Chapter 12: The Crucial Content That Failed to Load

The three returned to the camp to find Ryōichi Uchiha and Tsuru Uchiha had already erased all traces and were waiting to depart.

Seeing Gin Uchiha and Tarō Uchiha, the two exchanged a glance, their expressions oddly strange. Taking advantage of Gin Uchiha stepping away to fetch Senju Itama, they approached Tarō Uchiha.

“That guy, Gin Uchiha, was he trying to spar with you?” Ryōichi asked first. Tarō, taken aback, answered with confusion, “Yeah, how did you know?”

“Did he say the clan leader taught him something?” Tsuru chimed in.

Seeing Tarō’s surprised expression, the two were certain Gin had played the same trick on him.

“That guy was just making fun of us—said it was a spar, but after a few moves, he just gave up.”

“More than that, when sparring with me, he just threw his sword to the ground.”

“Basically, he was mocking us.”

Tarō, overwhelmed by their brief words, took a moment before understanding.

“So you mean Gin Uchiha was pretending to seek advice from us, but he was actually toying with us?”

“Exactly!” Ryōichi and Tsuru agreed in unison.

Tarō’s simple face flushed red and then pale.

“That damn guy!”

Then curiosity got the better of him.

“What’s his angle in doing this?”

The three fell silent after that question.

“Maybe he’s just bored,” said Fūka Uchiha, who had been quietly observing nearby.

“After all, that kid might only be a shell now.”

“???” Ryōichi and the others exchanged puzzled looks.

Just as they were about to ask more, Gin Uchiha approached, carrying the tightly bound Senju Itama. The three wisely fell silent.

Ryōichi looked up as if something in the sky had caught his attention; Tsuru stared down, counting ants moving along the ground with his toes. Only Tarō glared resentfully at him.

“Brother Tarō, I still have some doubts about that question earlier…”

“Hmph!” Tarō turned away with an expression that said he was ashamed to be associated with them.

---

Gin Uchiha looked utterly bewildered.

“Move out!”

Fūka Uchiha ignored the commotion and gave the order to set off.

The territory contested between the Uchiha and Senju clans lay within the later Fire Country. The Senju clan’s land was to the east, near the coast.

Adjacent to them was their distant relative, the Uzumaki clan of the Whirlpool Country, and the Uchiha clan’s territory lay to the west. Gin Uchiha’s group was currently on the eastern side of the Fire Country, fleeing along the coastline toward the southwest.

Under the bright June sun, the proximity to the sea brought a slight coolness to the otherwise stifling heat.

According to the map, Fūka estimated they were close to escaping Senju territory.

If they could break through, they would shake off their pursuers and reach the Uzumaki coastline, where safety awaited.

Gin, positioned at the rear, chatted intermittently with the bound Senju Itama.

“Itama brat, I heard your clan has a good relationship with the Uzumaki of the Whirlpool Country.”

“Of course, we’re cousins. The Uzumaki chief often visits our Senju lands. Last time he was here, he even talked about arranging a marriage between our families,” Itama said, resigned to his fate since he could neither run nor kill himself.

Since reaching the Uchiha lands meant certain death, he resolved to live one day at a time.

Through days of interaction, he realized it was Gin who had spared him when others wanted him dead. Although Gin’s intentions seemed dubious, he hadn’t mistreated him.

Gin would scold him with a fist during arguments but then offer dried meat afterward (fearing the boy might starve).

He also told strange jokes that Itama didn’t always understand but still made him laugh heartily (a joyful heart meant longer life).

Throughout the journey, Gin had carried him patiently (worried someone might accidentally crush him). The young Itama suddenly noticed Gin’s demeanor resembled that of his most beloved brothers.

“How pathetic, so young and already stepping into the grave of love,” Gin sighed.

“You’re trying to marry an Uzumaki woman, aren’t you? I hear their women live on mist-shrouded islands, with fair skin and fiery red hair—truly tempting,” Gin teased the blushing Itama.

Flushed and embarrassed, Itama turned his head away, ears burning.

“I… I don’t want an Uzumaki woman! They’re all violent maniacs!”

“Oh, shy now? So you secretly like someone? Spill it.”

Seeing Itama’s reaction, Gin grew playful.

“No! I don’t secretly like Touka-nee-san,” Itama blurted out a name unfamiliar to him for the first time.

“Hahaha, you’re a little devil,” Gin laughed.

Itama wished he could disappear into the earth, stunned at how easily he was caught in Gin’s trap.

---

“You evil Uchiha!” Itama barked helplessly. “I’m not talking to you anymore!” Then he closed his eyes and fell silent.

“You’re such a mischievous brat,” Gin shook his head, smiling but pondering how to deal with this hot potato after completing the mission.

Though he initially used humor and the clan leader’s implied hints as an excuse, once back in the Uchiha lands and confronted by the clan leader, the truth would be exposed.

This brat might be skinned alive by the furious Tajima Uchiha and left without a single intact bone.

“The mission was to rescue Senju Itama from Fūka Uchiha and the others. I should have saved him by now, so why isn’t the mission complete?”

The mission briefing was brief; Gin saw no clues. He felt as if he were being grilled over a fire from both sides.

On one hand, he feared returning to the clan without completing the mission, which meant certain death. On the other, if he secretly let Itama go, he might avoid death but would suffer a living hell thereafter.

“Ah, how unlucky to get stuck with such an ancient cursed system.”

Others received powerful ninja arts or incredible weapons as newbie gifts, or attribute points that made them soar.

He got a treasure chest that took four days to open, barely squeezing out one win and one loss before his streak reset. He received a useless skill that nearly scared him to death, was beaten seven-on-one in Tsukuyomi for seventy-two hours, only to be given a fragment and told to endure thirty-nine more beatings.

After all this time, his strength barely improved, and the system hung a Damocles’ sword over his head. Was there any other transmigrator worse off than him?

“System, when will my mission be complete? I’ve already rescued Senju Itama.”

Helpless, Gin tried calling out to the system in his mind again.

“Host mission progress at 60%. Must protect mission target Senju Itama until returning to Senju territory to complete the mission.”

The usually unresponsive system surprisingly answered.

“&*%￥%@#￥*&…&*%&…%”

Gin cursed violently in his mind, blood rising to his face. Once calm, he questioned,

“The mission never said I had to protect Itama back to the Senju home!”

“The system was still loading at that time; 80% of content was missing. The task data was incomplete. The mission release module is now fully loaded.

Mission details: Rescue Senju Itama from Fūka Uchiha and others, ‘Protect him until returning to Senju territory.’ Rewards: 10 points, 1 random magic orb. Failure: Senju Itama’s death.”

“So the part they didn’t load was the most important.”

“Insufficient data flow. Host must strengthen abilities; system loading speed is linked to host strength,” came the cold system prompt again.

“!?!!?”