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

The man came and left just as quickly. Uchiha Gin, who had been startled for nothing, closed the door and pondered the intentions of his clan head—also his maternal cousin.

"Izuna, little cousin… why do you think the clan head assigned me to the dungeon?"

Unable to figure it out, Gin turned to ask Uchiha Izuna, who was still locked in a staring contest with Senju Tobirama.

"Maybe… he's afraid you'll run off."

Izuna stroked his chin thoughtfully and added,

"Because your strength is…"

He trailed off, hesitating. But his implication matched what Gin was already suspecting.

According to the original host's memories, ever since a childhood tragedy, his strength had stagnated. Whether due to a shattered will or limited talent, he had never improved.

Because of this, Uchiha Tajima had only assigned him to trivial tasks within the clan—like guarding the clan building or patrolling—never anything that required him to leave the clan's territory. His most recent mission had only been given to him because he threatened to risk his life for it.

"Is this really just a roundabout way to protect me? I hope I'm just overthinking things," Gin thought to himself.

After a sufficient rest, Izuna saw it was getting late. He stuck his tongue out at Tobirama, then lazily stood up to say goodbye.

Gin walked him to the door. Just before leaving, Izuna averted his eyes and muttered awkwardly,

"Thanks… the food was really good."

Then he bolted off without looking back.

"…Are all Uchihas tsundere?" Gin thought to himself, rubbing his curly hair.

Back inside, Tobirama immediately straightened up when he saw Gin return. His eyes darted stiffly as he snapped,

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Kid, for now you're safe—but only here with me," Gin replied bluntly.

"In any case, until the war begins, you'd better behave and stay put."

Very few people knew Tobirama's identity. Gin figured Uchiha Tajima wouldn't make a public fuss about it either. If Tajima had entrusted Tobirama to him, it likely meant the war hadn't yet reached its boiling point.

But once the decisive battle broke out, this kid's fate would become uncertain.

Thinking about the dumb system mission again gave Gin a headache. He, an Uchiha, was being forced to protect a Senju—his sworn enemy. What was this, Infernal Affairs?

"From today on, you'll sleep in the bedroom," Gin said, giving Tobirama the only bedroom. Then he walked in, rummaged through a closet, and came back out holding a stack of clothes.

"These were mine when I was a kid. They should fit you."

Tobirama's current outfit was tattered from their journey. Gin handed him the clothes and added,

"I'm going to rest. Try them tomorrow."

After a full day of travel and the episode with Izuna, Gin was exhausted. Ignoring the kid frozen in place with the clothes in his hands, Gin collapsed onto the couch and quickly fell asleep.

Tobirama stood there hesitating for a while, then went into the bedroom. Soon after, the sound of snoring could be heard.

At that moment, Gin, who should have been sound asleep, quietly opened his eyes. After confirming that Tobirama was sleeping, he got up and silently slipped outside.

The night was pitch black, save for faint flickers of firelight from distant watchtowers. Gin circled around the house, finally stopping at a concealed spot behind it. There, he set up a simple wooden enclosure.

Dusting off his hands, he admired his "masterpiece"—not bad, considering the time constraints.

Then, he sat cross-legged inside the little fence and closed his eyes to rest.

He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly the air around him grew still. Having experienced this twice already, Gin recognized it as the sign of an impending skill refresh.

He snapped open his Sharingan and scanned the surroundings. With his enhanced vision, the darkness held no secrets—but he found nothing.

As he frowned, wondering what skill might appear this time…

A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

Instantly, Gin felt a chill spread through his entire body. Every hair stood on end. The hand's owner made no move, but Gin stiffly turned his head to look.

The hand was pale, with long, bony fingers and prominent knuckles. But what truly terrified him were the black-painted nails… and the ornate gemstone ring on the ring finger.

He didn't even need to read the kanji (vermilion) engraved on it to know who this was.

Knowing he couldn't win in a fight, Gin still refused to sit there and wait to die. He silently gathered chakra into his arms.

Super Strength—Activate!

He struck backward with a fierce elbow, only for the figure behind him to dissolve into a flock of crows that scattered, then reformed in the distance into a figure in a black cloak with red clouds.

Even though he already knew his fate, Gin couldn't resist trying to punch this damned "dutiful son" (Itachi) in the face.

Without hesitation—and fully ready to get hit with Tsukuyomi—Gin launched himself forward with double-fisted strength aimed right at Itachi.

But strangely, Itachi only opened his right Mangekyō Sharingan. As blood tears streamed down, Gin realized… he wasn't being pulled into a genjutsu.

Huh? No Tsukuyomi?

But then—excruciating burning pain seared through Gin's arms, like his very soul was being torched.

Looking down, he saw both his fists engulfed in black flames—small but agonizing.

[Amaterasu] — the right-eye Mangekyō power of Uchiha Itachi, said to burn anything to ash.

WTF?! Where's the promised Tsukuyomi?!

Gin rolled on the ground in agony. He had no way to counter Amaterasu. The sealing technique from the original series was created by the Uzumaki clan and specifically targeted at Uchiha—he didn't know it.

Did he really have to follow the Fourth Raikage's example and cut off a limb to survive?

Just as he neared unconsciousness from the pain, a cool sensation flowed from his right hand.

Squinting through the agony, Gin saw a soft blue glow emerging from the back of his right hand, revealing a spiral seal symbol.

The symbol began rotating, and mysterious runes unfurled from it. As soon as the black flames touched these runes, they reacted like they'd met their nemesis—shrinking, withdrawing, and finally being absorbed into the spiral seal.

The flames on his right hand disappeared, the spiral seal dimmed, and after a few flickers, it sank back into his skin.

But the flames on his left hand only burned hotter, spreading toward his body.

With no other choice, Gin gritted his teeth, pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai with his right hand, and prepared to sever his left hand.

Better to get it over with. Once the skill timer ends, my body will reset anyway, and the hand will regenerate.

Meanwhile, in a dark and cramped space somewhere else, a shadowy figure slowly opened their Sharingan.

Sensing a strange disturbance in the eyes, the figure grew anxious. Their bodies trembled briefly before gasping heavily. A strange, seductive pattern flickered in their eyes.

Just as Gin was about to say goodbye to "Lefty," a soft rose-red glow bloomed from his left hand. Like with the right, a symbol emerged—but unlike the Uzumaki spiral, this one was unfamiliar.

Although it didn't appear in the original host's memory, his body seemed to instinctively accept it, even feeling a mysterious sense of intimacy.

The mark was composed of three boomerang-shaped swallows circling a red central dot.

The raging black flames calmed as if soothed, and then slowly dissipated into a gentle red light, vanishing without a trace.

"Backyard Skill Refresh: Random Skill [Amaterasu] Acquired – 1 Use Available."

(End of Chapter)