A black-haired, curly-headed youth excitedly raised his long blade, measuring it against the man strapped to the cross, searching for the perfect angle.
Completely ignoring the shouts urging him to hurry up, he finally found his spot and was just about to deliver the final cut—when the figure before him dissolved like windblown sand. Gin rubbed his eyes in disbelief, shouting,
"Hey hey hey! I wasn't done yet!"
As their target vanished, each Gin clone in the Tsukuyomi space began blaming the others. The entire space erupted into chaos, sounding just like a noisy marketplace.
"What's all this racket?"
Having only just sent off Yao, Gin barely had time to reflect on the old man's passing when his own clones started bickering so much it gave him a headache.
Well… the old man's story was done. Now all that remained was dealing with Uncle outside. Once he wrapped that up, he could call this mission complete, get back to grinding his stats and, of course, smacking that little Senju brat's backside.
With that thought, the Tsukuyomi space began collapsing. His rowdy clones only grew louder as their end approached.
"Noooo! Who knows when we'll get called out again?!"
"Don't count on it. The original's too lame. Peak on debut, dead on the second act."
"Waaaah, crying now."
"…the hell? Which one of you is the fruity one?!"
"Bro, you smell so good~"
"GET LOST!"
Gin, veins popping, quickened the collapse just to avoid seeing more of his ridiculous clones acting like fools.
The windmill pattern in his eyes gradually faded, returning to the standard three tomoe. The Tsukuyomi experience card had expired — but hey, in exchange he'd gotten the old man's transformation device, so not a bad trade.
When his vision shifted back to reality, only an instant had passed.
Before him, the transformed Yao crashed to the ground, his armor shattered and his mask falling away, revealing his aged face.
Gin moved quickly to catch the falling body, then sighed at the peaceful expression on Yao's face. He pulled out a storage scroll and sealed the still-warm body away.
"Old man, you're lucky you've got such a filial grandson to even bother collecting your corpse."
As he rubbed his still-sore right eye, Gin added,
"On account of that transformation device, I'll even pick you a nice plot, burn you some goodies every month."
With his part settled, Gin wondered how Hikari was faring. Uncle was still the clan's top dog — hopefully she hadn't gotten completely stomped.
Boom!
Just as he was about to head over, something slammed down toward him like a cannonball.
Startled, Gin twisted his hips and barely dodged. The projectile smashed into the ground behind him, leaving a massive crater.
Patting his chest in relief, Gin couldn't help but gripe,
"Who the hell just throws trash around? You break flowers and grass like that, huh?"
"Gin! You're okay?!"
A cheerful voice called out, and when he turned, Gin saw Hikari in her dark green cloak, smiling brightly.
"Hikari? You're not hurt? How'd you escape from Uncle?"
He eyed her skeptically, a little suspicious. Had she abandoned her post?
Also… where was Uncle?
"You damn brat… how are you this strong?!"
A venomous voice came from behind. Gin looked back to see his uncle, battered and panting, claw his way out of the crater.
"If I could use this guy's Mangekyō… I wouldn't have been beaten like this!"
Right now, it was the dark persona created by Amaterasu-onna controlling Uncle's body. Since it couldn't shake off the black Zetsu-like thing attached to him, it had reluctantly struck a deal to cooperate for now.
"Stop babbling. That girl's eyes are way stronger than yours. Even with your Mangekyō, you wouldn't beat her."
The black Zetsu-like thing growled, chastising the dark uncle who'd just gotten launched by a little girl.
"How can I, the clan head of Uchiha, just turn tail and run?!"
The dark persona fumed — it had waited years for this moment, finally taking control, yet now it was getting manhandled by some girl.
"Gin? Where's that old Yao? Don't tell me he ran away?"
The Zetsu-like being eyed Gin curiously, wondering how he was still standing. Shouldn't he have been torn apart by Yao by now?
"Gin! You must die!"
The dark uncle's obsession with Gin still burned — he blamed him for not saving his wife and children back then.
Seeing Gin alive now only reignited his hatred. Black mist seethed around him as he ignored the restraints of the black Zetsu and charged straight at Gin.
"Gin, watch out!"
Hikari, who had been happily chatting away, spotted the incoming uncle and shouted. Her eyes flashed, the pattern of her Mangekyō blooming in them.
Gin suddenly remembered — back then, when he'd been caught in Amaterasu in the backyard, it was Hikari's Yasaka Magatama imprint that had saved him.
"Amaterasu!"
Hikari's eyes glinted. Black flames erupted across the ground and then, with a wave of her small hand, shaped into spears that shot at Uncle.
"Damn it! This again?!"
Uncle's dark persona had sneered at the frail-looking girl, thinking nothing of her Mangekyō.
Little brat, showing off in front of me?
But the moment they clashed, he was left rolling on the ground in agony under her Amaterasu. If not for the Zetsu assisting him, he'd already be nothing but ashes.
"Idiot! Dodge!"
The Zetsu cursed at Uncle for standing still — sure, it could tank Amaterasu, but it still hurt! Did he really have to ride along with such a moron?
It forcibly controlled Uncle's body, narrowly avoiding the black flames, and landed farther away, eyes darting as it thought.
The unused flames vanished at Hikari's wave, leaving only the smell of scorched air.
The Zetsu was getting a headache now. Its plan had been to stir chaos, seize control of Uncle, then take everyone else down while they were weak. But everything had gone wrong.
Yao had failed to kill Gin. The Zetsu had possessed Uncle, only to get stomped by some girl.
"This is so unfair~~~"
Gin, watching Uncle hesitate, turned to the angry-looking Hikari. Remembering her Mangekyō's ability, an idea formed.
"Hikari, in a bit, treat Uncle to a full Moon Reader's combo meal. Make sure he gets the special sauce."
(End of Chapter)
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