Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

After school,
As agreed, Fugaku led the curious Minato to the training ground located in the west of the village.

At first, the journey was uneventful, and the two chatted and laughed.
However, as the shop signs around them became increasingly suggestive and the staff soliciting customers at the shop entrances dressed more and more scantily, Shuimen gradually developed a sense of crisis.

Recalling Fugaku's use of the word "addictive," he was caught in a fierce internal struggle.

Ultimately, the pursuit of the unknown was defeated by reason.
"Lord, where exactly are you taking me?"

Reaching out to tug at Fugaku's sleeve, Minato lowered his head, not daring to look around at the beautiful scenery of West Street.
"You think prison will harm you?"

"That's definitely not the case, but in a place like this..."

Looking at Fugaku, who seemed completely unfazed, Minato pursed his lips, his face flushed, and pointed to the old woman soliciting customers at the alley entrance not far away.
"Young man, come here, let me have a chat with you~"

"Hey, you're overthinking it. I was just taking a shortcut."

There are many ways to get to the training ground in the West District, but the only shortcut is the main road that runs through West Street.
There's only one training dummy, and it's usually first-come, first-served. Nawaki disappeared as soon as school was over; he probably went to grab a spot. Fugaku was forced to take this shortcut.
Taking a shortcut?
Minato blinked in confusion. Judging from Fugaku's familiar manner, it was clear this wasn't his first time in a place like this.

"I already have someone I love, and I would never come to a place like this!"

Sensing Minato's questioning gaze, Fugaku earnestly defended himself.
"How come you know the route so well, prison guard?"

"Uh, I've heard Jiraiya mention this road before; he works here."

Left with no other choice, Fugaku had to shift the blame to Jiraiya, who had already secretly left Konoha.
"Jiraiya?"

"That's because your brother is the most powerful. He's just not in the village right now. I'll introduce you to him when he gets back."

"That's no need."

Minato was tempted but refused, shaking his head rapidly.

How could a guy who works in a place like this be a good person?
As darkness fell and the atmosphere grew increasingly ambiguous, the two quickened their pace and fled the area filled with a sensual ambiguity.
"Phew, we finally escaped."

Turning his head to glance at the brightly lit, bustling scene behind him, Fugaku let out a long sigh of relief, still shaken.

In this place that devours people without spitting out the bones, what kind of job does Jiraiya work in?

"Is this a training ground?"

Although Minato, who was following behind him, was panting, his attention was completely drawn to the enormous, professional training ground in front of him.

"That's right, this is a professional training ground that only senior graduates and ninjas can enter."

Fugaku nodded with a proud expression.
Although the training grounds in the West District are open to the public, they are not like parks with no entry requirements. At the very least, only those who can skillfully use chakra are allowed to enter.

"Can I go in?"

Minato was well aware of his own limitations. As a freshman who hadn't even attended many practical training classes, he was completely unqualified to enter such a professional training ground.
"I said it can be done."

Logically speaking, a child like Minato shouldn't be allowed into the training grounds.
There is always an exception to everything.
Training grounds, being public facilities, fall under the jurisdiction of the Konoha Police Force, and members of the Uchiha clan are responsible for guarding the entrances and exits.

"Young Master Fugaku!"

They spotted Uchiha Fugaku from afar and quickly stepped forward to bow respectfully.

"Hmm, has Rope Tree gone in?"

"Not yet, young master Fugaku."

"That's good. Let's hurry to the bottom of the Water Gate prison!"

With this pass that could be accessed by facial recognition, Minato was allowed to pass after only a simple registration.

"Wow~"

Minato followed closely behind Fugaku, watching the brutal, visceral fights, flashing swords, and sparks of lightning and fire in the training grounds along the way, his eyes gleaming with admiration.

"arrive."

Suddenly, Fugaku stopped in his tracks. Minato slammed on the brakes, looked up, and his eyes were full of confusion.
Before them lay an ordinary training ground, not large in area, and deserted, a stark contrast to the elaborate training scenes they had encountered on the way here.
"Lord Prisoner, where am I?"

"Let's go, your eldest cousin must be getting impatient."

Uncle?
Minato had heard this honorific title from Fugaku quite a few times recently, but he knew nothing about the man behind it. Today, he could finally uncover the mystery.
"Uncle! Uncle! I've brought my little brother with me!"

Fugaku strode into the training ground and, with his head held high, called out to Uchiha Gin, who was resting on a recliner at the edge of the field.
鏉ヤ 钖楋纻
Uchiha Gin, who had been waiting there for a long time, slowly opened his dead fish eyes.

"Ha~"

He let out a long yawn, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of gold; a strange smile vanished in an instant.
Meanwhile, Minato, filled with curiosity, followed the direction of Fugaku's shout and spotted a man slowly rising from the sidelines.
Looking at the other person's messy curly hair, his little brows furrowed deeply, as if he were racking his brains to recall something.
this person.
Why does it look familiar?

"You're here pretty early today!"

Uchiha Gin flashed his signature lazy smile and slightly raised his hand in greeting to Fugaku.

"Hehe, I took a shortcut."

"You dare to walk down West Street? You've really gotten bold!"

"Ah! Uncle, please don't tell Mikoto and Mother about this."

Seeing the mocking look in Uchiha Gin's eyes, Fugaku's face fell, and he pleaded.
"After Mikoto found out that Jiraiya took me there last time, she didn't talk to me for a long time."

Fugaku admitted that he had just lied to Minato; he had been to West Street quite a few times with Jiraiya.

Of course, given his current small stature, he's unlikely to cause any serious harm. He's just acting as a lookout for Jiraiya during his field research, hoping to gain access to the great writer's resources in return.
During this time, the truth came out once. When Mikoto found out, she was furious and immediately said that if Fugaku went to such a place again, she would never speak to him again.

"That depends on your performance."

Uchiha Gin nodded with a smile. He loved catching people's weaknesses; it felt so good.
Pfft!
"From now on, if my great-uncle points east, I will never go west; if I point south, I will never go north."

Kneeling on the ground, Fugaku solemnly raised three fingers. For Mikoto, he was even willing to abandon his dignity as a man.
"If you don't believe me, I swear in the name of my ancestors that if I break this promise, I will surely have my son executed."

"Stop, stop, stop! Why are you still so serious? You're not fun at all."

Raising his hand to stop Fugaku's bizarre oath, Uchiha Gin shook his head, looking utterly bored.

You swear in Indra's name that you'll scatter Indra's image on the wall? You really dare to make any kind of oath!
"So you're agreeing?"

Fugaku, with a pleased expression, stood up.
"As long as you don't make any fundamental mistakes, I will keep your mouth shut."

Uchiha Gin nodded, his scrutinizing gaze then falling on Minato, who was deep in thought to himself. Seeing this, Fugaku quickly nudged his oblivious younger brother and introduced them.

"Uncle, let me introduce you. This is my newly recruited subordinate, Minato."

"Yes, I know him."

"Huh?"*2
Fugaku, who was about to give a detailed introduction to Minato's background, was taken aback by what he heard. Minato himself, who was recalling Gin Uchiha's identity, was equally stunned.

"You know me?"

Minato blinked in confusion.
"Yeah, I even held you when you were little, Goofy~" Gin Uchiha winked at the bewildered Minato, lowered his head, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, mischievously uttered a nickname that made Minato break down.
"what!!!"

Minato's expression changed drastically, his eyes widened, and his small mind raced. Only after white smoke rose from his head did he hesitantly ask,
How do you know this name?

"How come I didn't know? Such a distinctive name, I was the one who helped you choose it!"

Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow with a smug look in his eyes.
It took him a lot of effort to persuade Minato's grandfather to accept this nickname, which should have been his formal name.

Upon hearing this answer, he nearly fainted, his vision blurred.
Four years, a full four years, and he finally found the mysterious bastard who gave him that nickname.

Minato Namikaze has a secret that no one knows.

He has a nickname
A nickname that's hard to say aloud.

A nickname known only to parents and grandparents.

Even now, his grandparents still call him by that nickname at home.

Fortunately, they only called him at home. If word got out and the neighbors found out, he would never want to step out of his house again.
Minato had asked his doting grandfather about the origin of his name, but all he got in return was a hearty smile from his grandfather.
The origin of the name "Dog Egg" has become a completely unsolved mystery.

Now, he finally found the answer: it was this curly-haired guy in front of him who looked a little annoying.

Even though the other person claimed to have held him as a child and was likely an old acquaintance of his grandfather, Minato still couldn't forgive the murderer who gave him his nickname.
If you ask if it's really that big of a deal, it's just a nickname.
That's Gou Dan!

"Suffer to death!"

Today, regardless of success or failure, he is determined to seek justice for the humiliation he has suffered over the years.
"Ah! Minato, no!"

Seeing his underling suddenly spring up, Fugaku gaped in utter bewilderment.

He couldn't imagine what Uchiha Gin had whispered to Minato that could instantly break this usually mild-mannered, model student's defenses.
"Host detected to be in combat; Heart Steel Chest begins to accumulate."

"Uh"

Hearing the system notification echoing in his mind, Uchiha Gin hadn't expected that Minato's resentment towards that nickname ran so deep.

"It's actually quite good!"

That's Gou Dan!

Gin Uchiha slightly turned his body to dodge the young Eien-sister's self-sacrificing headbutt, then scratched his head in annoyance.

"Huff... huff... I've finally found you, you mysterious bastard!"

His attack missed, and Minato crashed heavily to the ground, his fair face covered in dust, but the resentment in his eyes remained undiminished.
"Watergate! What are you doing?"

Recovering from his shock, Fugaku stepped forward to block Minato's path, his face filled with complex emotions.
Did I really misjudge him?

"Lord, this is none of your business, please move aside."

Minato struggled to his feet, his azure eyes revealing a resolute determination that drew attention.

"How can it not be my business? This is my own cousin. If you keep this up, I won't be so polite!"

"Fugaku, move aside."

Just as the two newly sworn brothers were about to draw their swords against each other, Uchiha Gin's slightly cold voice rang out from behind Fugaku.

"Uncle, don't be angry. Minato was probably too excited, so he offended you. I'll teach him a lesson."

Fugaku's expression tightened upon hearing this. He rarely heard Uchiha Gin speak in such a tone, and he quickly turned around, shielding the resentful Minato behind him.

"You know me well, why would I get angry with a child?"

Seeing Fugaku's biased behavior, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but roll his eyes, his carefully constructed seriousness instantly vanishing.

Sure enough, he can't play a villain without wearing a disguise.

"It's precisely because I understand you, Uncle, that I can't move aside."

After hearing Uchiha Gin's confident explanation, Fugaku perfectly replicated his Byakugan attack from just moments before.

When it comes to bullying children, Uchiha Gin is the most authoritative figure in the entire Hidden Leaf Village; he has firsthand experience with this.
If you don't believe me, just go out on the street and ask around. Which family's child wasn't pranked by Gin Uchiha when they were little?

"You little rascal, can't you just..."

Uchiha Gin pursed his lips, a fleeting glint of brilliance flashing in his lifeless eyes.

Swish!
Then a golden figure appeared before him, its tiny fist only 0.0001 centimeters from his knee.

"Nani!"

Fugaku was shocked to see this. Minato had only just learned how to cultivate chakra; how could his movement technique be so fast?
"Bah!"

With a muffled thud, Fugaku closed his eyes in despair. How dare he strike his great-uncle's knee! Minato is finished!

Minato, his face resolute as he slammed his fist into Uchiha Gin's knee, turned pale the instant the blow landed, his complexion shifting from red to blue to white, cold sweat visibly pouring out.

Such a stiff corrugated cap!

"Ah! My hands!"

A childish scream rang out, and Minato, clutching his swollen little fist, began rolling on the ground. Fugaku could only cover his face at his pathetic state; he had already anticipated this scene.

As for Uchiha Gin, who had been struck on the knee by Minato's leap, he thoughtfully stroked his chin.
Spatial power, is it?
Although the aura released by Minato was very faint, his keen senses allowed him to successfully detect it. After examining its components, he determined it was 99% a rare item.

He glanced at Little Flash rolling on the ground and nodded almost imperceptibly.
He truly is a genius at this; he activated his one-in-a-million spatial talent the moment he refined his chakra.
This isn't some common spatial ability like summoning jutsu; it's a genuine innate Flying Thunder God Body. No wonder he's the only one in Konoha to successfully inherit the White-haired Man's mantle and even surpass his master.

Just now.
Shaking his head, dispelling the reliable image of the young Nagata from his memory, Gin Uchiha looked at the tearful young Nagata on the ground, and a wicked smile crept onto his lips, a smile that sent chills down Fugaku's spine.
"Uncle! Shuimen is still too young!"

You have to bully them when they're young. Once they grow up, who can catch this slippery little devil?

Gin gave Fugaku, whose face was full of worry, a reassuring look. Just a moment ago, Gin's healthy, rosy complexion turned deathly pale, and large beads of cold sweat poured down his face like rain.
This sudden and strange change in appearance quickly caught Minato's attention, causing him to forget the pain in his little fists and look at Uchiha Gin, who was pleading with the movie star, with teary eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Could it be that my desperate attack just now caused internal injuries to this curly-haired bastard who gave me the nickname?
As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Gin, his face ashen, suddenly clutched his knee, his trembling eyes staring directly into Minato's azure eyes filled with remorse.
"You hit an old man."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Before Minato could explain, Gin Uchiha, channeling his inner actor, dramatically collapsed to the ground amidst Fugaku's (_) expression, unleashing his meticulously crafted lines in an instant.

"Ouch! My 78-year-old son, Bolengai, got a stubble from that unsportsmanlike punch!"

[Host failed, gained 40 Chi Points]

Such superb acting skills are so convincing that even a rigorous system cannot distinguish between real and fake.

Wow, that's what you call a veteran actor! (End of Chapter)