Important Content That Failed to Load

The three returned to camp, where Uchiha Ryoichi and Uchiha Tsuru had already cleaned up the traces and were waiting to depart.

When they saw Uchiha Gin and Uchiha Dairou, the two exchanged a glance, their expressions turning strange. Taking advantage of Uchiha Gin going to fetch Senju Itama, they approached Uchiha Dairou. "Did that guy Uchiha Gin challenge you to a spar?"

Uchiha Ryoichi spoke first. Caught off guard by the question, Uchiha Dairou answered in confusion,

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Did he also say the Clan Leader taught him something?"

Uchiha Tsuru chimed in as well.

Seeing Uchiha Dairou's startled expression, the two became certain that Uchiha Gin had fooled him with the same trick.

"That guy was just messing with us. He called it a spar, then surrendered after only a few moves."

"Not just that. When he sparred with me, he threw his sword straight onto the ground."

"Anyway, he was making fun of us."

It took Uchiha Dairou a moment to sort through the confusing barrage from the two of them.

"You mean Uchiha Gin said he wanted to learn from us, but he was actually just playing us?"

"That's right!"

Uchiha Ryoichi and Uchiha Tsuru reached a consensus and answered in unison.

Hearing this, Uchiha Dairou's honest face turned red, then green.

"Damn it!"

Then he grew curious again. "What does he get out of doing that?"

At that question, all three fell silent.

"Maybe he's bored."

After hearing the whole story, Uchiha FengHuo, who had been watching from the side, spoke leisurely.

"After all, that kid may only have an empty shell left."

"???"

Uchiha Ryoichi and the other two were full of question marks.

Just as they were about to press for answers again, Uchiha Gin came over carrying the tightly bound Senju Itama on his shoulder. The three wisely shut their mouths.

Uchiha Ryoichi and Uchiha Tsuru looked up at the sky, as though something overhead had caught his attention, while Uchiha Tsuru lowered his head and used his toe to count the ants moving house on the ground. Only Uchiha Dairou glared at him indignantly.

"Brother Dairou, I still have a few doubts about that question just now—"

"Hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮" Uchiha Dairou walked away with an expression that said he was ashamed to associate with him.

"o((?﹏?))o" Uchiha Gin looked utterly bewildered.

"Move out!"

Uchiha FengHuo ignored the farce and directly gave the order to depart.

The territory long contested by the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan lay within the future Fire Country. The Senju Clan Land was in the east, right by the sea.

Bordering their distant collateral relatives in Whirlpool Country, the Uchiha Clan Territory lay to the west. Uchiha Gin's group was currently in the eastern part of the Fire Country, fleeing southwest along the Coastline.

The June sun blazed brightly. Because they were close to the Coastline, the group could feel A Hint Of coolness amid the stifling heat as they traveled.

Based on the map, Uchiha FengHuo deduced that they should soon escape the Senju Clan's territory.

As long as they successfully got out, they could shake off the pursuers behind them and enter the shores of Whirlpool Country. Then they would basically be safe.

At the rear of the group, Uchiha Gin casually chatted with the Senju Itama slung over his shoulder. "Kid Itama, I heard your clan has a pretty good relationship with the Uzumaki Clan of Whirlpool Country."

"Of course. We're cousins. The Uzumaki Clan Leader often visits our Senju Clan Land too. The last time she came, she even wanted to arrange a childhood betrothal with our family."

As he spoke, he squirmed his small body, deliberately or otherwise moving his important parts away from Uchiha Gin's warm hand.

Senju Itama knew full well that he could neither escape nor kill himself, so he Might as Well give up. Once he reached the Uchiha Clan Land, death was certain anyway. For now, he would live one day at a time.

Moreover, after spending several days together, he had learned that the reason he was still alive was because of the Uchiha Gin in front of him.

When the others had wanted to kill him, Uchiha Gin had saved him. Though he always felt Uchiha Gin's motives were impure, the other man had never mistreated him in daily life.

When they argued, Uchiha Gin would use his iron fist to punish him, but afterward he would give him dried meat to eat. (Afraid the kid would starve to death.)

He would also tell him strange jokes. Though he could not understand them, they still made him laugh out loud. (Only a happy mood would let him live longer.)

During the days of travel, Uchiha Gin had carried him the whole way without showing any impatience. (Afraid someone else might accidentally slap the kid to death.) The young Senju Itama suddenly realized that the other man's image overlapped with those of his two beloved older brothers.

"What a pity. Falling into the grave of love at such a young age." Uchiha Gin sighed upon hearing that.

"Kid, do you also want to marry a woman from the Uzumaki Clan? I heard their clan lives year-round on an Island shrouded in thick fog. All their women are fair-skinned beauties, and with that head of fiery red hair... tsk, tsk, tsk. They're unbelievably tempting."

Uchiha Gin teased Senju Itama, whose face had turned red.

Overwhelmed by such an adult topic, Senju Itama turned bright red and twisted his head away. His ears burning, he said,

"I-I don't want an Uzumaki woman! Those people are all violent maniacs!"

"Oh? Getting shy now? Then do you have someone you secretly like? Come on, confess."

Seeing Senju Itama like this, the bored Uchiha Gin was suddenly in the mood to play.

"No! It's not like I secretly like Taohua-jie!"

In his panic, Senju Itama actually let an unfamiliar name slip from his mouth for the first time.

"Hahaha, you're quite the little devil."

Senju Itama, having exposed himself, wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He had actually been tricked into revealing it so easily.

"You Evil Uchiha!"

Senju Itama barked helplessly. "I'll never talk to you again!" With that, he closed his eyes and stopped speaking.

"What a kid who can't take a joke."

Uchiha Gin smiled and shook his head, while also considering how to deal with the hot potato that was Senju Itama after completing the mission.

At first, he had relied on joking around and used hints about the Clan Leader as an excuse. But once they returned to the Uchiha Clan Territory and the Clan Leader came out to confront him, the truth would be exposed without question.

This kid might really be skinned and dismembered by the enraged Uchiha Tajima, dying without an intact corpse.

"The mission said to save Senju Itama from Uchiha FengHuo and the others. I should count as having saved the kid already, so why hasn't the mission been completed?"

The first mission description had been extremely brief, and Uchiha Gin could not see any clues in it. He was now like meat being roasted over a fire from both sides.

On one hand, he feared that the mission still would not be complete after returning to the clan and that he would die. On the other, he feared that if he secretly released the kid, he probably would not die when he returned and faced the Clan Leader's punishment, but the days afterward would definitely be worse than death.

"Sigh, why am I so unlucky? Stuck with such an ancient relic of a system."

Other people's systems gave beginner gift packs containing powerful ninja techniques or awesome Divine Artifacts. Even at worst, they gave attribute points, and a few additions would let them soar.

What about his? It gave him a treasure chest that could only be opened after four days. He had finally built up one win and one loss to prepare for a losing streak, only for the system to punish him and send him back to square one.

It gave him a skill that was completely useless and nearly scared him to death. He got fucked by Itachi for seventy-two hours in Tsukuyomi, only to receive fragments at the end, then be told he still had to get fucked another thirty-nine times.

So many days had Passed, yet his strength had barely improved. Instead, the system had hung a Sword of Damocles over his head. Was there any transmigrator more miserable than him?

"Great System, when exactly will my mission be completed? I've already saved Senju Itama."

Helplessly, Uchiha Gin once again tried to Call Out to the system in his mind.

"Detected that the host's mission completion rate is 60%. The host must continue protecting mission target Senju Itama until he returns to the Senju Clan Land for the mission to be completed."

The system, which never responded, unexpectedly answered his question for the first time.

"&%￥%@#￥&...&*%&...%"

Immediately infuriated to the point of vomiting blood by the system, Uchiha Gin cursed wildly in his mind. After calming down, he asked, "The mission description back then never said I had to protect Senju Itama all the way back to the Senju Clan!"

"At the time, the system was still loading. Eighty percent of the content failed to load, resulting in incomplete mission data. The mission release module has now finished loading.

Mission as follows: Rescue Senju Itama from Uchiha FengHuo and the others, 'protect him until he returns to the Senju Clan Land,' receive Points*10, 'Random Magic Orb*1.' If Senju Itama dies, the mission fails."

"So the line that failed to load was the most important one."

"Insufficient data traffic. Host, please strengthen yourself. System loading speed is linked to the host's strength." The system delivered another cold prompt.

"!???"