Chapter 257: Uncle's Resolve, the Unexpected Extra

Looking up at the familiar clan grounds, although he had only been away for a week, Uchiha Gin felt as if he had been gone for a very long time.

After waving goodbye to Uchiha Tiedan, he did not head home first, but instead strolled toward the direction of the clan leader's office building.

"Lord Gin! Please, come right in~"

The guards at the entrance wisely did not block his path, and Uchiha Gin slipped directly into his uncle's office; after all, he had a legitimate reason for his trip, and it wouldn't do to return without debriefing the mission.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

"Come in."

Following his uncle's familiar voice, Uchiha Gin pushed the door open and entered, only to see Uchiha Tajima, who had been forced back into service, conscientiously handling the various affairs of the clan. His demeanor was even more diligent and rigorous than when he had been in office, which made Uchiha Gin unable to help but roll his eyes in secret.

"Why are you back so soon? Didn't you want to spend more time with Madara and the others?"

Uchiha Tajima, who looked significantly older, adjusted the reading glasses on his face and looked at his eldest nephew, whom he hadn't seen in a few days.

"Is the mission complete?"

"It's complete. I worked so hard to grind that 100% completion rate, how could I let anything go wrong?"

Uchiha Gin took the opportunity to fish a scroll out of his pack and tossed it to Uchiha Tajima behind the desk, his tone filled with deep pride.

"Uh... but you've only ever done two missions outside the village in total!"

Uchiha Tajima sighed as he reached out to catch the scroll, the helplessness in his tone plain to see.

"Huh? I never expected such an incredible legend to exist in a place as remote as Loulan."

Casually unfolding Uchiha Gin's mission report, Uchiha Tajima grew more surprised the more he read, his eyes filled with inquiry.

"Not bad, right? It's a good story. Can it be used to settle the mission?"

Uchiha Gin had not reported the fact that Loulan possessed the Dragon Vein; he had only extracted a portion of the secret lore.

After all, the client for this mission was merely a scholar interested in the secrets of remote regions; there was no need to expose all the skeletons in the closet of the Shamon family.

Recalling his trip to Loulan, Uchiha Gin decided to let the simple, honest people of Loulan continue to develop in peace.

With the support of Shamon, who would become the Second Kazekage in the future, Loulan should be able to grow from an isolated tribe into a powerful nation.

"That should be no problem. It wasn't a high-difficulty mission to begin with, and this miraculous story is enough to fulfill the mission reward."

Uchiha Tajima, having no suspicions, put away Uchiha Gin's mission report, tossed it aside, and replied without looking up.

"Alrighty~ By the way, Uncle, about my eldest cousin's eyes, are they..."

Seeing that the mission had ended perfectly, Uchiha Gin was just about to slip away, but then he remembered Uchiha Madara's Mangekyo and asked with a frown.

"Sigh~ I know about this too. He really uses his eyes too frequently, and his vision has deteriorated quite severely."

As a Mangekyo owner himself, Uchiha Tajima naturally understood the side effects of the Mangekyo. He had only used his own Kotoamatsukami a few times, and his vision had already declined to the point where he needed to wear reading glasses.

And during these past few years of battling the Senju clan, Uchiha Madara had used his Mangekyo to clash head-on with Hashirama Senju in almost every fight; the danger of the side effects was obvious.

"Then, Uncle, do you have any ideas?"

Seeing that although Uchiha Tajima was very worried in his words, there was no great anxiety on his face, Uchiha Gin was very curious. Had his uncle obtained some kind of black technology that could solve the side effects of the Mangekyo?

"Gin, your uncle is already 48 years old this year."

Facing the nephew he trusted most, Uchiha Tajima had nothing to hide. He put down his pen, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his eye sockets. After opening his eyes again, he spoke slowly, his tone filled with the vicissitudes of life.

"Huh? Only 48? You're in your prime! The Uchiha are in need of people right now. As the old clan leader, you should be leading by example, burning yourself out, and becoming the nourishment for the Uchiha's growth~"

Uchiha Gin, who hadn't quite caught the drift yet, began to encourage his somewhat depressed uncle. 48 was still a long way from retirement.

Besides, the retirement age was about to be delayed again; Uchiha Tajima should just prepare to work at his post until the X-th Ninja World War!

"Wait, that expression of yours... could it be!"

Uchiha Gin, who had been holding forth, finally noticed the trace of sorrow in his uncle's eyes. He was greatly shocked, hurriedly stopped spouting toxic chicken soup, and pointed a trembling finger at the grim-faced Uchiha Tajima, his tone full of disbelief.

"That's right, I'm preparing to..."

A flash of determination crossed Uchiha Tajima's eyes. Thinking his eldest nephew had grasped his resolve, he no longer hesitated and prepared to drop the bombshell.

"Sigh~ I understand. At your age, you're in the prime of life. Living alone every day must be incredibly lonely. You were the clan leader before, and for the sake of appearances, you couldn't remarry, but it's fine now! Uncle, you've retired, go ahead and pursue your own love!"

Uchiha Gin waved his hand, interrupting Uchiha Tajima. He looked at his uncle with teary eyes, his voice trembling, and looked at the determined old man with eyes full of guilt as he spoke.

Getting emotional, Uchiha Gin wiped away his tears and looked up at his uncle, whose expression had shifted from determination to confusion, and finally to a flushed red.

Thinking the other party was embarrassed because he had exposed his secret thoughts, he stepped forward, grabbed Uchiha Tajima's hand, squeezed it hard, and said in a very firm tone,

"Uncle, I support you! Which auntie is it? I'll go help you scout the situation. Not to brag, but I'm very familiar with all the single women in the clan~"

"SMACK!!!"

Facing his nephew's endless chatter, after a brief silence, Uchiha Tajima struck out in hatred. A large silver-gray hand appeared out of thin air, grabbed Uchiha Gin, and tossed him out through the tightly closed window.

"Get out!"

Listening to his uncle's vigorous voice, Uchiha Gin, who had landed steadily, finally felt relieved. He brushed the debris off his body, a strange look in his eyes.

Gazing at the fan symbol on top of the clan leader's building, he scratched his curly hair and thought to himself,

"Why is everyone so obsessed with sacrificing themselves for others?"

Sighing that life was not easy, Uchiha Gin set off toward his home, which was far from the clan grounds.

"Sigh~ Finally back. It's still most comfortable lying at home."

Looking at his three-story mansion, Uchiha Gin felt completely relaxed and pushed the door open to enter.

"Uh... why is no one home?"

As soon as he entered, there was no welcome party as Uchiha Gin had imagined. The quiet house held only his own presence, and he could only awkwardly scratch his face.

"Looks like they all went to Lady Yongmei's to study. Hmph, hmph~ The Yin Seal isn't that easy to learn, especially that kid Bankan, trying to master the Yin Seal in a cross-dressing body—it's simply wishful thinking."

Having roughly deduced where everyone had gone, Uchiha Gin didn't worry too much; after all, even just Xiaoguang alone could flatten the current Uchiha clan grounds~

"Perfect, while these guys aren't here, I'll go to the backyard to grind some skills."

Putting away the specialties he had brought back from the Land of Wind, Uchiha Gin scurried into the backyard. Looking at the familiar fence, he sighed slightly.

He had been a bit slack lately; not only had he not been grinding, he hadn't learned a single new skill. With the founding of Konoha approaching, he lacked a sense of crisis and needed to reflect seriously~

"Let me see, who's coming?"

Lying on a wooden lounge chair and feeling the warm midday sun, Uchiha Gin suddenly felt the surrounding aura stall. He opened his dead-fish eyes, his gaze filled with curiosity.

"No, brother, who are you?"

As the familiar light screen descended, a man wearing a standard Konoha flak jacket appeared before Uchiha Gin.

This NPC looked to be about twenty years old, somewhat ordinarily handsome, with a black headband wrapped around his head. At this moment, he was looking at him with dull, lifeless eyes.

"Why does this guy look so familiar? I feel like I've seen him somewhere."

Staring at the unknown NPC for a long time, Uchiha Gin's brow furrowed deeply. This guy looked incredibly familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him remember who it was. He looked like a total extra; surely the system wasn't just tossing some random passerby at him to brush him off?

Just as he was wondering, the NPC actually started rummaging through the bag behind him. This action left Uchiha Gin confused.

"What's this? Is he going to throw shuriken?"

Over the past few years, there had been no shortage of NPCs who would throw a shuriken gift package at him the moment they met, but they were basically those younger brats.

Why would an adult play with shuriken? At least give me a Great Fireball to grind my proficiency, you jerk!

However, just as he was complaining internally, the other party took a thin, long senbon from behind him and skillfully held it in his mouth.

Once this series of actions was completed, Uchiha Gin's mind instantly cleared. From his perspective, a name popped up above the NPC's head.

"Oh my~ Who is it if not Genma Shiranui~"

Relying on the familiar senbon, Uchiha Gin instantly identified the NPC's identity, then scratched his head in annoyance, saying that the senbon was indeed the real body.

"Come on, come on! You're a named NPC at least, don't let me down!"

C-rank ninjas are all kings, after all~

Since it wasn't just a passerby, Uchiha Gin perked up, looking at Genma Shiranui before him with eyes like torches, hoping the other party would give him a surprise.

As time passed, a moment later, a glimmer of spirit appeared in the eyes of the dazed Genma Shiranui, and his eyes were filled with confusion. His gaze shifted slightly, and when he saw the excited Uchiha Gin not far away, the confusion in his eyes turned to terror.

"Hurry up, brother, I can't wait~"

Uchiha Gin looked at the unresponsive Genma Shiranui and urged him impatiently. He had discovered over the years that NPCs were controlled by AI and had a certain level of combat awareness, so he spoke to communicate with him.

Following his words, Genma Shiranui stiffly raised both hands. In Uchiha Gin's expectant eyes, the other party extended three fingers, and a flash of golden light shone on his body.

"Holy crap! The aura of a Golden Legend~"

(End of chapter)