Chapter 8: Starting a Losing Streak

“It was a dark and stormy night. I was standing guard at the Clan Head’s office door, dutiful as always. Even though it was late, I didn’t dare slack off for a moment because the Clan Head was still working tirelessly on strategies for the war. Suddenly, I heard the sound of the Clan Head smashing something, followed by his furious roar.”

At this point, Uchiha Gin paused, his gaze sweeping over the few Uchihas who were listening with rapt attention.

“Hurry up, hurry up! What did the Clan Head roar?”

Uchiha Ryoichi, hearing that the crucial part was missing, urged him impatiently.

“Yeah, yeah!”

Uchiha Tsuru and Uchiha Taro chimed in as well, while Uchiha Fuka, who had been silent on the side, stared at him with eyes full of curiosity.

Feeling a bit thirsty, Uchiha Gin reached for the canteen on his back, only to find it completely empty.

Just as he was thinking about it, Uchiha Ryoichi had already offered his own canteen with both hands. Feeling the dryness in his throat, Uchiha Gin didn’t mind and unscrewed the cap, gulping down the water in a series of loud, thirsty swallows.

After finishing the water comfortably, Uchiha Gin raised a hand to signal them not to be impatient. He then gathered his emotions and said mysteriously

“‘Damn you, Butsuma Senju! I will grind your bones to dust, and I shall raise your wife as my own!!!’”

“What does that mean?”

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were completely confused.

Uchiha Gin timed his expression perfectly, looking as if he were dealing with people who just didn’t get it, and sighed while shaking his head.

“Why do you think someone with as little talent as me could serve as Clan Head Tajima’s personal bodyguard? What do you think I’ve relied on to stay in this position for so many years?”

“Isn’t it because the Clan Head is your cousin-uncle?” Uchiha Tsuru, who rarely spoke, muttered under his breath. But because the cave wasn’t very spacious, his words echoed in everyone’s ears as if they had been spoken through a megaphone.

“*Cough, cough, cough.* As the saying goes, one should not avoid appointing relatives when selecting the virtuous.”

Uchiha Gin coughed awkwardly.

“What I rely on is my unwavering loyalty to the Clan Head. More importantly, I can interpret the Clan Head’s every move.”

“Interpret?”

“For a ninja as great as the Clan Head, even an inadvertent gesture or a casual remark usually carries a deeper meaning.”

“Some things the Clan Head says are as good as unsaid, while some things he doesn’t say have deep meanings that ordinary people cannot comprehend.”

“Take our current mission, for example. On the surface, the Clan Head’s order is to kill the Senju clan’s genius on the spot, but the deeper mission is to capture him alive.”

“Think about it: Butsuma Senju has always doted on his youngest son. A simple assassination would only provoke the Senju clan into a fight to the death, bringing losses to our clan for nothing. But if we capture Butsuma Senju’s son alive, the Clan Head can use him to coerce the Senju clan. For us Uchihas, this has a hundred benefits and no harm.”

“What a brilliant plan!!! Did the Clan Head reveal all this to you?”

Uchiha Fuka, who had been listening for a long time, couldn’t help but exclaim.

“No, I guessed it all.”

“...”

Although it was a close call, the explanation managed to fool Uchiha Fuka and the others. He just had to wait for the mission to be successfully settled; whether this Itama Senju lived or died was no longer Uchiha Gin’s concern.

After a night of rest, the group recovered some of their strength and began to head back to the Uchiha clan’s territory with the bound Itama Senju.

Because they had ventured deep behind enemy lines, they were still nearly half a month’s journey away from home.

Since it was Uchiha Gin who had taken it upon himself to spare Itama Senju’s life, he was the one responsible for transporting him.

But the main reason was that he was afraid the others might accidentally kill Itama Senju, which would cause the mission to fail and lead to his own demise.

After traveling for a full day, they set up camp by a small river at night. During this time, Itama Senju woke up once, but before he could regain his senses, Uchiha Gin knocked him out with a slap.

He didn’t have the energy to interact with Itama Senju anymore; he was already carrying a prisoner.

Even though he had stripped off Itama Senju’s cumbersome armor, the child still weighed thirty or forty pounds, and the original owner’s frail body made him feel overwhelmed.

Sitting there in a daze, Uchiha Gin suddenly thought that he hadn’t triggered his Heartsteel chest today. He still didn’t fully understand the trigger mechanism for the Heartsteel chest.

After thinking for a moment, he got up and walked toward Uchiha Ryoichi, who was leaning against a tree.

Seeing Uchiha Gin coming toward him, Uchiha Ryoichi frowned, not understanding why the other man wasn’t resting properly and was coming to find him instead.

During the day, it was because of his dragging that the team had covered nearly half the distance they were supposed to, which left Uchiha Ryoichi, who wanted to return and report early, feeling quite resentful.

“Brother Ryoichi.”

Uchiha Gin spoke first.

“Don’t call me brother; I’m younger than you.”

Uchiha Gin was 24 this year, while Uchiha Ryoichi was only 20. Although he was four years older, the gap in their strength was vast.

“Ryoichi-bro.”

Uchiha Gin didn’t stand on ceremony.

“...”

Looking at the other man’s speechless expression, Uchiha Gin didn’t beat around the bush.

“Ryoichi-bro, I want to spar with you.”

“...”

Uchiha Ryoichi was stunned for a moment and didn’t speak.

However, Uchiha Gin, having received no notification, thought to himself

“It seems that initiating a challenge unilaterally cannot activate the combat conditions for Heartsteel.”

“No time.”

Uchiha Ryoichi didn’t want to waste his rest time on the weakling Uchiha Gin.

“Scared? After all, my shurikenjutsu was taught to me by the Clan Head himself, and I have yet to meet an opponent.”

Uchiha Gin wore a wistful expression, shaking his head to indicate that it was lonely at the top.

“Damn it, if I don’t turn you into a sieve today, I’ll change my name to Senju!” Uchiha Ryoichi’s temper flared up instantly.

The poor ancient man had never studied the Art of War.

“Combat detected. Heartsteel chest accumulation started...”

Sure enough, Uchiha Gin felt a surge of joy upon hearing the notification in his head.

Next was the fight with Uchiha Ryoichi. At the end of the day, they were of the same clan, so the attacks weren’t meant to be fatal.

Uchiha Ryoichi threw five shuriken first, aiming at the gaps in Uchiha Gin’s limbs from five different, tricky angles. Relying on the original owner’s memory, Uchiha Gin skillfully threw five shuriken to meet them.

As expected, the ten shuriken collided precisely. Looking at the shuriken scattered all over the ground, Uchiha Gin’s evaluation of the original owner rose a notch; it seemed the original owner wasn’t entirely useless besides being handsome.

“Interesting. Try this then.”

Seeing that his shuriken had been intercepted so precisely, Uchiha Ryoichi began to take it seriously.

He unslung the Fuma Shuriken from his back and threw it at Uchiha Gin with all his might. Watching the giant shuriken flying toward him, Uchiha Gin didn’t rush to dodge, but instead watched it get closer with a calm expression.

This scene terrified Uchiha Ryoichi, who had thrown the shuriken. He thought to himself that Uchiha Gin must have a death wish, not dodging at all.

He didn’t want to be branded with the crime of killing a clansman, so he hurriedly used the Body Flicker technique to try and intercept his own shuriken before Uchiha Gin could be cut in half.

Uchiha Ryoichi was fast. Just as he was about to touch the shuriken, Uchiha Gin quickly threw himself flat on the ground, narrowly dodging the fatal blow. This caused Uchiha Ryoichi, who had lost his target, to stumble and nearly fall into the river.

Uchiha Gin, lying on the ground, raised both hands and said in an annoying tone

“As expected of the clan’s number one shuriken genius, Uchiha Ryoichi! I, Uchiha Gin, am willing to call you the strongest with shuriken! I concede.”

*Splash!*

Uchiha Ryoichi, whose anger had boiled over because of that sentence, couldn’t control his body and fell straight into the water. He had never seen such a shameless person.

“Host failed. Obtained Heart Energy *10. You must engage in two more battles to unlock the Heartsteel chest reward. (Current accumulated Heart Energy: 11)”

Hearing the notification, Uchiha Gin’s eyes lit up. Ignoring the embarrassment of lying on the ground, he scrambled up and pulled the waterlogged Uchiha Ryoichi out.

“Ryoichi-bro, I think today’s battle should end here. It was truly a hearty fight. I’ve benefited a lot from this encounter, and I hope we can fight again tomorrow after we rest tonight!”

Uchiha Gin’s words sounded high and mighty, making the veins on Uchiha Ryoichi’s forehead bulge.

“GET LOST!!!!!!”