Chapter 54: The Fall of a Genius

Pulled into the shadow by the old jailer, Uchiha Gin felt a sense of suffocation; the surroundings were as pitch-black as ink, his five senses perceived nothing of the outside world, and a feeling of powerlessness followed.

Attempting to activate his Sharingan, Uchiha Gin was surprised to find that, with his scarlet eyes, he could rely on his ocular power to counteract the encroachment of the surrounding darkness.

As he increased his ocular power, his senses were liberated, and only then did he see the old jailer standing opposite him.

"What exactly is your goal?"

Although he had received the other's help, Uchiha Gin, unable to determine if the person was friend or foe, did not dare to be careless.

"Hehehe, I have been waiting for you."

The old jailer's milky-white eyes revealed a trace of long-suppressed anticipation.

"Once you enter Dungeon No. 0 and find the person waiting for you, you will know everything."

The old jailer spoke in a disjointed manner, and before Uchiha Gin could ask another question, he felt his body grow light, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in Uchiha Ryuei's office.

By this time, Uchiha Ryuei had already left, and Uchiha Gin looked down at his own reflection, which was as calm as usual.

Without much hesitation, he reached out to grope the vase on Uchiha Ryuei's desk; as the vase was rotated a full circle, the bookshelf behind the desk flipped, and a dark, deep secret passage appeared before Uchiha Gin's eyes.

It seemed this was the entrance to Dungeon No. 0; Uchiha Gin was now in a position where he could not turn back, as all known clues pointed to this dungeon, and whether he could solve the mystery of the original owner's memories could only be answered from within.

Entering the secret door, there was a switch on the wall; Uchiha Gin tried flicking it, and the dungeon's secret door flipped back—it seemed this was the switch for the door.

Taking a deep breath, Uchiha Gin did not dare to deactivate his Sharingan, staring with a pair of scarlet eyes as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings, guarding against any sudden danger.

The layout of Dungeon No. 0 was similar to the other dungeons, with the dilapidated cells on both sides of the corridor long since abandoned.

A pungent, moldy smell made Uchiha Gin frown, but since it was personally guarded by Uchiha Ryuei, there must be some unknown secret hidden inside.

As Uchiha Gin ventured deeper, mottled skeletons appeared in the cells on both sides; from the irregular bending of the limbs, it was clear that the prisoners here had undergone extremely cruel torture.

Along the way, other than the remains, Uchiha Gin found nothing else, until he reached the very last cell, which was closed by an iron door.

Looking at the seal on the door composed of complex jutsu formulas, Uchiha Gin knew he had found it.

Knowing nothing about sealing jutsu, he looked at the door before him in distress; if he forced it open, he would inevitably be discovered by those who came later.

Yet he lacked the skill to pick the lock, and just as he was at his wit's end, the familiar voice of the old jailer came from the shadow behind him.

"Hehehe, I can take you inside."

"Then I will trouble you, senior."

Turning his head to look at the old jailer, who was smiling strangely at him, Uchiha Gin did not refuse.

Since the other party had been guiding him to this place all along, they must want him to meet the person imprisoned in the dungeon.

Moreover, he was not some important figure of great consequence within the clan; there was no need for this old jailer to go to such great lengths for a good-for-nothing Uchiha like him with such a poor reputation.

Hearing Uchiha Gin's answer without the slightest hesitation, the old jailer seemed to have expected it, and immediately stretched out his withered, chicken-claw-like hands to pull Uchiha Gin into the shadow once again.

The reflection, now without its original body, did not dissipate but instead seeped into the gaps of the iron door like a pool of ink, squeezing inside completely after a short while.

Having experienced being in the shadow once before, Uchiha Gin did not feel much discomfort this time; he only felt his eyes close and open, and he had traveled from outside the iron door into the interior of the cell.

The environment inside the cell was not as bad as Uchiha Gin had imagined; the walls were as clean as new, and there was a bookshelf and simple furniture—it looked more like a study than a prison.

Beside the bookshelf was a desk, and a figure with their back to Uchiha Gin was writing busily there; hearing movement, the figure stopped the pen in their hand and slowly straightened up.

"You finally came."

The owner of the voice turned around; he had gray, curly hair, and his face, crisscrossed with gullies, was filled with excitement.

One of his eyes was milky-white like the old jailer's, and his hunched body trembled slightly with emotion upon seeing Uchiha Gin.

"Who are you?"

The old man before him was exactly the same as the one in the photograph he had found at home; looking at the old man's familiar curly hair and similar appearance, Uchiha Gin vaguely guessed the other's identity.

"Truly, you don't remember?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's unfamiliar expression, the old man restrained his emotions, his face wearing an expression that suggested he had expected this.

"My name is Uchiha Yao."

The old man spoke an unfamiliar name from his mouth, "I have a son named Uchiha Jin."

Uchiha Jin, the father who died young in the original owner's memories; he recalled the gentle, jade-like man from his memories, and the identity of the old man opposite him became obvious.

"Are you my grandfather?"

Uchiha Gin asked cautiously.

"That's right, my good grandson."

Uchiha Yao nodded with satisfaction.

"Then why do I have no impression of you at all?"

The old man's identity matched his guess exactly, and Uchiha Gin, having no reason to doubt, could not help but ask.

"That is a long story, but you must remember..." Uchiha Yao shook his head with a sigh, and his next words were shocking,

"The culprit who caused all of this is your uncle, Uchiha Tajima."

"???"

Uchiha Gin felt a bit of a headache; Uchiha Tajima, the uncle who had taken quite good care of him in the original owner's memories.

To be identified by his own grandfather as the murderer who caused his memory loss was something he found hard to accept for a moment.

Looking at Uchiha Gin's incredulous expression, Uchiha Yao recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

"More than a decade ago, I was the head of the clan's research department, dedicated to developing the power of the clansmen's Sharingan."

"Just like that Uchiha Miao?"

Uchiha Gin could not help but interrupt; his own grandfather was actually the head of the research department—by today's standards, he would be considered the child of a high-ranking official.

"Hmph! Uchiha Miao, that coward."

Uchiha Yao seemed to sneer at the current head of the research department.

"And that Uchiha Yan who imprisoned me; they are both my cousins."

He had not expected that the two great elders currently at the height of their power within the Uchiha clan were his own relatives, but from Uchiha Yao's expression, it was clear he had significant conflicts with both of them.

"Let's not mention those two traitors for now."

Uchiha Yao disdained to waste his breath on those two people.

"The beginning of everything must start from the day my son died in battle."

When Uchiha Yao mentioned his son, his tone was very sorrowful.

Dying in battle for the clan could be called a supreme honor, but for Uchiha Yao, this was a case of the old burying the young, making the nearly seventy-year-old man's frame even more hunched.

Regarding the sacrifice of Uchiha Jin, there was only a faint mention in Uchiha Gin's mind, as if it had been mostly erased by someone.

No matter how he tried to recall the details, he could not remember, and the more he thought, the more his head hurt, as if needles were pricking him.

"My son, Uchiha Jin, was once the number one genius in the clan and the most powerful contender for the position of clan leader."

When Uchiha Yao spoke of his son, his tone was filled with irrepressible pride.

His own old man was actually the number one genius? Uchiha Gin's brain nearly crashed.

In the original owner's memories, there were few images of his father; he only remembered that his father was very gentle, obedient to his wife at home, and cared for him deeply—he was a top-tier model husband, but he had no deep impression regarding his strength.

"Your father awakened his eyes at eight, and by twelve, he was a Three-Tomoe, crushing many ninjas of his time—a true genius. But..."

Uchiha Yao continued,

"He shouldn't have died! I thought he died on the battlefield, dying for the honor of the clan."

"Isn't that the case?"

Uchiha Gin asked with a frown.

Warm reminder: Many of the following chapters will involve multiple narrative timelines, and what the characters say may be true or false, which might be a bit strenuous to read. Overall, it is about revealing the protagonist's background. As a novice, I may not handle the writing style perfectly, so I ask for your patience, dear readers. After this is finished, it will be the stage for the protagonist, Uchiha Gin.

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(End of chapter)