It's me, Gin!"

He hadn't expected this seal to have a skin-changing effect, directly giving the girl a limited-edition "Land of Lightning Laborer" skin.

"Uh? Gin?"

The girl, who had fallen into a blackened state, had intended to kill to silence the witness, but she hadn't expected the person she had grabbed to call out her name and claim to be Gin.

Calming her chaotic emotions, the girl opened a gap in the Susanoo's giant hand, revealing the face of the person she had caught inside.

"Hmph, you old thing actually dare to impersonate Gin. I will definitely make you taste what the Tsukuyomi punishment is!"

This guy in her hand actually had the nerve to say he was Gin. He should look in a mirror at his own wretched appearance; her Gin was a sunny, cheerful, gentle, and warm youth in the prime of his life.

Longingly recalling the peerless elegance of that boy in her heart, the girl, with her head poked out of the stone sarcophagus, looked at the old geezer inside the Susanoo with disgust.

Once I finish off this guy, I'll tidy myself up and go find my Gin.

"Don't, don't, I really am Gin!"

Feeling the pressure on his body becoming heavier and heavier, Uchiha Gin panicked a little. He didn't know if his three-piece set could withstand the Susanoo, but the top priority was to make the girl believe he was Gin.

"Little Light, when you came to my house to play at five years old, you wet your pants! When you were six and went to play by the river, you fell in and I saved you! Seven years old..."

To prove his identity, Uchiha Gin began to frantically expose the girl's dark history, attempting to trigger her memories.

"Hmm~?"

The Susanoo controlled by the girl paused in its movements. With her head exposed, her scarlet eyes were filled with confusion. Only she and Gin knew these things; for this person in front of her to be so clear about them, could it be...?

"Speak quickly, what did you do to my Gin!"

The Susanoo's giant hand tightened abruptly. Uchiha Gin, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was once again squeezed until he saw stars.

"I have walked on thin ice my whole life..."

(End of chapter)