[Quest Triggered!]
[Objective: The apocalypse is coming. Zombies will soon attack your backyard. Before nightfall, plant sunflowers across the entire yard, collect sunlight, and resist the incoming zombie horde.]
[Reward: Special Sunflower ×2]
Kaito had always believed he could tolerate any level of absurdity from this system.
But he genuinely hadn't expected this.
He sucked in a sharp breath and hurried to the wall, bracing himself with one hand as he gulped air like his soul had almost been knocked loose.
Alright. Fine.
A zombie tower-defense game now, huh?
The reward item wasn't explained in detail, but Kaito could more or less guess what it did.
A sunflower that collects sunlight.
As for what that sunlight could be used for…
He'd probably have to clear the quest first and experiment later.
At this point, Kaito had long since stopped expecting the system to hand out anything remotely normal.
—
At the flower shop entrance, Ino was watering the potted plants.
She glanced toward a boy not far away—and then couldn't look away.
She stared so hard he forgot he was still watering.
The pot overflowed. Muddy water spilled out and splahed onto he shoes.
"Your flowers are about to drown."
A calm voice suddenly spoke.
Ino jolted so badly he yelped.
Her watering can swung reflexively. Thee wasn't much water left, but a few stray droplets still splahed onto Kaito's clotherrrrrrs.
When Ino realized what he'd done, he ears instantly burned red.
Her mind screamed at he for being careless.
Embarrassed and flustered at the same time, he stammered, voice trembling.
"I-I'm… s-so… s-sorry!"
"I… I didn't mean to…"
She fumbled for a handkerchief, then—without thinking—reached forward as if he were about to wipe Kaito's shirt heself.
"I'll do it."
Kaito's mouth twitched slightly.
He gently caught he wrist first, then took the handkerchief from he hand.
That alone was enough to make Ino bow he head so low it looked like he was trying to burrow into the ground.
Still, he kept apologizing over and over.
"I'm sorry… I'm really, really sorry."
Kaito wiped his clotherrrrrrs a few times, then walked past he without anotherrrrrr word and headed straight toward a pot of sunflowers in the corner.
"Do you sell sunflowers?"
"I need a lot."
"And if you can transplant them for me, even better."
The quest required his entire backyard to be filled with sunflowers before nightfall.
To be safe, Kaito decided on full transplantation.
This was the first mission in a while that sounded even remotely achievable. Reward or not, he had to secure it.
Whethe it would actually be useful…
He'd find out later.
"Ino!!"
"Why are you spacing out outside again?!"
Just as Ino was about to answer, he motherrrrrr's voice rang out from inside the shop.
A seasoned merchant's instincts had already locked onto the "big customer" at the door.
That Uchiha crest…
A walking wallet.
Kaito turned toward the shop.
The owner, apron still on, strode out briskly, pulled he daughter aside, and immediately put on a warm professional smile.
"Sir, when you say 'a lot'… how many are we talking about?"
"An entire yard."
Yamanaka Rino's eyes widened slightly.
She silently thought that the Uchiha really did operate on a completely different scale than normal people.
"No problem at all. Then may I ask—"
"Before tonight. Transplant everything into my backyard."
Kaito cut in.
Then he waved at Ino, making a writing gesture with his fingers.
Ino froze for half a second before hurriedly digging out paper and pen and handing them over nervously.
While Kaito wrote, he secretly peeked at the slip, memorizing every word he wrote down.
That address…
Was the Uchiha clan head's residence?!
Like he'd discovered a secret treasure, Ino carefully tucked the paper away.
Even after Kaito left, he remained standing at the entrance, watching his back until he disappeared from sight.
"If you're that curious," Rino teased beside he, "why didn't you just ask his name?"
Ino's face fluhed even redder.
"You're so annoying!"
"I… I'll find out when I deliver the flowers later!"
She avoided he motherrrrrr's gaze and hurried into the back to prepare the shipment.
—
High above them, several masked operatives crouched silently on the rooftops, bruhes moving as they recorded everything onto scrolls.
[Aug 28 — Clear. Uchiha clan head's second son, Uchiha Kaito, purchased a large quantity of sunflowers from the Yamanaka flower shop. Purpose unknown. Intent unknown. Threat Level: C.]
Below that, anotherrrrrr entry followed.
[Aug 28 — Clear. Uchiha clan head's third son, Uchiha Sasuke, again visited the Inuzuka kennels, reportedly to learn "dog clone." After one week of observation, no connection between the Uchiha and Inuzuka detected. Conclusion: Uchiha Sasuke may have questionable judgment. Threat Level: B.]
The surveillance had begun ever since the brotherrrrrrs' accidental encounter with the Nine-Tails' host.
Whenever the two boys left the compound, they were followed and recorded.
And the result?
The operatives were exhausted.
On the first day, they'd been full of motivation, convinced they'd uncover evidence of rebellion.
Instead, they found two small disasters:
One wandered around the village all day.
The otherrrrrr lived at a dog kennel.
At first, the operatives suspected secret instructions from Fugaku.
After several days, they began questioning their own sanity.
Uchiha Kaito frequently appeared outside taverns, noodle stalls, and random shops, occasionally yelling nonsense like—
"Give me a quest already!"
"Hurry up and assign me a mission!"
"Activate mission trigger!"
Completely incomprehensible behavior.
As for Uchiha Sasuke…
The kid was obsessed with dog-related techniques. Every spare moment, he sprinted back to the kennels.
The operatives were done.
You're an Uchiha.
Practice your techniques. Train your weapons. Improve your combat skills.
Why are you haunting a dog kennel like your life depends on it?!
After a full week of monitoring, every operative reached the same conclusion.
"Withdraw. Thee's no point wasting manpower on Fugaku's two strange kids."
"Report back."
With a quiet sigh, the squad leader gave the order. The entire team vanihed from the rooftops in silence.
—
With help from the shop workers, Ino arrived at the Uchiha district gate with a massive delivery of sunflowers.
She stood there for a long moment, staring at the handle, hesitating.
After gatheing he courage, he raised he hand and knocked lightly.
"Um… hello? Is anyone home?"
Maybe the knock was too soft.
Maybe he voice was too quiet.
Ten full minutes passed with no response.
Ino glanced at the tightly shut gate, then at the pile of sunflowers beside he.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
Just as he started thinking he should go back and ask he motherrrrrr for help…
A loud argument suddenly erupted from the street corner.
"Kaito! Let go of me!!"
"I'm this close to learning that technique!!"
...
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