Chapter 14: System Warning

Uchiha Ryoichi walked away grumbling, leaving behind Uchiha Gin, who wore a look of reluctance.

In Uchiha Gin's eyes, the few people around him were all lush green leeks, waiting for him to harvest them one by one.

"It seems I can't count on Uchiha Ryoichi tomorrow."

Uchiha Gin felt it was a pity, but even so, he couldn't help but shout.

"Brother Ryoichi, let's spar again another day."

Without turning his head, Uchiha Ryoichi extended a hand and made a friendly gesture with his middle finger; it was clear he was full of anticipation for Uchiha Gin's challenge.

"Tsk, the local Uchiha are so impolite," Uchiha Gin commented, looking as if he were disappointed by their lack of potential.

The number of battles for today had been exhausted; according to the system's description, even if he entered battle again, the Heartsteel chest would not be triggered.

He began to examine the chest in his mind carefully; its exterior was as gaudy as he had seen in his past life.

During the battle just now, just like when he fought Senju Itama yesterday, it had been playing intense BGM, but he had been prepared today and had actively muted the music.

Uchiha Gin tried clicking on the chest and found no reaction, so he pondered to himself,

"Is there no item description?"

"The system is a pioneer server; 90% of the content has not yet been loaded. Please wait patiently, Host."

The long-silent system finally deigned to appear and patiently explained to Uchiha Gin.

By the time Uchiha Gin opened his mouth to ask a question, the system had vanished without a trace again, and no matter how he called out, there was no response.

"It seems I can only know what rewards this chest has once I gather four times."

After fumbling around with no results, Uchiha Gin simply gave up on researching it; after all, he had only activated this system for one day, and the system's functions could only be explored slowly in the future.

He then turned his gaze toward the other Uchiha, a malicious look showing in his dead fish eyes; Uchiha Feihe, who was wiping his short blade, and Uchiha Daro, who was meditating to refine chakra, couldn't help but shiver.

The next day, Uchiha Gin rose early and was the first to seek out the usually taciturn Uchiha Feihe.

"Brother Feihe, I have long heard that your swordsmanship is divine. It just so happens that I was once taught a sword technique by Clan Leader Tajima, so I wanted to take this opportunity to spar with you and improve together."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Feihe was stunned for a moment, then said:

"We are about to set off; I'm afraid there isn't time for a spar now. Let's talk about it when we rest."

But for Uchiha Gin, how could he let a cooked duck fly away? He only said,

"It won't delay anything; let's decide the winner in one move."

Seeing Uchiha Feihe show signs of pushing back again, he added,

"Or is it that you, Brother Feihe, are afraid of being defeated by my hand? That is understandable; after all, it is a sword technique personally taught by the Clan Leader, which ordinary Uchiha indeed cannot parry."

Having said that, he once again wore a look of disdain that made people's teeth itch.

Uchiha Feihe looked at him in surprise, wondering when this kid had become so arrogant. He immediately drew the short blade at his waist and the katana from his back, holding them horizontally in front of him, and took a stance.

"Please, enlighten me!"

To think he was a dual-wielder. Uchiha Gin looked at Uchiha Feihe's starting stance, steeled his heart, and also drew the samurai sword from his back.

He gripped the katana with both hands, looking at his opponent with a cold gaze, as if searching for Uchiha Feihe's openings.

The two stood in a stalemate for a long while without moving. Uchiha Feihe was looking for openings, but he discovered that Uchiha Gin was all openings.

Uchiha Gin, however, was waiting for a system prompt, and the lack of one made him hesitant.

"I ask that Brother Feihe make the first move."

Recalling the previous two battles, it seemed the opponent had always moved first, so after a long silence, he spoke first.

The Uchiha Feihe opposite him was not relaxed either; he found that although Uchiha Gin's movements were ordinary, even full of openings, the other party's expression was normal, as if victory were already in his grasp.

This series of actions made him constantly overthink, to the point where he was drenched in sweat. As Uchiha Gin's voice fell, Uchiha Feihe lunged forward to test him with his first strike.

Seeing Uchiha Feihe suddenly attack, Uchiha Gin's nerves tightened subconsciously, and the system's voice sounded in his mind at the right time,

"Detected that the Host has encountered a battle. The Heartsteel chest has begun to accumulate."

As he expected, the system would only judge that a battle had started if the opponent moved first.

But if that were the case, wouldn't he have to resort to trash-talking to provoke his opponents and draw aggro in every future battle? He couldn't trigger the Heartsteel chest with assassinations or sneak attacks.

Wouldn't that turn him from an assassin in the shadows into a warrior who must max out his taunts?

There was no time to think; seeing Uchiha Feihe already closing in, Uchiha Gin dropped the samurai sword in his hand, then raised both hands and said righteously,

"I surrender!"

Uchiha Feihe's blade stopped before his nose; his usually cold face turned bright red, as if he had been greatly insulted.

He hesitated for three seconds, and just as he was about to sheath his blade and say something, Uchiha Gin suddenly performed a forward roll, took the opportunity to pick up the fallen samurai sword, and slashed from bottom to top at the now-relaxed Uchiha Feihe.

Fortunately, Uchiha Feihe was an Uchiha who had been immersed in swordsmanship for many years. Relying on reflexes far beyond the ordinary, he parried with the short blade in his left hand, deflecting Uchiha Gin's samurai sword, then used the momentum to jump backward and adjust his position.

"To use such a tactic—is this also part of swordsmanship? Pretending to be weak and then sneak-attacking when I let my guard down? Such behavior damages the reputation of the Uchiha clan; it certainly wasn't taught to you by the Clan Leader."

Uchiha Feihe looked at the unsuccessful Uchiha Gin and said in a deep voice, his tone full of disdain.

"My lord, have you eaten shit?"

Uchiha Gin explained with a serious expression while pondering to himself,

"Surrendering voluntarily actually triggered a system warning."

Just a moment ago, when Uchiha Gin dropped his sword to surrender, he didn't hear the prompt for gaining heart energy he had expected, but rather a system alarm.

"Detected that the Host has engaged in match-fixing. 10 points of heart energy deducted. The system has zero tolerance for match-fixing. If the Host engages in match-fixing again, the system will reclaim the Heartsteel chest. The battle continues now."

The moment he heard the warning, Uchiha Gin reacted in 0. 1 seconds, so he took the opportunity to counterattack.

Trying to be clever only to lose out, the loss of 10 points of heart energy made Uchiha Gin's heart ache; his idea of exploiting a bug was also extinguished.

"It seems I have to do everything the right way; bugs are not to be touched."

Since he couldn't easily obtain heart energy points this way, Uchiha Gin stopped pretending.

Once he entered the battle mode seriously, he was, as expected, knocked to the ground by Uchiha Feihe in three moves, and the samurai sword in his hand nearly flew out.

"Is that it?"

Uchiha Feihe looked at the easily defeated Uchiha Gin and asked incredulously,

"Weren't you acting like victory was in your grasp just now? Why did you fold so quickly?"

"Host failed. Gained heart energy *12. The Heartsteel chest reward can only be unlocked after one more battle. (Current accumulated heart energy: 13)"

It was actually two points more than last time.

"Cough, cough, cough... that was truly a hearty battle. I, Uchiha Gin, am willing to call you the strongest in swordsmanship!"

Uchiha Gin, kneeling on one knee, used his sword to prop himself up on the ground while extending a thumb with the other hand, a bright tooth flashing in his smile.

Uchiha Feihe was left speechless by this scene; he immediately sheathed his blade and walked away without looking back, as if he had been greatly insulted.

"I have benefited greatly from this battle. I hope that after today's rest, we can fight again tomorrow!"

Cast a wide net to catch more fish; Uchiha Feihe was also a high-quality leek that must not be let go.

"Idiot."

The taciturn Uchiha Feihe threw the two words back from afar.

The battle between the two was very short. The others in the camp had also finished packing, and after clearing their tracks, the group set off on the return journey.

The unconscious Senju Itama was still being carried by Uchiha Gin. After yesterday's day of trekking, he had basically adapted to traveling while carrying someone, and today's journey was much easier.

Fortunately, they did not encounter any enemies along the way. As night approached, Uchiha Fenghuo, who was leading the way, stopped and ordered the group to set up camp and rest.

Everyone pitched their tents on the spot. Uchiha Gin had just finished setting his up and was preparing to get some good rest.

"Brother... brother..."

At this moment, Senju Itama, who had been unconscious for a day and a night, slowly woke up, murmuring and calling for his brother.

"Your brother is gone," Uchiha Gin whispered into his ear like a demon.

"Ahhh??? Wuu wuu wuu..."

"Oh, right, your younger brother is gone too. Congratulations on becoming a cute little girl who squats to pee~"

Eh? Wasn't it already gone...

Struck by the successive blows, Senju Itama woke up completely. Seeing the curly-haired dead-fish-eyed person in front of him, he remembered he had been captured, but just as he let out two cries, he felt something stuffed into his mouth, choking him until tears streamed down his face.

(End of chapter)