What Does the Original Owner Being a Bastard Have to Do with Me, Uchiha Gin?

After Uchiha Ryuei learned the details, he did not linger and left.

Still utterly confused, Uchiha Gin could not piece together any useful truth from those fragmented clues.

After weighing his options, he decided to get some work done first.

Now that he understood the files were sorted by color, organizing them became twice as easy. Before long, he had categorized the disorderly scrolls.

Looking at the three piles of differently colored scrolls before him, Uchiha Gin began the next stage of sorting.

The file scrolls not only had to be divided by dungeon, but each prisoner's records also needed to be clearly labeled and listed in a catalog for precise reference.

After thinking it over, he decided to start with the cyan scrolls. "Shimura Shinji: Shimura Clan. Poisoned the water source in the Uchiha Clan Land, causing twenty-three Uchiha Clan Members to die from poisoning. Proficient in Wind Style and poisons."

Too despicable. He had to go on the first floor.

"Sarutobi Takinosuke: Sarutobi Clan. Ambushed an Uchiha Clan supply unit, causing twelve deaths and leaving five permanently disabled. Proficient in Fire Release, Earth Style, and the Summoning Technique."

Too vicious. First floor.

"Yamanaka Ichino: Yamanaka Clan..."

After going through quite a few cyan scrolls, Uchiha Gin discovered that most of these prisoners came from clans that would become well-known in the future.

It seemed that even during the Warring States Period, civilian ninja still struggled to advance. The outstanding ones were mostly clan ninja.

There were not many cyan scrolls. Those imprisoned in the First Dungeon were all criminals guilty of grave sins.

Prisoners of this type were generally quite powerful and not easily captured, so there were only a dozen or so.

Uchiha Gin quickly finished organizing the cyan scrolls. He had also checked the capture records along the way; they had all been captured more than six years ago, with no suspicious targets among them.

Scratching his curly hair, Uchiha Gin turned his attention to the blue scrolls and continued sorting, hoping some valuable clue would turn up.

Unfortunately, even after going through half of them, he found no suspicious individuals.

Most of the prisoners in the blue scrolls came from small clans or were rogue ninja. They were not especially strong, and their crimes mostly involved gathering intelligence or ambushing isolated Uchiha Clan Members.

After looking through them all, Kaguya Josuke's crimes were actually the most serious among the blue-scroll prisoners. But due to his mental issues and inability to communicate effectively, he had been transferred to the Second Dungeon.

There were far more scrolls for the Second Dungeon than the First Dungeon. Uchiha Gin had only read through a little over half before his eyes felt sore and his head began to swell, exactly like how he had felt in his previous life whenever he did not want to work.

Work required a balance between labor and rest. Comforting himself with that thought, Uchiha Gin set down his work, closed his eyes, and began slacking off.

Just as he rested with his eyes closed, a cautious knock sounded at the door. "Come in."

The moment he heard someone knock, Uchiha Gin immediately opened his eyes and casually picked up a scroll, pretending to work.

Uchiha Lucha, whom he had met yesterday, pushed open the door. He carefully checked whether anyone else was in the room, and when he found only Uchiha Gin there, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gin-sama is so dedicated to his duties. You are truly a model for us all."

Seeing Uchiha Gin holding a scroll and reading it with a serious expression, Uchiha Lucha immediately showered him with flattery.

"Not at all. I am merely doing my duty."

Uchiha Gin modestly waved a hand. "What brings you here, Brother Lucha?"

"Gin-sama, you flatter this lowly one too much. Just call me Lucha."

"It is no matter, Brother Lucha. What can I do for you?"

Seeing that no one else was around, Uchiha Lucha stepped closer and quietly said to Uchiha Gin, "Gin-sama, I have found something regarding the matter you instructed me to investigate."

After accepting Uchiha Gin's task yesterday, Uchiha Lucha had immediately set to work. He asked around each of the three dungeons, and Heaven did not disappoint the diligent. At last, he managed to coax a piece of information out of an older jailer.

"Please, Brother Lucha."

Uchiha Gin raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. This guy works efficiently. He found a clue in just one day.

"According to an Old Jailer here, this dungeon did not used to have its current layout."

As he spoke, Uchiha Lucha Pointed At the dungeon map hanging on the wall, then indicated the area between the First Dungeon and Second Dungeon as he continued.

"There used to be four dungeons here. But six years ago, Elder Yan abandoned one of them, leaving only the current three."

Uchiha Lucha drew an imaginary circle over a large blank area between the First and Second Dungeons, indicating that another dungeon had once stood there.

"If it was abandoned, then it was no longer used, right?" Uchiha Gin asked, reasoning according to common sense.

"Whether it was used afterward, this lowly one does not know. But that Old Jailer said that before the dungeon was abandoned six years ago, someone had once been secretly imprisoned there."

Uchiha Lucha spoke mysteriously.

"If it was secret, how did he know?"

The news of a secret imprisonment was tempting, but did this Old Jailer not know rather too much?

"Ah, I did not ask that."

Uchiha Lucha was left speechless by the unexpected question.

He truly had not considered why the other man had so readily shared such secret information with a stranger. Could it be merely because he had mentioned that he was a trusted subordinate of the new Clan Leader's nephew? "Never mind. Continue. What else did that Old Jailer tell you?"

The sudden appearance of this mysterious Old Jailer gave Uchiha Gin a faint sense that something was wrong. The timing of his appearance was simply too perfect.

"He told me that after the person was imprisoned, they never came out again. Not long after that, Elder Yan announced that the dungeon was old and in disrepair, and directly abandoned it."

Uchiha Lucha swallowed, moistening his dry throat.

"What kind of person was imprisoned there?"

Someone captured six years ago... could it have been the group that attacked the Uchiha Clan Land? "I asked that Old Jailer, but after telling me the earlier part, he ignored me."

Uchiha Lucha said awkwardly.

"Where is that Old Jailer now?"

Having finally obtained a clue, however slight, Uchiha Gin did not want to give up.

"He is in the Third Dungeon. Due to his personal circumstances, he does cleaning work."

Uchiha Lucha seemed reluctant to say more.

"What circumstances?"

"That Old Jailer is blind."

Uchiha Lucha's guilty gaze darted away.

???

The person who knew these things was actually blind. The accuracy of this information was certainly questionable.

No wonder Uchiha Lucha had found information so quickly. He would not even spare a blind man.

"Thank you, Brother Lucha. If you learn anything else, tell me as soon as possible."

Now that he knew the source was an elderly blind man, this information was probably at least partly fabricated.

After all, how could a low-ranking jailer possibly know about something as secretive as a covert transfer?

"Not at all. It is this lowly one's honor to serve Gin-sama."

Uchiha Lucha looked terrified.

Frowning, Uchiha Gin recalled the original owner's memories.

In those memories, although the original owner had an eccentric temperament and sometimes relied on his status as the Clan Leader's nephew to bully and provoke his fellow clansmen, he had never acted excessively toward those who bore him no ill will. So why were ordinary clansmen so afraid of him?

"Brother Lucha, what do the clansmen usually think of me?" Uchiha Gin asked.

Faced with this deadly question, Uchiha Lucha's eyes wandered, and he did not know how to say the words on the tip of his tongue.

Although their interactions over the past two days had made him feel that the Uchiha Gin before him was not as terrible as the rumors claimed, there was no guarantee that Gin was not fishing for an excuse to punish him.

"Brother Lucha, given the relationship between us now, speak freely without worry."

Uchiha Gin gave him an amiable smile and patted Uchiha Lucha on the shoulder, signaling that they were on the same side now and he need not hold back.

"Then I will say it."

As if making up his mind, Uchiha Lucha gritted his teeth, raised his head, and looked as though he were facing death without fear.

After carefully choosing his words, Uchiha Lucha squeezed out a sentence. "As far as I know, Uchiha Gin is a complete bastard."