Chapter 413: 357. Chapter 350: The last one who said that has already been skewered

357. Chapter 350: The last one who said that has already been skewered.

"What did you say to Hikari?"

Uchiha Gin, who was trailing at the very back of the group, looked at the somewhat despondent Uchiha Hikari ahead and asked Hyuga Tsukuyomi, who had just slowed her pace to walk alongside him.

"I just told her some adult things."

"Huh?"

Uchiha Gin scratched his head, speechless. Even if his sister-in-law had been remodeled into the soft and cute appearance of Hinata, her core remained that cold and arrogant queen.

"Is it really okay for you to stay down here for so long?"

As the clan leader of the Otsutsuki, his sister-in-law's work should be extremely heavy. If she suddenly took a long vacation, wouldn't things up there fall into chaos?

"Are you worried about me?"

"Uh, don't you Otsutsuki people dislike staying on the ground for too long?"

Choked by his sister-in-law's sudden off-script remark, Uchiha Gin froze for a moment before quickly changing the subject.

"Yes, because I don't like it."

Hyuga Tsukuyomi nodded gently.

"Then why are you still..."

"Because I suddenly like it again."

"Alright, as long as you're happy~"

As soon as these words left his mouth, Uchiha Gin felt the aura around him suddenly turn ice-cold. Hyuga Tsukuyomi turned her head away without a word, and the atmosphere between the two instantly dropped to freezing point.

Did I say something wrong?

As expected, a woman's thoughts can never be fathomed.

Uchiha Gin scratched his face in confusion. He wasn't some love expert; dealing with women was his weakest point.

"We're reaching the borders of the Land of Wind!"

Not long after the awkward silence, the Chiyo siblings leading the way suddenly called out to inform them.

"Clack~"

Seeing that they had reached the edge of the forest, Uchiha Gin and the others stopped. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun, his gaze narrowing slightly.

"Is this the desert?"

Hyuga Tsukuyomi, who had been silent for a long time, finally dropped her icy mask. Looking at the boundless yellow sand filling the sky before her, a curious light flickered in her white eyes.

The climate inside the moon was like spring all year round; she had only ever seen such harsh environments in books.

"Not bad, right? There are still many fun places down here. When there's a chance, I'll take you to soak in hot springs, go skiing..."

Seeing that his sister-in-law had finally returned to normal, Uchiha Gin immediately patted his chest to assure her, hoping to keep her from sulking for no reason.

"Oh? You're quite practiced. Who else have you said such things to?"

Hearing Uchiha Gin's smooth and lengthy speech, Hyuga Tsukuyomi turned her head, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Ah, this..."

Not expecting his sister-in-law to look at the issue from such a tricky angle, Uchiha Gin's eyes unconsciously drifted toward Uchiha Hikari, who was not far ahead.

"Hmph~"

Hyuga Tsukuyomi let out a cold snort, wearing an "as I thought" expression, before turning her head away again to enter sulking mode.

No, sister-in-law, your character persona has collapsed~

"Uncle Gin, at our current speed, we can reach the Hidden Sand Village tonight. What do you think?"

After briefly confirming the squad's current location, Chiyo, who had already accepted Uchiha Gin as the leader of this group, jogged over to report the situation.

"Then let's keep moving. I don't want to sleep in the desert."

Uchiha Gin nodded.

"Understood!"

Hearing this, Chiyo immediately found her brother, who was resting on the spot, and gave him a solid kick to make him get up and continue the journey.

And so, the five of them took advantage of the time before the sun set, putting in extra effort to dash across the boundless desert, finally arriving at the Hidden Sand Village just before the sunset dipped below the horizon.

"The Hidden Sand Village looks so poor~"

Uchiha Hikari, who had been emo the entire way, finally regained her wits. Looking at the slightly shabby village before her, she gave a very pertinent evaluation.

"Sigh~"

Although he had been mentally prepared, Uchiha Gin still couldn't help but sigh when he saw the desolate state of the Hidden Sand Village.

No wonder the Hidden Sand in the original story always loved to stir up trouble; it turns out those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those who have everything~

"Wuu wuu wuu, finally back~"

Ebizo, whose feet were about to give out, was now crying tears of joy. The poor young man had thought he was among the top in terms of stamina in the group, but only upon reaching home did he realize he was the weakest one.

Excluding his sister Chiyo, the one man and two women from Konoha had run for a whole day without stopping, yet they still looked calm and composed, not even having broken a sweat.

"Quickly report to the Kazekage! Lady Chiyo is back!"

The guards at the gate of the Hidden Sand Village, seeing the Chiyo siblings, immediately notified the guards inside the city.

"Uncle Gin, please wait a moment. We can go in once they verify our identities."

Chiyo, who was still waiting outside for the inspection, said cautiously, worried that Uchiha Gin might be dissatisfied.

"Lady Chiyo, what did you call him?"

The guard performing the routine check widened his eyes instantly upon hearing Chiyo's form of address.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. Hurry up and verify."

Don't let Chiyo's obedient, "big milk-can" demeanor in front of Uchiha Gin fool you; in the Hidden Sand Village, she was the ruthless queen everyone feared. With her puppetry, she had beaten a group of young talents into submission, becoming the strongest of the village's new generation.

"It's fine. We're already here, I don't mind waiting a little longer~"

Uchiha Gin didn't mind; he had plenty of time, so much he couldn't even use it all.

"Hahaha! Mr. Gin, you've finally come!"

Just as Uchiha Gin was boredly examining the plaster on the outer wall of the Hidden Sand Village, a familiar laugh rang out not far away.

"Uh..."

Shamon's speed is quite fast, but isn't this entrance a bit too flashy?

A wall of yellow sand shot up into the sky from within the Hidden Sand Village, and the laughter had come from within it. Relying on his bug-level sensory abilities, Uchiha Gin found the bald man stepping on the sand in the blink of an eye.

Magnet Release, huh...

It seems Shamon's research wasn't without results.

"Gin, what kind of jutsu is that?"

Uchiha Hikari was also shocked by this magnificent opening. She tugged on Uchiha Gin's sleeve and asked, her black eyes filled with the words "I want that."

Uchiha Gin was just about to say something when he felt his other sleeve being tugged gently. He turned his head in confusion, only to see his expressionless sister-in-law.

"You?"

Her pure white eyes met Uchiha Gin's. Hyuga Tsukuyomi nodded imperceptibly; it seemed his sister-in-law was also very curious about Magnet Release.

"Boom!"

The menacing sand wall covered them, but just before it was about to crash down, all the sand grains seemed to be frozen, stalling in mid-air.

"Mr. Gin is truly no ordinary person."

Shamon, standing atop the sand wall, looked at the unflinching Uchiha Gin. The admiration on his face only grew; if it were an ordinary person seeing his Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral, they would have run away long ago. How could they have the calm and composed demeanor of Mr. Gin?

"Is this how you people of the Hidden Sand greet guests?"

Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow and shouted to Shamon, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Don't take offense, Mr. Gin. I just wanted to show you my secret technique."

Shamon leaped down from the sand wall, and the sky-filling yellow sand collapsed along with him. After landing, he wore a somewhat embarrassed expression on his honest, thick-featured face as he apologized to Uchiha Gin.

"Master! How can you treat a guest like this!"

Before Uchiha Gin could speak, Chiyo jumped out from the side. Unable to stand her good uncle being wronged, her onion-like finger almost poked Shamon's shiny, polished head.

"Hehe, little Chiyo, my relationship with Mr. Gin is much better than you imagine~"

Shamon was very indulgent and doting toward his beloved disciple, so he didn't take Chiyo's rebellious behavior to heart, instead smiling and pointing at Uchiha Gin, who was rolling his eyes.

"Shamon, long time no see."

"Master, do you really know Uncle Gin?"

"Uncle? That's right, it's reasonable for you to call him uncle. After all, your father and him..."

Shamon, who was greeting Uchiha Gin, was startled to hear his disciple call the other party "uncle," but he quickly understood the reason.

"Mr. Gin, if it weren't for being forced by circumstances, I wouldn't have the face to ask this of you."

"You're treating me like an outsider now. With the relationship between us brothers, is there any need to say such things? If you have any difficulties in the future, just Q me directly."

Looking at the bald, burly man awkwardly rubbing his hands, Uchiha Gin feigned annoyance and curled his lip.

"It's just that I was afraid of troubling you."

"Then why do you want to trouble me now?"

"Sigh, this is a long story. Let's go inside, sit down, and talk about it slowly."

Seeing that Uchiha Gin wasn't truly angry, Shamon waved his hand, and the gate guards immediately opened the main gate.

"And these two are?"

Only now, having been busy catching up with Uchiha Gin, did Shamon notice the two women following him.

"Girlfriend, Uchiha Hikari."

"Sister-in-law, Hyuga Tsukuyomi."

The two women looked at each other and introduced themselves, but Yue Ji, didn't you refuse to acknowledge your status as a sister-in-law before? How are you answering so quickly now?

"Uh, Mr. Gin, your circle is a bit messy."

"It's alright, it's alright~"

Following Shamon, Uchiha Gin and his group soon arrived at the reception hall of the Hidden Sand Village, where food prepared in advance had already been laid out on the table.

"You've been traveling all day, eat something first!"

The ravenous group did not stand on ceremony and dove straight in.

"Mmm, this fruit is so sweet!"

Uchiha Hikari's eyes lit up the moment she ate a piece of green melon.

"Sweet? Let me have a taste!"

Although the land of the Land of Wind is barren, the large temperature difference between day and night makes the fruit produced there exceptionally sweet.

"That is a melon produced in Loulan."

Shamon watched the group with a smile and explained its origin.

"Loulan? Is your hometown doing well?"

"Thanks to the grace of the First Hokage, Loulan is now the largest oasis in the Land of Wind."

Over a decade ago, Hashirama Senju personally performed the Deep Forest Bloom in Loulan, semi-permanently covering the barren soil of the Land of Wind with a touch of greenery.

As for why it is called semi-permanent...

Trees spawned by Wood Style can indeed grow vigorously in the short term, but over time, they will still wither. However, the reason the trees in Loulan can remain evergreen is all thanks to the chakra emanating from the Dragon Vein; if the Dragon Vein were to disappear, Loulan might return to desolation overnight.

Hope the Dragon Vein is alright~

"Hiccup~ Thanks for the hospitality!"

Having filled his stomach with high-sugar fruit, Uchiha Gin patted his bulging belly with great satisfaction.

To him, this was practically a state banquet!

"I am glad you are satisfied, Mr. Gin."

Seeing that Uchiha Gin did not look down on the simplicity of the Hidden Sand Village's meal, Shamon was deeply moved. One must know that the food on their table might not even be as rich as the dishes in a small restaurant in the Land of Fire.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Mr. Gin, you should be aware of the matter regarding the Tailed Beast Knights, right?"

Getting to the point, Shamon shed the smile on his face, sat up straight, and wore a very serious expression.

"Yes, the knight of Konoha is my foolish younger brother."

It was naturally no secret that Uchiha Madara had become a Tailed Beast Knight. In the few years after his successful job change, my cousin went crazy completing high-difficulty missions to pad his KDA, kicking off a golden age known as the "Great Internal Roll."

When the knights of the other countries saw this, they thought, "This won't do, we must roll too," and one after another, they increased their mission efficiency.

Of course, this did not include the Land of Wind.

This is one of the reasons why the Hidden Sand Village is still so poor; the high-paying missions were all snatched up by the Tailed Beast Knights, and bottom-feeders like them could only pick up the scraps.

The strongest knight, Geats, right...

Shamon gave a bitter smile upon hearing this. The Tailed Beast Knight of the Land of Fire was the most prestigious existence in the knight circle, nicknamed "Geats," meaning the strongest, highest, and most ultimate fox knight, who once boasted the proud record of taking on three at once.

"Mr. Gin, you also know the current situation; if a country lacks a knight, it will be looked down upon by other countries."

Because he was subtly mocked by the lords of the other great nations during a lord's gathering, the Lord of the Land of Wind issued a death order to the Hidden Sand Village upon returning: if they couldn't produce a knight, he would withdraw funding!

"I understand, I understand. Isn't that why I came here, to help you fulfill your dream~"

Uchiha Gin remembered clearly that when Hashirama Senju submitted Uchiha Madara's name to the Lord of the Land of Fire, that old guy jumped up in excitement and almost appointed my cousin as the Hokage himself.

After all, the Nine-Tails Knight's battle record was verifiable, making the face-conscious Lord of the Land of Fire feel immensely honored and able to hold his head high in front of his brothers.

"Then... I leave the matter of Shukaku to you!"

"Don't be in such a hurry. Tell me first, how far have you progressed?"

Although he had learned the gist of the matter from the letter, Uchiha Gin still needed to understand the current situation of Shukaku in detail, as he was here in the Hidden Sand Village in the capacity of a developer (toy merchant) to help.

"Sigh... if it comes out one more time, the teapot sealing Shukaku might be scrapped."

Shamon let out a long sigh, his face showing deep embarrassment.

"Huh?"

Uchiha Gin instantly put on dead-fish eyes and stared straight at Shamon. Just how many times have you let the big tanuki slip out?

"Don't look at me like that. The research isn't without progress; that secret technique from just now was developed while I was studying Shukaku's chakra."

"Impressive, impressive~"

"Hehe, Magnet Style was an unexpected surprise, but research on the transformation prop hasn't made any progress."

"Magnet Style? Is it a Kekkei Genkai?"

As Uchiha Gin threw out the question, Uchiha Hikari and Hyuga Tsukuyomi on the side pricked up their ears simultaneously.

"Although I'm not certain, it should be very close."

As the first person to awaken Magnet Style, Shamon was not sure if it counted as a Kekkei Genkai. He had previously taught the method of using Magnet Style to several disciples, but none of them could grasp it; he could only wait until his child was born to verify if it was a Kekkei Genkai.

After hearing Shamon's words, the two women who had been listening intently instantly lost interest. Things like Kekkei Genkai, just like their eyes, were passed down through bloodlines and could not be forced.

"Congratulations, congratulations. The other countries have spent so long researching Tailed Beasts and haven't developed a Kekkei Genkai, yet you stumbled upon one by accident. If that old guy Shi Zai heard this, he'd be so angry he'd jump out of his coffin."

Back when he sold the Tailed Beasts, Uchiha Gin used the selling point of developing Kekkei Genkai to drive up the price and swindle them hard.

As it turned out, so many years had passed, and the countries that bought the Tailed Beasts had seen their development of Kekkei Genkai stagnate, while the Hidden Sand Village, which had no Tailed Beast Knight, had taken the lead.

"Sigh~ The world is unpredictable. Compared to Kekkei Genkai, I want to become a knight even more."

Becoming a Tailed Beast Knight had become Shamon's obsession over the years. Among the group from back then, he was the only one left who hadn't become a knight. Now, even if just to prove a point, he had to fulfill his knightly dream.

"Rest assured, leave it to me!"

Just for this obsession of Shamon's, Uchiha Gin had to help him fulfill his dream.

"It's getting late, you all should get some good rest first."

Uchiha Gin and his group had come from afar, so how could Shamon have the heart to make them work overtime? Thus, he arranged several guest rooms so they could recover their energy and head to Shukaku's location to start work tomorrow.

Midnight.

Lying on an unfamiliar bed, Uchiha Gin's old habit of being unable to sleep in new places flared up. After tossing and turning for a while, he rummaged through his bag and pulled out his travel bedding.

"Good thing I brought it!"

After laying it out, Uchiha Gin suddenly felt thirsty. The dry climate of the Land of Wind was causing the moisture in his body to drain away rapidly, so he searched the room and only found a pot of water that looked bland and tasteless, labeled with the four small characters "Nongfu Spring."

"Not even a dog would drink this!"

Curling his lip, Uchiha Gin decided to go ask Hikari. Don't all homebody girls have a habit of drinking beverages? So she should have brought a few bottles of sweet water with her.

Knock, knock, knock~

"Gin, I knew you would come to find me. Don't worry, I will definitely be able to do it too!"

"Good night, sweet dreams, farewell!"

In this situation, the only option was to flee.

Having finally escaped, Uchiha Gin had only taken two steps when he saw Hyuga Tsukuyomi sitting by the window in the hallway at the corner. He saw her head bowed, examining something in her hand, wondering what she was thinking about.

"Huh? You're not asleep yet?"

Uchiha Gin's voice interrupted Hyuga Tsukuyomi's thoughts. She looked up, and her white eyes held an inexplicable meaning.

"You're not asleep either."

"Hi~ I'm thirsty, came out to find some sweet water with flavor to drink."

"Did you find any?"

Hyuga Tsukuyomi raised an eyebrow, her peripheral vision glancing at the secret-recipe iced black tea in her hand, a look of struggle flashing across her face.

"This is the Land of Wind; oil is easier to find than water, let alone sweet water. Forget it, forget it~"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's disappointed face, the Byakugan girl, as if possessed, held up the sleepy iced black tea in her hand, a trace of provocation on her cold face.

"I have some here, but do you dare to drink it?"

"Just kidding, I'm super brave, okay? I'm super good at drinking!"