Chapter 13

The fact that the system's activation speed was linked to his own strength gave Uchiha Gin the motivation to move forward.

It seems that the reason the system was able to load Senju Itama's mission completely was entirely due to the single-tomoe Sharingan he accidentally activated in the Tsukuyomi last night.

The awakening of the Sharingan evolved his strength from cannon-fodder genin to an ordinary genin. There was still a gap compared to the powerful "Konoha 12," but he should be able to go toe-to-toe with Hinata.

"Hehehe," Uchiha Gin, covering his face with one hand, let out a strange laugh, causing Senju Itama, who was playing dead behind him, to secretly open one eye.

"What kind of sickness are you having again?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin transform into one of the "Four Great Maniacs," Senju Itama couldn't help but complain, only to be met with a flick to the forehead from the other.

With a large bump on his head, Senju Itama pouted in grievance, holding back his tears.

Uchiha Gin, having adjusted his mindset, looked at the brat and found him not so annoying after all. He smiled and said something to Senju Itama that made his spine chill:

"Kid, it might not be long before you can reunite with your family."

"Don't you dare!!! I... ah... ah..." Clearly misunderstanding, Senju Itama began his futile barking again.

Given that the noise this guy was making might attract enemies, Uchiha Gin didn't hesitate to pull something out and stuff it into his mouth.

Sensing the salty, fishy smell of the object in his mouth, Senju Itama took a sniff and immediately fainted on the spot.

"The humidity by the sea is really heavy; my feet get sweaty in just one day."

Uchiha Gin retracted his hand with satisfaction, looking at the smelly sock he hadn't washed in days that he had stuffed into Senju Itama's mouth, and analyzed it with a straight face.

"We are about to enter the territory of the Uzumaki clan. Restrain your chakra; don't let them sense it."

The leader, Uchiha Fenghuo, suddenly spoke up to remind them.

"Besides being skilled in sealing techniques, the Uzumaki clan's sensory abilities are also top-tier. We are on a mission now; don't stir up trouble and provoke the Uzumaki clan."

"Is there a possibility that we've already been discovered?" muttered Uchiha Gin, who was at the very back of the group.

"Detected that the Host has encountered combat. Heartsteel chest is beginning to accumulate..."

A prompt sounded in his head; enemies had already appeared in the vicinity.

A dozen kilometers away, a red-haired figure opened his eyes, his blood-red pupils revealing a hint of coldness.

"There are five ninjas ahead. Five of them have extremely cold chakra, likely from the Uchiha clan, and there is one whose chakra is full of vitality."

The red-haired, red-eyed man said to the several other red-haired men beside him.

"Can you be sure about the one full of vitality?" a burly, red-haired muscular man asked.

"My Kagura Shingan has never been wrong," the red-eyed man replied.

"Then that's them. Let's go!"

The red-haired muscular man waved his hand, and the others chased after Uchiha Gin and his group like arrows released from a bow.

Except for Uchiha Gin, Uchiha Fenghuo and the others, who were still on the move, did not notice the approaching enemies.

Hearing the prompt, Uchiha Gin deliberately slowed his pace, gradually trailing far behind the group.

The Uchiha members in the group were already used to Uchiha Gin's habit of falling behind, so they didn't pay any attention to it; he would catch up when they stopped to rest in a while anyway.

The Uchiha group was moving through the forest. Uchiha Fenghuo, who was leading the way, suddenly felt a sense of blockage in his chakra.

Before he could think it through, a sense of crisis welled up. Years of assassination experience made him stop in his tracks immediately.

"Ambush!"

Uchiha Fenghuo activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and scanned his surroundings vigilantly. Uchiha Liang Yi and the other two behind him didn't dare to be careless and immediately activated their own Sharingan.

Just then, several red-haired men flashed out from the woods. The leader was the red-haired muscular man from before. He scrutinized Uchiha Fenghuo and the others, looking somewhat surprised to see only four of them.

"As expected of the Uchiha clan, to be able to detect the sealing formation we laid out."

The red-haired muscular man crossed his arms and said with a serious air.

Uchiha Fenghuo, having been complimented, didn't feel honored. After sizing up the red-haired muscular man, he said,

"Our Uchiha clan has never had any conflict with the Uzumaki clan. Why are you ambushing us for no reason?"

"There should be six of you. Where did the other two go?"

The red-haired muscular man didn't speak; a red-haired, red-eyed man beside him asked back.

Hearing this, Uchiha Fenghuo's heart sank, and he thought to himself,

"It seems they are here for that brat from the Senju clan."

He immediately swept a subtle glance toward the rear and found that Uchiha Gin hadn't caught up yet. He felt anxious, "I hope this kid doesn't come over."

"I don't know what you're talking about. We are just a four-man squad on a routine mission, and we are currently in the middle of it."

Uchiha Fenghuo said, while one of his hands behind his back was signaling the three behind him.

"A routine squad? Does a routine squad need the famous 'God-Hidden Fenghuo' to lead it? What kind of mission is it exactly?"

The red-haired muscular man opposite him exposed Uchiha Fenghuo's identity and asked point-blank.

"Attack!"

Seeing that his identity had been exposed, the group, having just passed information through signals, rose up simultaneously. Each of them opened their scarlet Sharingan and charged at the Uzumaki clan members. The battle was about to break out.

In the rear, Uchiha Gin, who had been lagging behind for half the day, also encountered his own "enemy." Looking at the red-haired figure who suddenly popped out of the woods, the prompt in Uchiha Gin's mind sounded once again.

"Detected that the Host has encountered combat. Heartsteel chest is beginning to accumulate..."

【Are you really not going to give me a chance to eat a losing streak?】

Uzumaki Mito, the youngest daughter of the Uzumaki clan leader, Uzumaki Ashina. Since childhood, she had shown a high talent for sealing techniques and was regarded as the apple of his eye by Uzumaki Ashina, who had a daughter late in life, and was pampered in every way.

However, the pampered Uzumaki Mito was extremely angry when she learned that her father had promised her to the Senju clan, who were far away.

In a fit of pique, she took some of her father's treasures and secretly snuck onto a cargo ship leaving the Land of Whirlpools, starting her journey of escaping marriage.

"From today on, I will be a chivalrous swordswoman who upholds justice!"

After listening to a storyteller from the Land of Iron tell a few stories about chivalrous wanderers on the ship, the simple and passionate ten-year-old girl began her journey as a swordswoman.

First, she used taijutsu at the docks to beat up a group of ruffians who were bullying the people, drawing cheers from the onlookers, which made Uzumaki Mito, who was living out her "swordswoman dream," feel very satisfied.

Then, she used sealing techniques to deal with several wandering ninjas who were using ninjutsu to bully women, sealed their chakra, and threw them all into the mountains to mine and turn over a new leaf.

After several such operations, she won quite a reputation, and the name of the "Red-Haired Swordswoman" spread far and wide.

"Another peaceful day!"

The girl with the bun hairstyle and a chubby face was eating candy given to her by an old lady on the side of the road, patrolling the small town under her protection with a satisfied face.

Calling it a small town, it was actually just a small fishing village near the coastline. The place, which had been somewhat chaotic, had become peaceful and stable after the girl's cleanup.

"I remember the storyteller said that a chivalrous person should pursue wandering the world and making the world their home."

Touching her little head, Uzumaki Mito decided to say goodbye to her "newbie village" and head toward a higher and further world.

"There are still many people in need of help waiting for me to save them!"

Clenching her fair and tender little fist, Uzumaki Mito cheered herself on.

Having made up her mind, Uzumaki Mito said goodbye to the villagers of the small fishing village. Although the villagers were reluctant, they still waved goodbye to the girl and even prepared a large bundle of snacks and dry rations for her before she left.

Heading into the jungle deep within the coastline, Uzumaki Mito, who was snacking non-stop along the way, suddenly saw a black-haired man carrying a child.

She discovered that the man not only tied up the child on his back but also gave the child a flick to the forehead. What was even more excessive was that he took out a smelly sock and stuffed it into the child's mouth.

"This must be the legendary human trafficker. But aren't the human traffickers my brother talked about the kind of black-hearted bosses in the north?" A suspicious Uzumaki Mito secretly followed him.

Uzumaki Mito, who had followed him the whole way, saw the black-haired man's pace slow down, so she secretly crept over, preparing to give the other party a magnificent opening and give this evil human trafficker a big surprise.

So the next scene was:

A red-haired girl with a bun hairstyle carrying a large bundle, her cheeks stuffed full.

She held a half-eaten dried salted fish in her left hand and half a flatbread in her right. Because her mouth was stuffed with food, her speech was unclear.

"Koo-woo-tuh-ren-fan-zuh, fang-shia-nah-guh-nan-hai! (You detestable human trafficker, let go of that boy!) (`^)"

(End of chapter)