Under the moonlight, the Uchiha squad pressed westward at full speed. The battle earlier in the day had already wasted too much of their time, so Uchiha Fuka made the decisive call to take the straight route.
The others had no objections. The shortcut could save them more than half the time.
Along the way, they didn't encounter any pursuit from the Senju clan, which meant the Senju were likely overwhelmed and had no manpower to chase them.
"All right, we camp here tonight."
Seeing the familiar path ahead, Uchiha Fuka ordered the squad to rest.
"Huff, huff…"
The three—Ryoichi, Taka, and Dairo—were already dog-tired after the brutal fight and intense march. The trio collapsed on the ground, only to notice with surprise that Gin, who was supposed to be the weakest, was still full of energy, not even breathing heavily, his clothes spotless.
Noticing their strange looks, Gin realized something was wrong. He immediately dumped the unconscious Senju Tobirama off his back, lay down on the ground himself, forced out a bit of sweat, and stuck his tongue out like he was utterly exhausted. Only then did the others relax and stop paying him attention.
"I'll take first watch. You all rest up."
Fuka, who was already good at stealth, still in decent shape, volunteered to keep watch while the others slept.
After resting for a bit, the others got up and began setting up tents.
Gin also got up with them, pulling out his own tent. But thinking of that strange skill of his, he decided to pick a secluded spot instead.
He pitched his tent and, unlike last time, tossed Tobirama into the tent rather than leaving him tied up outside. Then he circled around back and cleared a patch of ground.
"Hope I get something useful tonight…"
Thinking of yesterday's Tsukuyomi, Gin felt his scalp tingle. As powerful as Tsukuyomi was, being dragged into it and tortured two nights in a row would drive anyone crazy.
He sat cross-legged and began waiting for his skill to refresh.
But before that, he still hadn't opened his mission rewards from earlier, so he decided to check those first and sank into his mindspace.
Standing on the board, Gin saw that his game machine now showed 50 points. Suppressing the urge to gamble, he turned to the five floating orbs. He paused—he should've gotten four, so why was there a fifth?
"Reward from defeating Uzumaki Mito."
The system helpfully chimed in.
"Then why didn't you use that when you 'emergency averted' earlier, and instead used my points?"
"Mission reward orbs can only be opened by the host. The system has no authority to use them automatically."
Got it. Points were basically his own earnings, which the system could spend as it liked. Orbs were the system's stock, and it wouldn't use those lightly.
"Damn scammer…"
Ignoring it, Gin examined the orbs: two blue, three white.
Aside from the blue one fixed for Mito's mission, the four from rescuing Fuka's team only had one blue among them. No purple, no gold. Just his luck.
He tapped the first white orb, and a faint white light flashed.
[Gold Bar *1] Universal currency, can be spent in the real world.
Gold wasn't bad.
Second orb:
[Gold Bar *1]
Still gold, not bad.
Third orb:
[Gold Bar *1]
"…Huh?"
Three gold bars in a row. So orbs are basically just for gold?
Suppressing his frustration, Gin tapped the first blue orb:
[Gold Bar *5]
"@#$%&*!"
Gin wanted to punch this system. Right now he felt like a gacha addict pulling ten Rs in a row. Powerless rage.
Finally, he shakily tapped the last orb:
[Flying Thunder God Kunai *1] A weapon used by Namikaze Minato, infused with a trace of space-time power. Note: when equipped, slightly accelerates comprehension of space-time ninjutsu.
Holding the tri-pronged kunai in his hand, Gin pictured a yellow-haired figure in his mind.
"This can help me learn space-time techniques faster?"
He tried swinging it a few times. Even without Flying Thunder God, it was still a very practical weapon.
He put away the kunai and the eight gold bars, then walked to the game machine.
Staring at his meager 50 points, he gritted his teeth and pulled the lever. Might as well try.
The classic slot machine music played, and the three characters on the display began spinning. Gin held his breath.
First: "Taijutsu".
A few seconds later, second: "Taijutsu".
Gin's breathing grew rapid. Could he finally be lucky?
"Taijutsu, taijutsu, taijutsu!" he chanted.
As if answering his plea, the last stopped on "Ninjutsu".
"Congratulations! You rolled Taijutsu + Taijutsu + Ninjutsu: Taijutsu doubled/ +1 Taijutsu."
"I'll take +1 Taijutsu!"
Afraid it would finalize otherwise, Gin called it out instantly.
He kept going and spent the rest of his points on four more spins. No jackpots, just minor combos.
Final result:
+2 Taijutsu, +2 Ninjutsu, +1 Spirit.
Host: Uchiha Gin
Ninjutsu: 9
Taijutsu: 10
Intelligence: 9
Spirit: 7
Charm: 1
Dōjutsu: 10
Skills: Basic Taijutsu, Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball), Uchiha Beginner Kenjutsu, Intermediate Shurikenjutsu.
Overall evaluation: Balanced but still punchable mid-level Uchiha chūnin.
Feeling his strength had grown significantly, Gin guessed he was now about on par with Ryoichi and the others.
He exited the system.
Opening his eyes, he was still sitting in the dark. The kunai in his hand gave him a sense of reality, but he frowned.
"Why hasn't the skill refreshed yet?" he muttered.
No sooner had he spoken than the air around him froze, and a watery ripple of light appeared above him. A figure descended from the sky, one foot slamming into his back before he could react.
Even with a bit of Uzumaki sensory ability warning him, Gin couldn't dodge the brutal blow. The impact crushed him to the ground and made him cough up blood.
As the dust cleared, a tall figure appeared before him. Long pale-yellow hair tied into a high ponytail, matching short eyebrows, bright brown eyes, nails painted striking red. Under the moonlight her fair skin glowed faintly. She wore a tea-green coat with black trim over a loose kimono-style sleeveless shirt, a black belt at the waist, and dark blue capri pants.
But all of that was secondary—Gin's attention was entirely focused on the magnificent pair of peaks on her chest. He felt a warm flow gush up his nose.
Before he could react, she threw another straight punch. He hurriedly activated his Sharingan, trying to predict and dodge her earth-shattering strike.
But his body refused to move. Pain lanced through his right arm as she casually grabbed it and crushed it like a twig.
In desperation, he tried to break free, but saw a pale, delicate fist hurtling at him like lightning.
"Nice nail polish…"
That was the last thought Gin had before losing consciousness.
(End of Chapter)
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