"Boom!"
Inside the training arena, two figures were clashing at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye. Each ti their fists collided, shockwaves blasted the surrounding dust into the air, forcing the spectators to raise their arms to shield their faces.
"No way—how could he learn it that fast?!"
While outsiders could only marvel at the spectacle, those with expertise could see the finer details. Hyūga Sōsuke, a mber of the Hyūga clan, still had dried blood on his face, his expression filled with disbelief as he watched Gin wield the Gentle Fist with fierce precision.
"This is strange... even if the Sharingan's copy ability is strong, it shouldn't be seamless like this, right?"
On the other side, Tobirama's brows were twisted into a knot. His crimson eyes flickered with confusion. As soone who understood the Sharingan even better than most Uchiha themselves, he was completely baffled by Gin's beyond-expectations performance.
"C'mon~ Don't overthink it. He's Madara's brother, right? A little talent isn't so surprising~"
Hashirama, far more carefree, patted his younger brother's shoulder with a smile, accepting Gin's aptitude as a natural result of his lineage.
Smack!
While the others chatted casually, the duel in the arena reached a fever pitch. Hyūga Ten'yō's calm expression gradually gave way to surprise. After Gin executed the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms), his shock deepened. As Gin once again assud a familiar opening stance, Ten'yō instinctively leapt back several steps, exclaiming:
"You can do Sixty-Four Palms too?!"
"I said it before, didn't I? Just learned it~"
Seeing his opponent retreat, Gin raised an eyebrow and dropped his Gentle Fist stance. If the guy kept going, he'd have to break out the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. After all, the backyard often saw visitors from the Twelve Little Brats—he'd gotten pretty good at Gentle Fist over ti.
"This…"
Hyūga Ten'yō frowned, his white eyes fixed on Gin's crimson Sharingan. He'd always held pride in his clan's dōjutsu, believing the Sharingan was overhyped.
But today's clash had shaken him. The Sharingan's insight and copying ability had taught him a hard lesson. Their clan's secret techniques had been effortlessly replicated—Gin even mimicked the internal force control of Gentle Fist perfectly. If not for the Sharingan's lack of x-ray vision, the Byakugan would've lost all its advantages.
"Haah~ I'm done. It's alti."
Noting the inner turmoil in Ten'yō's eyes, Gin deactivated his Sharingan. His black pupils returned, matching his usual lazy deanor. Stretching and yawning, he rubbed his curly hair and spoke.
"In that case, let's end our spar here. Thank you, Gin-dono, for letting witness the Sharingan. Truly a dōjutsu worthy of its equal reputation to the Byakugan."
Relieved the fight didn't end in humiliation, Ten'yō gratefully took the out Gin offered, hiding his sha behind polite words. He also deactivated his Byakugan and smiled warmly.
"Hahaha, we're all villagers now—plenty of opportunities to spar in the future."
Though so spectators were disappointed by the abrupt end to the match, seeing no tension between the two, Hashirama laughed heartily and stepped forward.
"Friends of the Hyūga clan, we've prepared a feast. Let's talk about your settlent in the village over food~"
Tobirama joined in as well. The outco of the spar mattered less to him than what the Hyūga could offer Konoha. He gestured to Ten'yō.
"Gin-dono, will you be joining us too?"
Invited, Ten'yō turned toward Gin, who was already planning to slip away.
"I'll pass. Got people waiting at ho for dinner. You enjoy."
Gin waved casually and left behind a handso silhouette, vanishing around the corner in the blink of an eye.
"Hashirama-dono, when it's over, could you tell where Gin-dono lives? I have important matters to discuss with him."
Watching Gin disappear, Ten'yō's eyes flickered as he made the request.
"Haha, no problem!"
Gin exited the Senju compound and, with a flick of his fingers, turned into a stream of light. He reappeared atop the stone cliffs overlooking the village.
"So the Hyūga clan's here too… The final piece of Konoha's puzzle is in place~"
From here, he could see the village lights flickering like stars below. Sitting on the cliff, he looked up at the sky where the moon had half-risen, and murmured:
"Shuaa~ Shosho~"
Just as he was lost in his dreams of a bright future, rustling sounds ca from the forest behind him. A tall figure slowly erged, walking toward him.
"Eh? Hikari-chan? Ti for dinner?"
His moon gazing was interrupted by a dark shadow blocking the moonlight. Annoyed, Gin was ready to scold the intruder, but the familiar scent made him blink. Looking up into the cold eyes of the girl standing over him, he asked:
"Staring at the moon? Thinking of soone?"
This ti, Hikari's voice was cold and distant, not her usual playful tone. Gin's heart skipped a beat. He scrutinized her face—and noticed the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead wasn't purple like usual, but a dark, almost black red.
"…You're not supposed to be out yet, right?"
"She trained too hard today and passed out. I couldn't just leave her there to be eaten by a passing beast."
"Uchiha Hikari" sat beside him, examining her own palm as she replied calmly.
"Thanks for that, then… An-chan~"
Gin sighed in relief, then smiled and turned to her with gratitude—but the na he used revealed the truth. This wasn't Hikari. It was Uchiha An, her alternate personality.
"You don't need to pretend to be close with . I know all of you wish I'd just disappear."
Her cold eyes flickered at Gin's genuine gratitude. She looked away and spoke flatly.
"Co on~ Don't say that. We're all family. You just happen to live close to Hikari, that's all."
Gin sighed softly, returning his gaze to the moon.
"Don't get emo just because it's nightti, An-chan. Try to live more positively."
"Guess I was just born this way…"
"Alright, alright, cut the gloomy poet act! Let's go eat!"
Hearing her lancholic tone, Gin's whole body broke out in goosebumps. He quickly interrupted her dramatic musings, grabbed her hand, and began running back ho.
"Won't she get jealous if you hold my hand like this?"
An-chan glanced at their clasped hands and asked emotionlessly.
"Er…"
"And won't she get mad if she finds out you're calling so intimately?"
"…This…"
Gin's head throbbed. Of all the troubleso won he knew, An-chan ranked second.
"She's waking up. I should go."
Before Gin could respond, her body suddenly went limp and fell backward. Thankfully, she hadn't let go of his hand, so he managed to keep her from hitting her head.
"Mmm… my head hurts… Eh? Gin? What are you doing here?"
Holding her up, Gin watched as Hikari slowly woke, rubbing her forehead and looking confused. The coldness in her eyes vanished, replaced with her usual cheerful glow.
"You should be more careful. If it weren't for An-chan, so beast might've carried you off."
He scolded her gently, explaining what happened while she was unconscious.
"She ca out? She didn't say anything weird, did she?!"
The cheerful girl instantly panicked, her eyes darting around.
"You two seem to be getting along quite well~"
Gin had expected her to be angry, but instead, she only worried about her secret being revealed. This made him chuckle.
"Phew… It's fine, she's been my neighbor for years. She's not bad—just lonely."
Hearing that An hadn't spilled anything, Hikari relaxed. She stared at him and spoke seriously:
"If this keeps up, it'll only beco harder. We need to separate our consciousnesses."
Gin frowned and shook his head.
"Let's wait a bit longer. There has to be a better way."
Hikari showed a hint of hesitation. Over the years, she'd grown to consider An a close friend.
"Alright. If you don't want to try uncle's thod, I'll think of another."
Gin smiled and nodded at her determined face.
"Thanks, Gin~"
"Let's go ho."
"Uchiha Hikari"—that was the na everyone used. But the one who appeared at night, born from the Mangekyō Sharingan technique Ama-no-Uzu, was Uchiha An. She was a dark personality born from trauma and chakra imbalance. Initially disruptive, she'd been repeatedly humbled by a certain curly-haired idiot.
After Hikari obtained the rcury Cloak and mastered Yin Seal, the imnse chakra in her body nourished An's spirit. What was once a 1:9 consciousness ratio had beco 5:5. Now, whenever Hikari slept, An would awaken and… stay up all night being emo.
This double-life exhausted Gin. He cared for Hikari by day, and An by night. The "double joy" left him sleepless, unable to manage even his dungeon duties.
"Sigh~ Can't let this go on. Prolonged exposure only makes it harder to cut ties…"
Back ho, Gin enjoyed a al prepared by Itama. Glancing at Hikari sipping soup across from him, he muttered:
"Grumbling again? My cooking not good enough?"
Itama pouted, glaring at him.
"No no~ It's perfect! I could eat this every day!"
Gin quickly shoveled food into his mouth.
"Hmph~ If you beg , I might cook for you every day."
A flush crept across Itama's face, and she looked away shyly.
"Then I'm counting on you~"
"Baka!"
"Gin, do you even realize the impact those words have on a girl?"
Hikari raised a brow and teased, wiping her mouth.
"Uhh… how big?"
"Think of Susanoo."
"I know that!"
"Three of them."
"…Hah?!"
Hikari yawned, claiming she'd go nap. Watching her leave, Gin sighed. Another sleepless night awaited.
The next day, Gin staggered out of his house, dark circles under his eyes, heading to the Uchiha clan's new compound.
"Ugh… An-chan's getting harder to deal with. I need a solution or I'm gonna die young…"
"Gin-sama, what brings you here today?"
Exhausted, Gin barely responded to greetings. He asked:
"Just checking if my cousin's out of seclusion yet?"
"Perfect timing! The clan head just erged this morning~"
"Nice. I've got sothing to discuss with him."
Gin perked up at the unexpected good news and made his way through the compound.
"Cousin! I missed you like crazy!"
Throwing open the door, he bead at the stunned Uchiha Madara inside.
"Thanks to you, I managed to scrape by."
Madara, surprisingly chipper, replied with sarcasm.
"You made a feast? You expecting ?"
Seeing the steaming food, Gin grabbed chopsticks.
"That's for Izuna."
"No problem. I'll leave him sothing~"
So garlic and peppers counted as sothing, right?
"So, how's that stone tablet going? Honestly, we should toss that cursed thing into the sea."
"It's our clan's legacy. We can't just discard it."
Madara shook his head. A strange look passed through his eyes as he replied:
"This ti, I discovered sothing new."
"The One God sought peace, split yin and yang, opposing forces rged to form the myriad phenona."
But he kept the details hidden—no point troubling Gin, who didn't even have the Mangekyō.
"So, how's the village doing?"
Madara changed the topic.
"Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"
"…Good."
"All the major ninja clans of the Fire Nation have joined Konoha. Congrats, cousin—your dream ca true~"
Madara's icy expression cracked with rare joy. The childhood fantasy he shared with Hashirama had beco reality.
"And the bad?"
"The dungeon's gone. I'm unemployed~"
Gin's miserable face was plastered with jobless despair.
"…Hah?"
Madara blinked. This was the bad news? With Gin's status, he'd never go hungry.
"I'll talk to Izuna and find you a cushy job. Double pay."
Clan leader privilege—say no more.
"But I really liked that dungeon gig~"
Earning twice the money, eating good food—it was heaven. Now it was gone.
"I'll ask Hashirama if the village prison still needs staff."
Madara sighed. Gin really was a handful.
But hey, family is family. If he doesn't spoil his cousin, who will?
"Cough—congrats on getting out, big bro."
Just then, a weak voice ca from the door. Curious, the two turned to look—
"Huh? Old man, who're you?"
(End of Chapter)
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