Naruto: The Thirty-Year-Old Uchiha Can't Get Motivated"

Under the moonlight, the Uchiha squad continued speeding westward. The battle earlier that day had already wasted too much time. Although they initially planned to take a detour, Uchiha Fūka decisively chose the direct route instead.

None of the others objected—going straight would save more than half the time.

Along the way, they encountered no resistance from the Senju Clan, suggesting that the Senju were overwhelmed and no longer had the manpower to pursue them.

"Alright, we'll set up camp here for the night."

Recognizing the familiar road ahead, Uchiha Fūka ordered the squad to rest.

"Huff… huff…"

The three teammates, including Uchiha Ryōichi, were exhausted from the day's fierce battle and the forced march. They collapsed to the ground, utterly worn out.

However, they were surprised to see that Uchiha Gin, usually the weakest among them, still looked energetic—not even out of breath, nor a trace of dust on his clothes.

Sensing their strange looks, Uchiha Gin thought "Crap!" and immediately dropped the unconscious Senju Itama from his back, flopping down onto the ground. He forced out some cold sweat and stuck out his tongue, pretending to be exhausted. Only then did the others drop their suspicions.

"I'll take first watch. You guys rest up."

Stealthy by nature, Uchiha Fūka was still in good shape and volunteered for guard duty, letting the others rest.

After a brief break, the group began setting up tents.

Uchiha Gin also got up and pulled out his own tent, but remembering his weird "skill refresh" ability, he opted for a more secluded corner rather than camping nearby.

Once set up, this time he didn't tie up Senju Itama outside, but tossed him into the tent. Then, walking around back, he mimicked what he did last time and cleared a small area on the ground.

"Hope I get a more useful skill tonight…"

Thinking of yesterday's Tsukuyomi, Uchiha Gin winced in discomfort. As powerful as it was, being dragged into it two nights in a row and tortured had been too much.

Praying not to get Tsukuyomi again, he sat cross-legged and waited for the skill refresh.

But first—he hadn't yet checked his rewards from the day's mission. So he focused and sank into his mental space.

—

Standing before a gameboard-like interface, Uchiha Gin saw the points counter on his arcade machine now showed 50. Pushing back his urge to pull the lever, he looked at the five floating orbs.

"Wait, I thought I was only supposed to get four. Why's there an extra one?"

"Bonus reward for defeating Uzumaki Mito," the system explained.

"Tch, then why didn't you use that orb to help in the emergency earlier instead of spending my points!?"

"Mission reward orbs can only be opened by the host. The system has no authority to use them."

Makes sense. Points are like money he earns—naturally, the system uses them selfishly. But orbs are "system inventory," so it wouldn't waste them easily.

"Freaking scam system!"

Ignoring it, Uchiha Gin looked over the five orbs: two blue and three white. The girl's quest had fixed a blue orb reward. But out of the other four, only one was blue—no purples, no golds. His luck was trash.

He tapped the first white orb. A faint glow:

[Gold Bar ×1] – Universal currency, usable in the real world.

Not bad—free gold.

Second orb:

[Gold Bar ×1]

Third orb:

[Gold Bar ×1]

"What the hell…?"

Three gold bars in a row? So basically, white orbs = gold spam.

Suppressing his irritation, he opened the first blue orb:

[Gold Bar ×5]

"*@#￥%&@!#!%..."

He wanted to slap the system—he felt like a gacha player getting nothing but trash rares. Helpless rage.

Finally, with trembling fingers and eyes closed, he tapped the last orb.

[Flying Thunder God Kunai ×1] – Weapon used by Namikaze Minato. Contains a trace of space-time energy. Wearing it accelerates your comprehension of space-time ninjutsu.

Looking at the trident-shaped kunai in his hand, an image of the Yellow Flash appeared in his mind. This kunai had the Flying Thunder God formula etched on it, allowing for long-distance teleportation when combined with the appropriate jutsu.

"It helps with learning space-time skills?"

He gave the kunai a few swings—it felt comfortable to wield. Even if he couldn't use the jutsu, it could still serve as a solid weapon.

Putting away the rare kunai and the eight gold bars scattered around, Uchiha Gin stepped back to the arcade machine.

Looking at the pathetic 50 points, he gritted his teeth and pulled the lever—might as well gamble.

With classic slot machine music playing, the three glyphs began to spin rapidly. He held his breath; eyes locked on the changing characters.

First character: (Body)Seconds later, the second one stopped on 体 again.

His breathing quickened.

"Body, body, body!" he shouted.

Then, the third stopped on: (Nin).

"Congratulations: You rolled Body + Body + Nin! Taijutsu effect doubled / +1 Body."

"I choose +1 Body!"

He quickly locked in his choice before the system could reset it.

He kept spinning four more times. No big hits—just minor combos.

Final results:

Body +2

Nin +2

Spirit +1

Uchiha Gin's Stats:

Nin: 9

Body: 10

Int: 9

Spirit: 7

Charm: 1

Eye: 10

Skills:

Basic Taijutsu

Great Fireball Technique

Uchiha Beginner Swordsmanship

Intermediate Shurikenjutsu

Overall Assessment: A well-rounded, beatable Uchiha mid-tier ninja.

After leveling up, he felt his power had clearly increased. He should now be roughly on par with the three-man squad, including Uchiha Ryōichi.

Done reviewing his loot, Uchiha Gin exited the system space.

—

Opening his eyes, all he saw was darkness. The only thing that gave him a sense of reality was the Flying Thunder God kunai in his grip.

"Why hasn't tonight's skill refreshed yet?" he muttered to himself.

Before the words finished, the air around him suddenly froze. Overhead, a rippled light screen appeared in the air—and from it, a figure fell from the sky, stomping straight toward the meditating Gin.

Even with some Uzumaki sensory ability, he hadn't reacted in time. The powerful kick landed on his back and sent him sprawling, coughing up blood.

As the dust cleared, a tall figure appeared. The woman had light yellow hair tied in a large ponytail, short yellow eyebrows, and bright brown eyes. Her nails were painted a striking red.

Moonlight spilled over her pale skin, making it glow faintly. She wore a long tea-green coat with black trim, a loose sleeveless kimono-style shirt underneath, a black belt at the waist, and deep blue cropped pants.

But none of that mattered—Uchiha Gin's gaze was entirely drawn to the two towering peaks on her chest. His nose started to feel hot.

Before he could react, she threw a straight punch. Gin quickly activated his Sharingan, attempting to read the punch's path and twist away.

But before he could dodge, he realized his body wouldn't move. Pain flared in his right arm—it had been snapped like a twig.

As he struggled in panic, he saw a delicate white fist racing toward him with thunderous force.

"Her nail polish is pretty…"

That was Uchiha Gin's last thought before blacking out.