Chapter 187: Did the Old Man Get Gold?

Uchiha Gin, his belly full of pent-up anger, left Uchiha Madara's office without looking back. As he reached the main gate, he glanced at the imposing clan leader's building and muttered to himself,

As expected, I never encounter anything good whenever I come to this place!

Sooner or later, I'm going to blow this place up!

"Boom! Slap! Thud~!"

Returning to his doorstep in a huff, he heard a chaotic commotion inside before he even entered. Uchiha Gin sighed; why was there never a moment of peace anywhere?

"What are you two doing again?"

Uchiha Gin took a deep breath and pushed open the door. As he had expected, Uchiha Guang and the long-unseen Itama Senju were brawling again.

At this moment, the two were gripping each other's hands tightly. Uchiha Gin looked at the bulging veins on their fair little hands and their flushed faces; he didn't even need to guess to know that these two had been locked in this stalemate for quite some time.

"Gin, this brat has actually been sleeping in your room this whole time! Who knows how many filthy things he's done in secret!"

Hearing Uchiha Gin's voice, Uchiha Guang struggled to turn her head. Her flushed little face was full of indignation, and because she was exerting all her strength, her voice was squeezed out through gritted teeth.

"Don't listen to this old woman's nonsense. I just didn't see clearly when I got up last night, that's why I accidentally went into your room."

Compared to the straining Uchiha Guang, Itama Senju was clearly at ease. Hearing Uchiha Guang snitch, he immediately grew anxious and began to explain.

That slightly red face was likely flushed with shame because his actions had been exposed.

"And she even bragged about going on a honeymoon with you and soaking in the hot springs together! What a truly shameless person!"

Itama Senju was hopping mad. He immediately refined the chakra in his body, spreading it throughout his limbs; the majestic Yang-release chakra on his body was so dense it was almost overflowing.

Although she was much younger than Uchiha Guang, she had never backed down when it came to strength, so she immediately pushed her superhuman strength to its limit.

"Huh?"

Uchiha Guang, who had assumed the opponent was as exhausted as she was, suddenly sensed the powerful aura emanating from the other's body and let out a cry of extreme surprise.

The next second, she felt as if she were facing a speeding train head-on. Before she could react, she was sent flying by a massive force.

"Hoo~ You little brat!"

Performing a few backflips in the air to barely dissipate the impact, Uchiha Guang landed steadily, her anger burning.

I was just playing around with you, and you actually went for real? You don't think I, of the great Uchiha, would lose to you in a contest of strength, do you?

She immediately refined chakra and poured it into her eyes. Her pitch-black pupils instantly turned scarlet, and the three tomoe emerging in her eyes spun slightly, a cold, sinister aura enveloping the entire room.

"Stop, stop, stop! I just worked overtime for half a day for free and got assigned extra tasks. You two had better settle down!"

Seeing the conflict between the two about to escalate and fearing they would start a real fight, Uchiha Gin stepped out to stop the farce. He looked at the two combatants with an unhappy expression and warned them with a frown,

"Otherwise, you'll be getting the family discipline!"

"Ugh~" *2

The two, who had been at each other's throats, instantly calmed down upon hearing the words "family discipline" from Uchiha Gin. Simultaneously, they subconsciously covered their backsides; it seemed both had experienced Uchiha Gin's "ruthless" methods.

"Mr. Gin, welcome home~"

Just as Uchiha Gin was feeling deeply troubled, a purple figure walked slowly out of the pantry. She was holding a cup of fragrant tea and spoke to him gracefully before walking to his side and raising the teacup in her hand,

"Seeing how exhausted you look, drink a cup of tea to relax."

Taking the tea and smelling its refreshing fragrance, Uchiha Gin's tightly furrowed brows finally found a moment of rest.

"Sigh~ It's always Zhi Li who is so comforting. If only she were my own child!"

Looking at the well-behaved Uchiha Zhi Li before him, Uchiha Gin felt a warmth in his heart. He reached out and patted her little purple head, sighing with gratification.

"??? Oh no, there's green tea! Terminate the infighting!" *2

Sensing the crisis, Uchiha Guang and Itama Senju turned their heads to look at each other and instantly reached a consensus.

"Gin~ Sit down and rest quickly. I'll massage your shoulders for you."

Uchiha Guang flashed over, squeezing Uchiha Zhi Li away from in front of Uchiha Gin, and said with a shy smile, showing none of the domineering aura she had when she activated her eyes earlier.

"Curly-haired ape, I'm going to cook. Do you want to eat fish?"

Itama Senju immediately pulled out an apron and said with a haughty expression.

The speed of their transformation caught Uchiha Gin off guard. Stunned, he was pressed onto the sofa by Uchiha Guang, whose soft hands gently placed themselves on his shoulders, kneading with rhythm.

"Gin, is this pressure okay?"

"Uh, a bit harder. I can take the pressure."

Uchiha Gin rotated his neck, feeling a bit of stiffness, and spoke up.

"You got it~"

A cherry-red phantom emerged on Uchiha Guang's body.

"That hits the spot!"

This strength is amazing!

Uchiha Zhi Li, who had been squeezed to the side, didn't get angry. Instead, she smiled and poured tea for Uchiha Gin, looking completely uncompetitive.

After a while, Itama Senju brought out plate after plate from the kitchen, filled with the dishes Uchiha Gin usually loved to eat. Finally, the table was piled high, and the fragrance filled the entire room.

Uchiha Gin, who had been enjoying the "Guang-style" massage with his eyes closed, twitched his nose a few times. Smelling the familiar aroma, he immediately opened his eyes,

"Hey, not bad~"

Seeing the table of delicacies cooked by Itama Senju, he raised his eyebrows and his appetite was immediately whetted. His tone carried praise,

"Just eat. Once you start, you won't say a word!"

Itama Senju, acknowledged by Uchiha Gin, looked provocatively at Uchiha Guang behind him, his eyes full of triumph.

"Alright, thank you all for your hard work. Let's eat first!"

Not wanting to let down Itama Senju's good intentions, Uchiha Gin invited the other two to the table. For a moment, the large house was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"Mr. Gin, I shall take my leave now. Mother must be worried about me."

After they were full, Uchiha Zhi Li stood up to take her leave. Uchiha Gin then remembered that he hadn't given the girl her mission reward, so he rummaged through the bag on his back and finally pulled out a gold brick, handing it to the girl.

"Little Zhi Li, don't think it's too little~"

"Ah? This is too valuable, I can't accept it!"

The girl wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what the standard rewards for clan missions were. She had only been slacking off during an escort mission, so how could there be such a high reward?

"Just take it. This is the mission reward."

Uchiha Gin was very firm, forcibly stuffing the gold brick into the girl's small hands. He then pulled out the scroll sealing the Amber Purifying Bottle, waved it in front of Uchiha Zhi Li, and said seriously,

"I couldn't split this between you two. After all, it's a ninja tool used by the Sage of Six Paths; it can't be measured by money."

"Uh..."

The girl still hesitated to accept it, so Uchiha Gin put on a stern face and said to Uchiha Zhi Li,

"You've only been my apprentice for a few days, and you're already not listening to your Master? Are you thinking of betraying your teacher and destroying your ancestors?"

That's right! I just want to pin you down and bully you however I want~

An 18+ image suddenly popped into the girl's mind. Her calm little face instantly turned bright red. To cover her embarrassment, she grabbed the gold brick and turned to run, not forgetting to say,

"Thank you, Mr. Gin!"

Watching Uchiha Zhi Li flee in a panic, Uchiha Gin was completely baffled, assuming she just missed her mother.

Tsk! After all, it is Lady Yong Mei; he had missed her dearly too after not seeing her for a few days~

Seeing that it was still early, Uchiha Gin instructed the two at home not to fight and strolled alone to the backyard he hadn't visited in a long time.

Looking at the neatly kept lawn, Uchiha Gin nodded with satisfaction. It seemed the brat Itama Senju hadn't been slacking off and had done a good job with the tasks he had entrusted to him.

He lay leisurely on a recliner made of Wood Release, waiting for the NPC to refresh. He wondered what surprise the system would give him after such a long delay.

Refresh a Brother Chao for me; he wants the Deva Path!

If not, refreshing a Golden Flash would be fine too. He wants to learn the Flying Thunder God Jutsu; wouldn't it be wonderful to use it to sneak up on people?

Just as Uchiha Gin was letting his imagination run wild, he suddenly felt the air around him stagnate. The familiar feeling was here!

Watching the water-ripple light screen refresh out of thin air, Uchiha Gin's eyes were full of anticipation, and he couldn't help but shout in his heart,

"Give me gold! Give me gold! Give it to me!"

As a large foot wearing a wooden sandal stepped out of the light screen, Uchiha Gin's heart immediately went half cold. Brother Chao and Minato didn't wear these things!

When the refreshed NPC fully stepped out of the light screen and Uchiha Gin witnessed the person's appearance, his burning heart went completely cold.

Although the person did indeed have a slight connection to the NPCs Uchiha Gin had been thinking of, it was only a slight connection. None of the skills he wanted would come out.

The person was tall and sturdy, with long white hair reaching his waist, a long red mark under his eyes, wearing a red haori with a tea-colored garment underneath, wooden sandals on his feet, ninja guards on his hands, and a large scroll on his back.

He looked exactly like the Toad Sage in Uchiha Gin's memory. However, looking closely, he discovered a blind spot: this refreshed Jiraiya was wearing a forehead protector with the character "Candy" written on it, rather than the "Oil" character forehead protector from the original work.

This was the first time he had discovered that an NPC was slightly different from the original work. Could it be that after all these years, his memory was wrong?

In the interval while he was searching his memory, the eyes of the NPC refreshed in the backyard changed from dull to astonished.

He stiffly rotated his eyeballs, warily surveying the surrounding environment, until he fixed his gaze on Uchiha Gin, who was wearing a thoughtful expression; his astonishment turned into terror.

His eyes were filled with visible fear, and it felt like he was about to turn and run in the next second. Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished; at this moment, he could not control his own body at all.

He could only watch helplessly as he bit his finger and smeared blood on his old face.

Seeing this familiar pre-action, he understood that a tough battle was inevitable.

"No way! No way! Did I get gold?"

(End of chapter)