Value

Moreover, in the days that followed, Uchiha Gen brought back all sorts of strange things every day, most of them food. Dosu Kinata and the others went from being surprised at first to completely numb by now.

They had also concluded that Jiya was either brain-damaged or suffering from split personalities. In any case, he was not normal.

The Anbu following him were also somewhat helpless. Every time Uchiha Gen went out, they had to focus intently, terrified of losing him. Yet Uchiha Gen truly acted as if he had come on vacation, eating this one moment and playing with that the next, living an exceptionally fulfilling life.

As for meeting the protagonist and clinging to powerful thighs, he might have been interested if he were still alive. But in his current state, enjoying life while he could was the only sensible choice. Who knew when the technique might suddenly collapse? Unless he was resurrected...

Uchiha Gen pondered. Resurrection... Rebirth. Thinking of Nagato's Rinnegan, perhaps he could try to sneak in when the time came. His situation was rather unusual, but—what if? He had to have a goal, at least.

Once he figured out what he should do, Uchiha Gen instantly felt invigorated. When the time came, he would definitely taste every delicacy in the Naruto world. For now, that would be his goal!

As Dosu Kinata and the others headed toward the examination site, they watched the Jonin leading the other teams either cheering them on or saying goodbye. For some reason, their hearts trembled a little, especially when they saw those two green-skinned freaks. Then they thought of Jiya's recent behavior and the consequences of his showing up. No, they absolutely could not embarrass themselves like that.

Fortunately, they had unanimously agreed to hide their trip to the examination site from Jiya. They were unusually in sync on matters like this.

However, reality was always cruel. Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door...

"Are you Kakashi?"

"You are?"

"I am Jiya, the Jonin leading the Otogakure team. I have long heard of the great Copy Ninja Kakashi. Now that I see you in person, you are even more handsome than I imagined."

"Ah, is that so? Thanks." Kakashi smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. Though he had no idea how Jiya could tell he was handsome through his mask, he straightforwardly accepted the compliment.

Suddenly, Uchiha Gen pulled out paper and a pen, wearing the expression of a little fanboy. "Can I have your autograph?"

Upon hearing that...

Kin Tsuchi... "How about we slip away first?"

...The other two took a deep breath, suppressing their anger. They nodded at Kin Tsuchi and quickly left. This was utterly humiliating for Otogakure. They had no idea what Jiya was trying to do. They only knew that if they listened any longer, they might be unable to resist disobeying orders and hitting him. And they could not beat him; getting beaten up instead would be even more embarrassing.

Yet after that interruption, their moods relaxed considerably without them even noticing.

Uchiha Gen, on the other hand, was simply expressing his genuine feelings. It was Kakashi! And a living one at that. Although his request for an autograph had been rejected.

Those three idiots actually thought they could sneak off early in the morning and hide it from him. As their team leader, he certainly knew the examination's starting time better than they did.

As the exam began, Uchiha Gen glanced toward the examination site. It was time to start preparing. Since Orochimaru wanted Sasuke so badly, and the Curse Mark had to be implanted personally by him, that meant Orochimaru's temporary base would be briefly left vacant.

It would be great if he could obtain information about Impure World Reincarnation. There had to be drawbacks to the technique that he did not know about, but he had no idea what they were. With only the loss of touch and sensation, unlimited chakra, and near immortality, if the control were removed, would that not be another form of eternal life...

But Orochimaru could not possibly have overlooked that, especially since he was currently capable of independent thought. Merely knowing the hand seals for Impure World Reincarnation could allow him to break free of control. In other words, if he went searching for information on Impure World Reincarnation, he would probably return empty-handed... If he had guessed correctly, the scroll recording Impure World Reincarnation might even be inside Orochimaru's stomach.

At that thought, Uchiha Gen's expression fell... His intelligence and strength were insufficient. He could gain nothing by staying with Orochimaru, and he might be discovered and controlled at any time. He should take this chance to slip away during the exam.

But before leaving... those research instruments seemed quite valuable. Uchiha Gen's eyes lit up, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. Since he was already here, it would feel wrong not to fleece the sheep a little.

At the Black Market, Uchiha Gen wore a cloak and a white mask. With a grand flourish, he took out a summoning scroll and unsealed all sorts of scientific equipment onto the counter. The passing ninja could not help glancing over, but they immediately lost interest and left when they saw nothing they wanted.

"If you count it in front of me, you can lower the price, but remember the rules!" Uchiha Gen deliberately altered his voice into a hoarse rasp as he threatened. In truth, he did not know what rules there were; he was merely trying to scare the man. He knew he would be cheated, but at least this would make the man wary and keep him from underpricing the goods too badly.

The man glanced at Uchiha Gen. Seeing that he was no acquaintance, he completely ignored Uchiha Gen's posturing. "Twenty thousand ryo."

"Deal!"

"These things of yours... Hm, hm???" At that moment, the manager fell into deep suspicion. Even after depreciation, those instruments were worth at least six hundred thousand ryo. He had expected his offer of twenty thousand to be questioned. He had only wanted to dampen the spirit of the person before him and prepare for later bargaining. He had been confident that he could cheat someone and still make them thank him for it.

Of course, that was also because the person before him did not seem particularly strong. But Uchiha Gen's decisiveness made him wonder whether he had offered too much.

"Is there a problem?"

"...No." If someone was willing to be an idiot, could he stop them?

Money and goods changed hands. The rare joy of failing to cheat someone left him utterly depressed.

Uchiha Gen did not care. The equipment had not been his anyway, so getting a sum of money for free was quite nice. He could use these twenty thousand ryo to gamble again and easily turn it into one hundred thousand. He could also take bounty missions from the Black Market, but that would be troublesome...

As for how he knew where the Black Market was, Uchiha Gen had not spent the past few days merely having fun. He had wandered all over the place, though the Anbu had stopped him from entering certain locations. Because of that, he had caught someone outside the village for a "friendly" exchange and nearly been discovered.

Orochimaru probably never expected that, after putting away all his important information, this guy would steal his experimental equipment and sell it for money. After all, what did a dead person need money for?

He casually dealt with two Chunin who thought he was a naïve rookie—though that was indeed true—and came to rob him. He did not kill them, but he broke both of their hands.

After carefully counting the money in his possession and adding the operating funds Orochimaru had previously given him, he had twenty thousand six hundred and forty-seven ryo left. He could buy a few small things...

After spending several days as a hands-off manager, Uchiha Gen saw the three again. They probably had not wanted to see him these past few days either.

Aside from Dosu Kinata, who was in relatively good condition, Zaku Abumi's arms were ruined, while Kin Tsuchi looked terrible. She felt she had betrayed Orochimaru-sama's trust. They had failed to accomplish the task he assigned them and had even been eliminated by an unknown brat. No matter how they explained it, a loss was a loss...

The three had no energy to pay attention to Uchiha Gen. Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi packed up casually and prepared to leave.

"Are you going back?"

"We were eliminated, and we failed the mission, so we have to go beg forgiveness." Zaku Abumi's face was dark as he said this, filled with extreme unwillingness. He had become crippled, but fortunately, Orochimaru-sama seemed to have other methods and still needed him. "What about you?"

Uchiha Gen was silent for a moment. "I'm staying here."

Zaku Abumi nodded and left with Kin Tsuchi supporting him.

Uchiha Gen silently watched them leave without trying to persuade them otherwise. Dosu Kinata suddenly asked beside him, "This was all part of Orochimaru-sama's plan, wasn't it? His true target was Sasuke, and we were all whetstones he prepared for Sasuke."

"You're smart." Uchiha Gen's expression went blank, as cold as when they had first met. "If you want my advice, stay away from Orochimaru. Otherwise, figure out how to survive his arrangements instead of exhausting yourself trying to prove something to him."

Dosu Kinata immediately became wary at those words, quietly drawing a Kunai from his sleeve. "You want to betray Orochimaru-sama?!"

Uchiha Gen waved a hand. "Just a friendly reminder." He could not be bothered to say more. He had done all he could. He did not want to return to this place anymore. Strictly speaking, he did not even need a place to stay; this place had really been prepared for those three.

Dosu Kinata did not stop him. After Uchiha Gen left, he fell silent. He saw far more clearly than the other two, but not clearly enough.

Orochimaru-sama... was I really just a discarded pawn?