228. Where's Hyuuga?

"Even after all these years, it’s still the same formula, the same taste~"

Under the moonlight, amidst the fragrance of flowers, with elegant legs and jade-like feet, the scene should have been perfect. Yet, the sentiment was one-sided, unrequited. As the fair, delicate jade-like foot hurtled toward his head with the force of thunder, Uchiha Gin sighed inwardly.

With a flick of his wrist, he caught the soft, shapely calf in his hand, savoring its warm, tender texture and the faint, ethereal fragrance wafting nearby. A hint of indulgence flickered in his heart.

"Smack!"

As Uchiha Gin admired the rare beauty before him, the mysterious woman, whose leg he had seized, showed a flash of shame and anger in her eyes. Sensing the restless grip on her calf, she caught him off guard, swiftly swinging her other leg. Her soft, bone-like jade foot, glowing faintly blue, struck his face, producing a crisp sound.

She hit him?

The mysterious woman was momentarily stunned, her deep, beautiful eyes filled with confusion. But before she could process it, a tingling sensation crept from her foot, followed by Gin’s irritating voice.

"Why isn’t it salty? Did you wash it?"

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Without needing to see, it was clear what followed. The woman, her mature, charming face as red as a boiled crab, began a relentless assault with her feet, delivering a barrage of kicks to Gin’s smug face. The sound of impact echoed like firecrackers celebrating the New Year.

"Hey, hey, enough already!" Gin protested.

After enduring her kicks for a while, Gin caught her foot again. With a forceful move, he flipped her over with a classic earth-style throw, leaving her disoriented.

"That stance, that gaze… No way, could it be?"

The woman, lying on the ground, struggled to sit up, stars in her vision. A mix of defiance and determination burned in her dark eyes as a faint blue light reignited around her. Her familiar stance made Gin furrow his brow in disbelief.

"No… I need to confirm this. If this cliché plot is actually happening to me…"

Unease building in his heart, Gin activated his Sharingan, his eyes glowing red with icy power. Facing the charging woman, he spoke softly, "Sorry, but you’ll have to log off now."

From the darkness behind him emerged a towering shadow. Before the woman could react, a massive black hand appeared, gripping her tightly and rendering her motionless.

"I know you AI have recognition functions. Will you surrender, or do you want to taste this?"

As the woman struggled, Gin summoned a small, luminous blue sphere at his fingertip, its sharp hum audible even from a distance. Terrified by the Rasengan in his hand, the woman glared at him hatefully before raising her head in reluctant submission. Just then, a shimmering ripple-like screen descended from the sky, transporting her away with a look of discontent.

"Backyard daily refresh: Random skill acquired: Skybreaker Kick x1."

Hearing the system notification, Gin dismissed the dark hand, his expression grim instead of joyful. He turned to gaze at a window in his grand mansion, his unease deepening.

"This unreliable system hasn’t changed one bit."


---

Later, standing before a bedroom door, Gin hesitated, hand frozen mid-air.

"Barging in like this… Is it really okay? If it’s fake, no problem. But if it’s real…"

Struggling internally, Gin eventually pushed the door open silently, tiptoeing inside.

Though Gin had entered Senju Itama’s room countless times over the years, he’d never paid much attention. Now, examining the room closely, he noticed an unusual femininity for a male occupant. Cute decorations filled the space, and various plush toys lined the shelves and bedside, tilting the scales of his suspicion further.

In the dim moonlight, Itama was fast asleep, her soft snores and defenseless posture tugging at Gin’s gaze. His eyes lingered on her slightly heaving chest, once the envy of his own, now carrying a different connotation.

Gin activated his Byakugan, his piercing gaze revealing all beneath the surface.

"For the truth, nothing else!" he muttered to himself, resolute.

As his eyes scanned Itama’s figure, traversing her delicate face and smooth neck, they paused at the twin peaks that blocked his view. After careful inspection, he reluctantly shifted his gaze downward, bypassing her slim waist to the ultimate destination for confirming his suspicions.

And there it was—empty.

"Damn preconceptions!" Gin cursed inwardly.

The child he had treated as a son for years was, in fact, a daughter. Memories of their interactions replayed in his mind, making his understanding of Tobirama feel strangely distorted.

"Tsk! I knew it!"

Gin couldn’t help but blurt out his frustration. But his soft whisper, like a mosquito's buzz, was enough to awaken Itama from her dream. Without opening her eyes, her instincts kicked in. Her leg lashed out, delivering a familiar round of attacks.

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Caught off guard, Gin endured another round of punishment. This time, however, the novelty had worn off.


---

"Curly-haired ape, what are you doing?" Itama finally snapped awake, wrapping herself in her blanket. Her wary eyes peeked out, studying Gin with suspicion.

If this were any other time, Gin would have laughed it off. "We’re both men; what are you afraid of?"

But now, his gaze was complicated, and his voice heavy. "You… You’re not a boy?"

"Are you sleepwalking, you ape?"

A tense silence fell. Gin’s question had clearly hit a nerve.

"You never asked!" Itama finally exploded, her face red with anger. Pointing at Gin, she yelled, "You perverted ape! You spanked me, slapped my chest, and never even suspected! If I weren’t weaker than you—"

"Alright, alright!" Gin interrupted, raising his hands defensively. "Let’s not dwell on the past. The important thing now is keeping this secret. If others find out, how am I supposed to explain this to everyone?"

Itama hesitated before muttering under her breath. Gin’s sharp ears caught the gist: "almost everyone in the clan already knew."

"Everyone except me?!" Gin yelled, exasperated.



At the moment when the situation reached a stalemate, a cold voice sounded from outside the door. Uchiha Hikari, yawning lazily, leaned against the doorframe. Her upturned eyes made it seem like her bloodline had mutated.

"What?"

Uchiha Gin's expression turned to shock and disbelief upon hearing this.

"Even the gatekeeper Uchiha Tanaka knows about it," the indifferent girl continued to mock him.

"Impossible. No way," Gin muttered, as if the world itself had betrayed him.

Back to the present.

"Just now, I got fired," Uchiha Gin announced dramatically, collapsing onto the couch like a ragdoll. He looked defeated as he addressed Senju Itama, who was happily munching on fish in front of him.

"Huh? I thought you'd already been let go ages ago," Itama replied, swallowing a mouthful of fish and licking the seasoning off his fingers. Her tone was casual, as though this news wasn’t surprising.

"How could that be? I have the legacy sword of the previous era! My cousin wouldn’t dare fire me," Gin retorted indignantly, rolling his eyes at Itama’s teasing smirk.

"Then what happened?" Itama asked, genuinely puzzled. After all, someone with Gin's connections in the Uchiha clan being laid off didn’t seem plausible unless there were exceptional circumstances.

"Blame your brother. He insisted on releasing all the prisoners from the dungeon to show goodwill," Gin replied with a pout.

"Oh! So, you drove your organization to bankruptcy!" Itama exclaimed, suddenly enlightened. Between bites of fish, she realized it wasn’t Gin being fired, but the department itself being dissolved.

"Hmph! You have to take responsibility for your brother's actions!" Gin demanded, pointing accusingly at Itama, as though pinning all blame on her.

"What? Want to crash in my room tonight?" Itama countered with a sly grin, raising an eyebrow provocatively.

"Justice has a name, and grievances a cause. I, Uchiha Gin, am not one to make unreasonable demands!" Gin declared solemnly, adjusting his posture to sit up straight and feign righteousness.

"Tch, coward."

"Forget it. Where's Hikari?" Gin asked, eager to change the subject before Itama’s teasing spiraled out of control.

"That old woman? She went to train," Itama replied, resting her face in her palm and looking bored.

"Seriously? I've told her so many times to relax and enjoy life with everything happening around us, but she just doesn’t listen," Gin grumbled. He was genuinely worried about Hikari overexerting herself during a time when rest should take priority.

"Maybe she feels the pressure. After all, that white-haired woman last time said she wasn’t even using her full strength," Itama said, her expression unusually serious. Her eyes gleamed slightly as if recalling something significant.

"Sigh, they’re all family. Why fight?" Gin groaned, though his tone carried more exasperation than conviction.

"Family? I doubt it," Itama remarked, her gaze shifting toward the sky with a fierce glint. “Everyone in view is an enemy.”

A few days later, more and more ninja clans began arriving in Konoha. While inspecting the village, many forward-thinking clans started purchasing property, creating an unusually lively scene.

The craftsmen from the Land of Waves had barely finished building the shops when inquiries about prices began flooding in. However, the craftsmen refused outright sales, instead offering to lease the properties.

Even so, many ninja clans eagerly signed agreements with the craftsmen, securing the operating rights to various stores.

"Lord Gin, these ninja clans are ridiculously rich! They’ve swept up all the shops," an Uchiha clan member disguised as the head craftsman of the Land of Waves said excitedly, holding a stack of contracts. Each one was worth its weight in gold.

"But why not just sell the shops outright? We could’ve made several times the profit!" the clan member asked, still confused despite the massive earnings.

"You don’t understand the joy of being a landlord," Gin replied with a smirk while flipping through the contracts. Though he wasn’t short on money, the satisfaction of collecting rent was something far more enjoyable than a quick payout.

"Tch, the Shimura clan has deep pockets—they rented half a street! And the Yamanaka clan? Who would’ve thought they’d quietly amass so much wealth?" Gin clicked his tongue in amazement as he scanned the list of familiar clans, including Sarutobi, Shimura, Ino-Shika-Cho, Inuzuka, and Aburame.

"Huh? No sign of the Hyuga clan? Did they miss out?" Gin frowned as he flipped through the contracts again. Even minor clans like Kurama had acquired property, but the Hyuga clan, another famed dojutsu family, was completely absent.

"Any word on the Hyuga clan?" Gin asked, turning to the clan member who’d been liaising with the other ninja clans.

"The Hyuga clan? They haven’t sent anyone to inspect Konoha yet," the clan member answered after some thought.

"Sigh, so slow. No wonder they’re stuck spinning in circles and getting beaten up," Gin grumbled, clearly disappointed in his unseen relatives.

Meanwhile, outside Konoha...

"Ah-choo!"

A young man with pale eyes sneezed violently as a small entourage made their way toward the village. The young man looked irritated, his expression cold and proud.

"Are you alright, young master?" An older Hyuga man wearing a clan headband rushed forward to steady him.

"Hmph, the Senju clan didn’t even send someone to greet us. How disrespectful!" the young man snapped, clearly displeased.

Back in the new Uchiha compound, Gin entered the clan leader's office with exaggerated wails and an air of desperation. Uchiha Izuna, buried under a mountain of paperwork, barely looked up.

"Cousin, I’m ruined!" Gin cried theatrically, earning an exasperated sigh from Izuna, who braced himself for yet another drama.