Chapter 2: The Unchanging Man (Fake)

Year 27 of Konoha.

"Another peaceful day."

On the streets of Konoha, a man with a head of natural black curls was strolling leisurely under the eaves of the street-side shops, walking with the carefree, devil-may-care gait of a spirited youth.

The man was quite handsome, but his entire temperament was perfectly ruined by a pair of dead fish eyes on his face, making him look rather punchable.

Although the man had the air of an unreliable, idle social loafer, the surrounding crowd did not avoid him; an old man sunning himself asked with a grin:

"Gin, are you off to do a mission?"

"No, I'm just wandering; I'm giving myself a day off today."

The curly-haired man, who was Gin, stopped in his tracks and answered nonchalantly.

After speaking, as if remembering something, he rummaged for a long time inside the high-collared robe he was wearing, pulled out a stick-like object to toss to the old man, and tucked one into his own pocket as well.

The old man looked at the lollipop tossed over by the other party with black lines on his face and said:

"At our age, we can't eat this kind of thing anymore."

"Is that so? I remember you used to love eating them."

Gin looked at the old man with a sidelong glance, a flash of strange emotion passing through his lifeless dead fish eyes.

"That's right, that was in the past."

Although the old man didn't eat it, he still put the lollipop away, then said with a beaming smile.

"I can save it for my grandson to eat; he turns a full month old tomorrow, so I'll invite you to the full-month feast then."

"Why is there another feast? How can a genin's salary afford this kind of eating? Forget it, I'll have to go catch a few cats again."

Gin scratched his bird's nest of curly hair and said with annoyance.

"Hehe, remember to come then."

"By the way, have you named your grandson yet? How about I help you name him? It'll definitely be easy to raise; how about 'Dog Egg'?"

The old man looked speechlessly at the man who was acting a bit crazy.

"It's already been decided; his name is Minato."

Gin, who had been rambling on about brainstorming names for the child, froze instantly upon hearing this name, and in a daze, something flashed through his mind.

"What's wrong? Is it not a good name?"

Suddenly recalling the dazzling blonde hair the old man had in his youth, Gin felt relieved.

"It's nothing, just some dead memories attacking me."

With that, Gin raised his head, gazed at the two distinct rock carvings on the distant mountain peak, sighed, and said.

"I think your grandson has a unique bone structure; he is likely the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths and has the makings of a Hokage. He will surely achieve great things in the future."

The old man was a bit puzzled upon hearing this.

"But you haven't even seen him yet!"

"I observed the stars at night."

The old man paused, looked up at the scorching summer sun.

"That star observation is truly blinding."

When he turned his head again, the man beside him had already vanished without a trace.

"Tsk, how many times has it been? Still leaving without saying goodbye."

The old man shook his head and turned to tend to his shop.

Elsewhere, the man was still wandering aimlessly, his pair of dead fish eyes seemingly interested in nothing.

"Lord Gin, the clan meeting is about to start; why are you still wandering here?"

Suddenly, a voice came, and a young black-haired man knelt behind Gin, speaking to him respectfully.

"The clan leader isn't home, so what kind of clan meeting is this? To listen to that bunch of so-called elders spouting nonsense? I'd rather be wandering with that time."

The man known as Uchiha Gin picked his ear indifferently, seemingly sneering at such an important event.

The man who came to notify him seemed to have expected this answer; he showed hesitation, his eyes filled with seven parts fear and three parts confusion, carefully organized his words, and said with some trepidation,

"Please don't make it difficult for me; I'm only responsible for the notification, and whether you go or not is your freedom, but the Great Elder said you must remember that you are still an Uchiha."

Having said that, he flashed away and disappeared.

"How incredibly boring. They really think that just because that hateful white-haired guy is gone, they can start acting up? This muddy water of Konoha is not something you straight-shooters can wade through. Why insist on fighting for the Hokage position that even dogs wouldn't want? Isn't it better to just lay flat with me?"

Watching the direction the other party left in, Uchiha Gin rolled his dead fish eyes.

In the Hokage office beneath the Hokage Rock, smoke swirled, and a figure was hunched over, processing documents piled higher than a person, when suddenly someone pushed the door open and entered.

"Hiruzen, I have received reliable news that the Uchiha clan is holding a secret meeting again today. I have already received the secret report on the general content; it is time to take action!"

A handsome man in his thirties with an X-shaped scar on his chin slammed a document in front of the person currently processing files.

The person who was interrupted looked up, looked at his close friend with some speechlessness, and casually tossed the document into the trash can beside him.

"You!!!"

The young Danzo widened his tiger eyes, almost unable to catch his breath.

"Danzo, don't put all your focus on the Uchiha clan right now. The village has finally ushered in a period of peace and is waiting to be rebuilt; at this time, there cannot be any major problems within the village."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage who had recently been entrusted with the position of Hokage in a time of crisis, smoked the cigarette in his hand while pacifying his close friend.

"They are a naturally evil clan; we must never let our guard down against them."

Shimura Danzo said viciously, but his heart was blooming with joy.

Hehe, I finally caught them in the act!

"Shh."

Hearing the term "naturally evil," Sarutobi Hiruzen looked around vigilantly and hissed to signal the other party to stop talking.

Reminded, Shimura Danzo seemed to realize what he had said, his expression somewhat unnatural, but he still retorted stubbornly,

"You are the Hokage now, are you still afraid of..."

"Afraid of what?"

Just as the two were communicating, a lazy voice interjected.

"Still afraid of that curly-haired dead fish-eyed... ah ah ah ah ah."

The interrupted Shimura Danzo had only said half a sentence following the question when he discovered in horror that a figure had been standing behind him at some point.

"Afraid of what?"

"A-a-a-a-a handsome guy."

As if thinking of something terrifying, Shimura Danzo replied, blushing and stammering.

"Oh my, isn't this little Tuan-Tuan? Long time no see."

Upon hearing the answer, Uchiha Gin familiarly reached out to Shimura Danzo's shoulder and said with a smile.

"What have you been busy with lately? Still tinkering with that 'Root' of yours? Are you still recruiting? I'm a bit tight on cash lately."

Watching the panicked expression on Shimura Danzo's face after hearing this, Uchiha Gin patted his shoulder with satisfaction.

"Just kidding!"

"Little Monkey, I'm here to pick up a few D-rank missions. That little guy from the Namikaze family is already a grandfather and invited me to the full-month feast; I need to go make some money."

Uchiha Gin turned his head and said to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was sitting at his desk.

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen had an "as expected" expression and familiarly pulled several mission sheets from the drawer beside him and handed them to Uchiha Gin.

"They're all prepared for you, but are you sure you don't want to take on more difficult missions? Your strength shouldn't..."

"What shouldn't? I'm just a genin, the No. 1 genin personally conferred by Hashirama. Don't you guys know what my strength is?"

Having received the missions, Uchiha Gin happily flipped through the tasks in his hand.

"These are all pretty good. I'll be going then; you two best friends have fun."

Watching Uchiha Gin leave, Shimura Danzo let out a long sigh of relief and said with a heavy expression:

"How is he still like this?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, sitting in his seat, also relaxed, a trace of fear from the depths of his heart in his eyes, and his face changed to a solemn expression.

"He still looks like he's thirty. It's been so many years; ever since you and I can remember, he seems to have been like this, right?"

"Yes, he has never changed."

"Could it be that that technique is really so magical?"

Both of them fell into deep thought; after all, there were only a few people who knew this technique, and they had no way to verify this question.

This is the brain storage area~

PS:

The first chapter is a prologue; the main story starts from the second chapter!

The first chapter is a prologue; the main story starts from the second chapter!

The first chapter is a prologue; the main story starts from the second chapter!

Important things must be said three times~

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(End of chapter)