Chapter 6: 6. Chapter 6: Bitjagan, Both Gambler and Greedy

Chapter 6: Heartsteel, Greedy and Gambler

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others began to surround the Senju clansmen who were protecting Senju Itama, while Uchiha Gin stood by, slacking off.

A battle of this scale was still too high-level for him; he didn't want to become the transmigrator with the shortest lifespan.

As his gaze swept over the unfamiliar faces of the Senju clansmen, Uchiha Gin finally locked his eyes on Senju Itama in the center.

He observed the child—who died quite tragically in the plot—from afar, while memories surfaced in his mind.

"Isn't this the famous scene from the original work? Senju Itama being surrounded and killed by five Uchihas."

Suddenly, the sound of a loading screen from a game in his past life rang out in Uchiha Gin's mind. Then, he felt as if everything around him had entered a time-stop; the ferocious expressions of the combatants on both sides froze in that very instant.

"Ding! Detected that the host has encountered a plot character. The system has activated the 'Advance Server' mode early. Complete the cumulative pre-tasks to unlock hidden system functions ahead of schedule."

At this moment, Uchiha Gin almost burst into tears. Heaven does not disappoint those who try, and the transmigration novels truly didn't lie to me.

With excitement, Uchiha Gin tried to summon the system in his mind. As the thought formed, a dialogue box with an extremely outdated design popped up before his eyes.

"Accept the pre-task?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

Uchiha Gin frantically clicked 'Yes' in his mind.

"Task initiated: Save Senju Itama from the hands of Uchiha Fuka and the others. Reward: 10 points. If Senju Itama dies, the task fails."

Seeing the task, Uchiha Gin’s blood pressure spiked. Save that brat? In your dreams!

"What are points used for?"

After calming down, he curiously asked about the function of the points.

"Complete one D-rank task every day to accumulate 1 point. Once you accumulate a certain amount, you can 'blow up' the shop, after which the shop will drop random Golden Orbs every day."

"Blow up the shop? Golden Orbs?"

Uchiha Gin looked at the system's explanation speechlessly. This was just content from a game in his past life.

"What does 'activated early' mean?"

He was also curious why the system mentioned an 'Advance Server' and what this early activation implied.

"Because the current system is not fully activated and the shop module is still loading, points earned in the Advance Server will accumulate until the system officially launches."

"So, it's useless for me to grind points right now?"

Since the system's functions weren't fully active, completing the task didn't seem to hold much meaning.

If he rashly accepted the task to save Senju Itama, he might be taken down by Uchiha Fuka and the others with his current strength. Even if they didn't kill him on the spot, they would break his legs and drag him before Uchiha Tajima to await judgment.

"Can I choose not to accept?"

Uchiha Gin asked tentatively.

"The host has already accepted the task and cannot abandon it. Otherwise, it will be considered a failure, and the host will be erased on the spot."

Erased???

What version of a system are you! What year is this?

"?????? When did I accept it?"

Uchiha Gin was full of question marks.

【"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"】

Suddenly, the system began replaying the footage of him frantically clicking 'Yes' earlier.

Damn it, I got scammed by this ancient-era system.

Who wouldn't click 'Yes' when they first see a cheat code?

But the system didn't wait for him to ask more questions and sent him a notification.

"Newbie Gift Pack is being distributed. Accept?"

Uchiha Gin really wanted to choose 'No', but since he had already been tricked into accepting the task, he might as well take the gift pack.

"Obtained Newbie Gift Pack *1. Open?"

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Shaking off his negative thoughts, Uchiha Gin clicked "Yes" in his mind.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining Heartsteel Chest *1, Purple Orb *1."

??????

Points to blow up the shop, right?

Heartsteel Chest, right?

Purple Orb, right?

Tell me, is your system logo a penguin holding a golden spatula?

A large gray box floated on the left in front of Uchiha Gin, looking exactly like the Heartsteel heart-energy chest from the game in his past life.

On the right floated a purple orb of light, with a large "?" shining brightly in the center.

Uchiha Gin was numb. Looking at the rewards, he now highly doubted the reliability of this system. What if it produced more of these ancient,坑爹 (pit-the-father/scam) products?

But in his current situation, he had no choice but to accept. He tapped the Heartsteel Chest with his left hand, and a description appeared above it

【Defeat opponents: The host can obtain heart-energy by defeating opponents.

Lose battles: Losing battles will grant more heart-energy.

Heart-energy conversion: After every four days of battle, the host can convert heart-energy into powerful rewards.

(Heart-energy accumulation is limited to one battle per day, can be evolved)】

This was clearly the Heartsteel synergy, and the three-steel version at that.

"Well, starting with three-steel is a decent roll."

Although this Heartsteel chest was of no use for the moment, no one could resist such temptation.

【If you have steel, play steel; if you don't, force the steel!】

After looking at the chest, Uchiha Gin turned his gaze to the purple orb on the right, muttering to himself.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Amitabha, please show your power, give it to me!!!!!!"

As he slammed his right hand down, the purple orb burst into a blinding light. As the light faded, Uchiha Gin discovered that the space was empty; the purple orb had disappeared, but nothing was left on the ground.

"Orbs can be empty too???"

Just as Uchiha Gin was about to scream at the dog-system to give him his money back because he wasn't playing anymore, a notification sounded in his mind.

"Ding, a random skill refreshes in the backyard every day. Learn?"

What does a random skill refreshing in the backyard mean? With a doubtful heart, Uchiha Gin clicked 'Yes'.

【Random skill refreshes in the backyard daily: A skill refreshes in the host's backyard every day. The skill manifests as a refreshing NPC casting it. The host cannot control it, but the skill cannot kill the host. After the skill ends, there is a certain chance to drop the skill or fragments. Collect enough fragments to learn the skill.】

This skill couldn't be called powerful; it was currently useless. He didn't even have a fixed place to live; where would the skill refresh?

Learn? Forget the backyard; he didn't even know if he'd live long enough to buy a house. These two things were useless for the current situation. To survive, he had to complete this scam of a task using other methods.

As the newbie rewards were claimed, time around him seemed to start flowing again. He had spent a long time in the system, but outside, it had only been an instant.

The appearance of the system gave Uchiha Gin, whose goal was to survive until the founding of Konoha, more confidence.

"But at least I have to complete the task in front of me, otherwise, if I get erased, everything else is just talk."

Although the items given by this ancient system were of no help right now, Uchiha Gin decided to go all out to complete the task. After activating this stupid system, he was temporarily tied to Senju Itama like grasshoppers on the same rope.

On the side, Uchiha Fuka was already suppressing Senju Koji, and it was estimated that the outcome would be decided soon.

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were also slowly draining the stamina of the three Senju clansmen, who were forced to fight passively because they had to protect Senju Itama behind them.

At this moment, one of the Senju clansmen noticed a gap in the encirclement of Uchiha Ryoichi's trio. He slammed his hands together and cast Earth Style: Earth Wall.

A thick wall of earth rose before them, blocking the line of sight of Ryoichi and the others. Seizing the opportunity, another Senju clansman used Super Strength to push Senju Itama out of the encirclement, telling him to run quickly.

Senju Itama, pushed dozens of meters away, instantly understood his clansman's decision. As he flew out, he kicked off the ground and ran toward the gap without looking back.

But as luck would have it, that position was exactly where Uchiha Gin, who had been slacking off on the side, was standing.

Uchiha Ryoichi saw the target escaping and was about to pursue, but was blocked by the Senju clansman who had cast the Earth Style.

He could only watch helplessly as the target fled, then realized that Uchiha Gin was in the direction Senju Itama was running, and was overjoyed.

"Gin! The target is running toward you, do it!"

Hearing this, the Senju clansman's eyes split with rage. He hadn't expected there to be another Uchiha lying in ambush. In his panic, he erupted with great strength, punching at Uchiha Ryoichi, who was distracted by the battle. The fist, carrying immense force, headed straight for his chest.

In the nick of time, Uchiha Ryoichi turned sharply, exposing the giant Windmill Shuriken on his back. With a 'bang', the Senju clansman's punch slammed hard into the giant shuriken.

Uchiha Ryoichi was only knocked back and not seriously injured. He turned his head and slashed at the Senju clansman, and the two began to fight fiercely again.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Gin looked at Senju Itama running toward him with a massive headache.

【What do I do now? Waiting online, it's quite urgent.】

(End of chapter)