Chapter 17: Nicknames

Tsukuyomi space.

Having been stabbed for who knows how long, the nerves in Uchiha Gin's body no longer registered pain; he watched numbly as the various Itachi Uchihas before him slashed at him with their blades, one by one.

"It's like mincing meat."

Unable to break free, Uchiha Gin even began to find amusement in his misery, teasing the Itachi Uchihas,

"Did you guys not eat? Can you put some effort into it?"

"Don't just slash the front; if you can't manage, flip me over and slash the back. Keep it even—you can't favor one side over the other."

The hard-working Itachi Uchihas listened to Uchiha Gin's incessant chatter, and their pre-set rhythm seemed to wind up like a clockwork toy, each of their strikes doubling in speed.

【Double Speed X2】

"Hey, hey, hey, don't stab into my chrysanthemum; I'm still a pure soul, 24 years old, just a student."

Having been stabbed until his mind was muddled, Uchiha Gin began to babble incoherently.

After an unknown amount of time, the movements of the Itachi Uchihas paused simultaneously. Uchiha Gin, who had been closing his eyes to enjoy the Tsukuyomi knife massage, felt his hands being released. He fell and landed on one knee, struggling to pry his eyelids open. Looking at the bright, crescent moon above, Uchiha Gin was so moved that tears actually streamed down his face—it hadn't been easy.

"Damn it, finally made it through," Uchiha Gin said bitterly.

"What kind of sickness do you have?"

Having been tied to the pillar and now restored to his senses, Itama Senju looked at Uchiha Gin, who was kneeling on the ground, with a strange expression.

Just a moment ago, this guy had finished tying him up and walked away a few steps before suddenly dropping to his knees; he was just about to see what kind of trouble he was stirring up again.

He hadn't expected that in the next second, the guy would be crying his eyes out while shouting about "making it through." What a strange fellow.

"It's nothing, I just happened to think of something sad."

Knowing the nature of Tsukuyomi, Uchiha Gin didn't dawdle; he stood up, wiped his tears, and turned around.

"What are you sad about? I'm the one who should be sad, you—"

Itama Senju, who was in the middle of complaining, looked at the turning Uchiha Gin and said in surprise,

"Why are you activating your Sharingan for no reason? Are you trying to hypnotize and interrogate me? Truly an inherently evil Uchiha, but..."

Uchiha Gin, stunned by this remark, only then realized that his vision had become sharper; he could see clearly even in the dark of night.

The chakra in his body was no longer obstructed as it had been before, and it was flowing slowly toward his eyes. This feeling was as refreshing as eating a popsicle in the middle of summer.

"But what?"

The happy Uchiha Gin didn't bother to argue with Itama Senju's insolence.

"You think you can interrogate me with a single tomoe? Are you going to hypnotize me with genjutsu?"

A sharp flick landed on the head of the disdainful Itama Senju, raising a large bump.

"Watch me use physical hypnosis!"

Uchiha Gin, who had been looked down upon, didn't hold a grudge overnight.

"Ahhh!!!" The beaten Itama Senju cried out in pain, his large, watery eyes brimming with tears.

After dealing with Itama Senju, Uchiha Gin looked around and found everything as it should be; he checked the pillar and found no traces left by anyone else.

Unable to figure it out, he had no choice but to return to his tent and pull out a small mirror he carried to examine his eyes. Sure enough, he had truly awakened the Sharingan, even if it was only a single tomoe.

"To take a full Tsukuyomi and only awaken a single tomoe—is the original owner's talent really this ridiculously poor?"

Having suffered such long torture only to awaken a single tomoe, Uchiha Gin felt it was deeply unworthy, though he hadn't stopped to think about who the last person to awaken a single tomoe after eating a Tsukuyomi was.

"Backyard refreshes a random skill 【Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi】 daily, obtained Tsukuyomi Fragment *1."

The voice of the system, which he hadn't heard for a day, rang in his mind.

It was actually this skill, a seemingly useless rule-based skill he had obtained last time from opening a purple orb.

It turned out the system defaulted the empty space he had fenced off behind his tent as his backyard, so it refreshed a Tsukuyomi for him. Recalling the description of this skill:

【Backyard refreshes a random skill daily: A random skill is refreshed in the host's backyard every day. The skill is manifested as an NPC casting it; the host cannot control it, but the skill cannot kill the host. After the skill ends, there is a certain chance to drop the skill or fragments. Collect enough fragments to learn the skill.】

"It can't kill me, but it can torture me!"

Uchiha Gin grumbled internally, but since he didn't seem to suffer any damage after the skill ended—recalling how long Kakashi had been bedridden after eating a Tsukuyomi—he could consider this a blessing in disguise.

"Tsk tsk, does this count as being lucky? The first refresh actually gave me a Mangekyo skill."

He then tried clicking on "Tsukuyomi Fragment."

【Tsukuyomi Fragment (1/40), collect 40 pieces to synthesize Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi. Can be learned by Mangekyo Sharingan users.】

"40 pieces???? Damn it, what a scam!" Seeing the glaring (1/40) behind the fragment, Uchiha Gin felt his heart was weary.

"I have to eat 39 more Tsukuyomis? I'm not paying for this, give me my money back!"

This meant he would have to encounter Itachi Uchiha at least 39 more times to collect enough fragments for this skill.

Thinking of this, the exhausted Uchiha Gin fell asleep instantly.

The next day.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Uchiha Dailang, who was responsible for the night watch, had spent half the night hiding not far from the camp.

As he walked toward the camp while yawning, a sudden obstacle appeared. Looking at the person who had arrived, a look of confusion appeared on Uchiha Dailang's honest face.

"Uchiha Gin, is something the matter? The night watch shift is already over; there's no need to change shifts."

The person who arrived was none other than Uchiha Gin, who hadn't slept well all night. Having been tortured by Tsukuyomi for 72 hours, every time he closed his eyes, he saw a group of Itachis slashing at him, and quite a few were stabbing at his lower parts with their blades.

Although the system had repaired his physical injuries, mental trauma was not so easily healed.

Having only dozed off for a little while, Uchiha Gin, sporting panda eyes identical to Gaara's, had been waiting on Uchiha Dailang's path since early morning. There was no other reason; he just wanted to open a treasure chest today.

"Brother Dailang, I've heard from Captain Feng Huo that your Fire Style is practiced to perfection; your B-rank Fire Style is like second nature, and you've even begun to delve into A-rank techniques. I admire you greatly."

A standard tactic: start with a wave of flattery.

And Uchiha Liangyi and Uchiha Feihe clearly hadn't told Uchiha Dailang about his challenges.

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's words of admiration, Uchiha Dailang's first reaction was to touch his head in embarrassment, then he said honestly:

"Not at all, not at all. I just use everyone else's rest time to practice Fire Style. It's not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning..."

"I was once given pointers on Fire Style by the Clan Head. Meeting Brother Dailang is like a high mountain meeting a flowing stream. I was delayed by missions before, but now that the mission is complete, I have let go of the obsession in my heart. My only remaining wish is to spar with the clan's genius ninja, 'Fire-Starting Dailang.' Not for anything else, just to witness Brother Dailang's miraculous ninjutsu."

"Fire-Starting Dailang" was Uchiha Dailang's nickname in the clan. Incidentally, Uchiha Liangyi was known as "Tricky Sword Liangyi," and Uchiha Feihe was known as "Twin-Blade Feihe."

"But, we are about to assemble. Why not wait until we rest in the evening to exchange pointers?"

Although Uchiha Dailang was floating on air from Uchiha Gin's flattery, he always prioritized missions and didn't get carried away. They had to travel today, and he couldn't waste his stamina and chakra just for a spar.

"It doesn't matter, we can just—"

Rolling his dead-fish eyes, a certain Uchiha was just about to use the same trick he used on Uchiha Feihe when a voice suddenly sounded behind Uchiha Gin.

"What are you dawdling for? We're about to set off."

Without anyone noticing, Uchiha Feng Huo had appeared behind the two like a ghost, frowning as he spoke to them.

Both Uchiha Gin and Dailang broke into a cold sweat; they hadn't sensed when Uchiha Feng Huo had appeared beside them at all, so they could only nod repeatedly in agreement.

On the way back, Uchiha Gin followed behind them, thinking to himself that it was a pity.

"It seems I can only wait until evening to find Uchiha Dailang. But Uchiha Feng Huo's stealth technique is truly formidable; he appeared behind us without me sensing a single ripple of his chakra."

Only then did he remember that Uchiha Feng Huo also had a title, and this title wasn't just known within the clan—it was famous throughout the Warring States period.

【God-Hidden Feng Huo】

The man who had practiced stealth to the extreme. Once, while executing an assassination mission, he infiltrated a medium-sized clan, bypassed hundreds of guards, and assassinated his target; it wasn't until the next day that he was discovered.

(End of chapter)