Chapter 32: Run! Do not let the moonlight touch you!

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After clocking in and returning to the dungeon, Uchiha Gin no longer felt the discomfort he had experienced yesterday. It seemed that the original owner of this body had been highly compatible with such an environment.

He reached his post without incident. Looking at the disorderly scene, unchanged from the day before, Uchiha Gin felt a headache coming on.

But Uchiha Ryuuei had already told him that he had no assistant. With a sigh, Gin had no choice but to do the work himself.

The archive room had a simple layout. Bookshelves lined the walls and filled the entire space, while a desk occupied the open area in the center. Uchiha Gin first inspected the shelves one by one, looking for some kind of labeling system.

“Cell One: Archive scrolls are cyan. Criminal severity: high.”

Seeing the brief explanations written on the shelves, Uchiha Gin breathed a sigh of relief. This would save him a great deal of effort.

He soon found the shelves for Cells Two and Three as well. Their archive scrolls were blue and purple respectively, corresponding to medium- and low-severity crimes.

The scroll he had casually opened yesterday had been blue. That meant Kaguya Jousuke was only a medium-level criminal.

Then Uchiha Gin remembered that the man’s file described him as a “wandering ninja, mentally unstable.”

From this, it could be inferred that whoever had captured Kaguya Jousuke had not known of his connection to the massacre at the Uchiha compound six years ago.

He had been imprisoned solely because, in a fit of madness, he attacked an Uchiha patrol and killed two clan members.

Having engaged in a “deep conversation” with Kaguya Jousuke, Uchiha Gin knew that the man’s mind had long since deteriorated.

After his capture, the interrogators must have been unable to extract any useful information from him. Otherwise, he would not have remained in the relatively lenient second dungeon for years without anyone bothering to question him again.

“The trail concerning Kaguya Jousuke has gone cold. I wonder who captured him back then. Perhaps I can find some clues by looking into the circumstances of his arrest.”

As he pondered this, Uchiha Gin picked up Kaguya Jousuke’s file from the desk—the same one he had read yesterday.

“Kaguya Jousuke: wandering ninja. Murdered two members of the Uchiha clan. Suspected mental disorder. Unable to undergo genjutsu interrogation. Information incomplete... Currently confined in Cell Two.”

He flipped through the pages and found a note.

“Prisoner Kaguya Jousuke was captured by a team led by Uchiha Ryuuei.”

It was him!

The terrifying man who had shown Gin the way yesterday rose in his mind.

Uchiha Ryuuei was the very person who had captured Kaguya Jousuke six years ago. But judging from his appearance, he seemed like an extremely difficult man to deal with. Frowning, Uchiha Gin wondered how he should bring up the matter.

Just then, the door to the archive room was pushed open.

Speak of the devil, and he appears. The visitor was none other than Uchiha Ryuuei, his withered face expressionless and an icy aura radiating from his entire body.

Upon entering, he saw Uchiha Gin holding a scroll and studying it intently. Even he felt a little surprised. This notorious wastrel was actually working in earnest.

But he set his surprise aside for the moment. Elder En had instructed him to come and inquire about the prisoner who had been killed yesterday, and such matters were part of his responsibilities in any case.

Although the dungeon fell under Uchiha En’s jurisdiction, the elder oversaw too many departments to manage every one of them personally.

Under such circumstances, each department had someone acting as its administrator. Uchiha Ryuuei was the dungeon’s acting administrator, responsible for handling all matters within it, from top to bottom.

“You killed a prisoner yesterday?”

Uchiha Ryuuei’s expression turned slightly cold as he asked the question.

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“No, I acted in self-defense!”

Uchiha Gin loudly protested his innocence, then explained, “I only went to verify some information. I never expected that fellow to attack me. Fortunately, his condition was so poor that even his Shikotsumyaku had left his bones riddled with osteoporosis. After I struck back a few times, he collapsed from exhaustion and died.”

“Shikotsumyaku?”

Upon hearing him mention the Shikotsumyaku, Uchiha Ryuuei, who had not intended to pursue the matter any further, furrowed his brow and asked, “What was that man called?”

“Kaguya Jousuke. I don’t know who brought him here back then, but how could such a vicious criminal have been locked in Cell Two? What kind of—”

Uchiha Gin deliberately brought up the Shikotsumyaku, then pretended to criticize the person who had captured Kaguya Jousuke.

“I did.”

Uchiha Ryuuei’s face darkened as he admitted it, struck by Gin’s apparently careless remark.

“What an absolutely correct decision,” Gin hurriedly amended, seeing Ryuuei’s expression grow darker. “A prisoner like that ought to experience the humane management of the Uchiha clan.”

Only then did Ryuuei’s expression improve somewhat. Seeing that the moment was right, Uchiha Gin took the opportunity to ask his real question.

“As expected of you, Captain Ryuuei. Even a criminal that vicious was easily captured by you. I wonder how you managed to bring him down back then.”

At these words, Uchiha Ryuuei’s brows relaxed, as though he were searching his memory. Seeing that he had begun to recall the events, Uchiha Gin did not interrupt him and waited quietly.

After several minutes, Ryuuei had pieced together most of the memory and began recounting the entire story.

Six years ago, Uchiha Tajima had only recently assumed the position of clan head. In order to establish his authority, he led all the clan’s young forces to the front lines.

Unexpectedly, a devastating disaster befell the clan’s territory. The clan head’s residence was razed to the ground, and only one survivor remained at the scene.

Uchiha Tajima was consumed by remorse. From that day onward, he increased the size of the patrol forces and expanded their patrol range.

One month after the massacre, a patrol unit of Uchiha shinobi encountered a strange enemy.

At first, the man did not come into conflict with the patrol. He merely wandered vacantly near Uchiha territory. The patrol members assumed he was just an ordinary vagrant.

The two sides remained at peace until one particularly cautious Uchiha sensed what seemed to be chakra emanating from the man. He activated his Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on him.

No one had expected the sight of the Sharingan to flip some kind of switch inside the man. He suddenly attacked the patrol members with savage ferocity.

Under his formidable taijutsu assault, two weaker Uchiha were struck through the chest and killed on the spot.

Seeing that they were outmatched, the remaining patrol members immediately contacted the clan. The clan head dispatched Uchiha Ryuuei, who was at the height of his reputation at the time, to capture the assailant.

“Was Kaguya Jousuke still mentally sound back then?”

Uchiha Gin could not help interrupting the account. Ryuuei did not seem to mind and continued.

By the time Uchiha Ryuuei led his team to the area, it was already midnight. Following the clues left by the patrol members who had been tracking the killer, they pursued him—and finally saw the assailant’s true appearance.

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“He was in a terrible state. Kaguya Jousuke’s hair was disheveled, and his clothes were in tatters from head to toe. He staggered when he walked. At first glance, no one would have connected him with a murderer. He looked like nothing more than a witless vagrant.”

Uchiha Ryuuei answered his question.

“Was he injured?”

Uchiha Gin asked again.

“Yes. His entire back looked as though it had been scorched by raging flames. Pus and blood were still oozing from it.”

Scorched by flames? A mental breakdown?

Taken together, these details left Uchiha Gin’s mind reeling. He felt that he had caught a glimpse of some inspiration, but he could not grasp it.

“How did you finally capture him?”

Uchiha Gin wanted to know every detail.

Uchiha Ryuuei continued.

When the two sides first met, Ryuuei made the first move to test Kaguya Jousuke. Unexpectedly, the man was knocked down with a single blow.

Just as Ryuuei was wondering what had happened, one of the team members stepped forward to examine him and activated his Sharingan.

Kaguya Jousuke, who had already been knocked down, suddenly sprang back to life and attacked once more.

Fortunately, the companions who had come with Ryuuei were stronger than the patrol members. One of them lost an arm, but his life was not in immediate danger.

What followed was a brutal battle. For the most part, it was a contest of taijutsu. Kaguya Jousuke moved with astonishing speed, and ordinary ninjutsu could not hit him.

His mind was deranged, making him immune to genjutsu as well. They had no choice but to wear him down through taijutsu.

The two sides had initially been evenly matched. Yet for some reason, Kaguya Jousuke repeatedly lost focus during the battle and hid beneath the shadows of trees. That gave Ryuuei an opening, and he ultimately broke the man’s arms and legs, completing the capture.

“He hid beneath the shadows of trees?”

Uchiha Gin frowned, unable to understand why.

“During the battle, I did not know why he kept doing that either. But after we captured him, I heard him muttering under his breath.”

Uchiha Ryuuei recalled the scene.

“What did he say?”

Those words aroused Uchiha Gin’s curiosity.

“Run! Don’t let the moonlight touch you!”

Uchiha Ryuuei’s cold voice echoed beside him.

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