Chapter 61: To make a child happy, you have to bring out something practical

"Host failed, obtained Heart Energy *10, Heartsteel chest reward unlocked. (Current cumulative Heart Energy: 33)"

The system's pleasant notification sounded in his mind. Uchiha Gin's mouth curled up like an AK; he couldn't stop it. Although he hadn't managed to complete a losing streak, this was still much better than the last time.

Looking at the Heartsteel icon orb that had dropped on the system chessboard, Uchiha Gin held back. Being cursed by bad luck, he prepared to wait until night to bathe, change clothes, burn incense, and pray before opening it.

"Brat, stop hanging on me, hurry up and clean up."

In a great mood, Uchiha Gin didn't bother arguing with the stinky brat Senju Itama. He reached out and patted his butt, telling him to get on with whatever he was supposed to be doing.

"Ah! ~~"

The brat, whose butt had been attacked again, shuddered and let out a strange cry.

"Ah your head! Hurry up, do you still want to eat vegetables tomorrow or not?"

Uchiha Gin gave him a righteous flick to the head, causing the brat's sonic attack to come to an abrupt halt.

"Wooooo~~~"

Senju Itama, clutching his head, bit his cheeks until they were round and bulging, staring at the man in front of him with a look of deep resentment.

Ignoring the brat's murderous gaze, Uchiha Gin hummed a tune and went out for a stroll.

Seeing his backyard when he left, he always felt it was too monotonous, so he decided to renovate it so he could be more comfortable while waiting for skills to refresh.

Walking on the main road of the Uchiha clan grounds, there were neat wooden houses on both sides. Judging by how new they looked, they hadn't been built long ago. Some houses had been converted into shops, selling daily necessities and specialty products transported by merchant caravans from other regions.

"Boss, how much for this?"

Uchiha Gin casually picked up a strange mask displayed on a street stall and asked the owner.

"A bargain at 100 ryo!"

The stall owner greeted Uchiha Gin very enthusiastically. The other party didn't show any disgust toward him, which made Uchiha Gin take a few extra looks.

"The boss isn't from the Uchiha clan, are you?"

Seeing the familiar red hair on the other person's head, Uchiha Gin asked.

"Oh my, you guessed right, young man. I'm a traveling merchant from the Land of Whirlpools."

The stall owner was a cheerful middle-aged man, looking like someone who valued harmony to make money.

"Uzumaki clan?"

Uchiha Gin asked again.

"The Land of Whirlpools, you know, it's all the Uzumaki clan, but I'm not a ninja, just an ordinary person."

Having probably been interrogated many times, the boss explained it familiarly.

Although chakra existed in this world, not many people could refine and use it. The proportion of ninjas in the ninja world was actually very low; it was mainly composed of ordinary people.

Within various ninja clans, there were also people who couldn't awaken or use chakra. These people would engage in production and trade activities under the clan's protection, increasing the clan's income and providing basic living necessities.

"I see. I'll take this mask."

Knowing the other party's background, Uchiha Gin didn't haggle. He took out the currency he had exchanged for gold in advance from his bosom and handed it to the boss.

"Alrighty, is there anything else you need?"

After closing a deal, the Uzumaki clan boss happily continued to promote his specialties to Uchiha Gin.

"Do you have anything that can make a child happy?"

Uchiha Gin thought for a moment and asked.

"You have a child? How old?"

Hearing that the other party wanted toys for a child, the boss asked in detail.

"No, it's just a child of a relative, about five years old, the kind that isn't very obedient."

The Senju and Uchiha were indeed one family a thousand years ago; calling them relatives wasn't an exaggeration.

"Then I recommend this."

The boss rummaged through the backpack behind him for a long time and took out a doll.

"This..."

Seeing the appearance of the doll, Uchiha Gin was a bit surprised.

"This thing is called a Tailed Beast. It lives near our Land of Whirlpools. Don't look at this doll as cute; it's said that the real thing is extremely huge and unusually ferocious."

The boss explained it like he was talking about his own family treasures.

"I'll take it!"

Uchiha Gin made the decision on the spot.

"A bargain at 3000 ryo!"

The boss's mouth split open to the sky. He had imported a batch of these dolls and hadn't sold a single one. After wandering for so long, he had finally encountered a big sucker.

"Money is no object!"

Throwing the banknotes in his hand to the boss with a grand air, Uchiha Gin picked up the doll and examined it carefully.

Three-Tails Isobu, one of the Tailed Beasts that didn't appear too many times in the original work. It lived in the water for a long time and was dragged out by Senju Hashirama, packed together with the Six-Tails, and sold to the Land of Water.

The next time it appeared, it was sealed inside Nohara Rin to trigger the birth of a furious brat. Later, it was recovered by the Land of Water and stuffed into the fake-shota Yagura Karatachi. After Yagura died, it returned to nature until it was captured by the Akatsuki organization.

The Tailed Beast doll in his hand was quite exquisitely made. The Q-version Three-Tails Isobu was "ugly-cute." According to Uchiha Gin's aesthetic, it was definitely suitable for both men and women, young and old.

"Pretty good. Boss, my name is Uchiha Gin. If you have other Tailed Beast dolls in the same series, remember to notify me."

Uchiha Gin, liking it more the more he looked at it, felt an itch in his heart. His strange collecting habit had flared up again.

"Alright, alright. My name is Uzumaki Zhouxuan. If I have other Tailed Beast goods, I'll notify you the first chance I get."

Seeing that the other party didn't haggle at all, the boss regretted selling it too cheaply. He secretly thought to himself that next time he would definitely price them based on the number of tails.

Uzumaki Zhouxuan? What a strange name.

Waving goodbye to the boss, Uchiha Gin wore the strange mask he had bought tilted on his head, while holding the ugly-cute Three-Tails doll in his hand, and walked toward the grocery store he had visited last time.

"Boss, this, and that, I want them all. Send them to my house."

Uchiha Gin arrived at the grocery store. It was the same boss from last time who received him. After walking around the furniture section, he chose a stone table and a wooden recliner. He then went to the ninja tool section and chose a set of training targets and dummies. After paying, he left his address with the boss and told him to deliver and install them as soon as possible.

"Still need to find a carpenter. The handmade fence in the backyard isn't really cutting it!"

The fence Uchiha Gin had propped up by hand in the backyard was really too sloppy; it fell over with a gust of wind and also affected the aesthetics. He had to find an expert to customize a set.

"I've got too much work on my hands..."

"I just twisted my waist yesterday, can't do a thing."

"Not doing it, not doing it, you go find someone else!"

After asking several places in a row, they all declined with various excuses. The last one didn't even bother finding an excuse and just wrote his disgust all over his face, leaving Uchiha Gin feeling baffled. Dislike was one thing, but who turns down money?

No choice. It seemed he would have to do the backyard fence himself. Sighing, Uchiha Gin prepared to go home to give the brat Senju Itama a surprise. Unexpectedly, he hadn't walked many steps before he ran into an acquaintance.

"Captain Fenghuo!"

Uchiha Gin saw his former captain from afar and hurriedly waved to greet him.

Uchiha Fenghuo, who was on vacation, rarely had time to come out for a stroll. Unexpectedly, he hadn't walked long before he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned his head in confusion and saw a curly-haired guy waving at him from afar. For a moment, it felt like time travel, giving him the illusion of a temporal displacement. He subconsciously murmured:

"Brother Jin?..."

When the figure walked closer, Uchiha Fenghuo put away his nostalgic expression and asked with a cold face:

"Uchiha Gin, didn't you go to work in the dungeon? How do you have time to stroll around here?"

"Hehe, off work and came out to buy some things. Is Captain Fenghuo still on vacation?"

Uchiha Gin, embarrassed to say he was skipping work, laughed and brushed it off.

"Hmm."

Uchiha Fenghuo nodded coldly, looking at him with an expression of keeping him at arm's length.

Uchiha Gin, knowing that the original owner had a hidden buff of being disliked, didn't get angry. Instead, he scratched his head with a smile and asked:

"Captain Fenghuo, do you know someone named Uchiha Jin?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 62 =====