I Picked It Up

A pure force of life and purification surged through Uchiha Izumi's body. Wherever the warm current passed, it felt as though every cell were cheering with joy, giving Izumi a wondrous sensation of floating on air.

"What is this?"

Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened in shock as she asked indistinctly.

Gold Item [Pacifier (Soulbound/Indestructible): 1. Hold it in your mouth to heal all bodily injuries within ten seconds. Suck hard to accelerate the process, with a minimum time of two seconds. 2. Hold it in your mouth to purify all negative bodily conditions, including hunger and malnutrition.]

A light screen visible only to Xiu appeared before him, displaying the pacifier's information.

It was a blank system panel. Aside from displaying Uchiha Shu's personal data, it only had a system inventory, a gift Uchiha Shu had received at birth.

Rainbow, red, gold, purple, blue.

Those were the system's appraisal grades for gifts. Xiu had never seen a gift below blue.

There might be other grades beneath that, but given Earth Mother's generosity, even if they existed, she probably would not use such things to fob him off.

For now, anything above gold was basically a rule- or concept-level existence.

Take the pacifier, for instance. It had been his first birthday gift. If Guy had this thing in his mouth, he could kick Six Paths Madara around like a dog.

Of course, Xiu would never let a man use it. But a sweet, soft, pretty girl like Uchiha Izumi was no problem.

He had used it as a child. Though he no longer needed it, it was still a strategic-grade item outside.

And because it was soulbound, Xiu could recall it whenever he wanted. Even sealing it away would be useless, so there was no need to worry about it being lost.

Seeing Uchiha Izumi's stunned expression, Xiu briefly explained the pacifier's uses. The room immediately fell silent.

"No, this is too precious. You should keep it for yourself, Xiu!" Uchiha Hazuki suddenly said seriously.

"I don't need it anymore~" Uchiha Shu spread his little hands, looking smug. He had known she would say that.

[Super-Evolution Immortal Body: 1. Ultra-fast regeneration, adaptation, immunity to all damage, and continuous evolution. 2. Ageless, deathless, indestructible.]

As the saying went, the fewer the words, the bigger the deal...

That was roughly how it worked.

Over the past year, Xiu had practically maxed out his immunity to conventional damage.

Ordinary swords could not even break his skin, which was why he could flick away Sasuke's shuriken with his bare hand.

He had even sampled lethal poisons and used chakra exhaustion to the point of death, forcibly raising his chakra capacity to sixteen cards.

That was also his greatest trump card.

Like he always said, if you were going to use cheats, then you had to use them openly and proudly!

"And take this too." Xiu stood up and gave both hands a shake as if snapping out a blanket. A black cloak fluttered down. "Ta-da-da-da~ Agility Cloak! Try it on."

As he spoke, Xiu casually tossed it over, and the cloak lightly drifted onto Izumi's shoulders.

The two ties at its collar automatically fastened, while the hem fell into place and adjusted itself to Izumi's figure.

"What is this?" Uchiha Izumi rubbed the cloak's fabric, her eyes full of curiosity.

"I'll show you something fun."

Xiu rummaged through the ninja tool pouch behind him. Then he suddenly spun around and thrust a flash of cold light at Izumi.

Yet at almost the exact same instant, Izumi's body flickered aside, barely avoiding the kunai in Xiu's hand.

"Ah!!" The sudden attack gave Izumi a fright.

But before she could get angry, Xiu stabbed at her again with his kunai.

"Ora ora ora!"

The sharp kunai gleamed coldly beneath the lamplight as it repeatedly stabbed toward Izumi, yet she lightly evaded every strike, as though an invisible hand were controlling her movements.

After more than a dozen stabs, Xiu finally stopped. "Well? Fun, right?"

"Fun my ass!" Izumi grabbed Xiu's cheeks and vigorously kneaded them, smiling without warmth. "You nearly scared me to death!"

"So this cloak lets someone dodge enemy attacks, right?"

After bringing out two such unreasonable items in a row, even Hazuki, as an elder, could not help feeling curious.

"Not dodging. Absolute defense!"

As Xiu spoke, he gently wrapped his left arm around Izumi's slender waist, making her body stiffen almost imperceptibly.

"Like this!" With his left hand restraining Izumi, Xiu stabbed at her again with his kunai.

Whoosh—

The cloak's hem suddenly lifted, like a nimble little hand, and blocked Xiu's kunai.

Gold Item [Cloak (Soulbound/Indestructible): 1. Evasion MAX. 2. Physical/Elemental Defense MAX.]

This had been Xiu's third birthday gift. As always, fewer words meant a bigger deal...

"It is absolute defense in the truest sense, but keep in mind that it is ineffective against sealing and Genjutsu."

"Even so, that's already amazing, isn't it?" Uchiha Izumi's eyes were filled with shock. "Where did you even get all this stuff?"

"I picked it up."

"???"

"The clan might be unsettled for a while. Wear the cloak every day, and as for the pacifier, as long as someone still has one breath left, it can revive them on the spot."

Uchiha Shu said seriously, "Other than you and Aunt Hazuki, even if everyone else in the clan dies, you absolutely cannot expose them!"

"I understand!" Seeing Xiu's serious expression, Izumi felt warmth rise in her heart. "These are Xiu's secrets, right? I'll definitely protect them!"

"It doesn't matter if you can't. They were meant to keep you alive in the first place." Xiu shook his head. "I just don't want a man holding that thing in his mouth. The thought makes me sick. If that happened, I'd have no choice but to throw it away."

"Throw it away?"

Izumi could not help widening her eyes. The pacifier's effect was even more outrageous than the legendary divine artifacts of the Uchiha, and he would just throw it away?

She hurriedly put the pacifier away. "No, no! I'll definitely protect it! When I get back, I'll find a metal chain and wear it around my neck!"

Uchiha Shu neither agreed nor disagreed. He turned to look at Uchiha Hazuki beside him. "Next is Aunt Hazuki's."

"I don't need anything. I'm a Chunin, you know. I can still protect myself." Hazuki smiled and stroked Xiu's hair.

"Auntie, don't say things like that in the future. Aren't Chunin just cannon fodder?"

Uchiha Shu shook his head, completely failing to notice Hazuki's frozen smile as he casually pulled a mask from behind him.

Other than its eyeholes, the mask had no facial features. It was divided into black and white, black on the left and white on the right, split down the middle. Beneath each eye corner were two golden markings, making it look extremely noble.

"Ta-da~ Twin Masks!"

Please! Give this kid a bookmark!!