[Quest Triggered!]
[Quest: The apocalypse is approaching. Zombies will soon attack your backyard. Before nightfall, plant sunflowers everywhere, collect sunlight, and repel the coming zombie invasion.]
[Reward: Special Sunflower ×2]
Ryan had always thought he could tolerate however abstract the system's quests became.
But this?
This crossed a line.
He held his breath, walked briskly to the wall, braced himself with one hand—and then started gulping air like his life depended on it.
Alright. Fine. Sure.
Plants vs. Zombies, huh?!
The reward description was vague, but Ryan could more or less guess what these sunflowers did.
They collected sunlight.
As for what that sunlight could be used for…
He'd probably need to finish the quest first and experiment later.
At this point, he had completely given up on expecting the system to issue anything remotely normal.
—
Outside the flower shop, a girl watering plants glanced over—and then couldn't look away.
She stared so intently at the boy in the distance that she forgot she was still watering.
The pot quickly filled to the brim, muddy water overflowing and soaking her shoes.
"Your flowers are about to die."
The sudden voice startled her so badly she yelped.
Her hand jerked, the watering can swing wildly. Though it was already empty, a few lingering droplets still splashed all over Ryan.
Realizing what she'd done, the girl froze.
Her ears instantly turned red.
Embarrassment and panic crashed over her at once.
"I—I'm s-so sorry!"
"I—I really didn't mean to!"
Her voice trembled, on the verge of tears, as she frantically pulled out a handkerchief—brain short-circuiting as she moved to wipe Ryan's clothes.
"I'll do it myself."
Ryan's mouth twitched. He caught her wrist gently, then took the handkerchief from her hand.
The simple gesture made her lower her head instantly, as if trying to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Still, she forced herself to bow repeatedly.
"I'm sorry… I'm really, really sorry."
Ryan casually wiped the water off, walked past her, and stopped in front of a sunflower tucked into the corner.
"Do you have sunflowers?"
"I need a lot."
"If you can transplant them, even better."
The quest required his backyard to be filled with sunflowers before nightfall. To be safe, transplanting was the best option.
A rare task that sounded even remotely reasonable—no matter what the reward was, he had to secure it first.
—
"Ino!!"
"What are you standing around outside for?!"
Just as the girl was about to answer, her mother's voice rang out from inside the shop.
With a merchant's razor-sharp instincts, the woman instantly noticed the big customer at the door.
An Uchiha clan crest.
A big spender.
Ryan turned toward the shop. The owner, apron tied around her waist, immediately pulled her daughter aside and stepped forward with a warm smile.
"Dear customer, when you say 'a lot'… how much are we talking about?"
"The entire yard."
Yamanaka Rino's eyes widened slightly.
As expected of the Uchiha—
Even buying flowers follows a completely different logic.
"No problem at all. May I ask—"
"Just have them transplanted into my backyard before tonight," Ryan cut in smoothly.
Then he waved at Ino, who was hiding behind her mother, making a writing gesture.
Ino blinked for a second, then hurriedly fumbled for pen and paper, shyly handing them over.
While Ryan wrote, she secretly peeked over, memorizing every word he put down.
This address…
The Uchiha clan head's home?!
As if she'd uncovered a huge secret, Ino carefully folded the note after taking it back.
Even after Ryan left, she stood at the doorway, staring at his retreating figure.
"Since you're curious…"
"Why didn't you just ask his name?"
Rino teased lightly from beside her, instantly making Ino's face flush again.
"So annoying!"
"I—I'll find out when I deliver the flowers anyway!"
Too embarrassed to meet her mother's gaze, Ino quickly turned and went to arrange the delivery.
—
Meanwhile, hidden beneath the eaves nearby, ANBU operatives quietly pulled out brushes and began recording on scrolls.
[August 28th. Clear. Uchiha clan head's second son, Uchiha Ryan, purchased a large quantity of sunflowers from the Yamanaka flower shop. Purpose unclear. Significance unclear. Threat level: C.]
Above it, another entry detailed Sasuke's movements.
[August 28th. Clear. Uchiha clan head's third son, Uchiha Sasuke, once again visited the Inuzuka clan kennels. Suspected motive: learning "Beast Substitution Technique." After one week of observation, contact between Uchiha and Inuzuka clans was ruled out. Assessment: Uchiha Sasuke has issues. Threat level: B.]
Since the day the brothers crossed paths with the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, ANBU had been tailing them constantly.
Any time the two left home, someone followed and documented everything.
The result?
Utter exhaustion.
On day one, the ANBU were full of enthusiasm, convinced they'd uncover proof of an Uchiha rebellion.
Instead—
One kid wandered around Konoha all day.
The other ran to dog kennels nonstop.
Their behavior was strange—unsettling, even.
At first, the operatives believed these actions were secret instructions from Fugaku, part of some grand conspiracy.
But after several days…
They began questioning their life choices.
Uchiha Ryan either wandered the village or stood in front of shops, taverns, and ramen stalls, shouting red-faced nonsense like—
"Give me a quest already!"
"NPC, trigger the mission!"
"Cultivation quest—start!"
Things no one could make sense of.
As for Uchiha Sasuke…
He was obsessed with dog-related techniques, visiting the Inuzuka kennels at every opportunity.
The ANBU were done.
You're an Uchiha!
Study the Sharingan!
Practice shurikenjutsu!
Why are you haunting dog kennels all day?!
After a full week of surveillance, every operative reached the same conclusion.
Fugaku's two sons…
"…Pull back. No need to waste time on Fugaku's two idiots."
"Let's report back."
With a sigh, the squad leader gave the order. The ANBU vanished from the rooftops.
—
With the help of shop assistants, Ino arrived at the Uchiha district gates with a massive shipment of sunflowers.
She stood there for a long time, staring at the door handle, hesitating.
Finally, she gathered her courage and knocked softly.
"Is… anyone home?"
Whether her knock was too light or her voice too quiet, ten whole minutes passed with no response.
She glanced back at the closed gates, then at the pile of sunflowers.
At a loss, she began considering going home to ask her mother for help—
When loud arguing suddenly echoed from the street corner.
"Ryan! Let go of me!!!"
"I'm this close to learning that jutsu!!"
...
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