Chapter 23: He Used to Be a Sunny, Cheerful Boy Too

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“Gin, think carefully. How did you awaken your Sharingan?”

Unable to obtain the answer he wanted from the two elders, Uchiha Tajima turned to question Uchiha Gin.

That question truly stumped Gin. His Sharingan had awakened after being stimulated by Tsukuyomi, the unique illusion of Itachi Uchiha’s Mangekyo Sharingan, when Itachi had respawned in the backyard. That was something he absolutely had to take to his grave.

“Don’t be nervous. I’m only asking out of curiosity. After all, you awakened your Sharingan rather late.”

Seeing the way Gin’s brows had drawn together, Uchiha Tajima hurried to reassure him.

At some point, the three men before him had returned to normal, as though the cold atmosphere from earlier had merely been his imagination.

The two elders, too, now gazed at him kindly, like benevolent seniors, their eyes filled with approval. Everything appeared harmonious and cheerful.

Yet Gin still sensed something faintly amiss.

“I hope it was just my imagination.”

Gin silently pondered this, relaxing his tightly furrowed brows. After thinking for a moment, he said,

“It was when the Senju clan gravely wounded me. I awakened my Sharingan on the brink of life and death.”

The Sharingan could only be awakened through intense emotional stimulation. His explanation—that he had awakened it while grievously wounded and close to death—was perfectly reasonable and left no obvious flaw to criticize.

“Gin, you’ve worked hard on this mission. I never expected the defenses in the heart of Senju territory to be so tight.”

Though Uchiha Tajima remained suspicious after hearing such a “reasonable” explanation, he could not continue questioning Gin without making his intentions too obvious.

After all, a mere two-tomoe Sharingan was hardly enough to warrant such a grand interrogation by the clan leader.

The two elders beside him also tacitly fell silent, though their obscure gazes never once left Gin’s eyes.

“Clan leader, this little brat from the Senju clan…”

Noticing that Uchiha Tajima was subtly signaling that the meeting was over, Gin hurriedly pushed Senju Itama forward.

Uchiha Tajima, whose thoughts were already elsewhere, spoke in a mild tone.

“Since he is your prisoner, you will be responsible for watching over him. Keep him alive for now. He may serve as another bargaining chip when we face the Senju clan.”

Hearing that Tajima had handed Senju Itama over to him, Gin was overjoyed. It seemed the boy’s life would be spared for the time being.

Afraid that his clan-leader uncle might change his mind, Gin hoisted the unconscious Itama up at once, said his farewells, and fled as fast as he could.

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As the door closed, the gentle expression on Uchiha Tajima’s face instantly turned cold. The two elders, who had just looked so amiable, also frowned deeply.

“Elder Miao, you were one of the people who oversaw that operation back then. You should not have forgotten its results. There is absolutely no way Uchiha Gin could have awakened the Sharingan.”

Uchiha Tajima’s voice was as cold as an icy wind.

“Clan Leader Tajima, I guarantee that nothing went wrong during the operation. But that person had not yet been captured at the time. Could it be…”

The gaunt, stick-like Uchiha Miao revealed a trace of unease in his eyes.

“You mean that person?”

After hearing this, Uchiha Tajima rubbed his aching, irritated eyes with a troubled expression.

“Is he still alive?”

“He is still being held in the dungeon,” said the round-bodied Uchiha Yan.

“Set this matter aside for now. The decisive battle with the Senju clan is imminent. I will arrange for Uchiha Gin to remain behind in the clan.”

After another bout of throbbing pain, Uchiha Tajima spoke.

For some reason, Uchiha Tajima seemed to have developed a headache lately. Pains came and went at irregular intervals. The clan physicians had examined him but found nothing seriously wrong, so he simply assumed that he had been overworked.

Carrying Senju Itama over his shoulder, Uchiha Gin left the clan leader’s residence. As he made his way toward the home preserved in his memories, he used the original owner’s recollections to identify the two old men he had just met. It did not take long to reach a conclusion.

The round-bodied elder was named Uchiha Yan. He had once served as the personal guard of the previous clan leader. In his youth, he had been a formidable fighter and had followed the former leader into battle across countless campaigns.

After Uchiha Tajima succeeded to the position of clan leader, Yan retired from active duty and became one of the Uchiha elders. His main responsibilities involved training recruits and overseeing security patrols within the clan.

The lean and emaciated elder was Uchiha Yan’s brother, Uchiha Miao. His strength was unknown. He was in charge of the Uchiha clan’s research division, where he devoted himself to developing the clan’s ocular techniques and researching ninjutsu.

It was said that the two brothers had another elder brother, but he had died in an internal clan struggle many years ago. Nothing else was known about him.

The original owner’s knowledge of these men extended only that far. Gin could not detect anything unusual either. Along the way, every Uchiha who saw him walking with his head lowered in thought hurriedly stepped aside.

With no one disturbing him, Gin followed his memories and made his way unhindered to a secluded area far from where the clan members gathered. Looking up, he saw a modest wooden house.

The house was no different from those belonging to ordinary clan members, though it was somewhat run-down. Gin pushed open the weathered wooden door, revealing the entire interior at a glance.

It consisted simply of one bedroom and one living room. All the furniture was old, but the marks of careful wiping on its aged surfaces showed how much the owner cherished these belongings.

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He entered the bedroom. There was only a simple wooden bed, with a carefully preserved family photograph resting on the bedside table. Uchiha Gin picked it up and examined it.

It showed an ordinary family of three. The original owner, still a young child, was an adorable little boy with a head of tousled curls and a bright, blissful smile.

On either side of him stood a man and a woman, presumably his parents. The man on the left wore a gentle, warm smile and had slightly curly black hair. His eyes were narrowed faintly, and the corners of his lips held a kindly smile. His entire presence radiated sunlight.

The woman on the right had a stern, cold beauty. Her short black hair framed exquisite features reminiscent of a model from Gin’s previous life. Her bearing bore some resemblance to Uchiha Tajima’s. Though her expression appeared icy, her gaze toward the original owner was filled with tenderness.

Sighing, Gin lowered the photograph.

“So the original owner was a cheerful, open-hearted young man before his parents died in battle. How did he end up becoming so twisted?”

After lamenting the unpredictability of life, Gin set down his luggage and cleaned the dust-covered house. When waves of hunger began rising in his stomach, he decided to go out and buy some ingredients.

He was not entirely at ease leaving the unconscious Senju Itama at home. After all, the hatred between the two clans ran as deep as the sea.

If word got out, there was no telling whether some Uchiha consumed by hatred might sneak over and kill the defenseless child to vent his resentment. Gin would be dragged into trouble as well.

He immediately hoisted Senju Itama onto his shoulder and headed toward the Uchiha clan marketplace.

Along the way, quite a few people pointed and whispered when they saw him carrying a child, but no one dared approach him to ask questions. Perhaps they feared his reputation. In any case, it allowed Gin to enjoy some peace and quiet.

At the marketplace, he bought a few simple ingredients. Under the terrified gaze of the stallkeeper, he tossed the money over.

With food dangling from both hands, Uchiha Gin staggered and hummed on his way home:

“One chicken in my left hand, one duck in my right, and a chubby baby on my back tonight—la-di-da, la-di-do!”

From a distance, he saw someone waiting outside his normally deserted home. Perplexed, Gin ambled closer for a better look.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Second Pillar?”

A little boy of about ten was squatting outside Gin’s door. His black hair stood straight up, identifying him as one of the Uchiha. But when Gin got a good look at the boy’s face, he felt as though space itself had shifted.

The child looked far too much like the future “what-is-gay,” making Gin wonder whether he had transmigrated yet again.

When the boy squatting on the ground saw Uchiha Gin approach, he sprang to his feet. Before Gin could ask a question, a familiar voice sounded in his mind.

“Battle detected involving the host. The Heart of Steel treasure chest has begun accumulating…”

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