Suppressing Amaterasu

The man had come and gone quickly. Uchiha Gin, who had been given quite a scare, closed the door and pondered the intentions of his Clan Leader uncle.

"Izuna, Little Cousin, why do you think the Clan Leader wants me to work in the Dungeon?"

Unable to fathom his thoughts, Uchiha Gin turned to ask Uchiha Izuna, who was locked in a Staring Contest with Senju Itama.

"Maybe he's afraid you'll leave."

Izuna stroked his chin and thought for a moment before saying,

"Because your strength is really..."

Looking at his Little Cousin, who trailed off hesitantly, Gin found that the answer matched his own suspicions.

From the original owner's memories, ever since the tragedy of his childhood, his strength had remained stagnant. He did not know whether his resolve had shattered and he had lost the will to improve, or whether his talent was simply limited.

In any case, because the original owner lacked strength, Uchiha Tajima had always assigned him simple tasks within the clan.

For example, positions such as Guard at the Clan Leader Building or the Patrol Team—jobs that did not take him far from the Clan Grounds. This outing had only been arranged because the original owner had threatened to die.

"Is it really just protection in disguise? I hope I'm overthinking it."

Uchiha Gin mused to himself.

After resting enough, Uchiha Izuna saw that it was already late. He made a face at Senju Itama, then slowly got up to say goodbye.

Uchiha Gin went outside to see him off. Just as he was leaving, Izuna suddenly turned his face away and said awkwardly,

"Thanks. The food was really good."

With that, he fled without looking back.

"Are all Uchiha Clan members tsundere?"

Uchiha Gin thought, rubbing his curly hair.

When he turned and returned to the room, Senju Itama immediately straightened up upon seeing him. His eyes shifted stiffly as he stubbornly asked,

"What exactly are you after?"

"Kid, you're safe for now, but only while you're with me."

Uchiha Gin did not bother explaining too much.

"Anyway, until the war starts, you'd better stay here and behave."

Not many people knew Senju Itama's identity. Presumably, Uchiha Tajima would not make a grand spectacle of it either.

Since he had entrusted this kid to Gin's custody, it meant the war had not yet reached its most intense stage. Once the final battle was imminent, this kid's fate would be hard to say.

Thinking of the trash system's mission gave Uchiha Gin another headache. Making an Uchiha Clan member protect his mortal enemy from the Senju—was it really asking him to play an undercover agent?

"Starting today, you'll sleep in the bedroom."

Uchiha Gin looked at the at-a-loss kid and gave him the only bedroom in the house. Then he entered the bedroom himself and rummaged through the wardrobe for a long time before coming out with a stack of clothes in his arms.

"These are from when I was little. They should fit you."

As he spoke, he handed the clothes to Senju Itama. The kid's own clothes had long since become tattered during his journey.

"I'm going to rest first. Try them on yourself tomorrow."

He had traveled all day and had that little incident with Uchiha Izuna.

Now that he had relaxed, Uchiha Gin was somewhat exhausted. Ignoring Senju Itama, who stood there holding the clothes in a daze, he lay down on the living room sofa and fell asleep.

Senju Itama looked at the clothes in his hands, hesitated for a long while, then went into the bedroom. A moment later, a burst of snoring came from inside.

At that moment, Uchiha Gin, who should have been deeply asleep, quietly opened his eyes. After listening closely and confirming that Senju Itama was sound asleep in the bedroom, he got up and pushed open the door, his footsteps making no sound at all.

The night was already pitch-black, with only faint firelight flickering from the watchtowers in the distant fortifications. He circled his house, then finally chose a spot in a blind corner behind it and used several pieces of firewood to build a simple fence.

Brushing the dust from his hands, Uchiha Gin looked at his "masterpiece" with satisfaction. Time was short, after all. It was already pretty good that he had managed this much.

He then sat cross-legged inside the fenced area, closed his eyes, and feigned sleep.

Who knew how much time had passed before he felt the air around him suddenly stagnate. Having experienced it twice already, Uchiha Gin knew this was a sign that the skill was about to refresh.

He swiftly opened his crimson eyes and scanned the surroundings. With the aid of his dynamic vision, he could see everything clearly in the darkness, yet he found nothing at all.

Just as he frowned and wondered what This Time's skill would be, a hand silently landed on his shoulder.

In an instant, Uchiha Gin felt a chill spread through his entire body, and every hair stood on end. The owner of the hand made no further move. Gin stiffly turned his head to look at the hand resting on his shoulder.

The hand was pale, its long fingers showing protruding knuckles. But that was not what terrified him most.

When he caught sight of the black nail polish on the fingertips and the gemstone ring on the ring finger, Uchiha Gin's heart turned ice-cold.

He did not even need to carefully examine the character "Zhu" engraved on the ring to guess who had come.

Knowing he was no match, Uchiha Gin had no intention of sitting around and waiting to die. He secretly gathered Chakra into both arms. Strength of a Hundred, activate! As Gin delivered a furious elbow strike, the person behind him turned into a flock of crows and scattered, only to gather again in the distance into a figure dressed in black robes patterned with red clouds.

Though he already knew his fate, Uchiha Gin still wanted to punch that Filial Son, Itachi, in the face.

With his Sharingan active, he did not hesitate. Even if he was hit by Tsukuyomi, he was determined to land a vicious punch. Using Strength of a Hundred with both hands, he smashed toward the seemingly dazed Uchiha Itachi.

Strangely, Uchiha Itachi merely opened the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye. As a tear of blood ran down his face, Uchiha Gin realized he had not been dragged into an illusion space.

During that brief moment of confusion, he suddenly felt a searing pain in both hands, as though his soul itself were being burned.

Looking closely, he found that his fists had somehow been covered in a layer of black fire. The flames were not large, but the burning sensation was incredibly intense, hurting so badly that he wanted to chop off both hands.

Amaterasu—the power housed within Uchiha Itachi's right Mangekyō Sharingan, black flames said to burn everything.

Damn it, where was the promised Tsukuyomi? Uchiha Gin rolled on the ground in agony. He had no means of dealing with Amaterasu.

The Fire Sealing Jutsu from the original work had been created by the Uzumaki Clan and specifically designed to counter the Uchiha Clan. He definitely did not know it.

Did he really have to sever an arm to survive like the Fourth Raikage? Just as the flames on his hands tortured Uchiha Gin into a daze, waves of coolness suddenly spread through his right hand.

He barely managed to open his eyes and saw a faint blue glow emerging from the back of his right hand, which was wrapped in Black Flames.

Then, a vortex-shaped mark appeared. As it slowly rotated, obscure runes extended outward from within it.

The moment the Black Flames touched the runes, they seemed to have encountered their natural enemy. Driven by the runes, they shrank into a ball before being completely wrapped up and slowly absorbed into the vortex-shaped mark.

The crisis in his right hand was instantly lifted. The vortex mark also dimmed, flickered a few times, then sank back into the back of his hand.

The danger to his right hand had temporarily been resolved, but the Black Flames on his left hand only grew fiercer and were about to spread to his body.

Uchiha Gin could only pull out the Flying Thunder God Kunai with his right hand, preparing to sever his palm to survive. Gritting his teeth, he swung it down.

Better a short pain than a long one. Once the skill ended, everything would return to normal anyway. Even a severed palm could heal itself by then.

At the same time, within a cramped, dark space, a Black Shadow slowly opened its crimson eyes.

Feeling the movement in its eyes, the Black Shadow seemed somewhat anxious. After a moment, its body trembled, and it gasped heavily as an enchanting pattern flashed across its eyes.

Just as Uchiha Gin was about to part ways with Little Left, which had accompanied him for so many years, a rosy crimson light flashed from his left hand. A mark, identical to the one on his right hand, appeared on it.

However, unlike the Uzumaki Clan mark he knew, he had never seen this mark in the original owner's memories.

Though he had no memory of it, his body seemed not to reject the mark. Instead, he faintly felt a sense of closeness toward it.

The mark consisted of three swallow-shaped boomerang patterns circling a central red dot.

With the appearance of the mark, the violent Black Flames became meek and docile. As time passed, they finally turned into a faint red glow and vanished without a trace.

Backyard Daily Random Skill Refresh: Amaterasu acquired. Amaterasu ×1