Chapter 98: Goodbye, My Friend

Ordering the Senju brat to move the purchased items into his big mansion—doing the labor himself was out of the question.

Uchiha Gin made an excuse to leave, and while Senju Itama was busy, he slipped into the backyard, preparing to battle the NPC that refreshed today.

Holding a cup of tea while sitting on a lounge chair, Uchiha Gin pondered what tomorrow's mission would be; could it really be, as Uchiha Yao had anticipated, a mission to unseal Uchiha Hikari?

Lifting the warm tea and taking a gentle sip, the matter Uchiha Yao spoke of remained a thorn in his heart, leaving him restless when he had originally planned to just lie flat.

"You've come?"

Uchiha Gin, still lost in thought, felt the air condense. A rippling light curtain suddenly appeared in the distance, and after a flash, a figure slowly emerged.

"I knew it."

Looking at the familiar old friend before him, Uchiha Gin sighed; if he was lucky, he could collect enough fragments today.

"Come on! Let's have a hearty battle!"

With a clap of his hands, Uchiha Gin's aura surged abruptly. With the blessing of the Uzumaki clan's bloodline, his chakra grew exponentially; now, he basically didn't need to worry about conserving chakra.

"Take this mercy Fire Style first!"

Forming hand seals, scorching chakra condensed in his mouth. As the seals finished, the channeled chakra transformed into a raging fire, rolling toward the still-dazed Itachi Uchiha in front.

【Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu】

Executing one of the few offensive ninjutsu in the original owner's memory, Uchiha Gin activated his Sharingan, staring fixedly at Itachi Uchiha, waiting for his next move.

Just as the massive fireball was about to engulf Itachi Uchiha's thin frame, streaks of black appeared upon the flames.

A few wisps of Amaterasu's black flames rapidly devoured Uchiha Gin's Great Fireball; in just a few breaths, the immense fireball was completely consumed by the black flames and dissipated into the heavens and earth.

Amaterasu could actually be used like this? Uchiha Gin watched in shock as the black flames devoured the fire. With no time to hesitate, he seized the post-skill recovery window of Itachi Uchiha, a faint light flashed in his right pupil, and black lotuses bloomed upon him.

Watching the raging Amaterasu, Uchiha Gin thought to himself, after so many times, it should finally hit once, right?

Things went contrary to his wishes; the Itachi Uchiha stained by Amaterasu shattered at a touch, his body turning into a flock of crows that scattered and fled.

The classic Crow Clone Jutsu. Uchiha Gin moved his eyes rapidly up, down, left, and right, searching for Itachi Uchiha's trail.

After the crows dispersed, Itachi Uchiha did not appear for a long time. The surroundings were silent. Uchiha Gin, standing in place on guard, suddenly struck backward with an elbow.

【Secret of Uchiha Taijutsu: Prison Strike Elbow】

Feeling the sensation of his rear elbow hitting a solid object, Uchiha Gin revealed a smile.

Itachi Uchiha, who had appeared behind him at some unknown moment, was finally hit solidly for the first time.

Perhaps because he had fused with the Hyuga bloodline, Uchiha Gin could actually capture traces of the opponent's chakra through his eyes, and his field of vision had widened significantly.

Every move of Itachi Uchiha, who had just hidden behind him via a Crow Clone to attempt a sneak attack, was seen clearly by these eyes.

The Prison Strike Elbow used by Uchiha Gin incorporated Super Strength; a single elbow strike could easily split mountains and break stones.

Impacted by the Super Strength, Itachi Uchiha flew dozens of meters horizontally, finally crashing heavily into the mountain rocks adjacent to the backyard, remaining motionless for a long time.

Not hearing the system prompt for a long time, Uchiha Gin frowned and walked over cautiously to check.

Just as he wanted to reach out and touch this old friend, he saw Itachi Uchiha, who was lying there in a sorry state, turn into a puff of white smoke.

Not good! It's a Shadow Clone.

Alarm bells rang in his mind. Sensing the crisis, Uchiha Gin was about to leave, but a pair of large orange hands appeared quietly, and with no way to avoid them, he was gripped in the next moment.

Despicable! This little Itachi bullies me for being old and weak, actually using a Gundam to sneak attack.

He hadn't expected the NPC to play at military strategy too. Uchiha Gin lamented the cold state of the world and the dominance of AI.

Itachi Uchiha, wrapped in the orange Susanoo, was not having an easy time either; that elbow strike from Uchiha Gin just now had landed solidly.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Itachi Uchiha knew his time was limited and he had to finish quickly.

Enduring the pain in his chest, his eyes turned into pinwheel shapes, and a cold, sinister chakra surged toward Uchiha Gin, who was gripped in his hand.

【Tsukuyomi】

Struggling in the Susanoo's hand, Uchiha Gin was caught off guard and hit by the technique once again.

His consciousness was sucked into the Tsukuyomi space. Nailed to the cross, Uchiha Gin shook his head helplessly; as expected, he still couldn't defeat the NPC.

Looking at the sea of Itachis before him, Uchiha Gin said as if resigning himself to fate,

"This is the last time, can you please not stab..."

Before his words had even faded, Itachi Uchiha was already brandishing a sharp blade, stabbing into the spot he hadn't yet mentioned.

"You little brat, just you wait. Even if I have to turtle up, I'll turtle until you're born, and then see how I deal with you!"

Stabbed until he felt life was meaningless, Uchiha Gin used his last bit of strength to threaten the merciless Itachi Uchiha.

These words had no effect and instead accelerated Itachi Uchiha's stabbing efficiency. Among the countless Itachi Uchiha clones, one clone holding a blade revealed an expression different from the other indifferent clones.

The clone with a very subtle expression stepped forward and routinely stabbed the lower regions a few times. After turning his head, the corners of his expressionless mouth curled up slightly.

The 72 hours had finally passed. Uchiha Gin gasped for air again, lying weakly on the ground of the backyard.

"Backyard daily refresh random skill 【Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi】, obtained Tsukuyomi fragment *10."

【Tsukuyomi fragment (40/40), collect 40 pieces to synthesize Genjutsu Tsukuyomi, learnable by skill Mangekyo Sharingan.】

Finally having collected enough Tsukuyomi fragments, Uchiha Gin was moved to tears. He would finally never have to suffer the torture of Itachi Uchiha again. Trembling, he extended his finger, clicked on the Tsukuyomi fragments, and attempted a synthesis.

"【Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi】 synthesis successful."

The fragments he had painstakingly saved floated in the void and merged. After a flash of light, the legitimate Tsukuyomi skill card was successfully synthesized.

"Click to learn!"

Unable to wait, Uchiha Gin frantically clicked the learn option, fantasizing about the scene of him taking off after mastering Tsukuyomi.

"Learning failed."

A large red cross appeared before Uchiha Gin's eyes, leaving him stunned.

Why? I endured how many Tsukuyomi hits just to trade for these fragments, and you say learning failed just like that? Does that mean all the suffering I went through was for nothing?

"(%……￥%￥##￥@%……￥&%*&"

In his anger, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but spew profanities, displaying his beautiful national essence to the fullest.

"Host has not awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan; this skill cannot be learned."

The system's cold prompt arrived belatedly.

Only then did Uchiha Gin remember that the description of the Tsukuyomi fragments noted it was learnable by the skill Mangekyo Sharingan.

Previously, he had thought Tsukuyomi was like Amaterasu, usable without opening the eyes, but he hadn't expected it to require awakening the Mangekyo.

Sighing, Uchiha Gin, having had his debuffs cleared by the system, climbed up and patted the dust off his body. This trip was a total loss.

The Tsukuyomi learning card couldn't be used for now, and his own pair of Sharingan weren't original; he didn't know if he could even awaken the Mangekyo.

Touching his eyes, Uchiha Gin considered the problem of opening his eyes.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind; in the current situation, there was truly one more person who could clear up his confusion.

(End of chapter)