Chapter 26: Suppressing Amaterasu

The visitor arrived and left swiftly—just a false alarm. Uchiha Gin closed the door to his room, pondering the intentions of his clan leader and maternal uncle.

“Little cousin Izuna, why do you think the clan leader sent me to work in the dungeon?” Gin turned to ask Uchiha Izuna, who was locked in a wide-eyed stare with Senju Itama.

“Maybe he’s afraid you’ll go out,” Izuna said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “Because your strength is really...” He trailed off, hesitant. His answer aligned perfectly with Gin’s own suspicions.

According to the original owner’s memories, ever since that tragic incident in childhood, his strength had stagnated. Whether it was due to a shattered resolve or limited talent, it was unclear. Regardless, because of the original owner’s lack of power, Uchiha Tajima had always assigned him simple clan duties—guarding the clan headquarters, patrolling, and other tasks that didn’t require venturing far from clan territory. Only this time had he been assigned an external mission, and that was only because the original owner had threatened to die if not given the task.

“Is it really just a disguised form of protection? I hope I’m overthinking it,” Gin mused silently.

After resting enough, Izuna noticed the sky had darkened. He made a silly face at Senju Itama and leisurely rose to take his leave.

Gin accompanied him to the door. Just as he was about to leave, Izuna suddenly turned away, speaking in a somewhat awkward tone: “Thank you. The food was delicious.” Without looking back, he fled hastily.

“Are all Uchiha this tsundere?” Gin thought to himself, touching his curly hair.

Turning back inside, he saw Senju Itama immediately straighten up, eyes moving stiffly as he asked stubbornly, “What exactly is your intention?”

“You brat, you’re safe for now, but only under my watch,” Gin said without much explanation. “In any case, before the war begins, you’d better behave yourself here.”

Few knew Itama’s true identity, and Uchiha Tajima likely wouldn’t make a big announcement about it. Entrusting this brat to him implied that the war hadn’t reached its peak yet. When the final battle was about to erupt, the boy’s fate would be uncertain.

---

The thought of the troublesome system’s task gave Gin a headache. Having an Uchiha protect his mortal enemy, a Senju, was essentially forcing him to play a double agent.

“From today on, you sleep in the bedroom,” Gin said, looking at the helpless boy. He assigned the only bedroom in the house to him, then entered the room to rummage through the wardrobe. After searching for a while, he emerged holding a stack of clothes.

“These are from when I was a kid. They should fit you.”

Handing the clothes to Senju Itama, Gin noted that his own clothes had long since become tattered after the journey.

“I’m going to rest now. Try these on tomorrow,” he added.

After a day’s travel and the earlier episode with Izuna, Gin was exhausted. Ignoring the boy who was still staring blankly at the clothes, he lay down on the living room sofa and drifted off.

Itama hesitated over the clothes before retreating to the bedroom, soon followed by the soft sound of snoring.

But Gin, who should have been asleep, quietly opened his eyes and listened carefully until Itama was deeply asleep. Then he rose, pushed open the door, and stepped out silently.

The night was pitch black, with only faint flickers of firelight from the distant watchtower. Gin circled his home once before choosing a spot in a shadowy corner behind the house. Using a few sticks, he fashioned a simple fence.

Brushing dust from his hands, Gin surveyed his handiwork with satisfaction. Given the limited time, it was quite good.

He then sat cross-legged inside the enclosure, closing his eyes to feign rest.

Time passed unnoticed until the surrounding air suddenly stiffened. Having experienced this twice before, Gin knew it was the sign of a skill refresh.

He snapped open his crimson eyes and scanned the area. Thanks to his enhanced vision, he could see everything clearly in the darkness—but detected nothing.

Just as he frowned in thought, a hand silently landed on his shoulder.

A chill ran through Gin’s entire body, every hair standing on end. The hand’s owner made no sudden moves. Gin stiffly turned his head to look at the hand resting on his shoulder.

The palm was pale, fingers slender with protruding knuckles. But that wasn’t the most terrifying aspect.

The black nail polish on the fingertips and a gemstone-studded ring on the ring finger sent a cold shiver down Gin’s spine.

He didn’t even need to closely examine the ring’s engraved character “Zhu” to know who the visitor was.

Knowing he was no match, Gin didn’t want to wait passively. Secretly gathering chakra into his arms, he activated his brute strength.

“Brute Force, activate!”

With a resentful elbow strike, the person behind him transformed into a flock of crows scattering in all directions, only to regroup into a figure clad in black with red clouds in the distance.

Though resigned to his fate, Gin just wanted to land a punch on this self-righteous fool.

With his Sharingan activated, he didn’t hesitate. Even if he faced Tsukuyomi, he was determined to strike hard. Using brute force with both hands, he swung at the dazed Uchiha Itachi.

---

Strangely, Itachi only opened the right eye’s Mangekyo Sharingan, a single tear of blood rolling down his cheek. Gin realized he wasn’t dragged into an illusion space.

Confused, he suddenly felt an excruciating burning sensation in both hands, as if his soul was aflame.

Looking closely, he saw that his fists had somehow been coated in black flames. The fire wasn’t large, but the burning was so intense he wished he could sever his own hands.

[Amaterasu]—the power housed in Itachi’s right eye Mangekyo, said to burn everything to ashes.

Damn it! Where was the promised Tsukuyomi? Gin writhed in pain, lacking any countermeasures against Amaterasu.

In the original story, the fire-sealing jutsu was created by the Uzumaki clan specifically to counter the Uchiha. He definitely didn’t know it.

Was he really going to have to sever his arm like the Fourth Raikage to survive?

Just as the flames tortured Gin into near madness, a wave of coolness washed over his right hand.

He forced his eyes open to see a faint blue glow on the back of his hand, surrounded by a whirlpool-shaped mark. As the mark spun slowly, obscure runes extended outward.

The black flames recoiled as if encountering their natural enemy, shrinking and eventually enveloped by the runes before being absorbed into the whirlpool mark.

His right hand felt instantly relieved. The whirlpool symbol dimmed, flickered a few times, then faded into his skin.

Although the right hand’s danger was temporarily averted, the black flames on his left hand grew fiercer, threatening to spread over his body.

Gin had no choice but to draw a Flying Thunder God Kunai with his right hand, preparing to sever his left hand to survive. Gritting his teeth, he swung it down.

Better a short pain than a long one. The skill would end eventually, and everything would be restored. The severed hand would heal itself.

Meanwhile, in a small dark space, a shadow slowly opened its crimson eyes.

Feeling the awakening of those eyes, the shadow grew anxious. After trembling, gasping heavily, a bewitching pattern flashed in its eyes.

At the moment he was about to be parted from his longtime companion, his left hand suddenly emitted a rosy red glow. The left hand bore a symbol identical in style to the right hand’s.

But unlike the whirlpool mark he recognized from the Uzumaki clan, this left-hand symbol was unfamiliar from the original owner’s memories.

Though unrecognized, his body did not reject the mark; instead, a faint sense of affinity stirred within him.

The symbol consisted of three swallow-shaped boomerangs circling a central red dot.

The raging black flames tamed with the symbol’s appearance, gradually fading into a faint red light and disappearing without a trace.

“Backyard daily refresh random skill [Amaterasu] acquired Amaterasu*1...”