Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Chapter 9 System Warning

Uchiha Ryoichi left cursing, leaving behind a reluctant Uchiha Gin.

In Uchiha Gin's eyes, the people around him were like green leeks, waiting for him to harvest them one by one.

"It seems we can't count on Uchiha Ryoichi tomorrow."

Uchiha Gin inwardly lamented his loss, but even so, he couldn't help but shout it out.

"Ryoichi is in jail. Let's have another match another day."

Without turning his head, Uchiha Ryoichi extended a hand and made a friendly gesture with his middle finger, showing that he was full of anticipation for Uchiha Gin's challenge.

"Tsk, the local Uchiha are so rude." Uchiha Gin commented with a look of disappointment.

Today's battle attempts have been exhausted. According to the system's description, even if he enters battle again, the Heart Steel Treasure Chest will not be triggered again.

He then began to examine the treasure chest in his mind more closely; its appearance was as flashy and elaborate as he had seen in his previous life.

Just now, during the battle, the same exciting background music was playing, just like when I fought Senju Itama yesterday. However, I was prepared today and actively blocked the music.

Uchiha Gin tried clicking on the treasure chest but found no response. He thought to himself,

"Isn't there a description of the props?"

"This is a pilot server; 90% of the content has not yet been loaded. Please wait patiently."

The long-dormant system finally reappeared and patiently explained things to Uchiha Gin.

When Uchiha Gin finally spoke to ask, the system disappeared again, and there was no response no matter how he called out to it.

"It seems I can only find out what reward this treasure chest contains after four attempts."

After failing to find a solution, Uchiha Gin simply gave up the research. After all, he had only activated the system for a day, and its functions could only be explored slowly in the future.

He then turned his gaze to the other Uchiha, his dead fish eyes revealing a malicious look. Uchiha Hikaru, who was wiping his wakizashi, and Uchiha Taro, who was meditating and refining his chakra, couldn't help but shiver.

The next day, Uchiha Gin, who got up early, went first to find the usually taciturn Uchiha Hikaru.

"Brother Feihe, I have long heard of your divine swordsmanship. It just so happens that I was once instructed in a sword technique by Chief Tajima, so I would like to take this opportunity to spar with you and improve together."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Hikaru was taken aback at first, and then said:

"We're about to set off, so there's probably no time for sparring now. Let's wait until we've rested."

But for Uchiha Gin, how could he let a sure thing slip away? He simply said…

"Let's not waste any time; let's settle this with one move."

Seeing that Uchiha Hikaru was again showing signs of making excuses, he added,

"Or is it that Brother Feihe is afraid of being defeated by me? That's understandable, after all, it's a sword technique personally taught by the clan leader, and ordinary Uchiha people really can't withstand it."

After saying that, he once again showed a sigh, which made people grit their teeth in anger.

Uchiha Hikaru looked at him in surprise, wondering when this kid had become so arrogant. He immediately drew his wakizashi from his waist and his katana from his back, held them horizontally in front of him, and got into a fighting stance.

Please enlighten me!

He was actually a dual-wielder! Seeing Uchiha Hikaru's starting stance, Uchiha Gin steeled himself and drew his own katana from his back.

He gripped his katana tightly with both hands, staring coldly at his opponent as if searching for Uchiha Hikaru's weakness.

The two remained locked in a stalemate for a long time without making a move. Uchiha Hikaru was looking for an opening, but he discovered that Uchiha Gin was full of openings.

Uchiha Gin, however, was waiting for a prompt from the system, as the lack of one made him somewhat hesitant.

"Brother Feihe, please make the first move."

Recalling the previous two battles, it seemed that the other party had attacked first both times, so after a long silence, he spoke first.

On the other side, Uchiha Hikaru was not relaxed either. He noticed that although Uchiha Gin's movements were ordinary and even full of flaws, his opponent's expression remained normal, and he seemed confident of victory.

This series of actions caused him to constantly imagine the scene in his mind, to the point that he was drenched in sweat. As soon as Uchiha Gin finished speaking, Uchiha Hikaru flashed forward and tentatively unleashed his first move.

Seeing Uchiha Hikaru suddenly attack, Uchiha Gin's nerves tensed up instinctively, and the system's voice echoed in his mind at just the right moment.

"Host detected to be in combat; Heart Steel Chest begins to accumulate."

As he expected, the system would only initiate a battle if the opponent made the first move.

But if that's the case, wouldn't he have to start every battle by trash-talking his opponents to draw their attention and make them hate him, and then he wouldn't be able to trigger the Heart Steel Chest by using assassinations or sneak attacks?

Wouldn't that transform him from a shadowy assassin into a warrior who absolutely needs to be ridiculed?

Without a second thought, seeing Uchiha Hikaru already closing in, Uchiha Gin tossed aside his katana, then raised his hands and said matter-of-factly,

"I give up!"

Uchiha Hikaru's sword stopped in front of his nose, and his usually cold face turned red, as if he had been greatly insulted.

He hesitated for three seconds, just as he was about to sheathe his sword and say something, when Uchiha Gin suddenly did a forward roll, picked up the katana that had fallen to the ground, and slashed at Uchiha Hikaru from below, who had already relaxed his guard.

Fortunately, Uchiha Hikaru was an Uchiha who had been immersed in swordsmanship for many years. With his superhuman reflexes, he pushed forward with his left wakizashi, deflecting Uchiha Gin's katana. Then, he used the momentum to jump backward and adjust his position.

"Using such tactics, is it also part of swordsmanship? Feigning weakness first and then launching a sneak attack when I'm off guard, this behavior damages the reputation of the Uchiha clan and is certainly not something the clan head taught you."

Looking at Uchiha Gin who had failed, Uchiha Hikaru said in a deep voice, his tone full of disdain.

"Sir, have you eaten poop?"

Uchiha Gin explained earnestly while secretly thinking to himself,

"I was warned by the system for voluntarily admitting defeat."

Just as Uchiha Gin dropped his katana and surrendered, he didn't hear the notification he expected about gaining mental energy; instead, he heard a system alarm.

"Host has been found to have engaged in match-fixing. 10 points of Heart Energy have been deducted. The system has zero tolerance for match-fixing. If the host engages in match-fixing again, the system will reclaim the Heart Steel Treasure Chest. The battle continues now."

Upon hearing the warning, Uchiha Gin reacted in just 0.01 seconds and immediately launched a counterattack.

His attempt to exploit a bug backfired spectacularly; the loss of 10 points of power was a painful blow to Uchiha Gin, and his plan to exploit the bug was abandoned.

"It seems that you have to do everything the right way, and you can't mess with bugs."

Since it was no longer possible to easily obtain Heart Points in this way, Uchiha Gin stopped using the technique.

As expected, once he seriously entered battle mode, he was knocked to the ground by Uchiha Hikaru in three moves, and his katana almost slipped from his hand.

"this one?"

Looking at Uchiha Gin, who had been easily defeated, Uchiha Hikaru asked incredulously,

"You looked so confident just now, how come you pooped so quickly?"

"Host failed. Gained 12 Anima. The Heart Steel Treasure Chest reward can be unlocked after another battle. (Current total Anima: 13)"

It's actually two points more than last time.

"Cough cough cough, what a thoroughly enjoyable battle! I, Uchiha Gin, hereby acknowledge you as the strongest swordsman!"

Uchiha Gin, kneeling on one knee, supported himself with one hand on the ground, extended his thumb with the other, and smiled, revealing a shiny tooth.

Uchiha Hikaru was speechless at this scene. He immediately sheathed his sword and left without looking back, as if he had been greatly insulted.

"I've learned a lot from this battle, and I hope to rest today and be ready to fight again tomorrow!"

Cast a wide net to catch many fish; Uchiha Feihe is also a high-quality leek to be harvested, and we must not let him go.

"idiot."

The taciturn Uchiha Hikaru tossed out two words from afar.

The fight between the two was brief, and the rest of the camp had already packed up and cleaned up their tracks before embarking on their return journey.

The unconscious Senju Itama was still being carried by Uchiha Gin. After yesterday's arduous journey, he had basically gotten used to carrying someone, and today's journey was much easier.

Fortunately, they did not encounter any enemies along the way. As night fell, Uchiha Feng Huo, who was leading the way, stopped and ordered his men to set up camp and rest.

Everyone pitched their tents on the spot, and Uchiha Gin had just finished setting up his and was preparing to take a good rest.

"Brother"

At this moment, Senju Itama, who had been unconscious for a day and a night, slowly woke up and murmured "brother".

"Your brother is gone," Uchiha Gin whispered in his ear like a demon.

"Aaaaaah??? Waaaaah!"

"Oh, right, your little brother's gone too. Congratulations on becoming a cute girl who squats to pee~"

Huh? It wasn't that it never existed to begin with...

Senju Itama, who had been hit repeatedly, finally woke up. When he saw the curly-haired, dead-eyed man in front of him, he realized that he had been captured. But after making two noises, he felt something stuffed into his mouth, which made him choke and tears stream down his face.

(End of this chapter)