Chapter 64: The Dream Technique of Every Man

Uchiha Gin, who utterly despised doing his own work, used every ounce of his eloquence to fool Uchiha Rucha into taking over his duties.

"However, I cannot make decisions on such matters."

Completely bewildered by Gin's sweet talk, Rucha did not agree immediately. Although tempted, a job transfer was something that had to be decided by higher-ups.

"I will report this directly to Elder Yan. Rest assured and just do it!"

Knowing what was troubling him, Gin immediately brought up Uchiha Liuying's superior to give him a guarantee.

"Then I..."

Rucha was still hesitating, frantically weighing the feasibility of the idea in his mind.

"What is there to hesitate about? This is for you!"

Without waiting for a reply, Gin shoved the file into his hands, gave him an encouraging "you've got this" look, and immediately slipped away.

"You go ahead, I'm off to the dungeons to interrogate a prisoner."

Free labor delivered right to his doorstep was too good to waste. Relieved of his burden and in high spirits, Gin strolled with an arrogant swagger toward the entrance of Dungeon Number Two.

Today's guards were Uchiha Rucha and Uchiha Tiedan, the latter of whom had failed to swap his shift. Since Rucha had been conscripted by Gin as unpaid labor, Tiedan was left alone to guard the prison entrance.

"Rucha said he was just going to the restroom, but why hasn't he returned after all this time? Did he fall in?"

Wondering about the long-overdue Rucha, Tiedan muttered to himself, utterly bored from guarding the post alone for so long.

"Brother Tiedan, right? Let me in to inspect."

An unfamiliar voice sounded right beside his ear. Startled out of his daydream, Tiedan jerked his head up to look at the newcomer.

"Uchiha... Gin!"

Coming into view was the very nightmare of his recent days—the man known as Uchiha Gin.

"Is there a problem?"

Seeing his clan member looking so frightened, Gin raised an eyebrow and asked with mild curiosity.

"No problem at all! Please, go right in."

Awakened from his stupor, Tiedan hurriedly unlocked the heavy dungeon gate and respectfully invited him inside.

"I am looking for a specific prisoner. Lead the way."

Before leaving earlier, Gin had casually pulled a file from the stack for Dungeon Number Two without even glancing at it. Now, he handed it directly to Tiedan, asking him to guide the way.

"Uh, this prisoner... Very well, please follow me."

Tiedan glanced at the prisoner's name and nodded in compliance.

"Brother Rucha will be helping out in the archive room for a while. I'll report to Lord Liuying to assign you a new partner."

Walking behind Tiedan, Gin casually mentioned the arrangement.

Hearing this, Tiedan's heart skipped a beat, and a wave of sorrow washed over him. Could it be that his good brother had already met a terrible fate at this monster's hands? It was all his fault for dragging him down.

Lost in wild imagination, Tiedan led Gin to the door of a cell and pointed inside, signaling that this was the one.

"Heh, so you're here to torture this old man again, you Uchiha brat? Use whatever tricks you have! If Soichiro Yamanaka even so much as flinches, I am no true man!"

Inside the cell was a mid-aged man with brownish-yellow hair. His hands were bound tightly behind his back, and his indigo-blue eyes glared at them with fierce hostility, as if he wanted to devour their flesh.

"There's a fly on your forehead."

Gin stared at him and suddenly made this random, unprompted remark.

"Huh?"

Hearing something so completely unrelated, Soichiro instinctively twitched his brow.

"Aha! Look, didn't he just frown?"

Having achieved his goal, Gin pointed at him and shouted triumphantly.

"............"

An awkward silence instantly filled the entire space.

Not only was the victim, Soichiro, struck dumb, but Tiedan, standing beside them, also looked as though he had been gagged. He stared fixedly at his own feet on the floor, as if counting how many toes he had.

"Ahem, Lord Gin, you go ahead and interrogate him yourself. The prison entrance is currently unstaffed, so I'll head back first."

Unable to bear the agonizing awkwardness any longer, Tiedan used an excuse to make his swift exit.

"How boring. People these days completely lack a sense of humor."

Shaking his head, Gin sighed with disappointment, as if lamenting the state of the world.

"You brat, are you making a fool of me?"

Having finally processed what happened, Soichiro asked through grates of clenched teeth.

"Just a joke. Are you really so old that you lack even the most basic sense of humor?"

Flipping through the documents in his hand, Gin replied in a relaxed tone.

*Soichiro Yamanaka: Proficient in mental-type secret arts, captured alongside Ino Yamanaka and others.*

"I heard that the secret arts of the Yamanaka clan are quite impressive."

With an intrigued expression, Gin walked over to the bound Soichiro, looked at his tied-up hands, and said thoughtfully, "Yet, you were still countered by our Uchiha clan's Sharingan."

"Hmph! If not for your sheer numbers overwhelming us, how could we have ever fallen into your hands? If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one!"

Consumed by rage, Soichiro struggled and argued angrily.

"Very well!"

Gin rubbed his chin, nodded, and said earnestly.

"Huh?"

Soichiro, whose hands suddenly regained their freedom, was caught completely off guard and stood frozen in place.

"Really? You talk big, but when push comes to shove, you're just a soft-spoken coward?"

Noticing that the system still hadn't registered any combat, Gin couldn't help but add fuel to the fire.

*[Combat detected. The Heart of Steel chest is beginning to accumulate...]*

The corners of his lips curved upward. As expected, a little reverse psychology always worked wonders.

"Darn Uchiha brat! To thank you for releasing me, I'll make sure you pass away peacefully."

Realizing that the restraints on his body had vanished, Soichiro stood up with a grim smile, raised his hands, and formed a bizarre hand sign.

Recognizing the sign instantly from his knowledge of the original series, Gin identified the signature technique of the Yamanaka clan.

The secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan were all Yin-release ninjutsu targeting the mind, excelling in mental attacks, reading memories, and controlling enemy consciousness.

*[Ninjutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique!]*

Soichiro raised his hands and executed the signature ninjutsu of his clan.

The Mind Body Switch Technique allowed a member of the Yamanaka clan to project their spiritual energy to take over an enemy's body and control their actions freely for a short duration.

The ultimate dream technique for any man!

As Soichiro's spiritual energy surged toward him across the air, Gin instinctively activated his Sharingan.

Whether due to the power of the Sharingan or not, he could faintly perceive a current of Yin-release chakra carrying spiritual energy directly toward his forehead.

While still wondering whether he should pretend to collapse to farm more stats, Gin sidestepped to dodge the opponent's charged attack.

"Hah! Did you really think it would be that easy to dodge?"

Unsurprised by Gin's evasion, Soichiro twisted his hands, and that stream of spiritual energy actually curved mid-air!

Struck by sudden terror and with no time to dodge, Gin could only watch helplessly as Soichiro's spiritual energy crashed straight into his consciousness.

Normally, the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique could only travel in a straight line. Yet, he never expected that this fellow Soichiro had spent years of bitter training to alter the trajectory of the technique's attack—truly a terrifying feat.

Gin realized he could no longer control his physical body to make any movements. A surge of spiritual energy violently slammed into his mind, causing a wave of dizziness so intense it felt like riding a rollercoaster for three days and three nights, making him want to vomit.

"Heh heh heh! You foolish Uchiha brat, you didn't expect my secret art to be able to turn corners, did you?"

A bizarre voice came from Gin's mouth, his tone completely different from before.

Soichiro's physical body slumped and fell limply to the side, as if he had entirely lost consciousness.

"Let the old man end you without any pain!"

With a malicious grin, Soichiro controlled Gin's body, pulled a kunai from the ninja tool pouch, and shakily raised it toward his own neck.