Starting to rack up consecutive losses

Starting to rack up consecutive losses. "It was a dark and windy night. As usual, I stood dutifully guard outside the Clan Leader's office. Even late at night, Mū did not dare relax for a moment, because the Clan Leader was still exhausting herself, studying strategies for the war. Then, I suddenly heard the Clan Leader smash something, followed by her furious roar."

At this point, Uchiha Gin paused and swept his gaze over the Uchiha listening with rapt attention.

"Keep going, keep going! What did the Clan Leader roar?"

Having reached the crucial part only to hear no more, Uchiha Ryoichi hurriedly urged him on.

"Exactly."

Uchiha Tsuru and Uchiha Dairou chimed in as well, while Uchiha FengHuo, who had remained silent at the side, stared at him with curiosity in his eyes.

Feeling a little thirsty, Uchiha Gin touched the water bottle on his back and found it completely empty.

As he was pondering this, Uchiha Ryoichi had already offered up his own water bottle with both hands. Feeling the dryness in his throat, Uchiha Gin did not stand on ceremony. He twisted it open and gulped down several mouthfuls.

Only after drinking his fill did Uchiha Gin raise a hand to tell them not to rush. He gathered his emotions, then said mysteriously.

"Damn Senju Butsuma! I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes! I'll raise your wife!!!"

"What does that mean?"

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were completely baffled.

Uchiha Gin put on an expression as though they were impossible to teach and shook his head with a sigh.

"Otherwise, how could someone as weak as me be qualified to serve as Clan Leader Tajima's personal bodyguard? What do you think I relied on to stay in this position for so many years?"

"Wasn't it because the Clan Leader is your uncle?" Uchiha Tsuru, who usually did not speak much, quietly snarked. However, since the cave was not very spacious, his words seemed to come from a loudspeaker and echoed around everyone's ears.

"Ahem, ahem. As the saying goes, appointing the worthy means not shunning relatives."

Uchiha Gin coughed awkwardly.

"What I rely on is unwavering loyalty to the Clan Leader. More importantly, I can interpret her every action."

"Interpret?"

"For a great ninja like the Clan Leader, even an unintentional movement or casual remark carries another layer of profound meaning."

"Some things the Clan Leader says are as good as unsaid, while some things she does not say contain implications that ordinary people cannot comprehend."

"As for this mission, the order the Clan Leader gave on the surface was to kill the Senju Clan genius on sight, but the deeper objective was to capture him alive."

"Think about it. Senju Butsuma has always doted on his youngest son. Simply assassinating him would only provoke the Senju Clan into fighting to the death, bringing needless losses to our clan. But if we captured Senju Butsuma's son alive, the Clan Leader could use this child to threaten the Senju Clan. It would bring a hundred benefits and not a single drawback to our Uchiha Clan."

"What a brilliant plan!!! Did the Clan Leader reveal all that to you?"

After listening for so long, Uchiha FengHuo could not help but marvel.

"No, I guessed it all."

"."

Though it had been a close call, his explanation still managed to fool Uchiha FengHuo and the others. Once the mission was successfully settled, whether Senju Itama lived or died would have nothing to do with Uchiha Gin.

After resting for a night, the group recovered some of their strength and began escorting the bound Senju Itama back to the Uchiha Clan Territory.

Since they had ventured deep behind enemy lines on this trip, they still had nearly half a month's journey before reaching home.

Because Uchiha Gin had arbitrarily spared Senju Itama's life, he could only take responsibility for transporting him.

More importantly, he was afraid the others might accidentally kill Senju Itama. If that happened, he would fail the mission and perish along with him.

After traveling for an entire day, they camped beside a Small River to rest that night. Senju Itama woke up once during that time, but before he could regain his senses, Uchiha Gin slapped him unconscious again.

He had no energy left to communicate with Senju Itama now. He was already carrying a prisoner.

Even though he had stripped the cumbersome armor off Senju Itama, a child still weighed thirty or forty pounds. The original owner's frail body was beginning to leave him feeling overwhelmed.

As Uchiha Gin sat there blankly, he suddenly remembered that his Heartsteel Chest had not seemed to trigger today. He still did not fully understand the triggering mechanism of the Heartsteel Chest.

After thinking for a moment, he stood and walked toward Uchiha Ryoichi, who was leaning against a tree.

Seeing Uchiha Gin approach, Uchiha Ryoichi frowned, unable to understand why the other man was looking for him instead of resting properly.

During the day, the team had covered nearly half the planned distance less than expected because of his burden. Uchiha Ryoichi, who had wanted to return early and report back, was rather resentful.

"Brother Ryoichi."

Uchiha Gin spoke first.

"Don't call me brother. I'm younger than you."

Uchiha Gin was twenty-four this year, while Uchiha Ryoichi was only twenty. Although Gin was four years older, there was a vast difference in their strength.

"Ryoichi, my cellmate."

Uchiha Gin did not stand on ceremony.

"."

Seeing the speechless expression on the other man's face, Uchiha Gin stopped beating around the bush.

"Ryoichi, my cellmate, I want to spar with you."

"."

Uchiha Ryoichi froze for a moment without speaking.

However, since no prompt sounded, Uchiha Gin thought to himself, Looks like issuing a challenge unilaterally can't activate Heart of Steel's combat condition.

"No time."

Uchiha Ryoichi did not want to waste his rest time on a weakling like Uchiha Gin.

"Scared? After all, the Clan Leader personally taught me my shuriken techniques. To this day, I have yet to meet an opponent."

Uchiha Gin wore a wistful expression and shook his head, as if lamenting the loneliness of standing at the top.

"Damn it, if I don't turn you into a sieve today, I'll change my surname to Senju!" Uchiha Ryoichi's anger flared at once.

Poor ancient people had never studied the Art of War.

Detected that the host has entered combat. Heartsteel Chest has begun accumulating.

Just as expected, Uchiha Gin was delighted upon hearing the prompt in his mind.

Next came his fight with Uchiha Ryoichi. After all, they were clansmen, so neither of them would make lethal moves.

Uchiha Ryoichi made the first move, flinging five shuriken from five tricky angles toward the gaps around Uchiha Gin's limbs. Drawing on the original owner's memories, Uchiha Gin skillfully threw five shuriken to meet them.

As expected, all ten shuriken collided with perfect precision. Looking at the shuriken scattered across the ground, Uchiha Gin's evaluation of the original owner rose a little. It seemed the original owner was not good for nothing except being handsome.

"Interesting. Then try this."

Seeing that his shuriken had actually been intercepted with such precision, Uchiha Ryoichi began to take things seriously.

He removed the Windmill Shuriken from his back and hurled it forcefully at Uchiha Gin. Watching the enormous shuriken fly toward him, Uchiha Gin did not hurry to dodge. Instead, he calmly watched it draw closer and closer.

This scene terrified Uchiha Ryoichi, who had thrown the shuriken. He wondered whether Uchiha Gin had a death wish, actually refusing to dodge.

He did not want to bear the charge of slaughtering a fellow clansman, so he hurriedly used the Body Flicker to rush over, hoping to stop his own shuriken before Uchiha Gin was cut in half at the waist.

Uchiha Ryoichi was fast. Just as he was about to touch the shuriken, Uchiha Gin swiftly threw himself flat onto the ground in a groveling posture, narrowly dodging the fatal strike. Uchiha Ryoichi, having lost his target, stumbled and nearly plunged into the river.

Lying prone on the ground, Uchiha Gin raised both hands and said in an irritating tone.

"As expected of the clan's number one shuriken genius, Uchiha Ryoichi. I, Uchiha Gin, acknowledge you as the strongest shuriken user! I willingly concede defeat."

Splash!

Overcome by rage at those words, Uchiha Ryoichi finally lost control of his body and fell stiffly into the water. He had never seen anyone so shameless.

Host has failed. Obtained Heart Energy ×10. Heartsteel Chest rewards can be unlocked after two more battles. (Current accumulated Heart Energy: 11)

Uchiha Gin's eyes lit up upon hearing the prompt. Ignoring how disheveled he looked lying on the ground, he sprang up In a Flash and pulled the fallen Uchiha Ryoichi out of the water.

"Ryoichi, my cellmate, I think we'll call today's battle here. It was truly a satisfying fight. I benefited greatly from this encounter. I hope that after resting tonight, we can fight again tomorrow!"

Uchiha Gin's speech sounded lofty and righteous, making the veins on Uchiha Ryoichi's forehead bulge.

"Get lost!!!!!!"