Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Chapter 165 reminds me of a long-abandoned mission.

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, a tall figure was busy in the kitchen of Uchiha Gin's house.

As wisps of fragrance wafted out, a weary-looking Uchiha Gin slowly strolled down the stairs.

With one hand scratching its frizzy, bird's-nest-like feathers, and the other covering its mouth, it let out a huge yawn.

"Haa~"

His eyelids drooped, surrounded by thick black circles. He twitched his nose a few times, and then, as if injected with energy, his eyebrows suddenly shot up.

Revealing a pair of bright, dead fish eyes, Uchiha Gin followed the aroma and saw Senju Itama busy in the kitchen. He couldn't help but ask,

"Is this such a lavish meal for breakfast?"

Senju Itama had her long, smooth black hair piled up, revealing her fair and delicate nape. Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's voice, she slightly turned her head away.

"Hmph! This is your meal for the day."

His dark eyes were filled with disdain. He snorted and spoke coldly in a clear voice that didn't suit his age.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin immediately sprang to his senses, all sleepiness vanishing. Staring at the boy's slender back, he quickly asked,

I've raised these piglets for so many years, so don't let them be fooled by someone else's rotten cabbage.

"Go and manage my sister's house."

"Phew~ what a scare! I thought you were getting into puberty too."

Uchiha Gin let out a long sigh of relief. If this brat had been tricked into giving him his kidney, his life would have been in danger.

"If it weren't for cooking for you, I would have gone to manage my sister's house long ago."

Having stopped her busy work, Senju Itama emerged from the kitchen with a displeased expression, carrying a lavish breakfast, which she tossed in front of Uchiha Gin.

The enticing aroma of breakfast made Uchiha Gin's mouth water. He patted his empty stomach, said nothing more, and began to devour the food, praising it repeatedly as he ate.

"Not bad, not bad, you've got some of my skill from back in the day."

"hehe."

"By the way, where's Xiaoguang? Still in bed?"

Uchiha Gin, his mouth greasy from eating, suddenly remembered another person living in his house, and asked about them.

"That old woman set off before dawn."

Senju Itama said through gritted teeth. At that moment, the kid was tidying up his daily trash, preparing to throw it away before leaving the house. What a good kid who says one thing but does another.

"Do you still want this?"

Just as Uchiha Gin was marveling at how well his holistic education had been implemented, he heard Senju Itama's questioning voice behind him.

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin turned his head and looked at the tattered scroll in Senju Itama's hand. The more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

"That thing is... Oh, I almost forgot about it. Don't throw it away, I still need it."

As his past memories were awakened, Uchiha Gin slapped his forehead and shouted at the frowning brat,

"Tsk, it's filthy, could it be some old erotic picture?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's impatient look, Senju Itama suddenly realized what was going on.

Then, with a look of disgust, she used two delicate white fingers to lift the tattered scroll covered in unidentified stains and precisely toss it toward the kitchen stove, carrying out its humane destruction.

"You little brat, what filthy thoughts are going on in your head!"

Seeing the scroll about to fall into the flames, Uchiha Gin panicked and rushed towards the kitchen, but it was too late.

"Pfft~"

The scroll landed steadily in the blazing furnace before Uchiha Gin could, and was instantly engulfed by the intense flames.

"Hey~ this is a gift from two distant prison buddies!"

Arriving too late, Uchiha Gin could only watch helplessly as the scroll was engulfed in flames. Recalling how he had entrusted the scroll to his two prison guards, he felt a deep sense of guilt.

I'm so sorry, Brother Golden Horn, it's all because of our family's misfortune~

"what?"

Just as Uchiha Gin was repenting, his sharp eyes suddenly caught a faint blue light amidst the scorching flames. Startled, he waved his hand and extinguished the flames in the stove.

"You're alright?"

As a plume of white smoke rose, Uchiha Gin discovered a scroll emitting a pale blue light at the very bottom of the stove.

I then carefully picked it up and found that it was still cold to the touch, unaffected by the high temperature of the flame. From this, it is clear that this is no ordinary item.

"How disgusting!"

As he was leaving, Senju Itama glanced at Uchiha Gin, who was holding a scroll and had a blank look in his eyes, gave him a disdainful look, picked up a large bag of trash, and slammed the door shut as he left.

Uchiha Gin was already used to the brat's impolite behavior. After all, he was the kid he had raised, so what was wrong with indulging him a little?

"Well, I still have a few years left. Anyway, I'm pretty free lately, so I might as well find some fun to do~"

Uchiha Gin stroked the scroll in his hand, a glint of light flashing in his dead fish eyes.

After stuffing the scroll into his bag and tidying up briefly, he left a note for Uchiha Hikaru and Senju Itama saying "Don't worry," and set off in a cheerful mood.

First, Uchiha Gin arrived at the clan head's building, greeted the guards familiarly, wandered around the corridors a few times, and strolled to the clan head's office, where he knocked on the door without any hesitation.

"Bang Bang Bang~"

"Come in."

A familiar voice rang out from inside the door. Uchiha Gin smiled upon hearing it and pushed the door open to enter.

"Oh my~ Isn't this a retired cadre? Why are you still working so hard? Didn't you say you were going to walk your birds and tend your flowers?"

The Uchiha clan leader watched the figure diligently writing in the clan leader's seat, smiled teasingly, and said jokingly,

"Oh, it's Gintoki. What's up now?"

Uchiha Tajima, who was hunched over his desk, looked up, adjusted his reading glasses, and asked Uchiha Gin, who was all smiles, with a hint of annoyance,

"If you're applying for early retirement, I won't approve it. You can work yourself to death in the dungeon!"

Seeing the nonchalant expression on Uchiha Gin's face, Uchiha Tajima was immediately enraged.

He's already so old, and he's retired, why can't he have some peace and quiet?

Madara and Izuna spent their days chasing Senju Hajime, but all the big and small matters of the clan eventually fell back on their own shoulders.

"No way! I'd love to work my ass off in the dungeon until I die, please don't make me retire!"

Upon hearing that the topic concerned his career path, Uchiha Gin immediately patted his chest and solemnly swore that he would dedicate his life to the prison service of the Uchiha clan.

"Then what are you doing here? Madara and Izuna won't be back for a few more days. If they have other requests, it would be more effective to talk to the current clan leader."

"It's not about lying down, is it?" Uchiha Tajima frowned, asking with some confusion.

"I wanted to go out for a few days and came to see if there were any missions."

Uchiha Gin shrugged, indicating that he was quite free lately and wanted to get some fresh air.

"Task 1"

Hearing this request, Uchiha Tajima was quite surprised. Ever since Uchiha Madara took over as clan head, Uchiha Gin had seemed to disappear, rarely appearing in the public eye.

He was either slacking off in the dungeon or wandering the streets. Apart from occasionally taking on tasks like fetching water for widows, he was rarely seen at the clan leader's building.

"If you have time, go to the Land of Wind and investigate a tribe called Loulan."

Uchiha Tajima pondered for a moment, flipping through the mission list in his hand. Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, he found a long-abandoned mission. After carefully reading the mission details, he slowly spoke to the waiting Uchiha Gin.

"It's a bit far, so if you don't want to go, that's fine."

"The Land of Wind? No problem, I'll take it!"

Upon hearing a familiar term, Uchiha Gin's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously at Uchiha Tajima.

A short while later, Uchiha Gin, holding a mission sheet in his hand, walked out of the clan head's building with a smile. He bought a hundred million points of supplies while passing through the market and strolled towards the clan's gate.

The guards at the entrance to the clan's territory saw that the person who came was Uchiha Gin. Without any hesitation, they chose to ignore him and let him pass directly.

"Let me see where the treasure left behind by the Sage of Six Paths is~"

Strolling through the forest, Uchiha Gin enjoyed the rare tranquility. He reached into his bag and pulled out the scroll given to him by Kinkaku's younger brother. After opening it, Uchiha Gin began to slowly read it.

Uchiha Gin first glanced at the description of the Six Paths Sage's Trial Grounds recorded in the scroll.

Before his death, the Sage of Six Paths planted his sword in the place where he grew up, leaving a message for his descendants to come and take the test. Those who pass the test will receive his sword.

"That's all?"

Uchiha Gin unfurled the scroll completely, only to find that the information inside was so limited, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Could this be a fabricated story used by the Hagoromo clan to lure other descendants of the Six Paths, then murder and rob them?"

"Oh, I didn't expect it to be on the way."

After making malicious speculations, I looked at the map at the end of the introduction and found that the marked place was actually in the direction of the Land of Wind.

Since it was such a coincidence, Uchiha Gin stopped dwelling on it. After putting the scroll into his bag, he quickened his pace, pushed off with his feet, and instantly disappeared from the spot.

The speeding figure created sonic booms in the quiet forest, leaving only a blurry afterimage in its wake.

Driven by his curiosity, Uchiha Gin arrived at the location marked on the map in just one day.

"That's it? It doesn't look particularly special?"

Uchiha Gin frowned as he looked at the low-lying canyon in front of him. This was a completely wild natural environment, with no trace of human presence and no path to continue exploring.

Occasionally, wild beasts would pass by, and upon seeing Uchiha Gin deep in thought, their eyes would flash with a bloodthirsty light, and they would prepare to launch a sneak attack.

However, sensing the terrifying aura inadvertently emanating from this strange creature, its wild instincts made it choose to obediently tuck its tail between its legs and slip away.

"Click~"

Wielding a massive black double-bladed axe, Uchiha Gin diligently carved out his own path through the jungle.

As he ventured deeper into the forest, a ripple suddenly stirred within Uchiha Gin's usually calm heart, as if he sensed a call from the depths of his bloodline.

"Looks like he's got something special. This eldest brother from the Feathered Robe Clan is truly an honest man!"

(End of this chapter)