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

Chapter 235 What else could this be but double the happiness?

"Bang!~"

Inside the martial arts arena, two figures were clashing at a speed invisible to the naked eye. The shockwaves generated by their colliding fists kicked up clouds of dust, forcing the spectators around to raise their hands to protect their faces.

"Impossible! How could he learn so quickly!"

As the saying goes, experts see the details, while laymen just watch the spectacle. Hyuga Sousuke, a member of the Hyuga clan, his face still wet with blood, was filled with disbelief as he watched Uchiha Gin wield the Gentle Fist with formidable power, and he cried out in astonishment.

"That's strange. Even if the Sharingan's copying ability is incredibly strong, it's impossible to achieve seamless copying, right?"

On the other side, Tobirama Senju, his eyes fixed on Gin Uchiha, had his eyebrows furrowed into a knot and his crimson eyes flashing with complex light. As a man in the ninja world who was more familiar with the Sharingan than the Uchiha himself, he was filled with questions about Gin Uchiha's current extraordinary performance.

"Hey~ Don't worry about such a small thing. After all, he's Madara's brother. It's not surprising that he has some special talents~"

Standing beside him, Hashirama Senju, without such ulterior motives, watched the two men's techniques mirroring each other, chuckled, and patted his younger brother's shoulder, indicating that Uchiha Gin was, after all, Madara Uchiha's blood relative; if he possessed extraordinary talent, it wouldn't be surprising.

"Smack!!!"

While the group chatted, the battle between the two fighters had reached a fever pitch. Hyuga Tenyo's expression shifted from initial indifference to slight surprise, and finally, after Uchiha Gin unleashed the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, it turned into utter astonishment. Seeing Uchiha Gin adopt the familiar starting stance again, he immediately retreated several steps, exclaiming incredulously...

"Why do you also know the Sixty-Four Palms?"

"Didn't I just say I'm learning on the fly?"

Seeing his opponent retreat, Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow and put away his Gentle Fist stance. If this kid continued to fight, he would have to use the 128 Palms. After all, the Twelve Konoha Genin were frequent visitors to the backyard, and he had almost mastered the Gentle Fist.

"this"

Hyuga Tenyo frowned, his white eyes fixed on Uchiha Gin's crimson eyes. He had always been very confident in his clan's bloodline, believing that the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan was merely being overhyped by those with ulterior motives.

However, to his surprise, he was taught a lesson by the Sharingan's insight and copying ability as soon as they clashed today. The secret technique that his family was so proud of could be easily copied by the opponent, and even the way Gentle Fist was used was perfectly replicated. If it weren't for the fact that the Sharingan doesn't have X-ray vision, their Byakugan would probably have no advantage at all.

"Ha~ I'm not playing anymore, it's lunchtime."

Seeing the struggle in Hyuga Tenyo's eyes, Uchiha Gin immediately deactivated his Sharingan. His black eyes regained their usual languidness. He yawned widely, rubbed his curly hair, and then spoke.

"In that case, our sparring ends here. Thank you, Mr. Yin, for letting me witness the Sharingan of a nobleman. As expected of a dojutsu on par with the Byakugan, it truly possesses extraordinary qualities."

Hearing this, Hyuga Tenyo felt a sense of relief. The situation hadn't developed as he had imagined; the Sharingan wasn't so easily defeated. He was just thinking about how to end things when Uchiha Gin unexpectedly offered him a way out. Gin glanced at him with slight gratitude, then closed his Byakugan, adopting a familiar expression, and politely said...

"Haha, we'll all be from the same village from now on, so there will be plenty of opportunities to learn from each other."

The onlookers, seeing the abrupt end of the sparring match between Uchiha Gin and his companion, felt it was somewhat anticlimactic, but judging from the lack of dissatisfaction on both sides' faces, Senju Hashirama walked over laughing, essentially tacitly accepting the powerful Hyuga clan as his own.

"Friends of the Hyuga clan, we've prepared a feast. Let's discuss the village assignment while we eat."

Tobirama Senju also joined in. More than the outcome of the sparring, he was more concerned with how much benefit the Hyuga clan could bring to Konoha. He then greeted Hyuga Tenyo.

"Mr. Yin, are you going too?"

Hyuga Tenyo, who had been invited, did not refuse. He had already achieved his goal for this trip. After witnessing some of the Sharingan's abilities, he no longer had any objections to joining Konoha. He then turned to ask Uchiha Gin, who was preparing to slip away,

"I won't go. I have family waiting for me to eat. You eat and drink well."

Uchiha Gin, who was not keen on getting involved in Konoha's politics, politely declined Hyuga Tenyo's invitation. After waving his hand, he left everyone with a cool back view and disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye.

"Chief Senju, after this is over, please let me know Mr. Gin's address. I have important business to attend to."

Watching Uchiha Gin's departing figure, Hyuga Tenyo's eyes flickered slightly, and he spoke to Senju Hashirama beside him.

"Haha, no problem!"

After leaving the Senju clan's territory, Uchiha Gin raised a finger in a secluded corner, and his entire body transformed into a streak of light, disappearing from the spot. He reappeared on the rock wall above Konoha.

"The Hyuga clan has arrived too. The puzzle of Konoha is finally complete!"

From here, one can overlook the entire Hidden Leaf Village. Looking down at the scattered lights below, Uchiha Gin sat cross-legged, hands behind his head, gazing at the half-hidden moon in the hazy sky, and sighed softly.

"Whoosh~"

Just as Uchiha Gin was immersed in his fantasies about a bright future, a rustling sound came from the forest behind him, and a tall figure slowly walked out from there, strolling towards him.

"Um, is this Hikaru? Is dinner ready?"

The bright, full moon that Uchiha Gin had been admiring was suddenly obscured by a dark shadow. Disturbed, Gin was about to teach the person who was interfering with his moon-viewing when he caught a familiar scent. His sharp gaze turned listless as he looked at the woman staring intently at him from above and asked...

"Are you looking at the moon? Who are you thinking about?"

Unlike her usual sweet and innocent voice, Uchiha Hikaru's voice was now extremely cold and aloof. Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin's heart tightened, and he immediately began to carefully examine the cold and beautiful face of the girl above him.

Upon seeing the diamond-shaped mark on the other person's forehead, which wasn't the usual purple but a dark, almost blackish red, he subconsciously swallowed and cautiously asked,

"Why are you out? It's not time yet!"

"She practiced too hard today, which caused her to collapse from exhaustion. I can't just watch her get carried off by a passing wild animal, can I?"

"Uchiha Hikari" stared at Uchiha Gin's face for a while, then sat down next to him, extended her soft hand to examine him, and slowly replied,

"That's really kind of you, An~"

Upon hearing the answer "Uchiha Hikari," Uchiha Gin immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned around and smiled as he thanked the woman beside him. However, the name he uttered was puzzling. Wasn't this woman Uchiha Hikari?

"You don't need to pretend to be so familiar with me. I know all of you would love for me to disappear."

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's seemingly genuine gratitude, a strange glint flashed in Uchiha Hikari's clear, beautiful eyes. She turned her head away, no longer looking directly into Uchiha Gin's eyes, her voice remaining indifferent.

"Hey~ No way, we're all family. It just so happens that you live too close to Xiaoguang."

Uchiha Gin sighed inwardly, then looked up at the full moon in the sky and explained to "Uchiha Hikaru" beside him in his usual tone,

"Xiao An, stop getting all emo at night. Try to be more positive and upbeat!"

Seeing the girl beside him acting like a world-weary, idealistic young woman, Uchiha Gin could only offer words of comfort, hoping she could cheer up.

"Who made me this way?"

"Alright, stop being so melancholic, let's go home and eat!"

Upon hearing the familiar tone, Uchiha Gin felt goosebumps rise all over his body. He immediately waved his hand to interrupt the girl's chanting and grabbed her hand, running towards home.

"Won't she be jealous if you hold my hand like this?"

The girl, being pulled along by Uchiha Gin, shifted her cold gaze to his tightly clenched hand and abruptly asked,

"Forehead"

"You call me so affectionately, won't she be angry when she finds out?"

Uchiha Hikari's pretty face remained expressionless, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"this"

Uchiha Gin's head was as big as a bucket. This strangely behaving "Uchiha Hikari" was the second most difficult woman for him to deal with.

"Alright, she'll be awake soon, I should go."

Just as Uchiha Gin was racking his brains, "Uchiha Hikaru," who was watching him from behind, suddenly spoke. Then, his body went limp and he fell backward. Fortunately, his hand hadn't let go, thus preventing the tragedy of Uchiha Hikaru hitting the back of his head on the ground.

"Ugh... my head hurts so much. Huh? Gin, what are you doing here?"

He straightened Uchiha Hikari, who had been lying down, and before Uchiha Gin could react, she had already slowly woken up. After groaning a few times and rubbing her forehead, she slowly opened her eyes. The coldness in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a youthful vitality. When she saw Uchiha Gin's complex expression, she immediately asked in surprise,

"How could you be so careless? If it weren't for Xiao An, you would have been carried back to your den by wild beasts."

Staring at the bright purple mark on the girl's forehead, Uchiha Gin reprimanded Uchiha Hikari with some annoyance, and also told her what had happened while she was unconscious.

"Huh? Xiao An is out? She didn't tell you anything, did she?"

The girl, who had been smiling, instantly tensed up upon hearing Uchiha Gin's words, her eyes darting around nervously.

"You two seem to be getting along quite well these days~"

Gin thought the girl would be angry because of An's appearance, but to his surprise, she was just worried that her little secret would be exposed. This made Gin chuckle and ask aloud.

"Phew~ It's alright. After all, we've been neighbors for so many years. She's not really that bad, she's just a little lonely."

Judging from Uchiha Gin's tone, his secret hadn't been revealed. Uchiha Hikaru immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then stared at Uchiha Gin and slowly said...

"If this continues, your burden will only get heavier and heavier; you must cut it off as soon as possible."

Uchiha Gin shook his head, looked at the somewhat listless Uchiha Hikaru, and frowned as he spoke.

"Let's wait a little longer; there must be a better way!"

A look of struggle crossed the girl's face. Years of spending time together had led her to consider this other self a close friend with whom she could confide everything.

"Alright, since you're unwilling to use your uncle's method, I'll think of another way."

Without forcing the girl, Uchiha Gin's brows relaxed. Looking at Uchiha Hikari's pitiful face, he nodded and said...

"Thank you, Gin~"

"Go home, everyone."

"Uchiha Hikari," also known as Uchiha Gin and others as Uchiha An, is the dark personality that emerged after Uchiha Hikari was afflicted by Uchiha Yama's Mangekyou Sharingan technique "Tentanjo." She usually lurks deep within the consciousness of the main personality, waiting for an opportunity to strike. When the main personality's psychological defenses falter, she takes over its body and uses it to do unspeakable things.

Initially, when Uchiha Hikari was freed from the seal by Uchiha Gin, this dark person repeatedly came out to cause trouble, but each time she was humiliated and forced to end her broadcast by a certain curly-haired person. Later, after Hikari obtained the Mercury Cloak, she had even less opportunity to come out, and could only occasionally talk back to Hikari in her subconscious. Over time, the two personalities actually became familiar with each other.

However, in recent years, as Uchiha Hikaru mastered the Yin Seal, coupled with the powerful chakra regeneration effect of the Blue Tyrant Talisman, the chakra within the girl's body has been increasing, and the chakra stored in the Yin Seal is as vast as the ocean.

In this situation, Uchiha An, as the second personality, also underwent a transformation. Her spiritual body absorbed the nutrients from these chakras and gradually grew stronger. The ratio of the consciousness of the two personalities changed from the initial 1:9 to the current 5:5.

Thus, within Uchiha Hikaru's consciousness, the second personality, Uchiha Yami, rose to become a secondary personality with a status almost equal to that of the primary personality. During the day, things were fine, but every night when all was quiet, the primary personality would fall into a deep sleep, and the secondary personality, Uchiha Yami, would involuntarily wake up and begin staying up all night.

This sudden change made things even worse for Uchiha Gin's already impoverished family. During the day, he had to take care of Uchiha Hikaru, the main personality, and at night he had to take care of Uchiha An, the secondary personality. The double pain gave him no chance to rest, and he became listless every day, unable to even take care of his work in the dungeon.

"Sigh~ I guess we can't stay together for too long, otherwise it's hard to let go."

Back home, Uchiha Gin ate the delicious meal prepared by Senju Itama, glanced at Uchiha Hikaru sitting opposite him drinking soup, and couldn't help but mutter to himself,

"What are you muttering about? Do you think my cooking isn't good?"

Hearing Uchiha Gin muttering under his breath, Senju Itama, holding a spatula and hands on her hips, pouted her cherry-red lips almost to the sky, her charming face filled with suspicion.

"Oh, not at all, I just love this flavor, I could eat it every day and never get tired of it!"

Having finally trained a cook, he could finally relax a bit. He couldn't let the little girl notice, so he immediately stuffed several mouthfuls of food into his mouth, his face beaming with enjoyment.

"Hmph~ If you beg me, I might make it for you every day."

Senju Itama, who was initially somewhat sullen, blushed instantly upon hearing Uchiha Gin's overwhelming praise. She shyly turned her head away and stiffly retorted,

"Then I'll leave it to you~"

"Stop right there!"

"Ah Yin, do you realize how damaging your words are to a girl?"

Uchiha Hikaru calmly glanced at the fleeing Senju Itama, wiped her mouth, raised her beautiful eyebrows, and asked quietly,

How big is your forehead?

Uchiha Gin scratched his face sheepishly. He knew it wasn't good to lie like that, but it shouldn't be as serious as Hikaru made it out to be, right?

"You know Susanoo, right?"

"I know~"

"It's as big as three of them."

"ha?"

After ending Uchiha Hikaru's inexplicable conversation, the girl yawned and said she was going back to catch up on her sleep. Uchiha Gin watched her disappearing figure with a complicated expression, knowing that tonight would be another sleepless night.

The next day, feeling utterly exhausted, Uchiha Gin pushed open the door of his house. His handsome face was covered in dark circles, and he yawned repeatedly as he walked out of the house towards the new Uchiha clan compound.

"Ha~ Little An is getting harder and harder to deal with. We have to find a way to solve this problem, or he might die young~"

"Lord Yin, what brings you here today?"

Exhausted, Uchiha Gin seemed somewhat uninterested in the enthusiastic greetings from his clansmen, squinting as he asked,

"I've come to see if my older cousin has come out of seclusion yet?"

"You've come at just the right time! The clan chief just came out of seclusion this morning!"

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's words, the enthusiastic clansman immediately smiled and said,

"It's good that he's out. I need to talk to him about something."

Uchiha Gin, who hadn't held out much hope, opened his eyes in surprise upon hearing the news of Uchiha Madara's emergence from seclusion.

"The clan chief is having his meal now."

"Better late than early, I haven't eaten yet~"

After bidding farewell to the hospitable clansman, Uchiha Gin skillfully navigated through several courtyards and arrived at Uchiha Madara's secluded courtyard.

"Big cousin! I miss you terribly~"

Smelling the aroma of the food, Uchiha Gin's eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and, seeing Uchiha Madara standing somewhat dazed in the room, excitedly said...

"Thanks to you, I'm barely surviving."

Madara Uchiha's condition upon emerging from seclusion wasn't as bad as expected; he even had the energy to talk back.

"You've done quite a lot, huh? You knew I was coming?"

Looking at the steaming food on the table, Uchiha Gin felt right at home and picked up a bowl and chopsticks to start eating.

"That belongs to Izuna."

Helpless, Madara Uchiha watched as Gin Uchiha was swept away in a whirlwind of chaos and spoke up to remind him.

"It's okay, I'll save some for him."

We're all family, why be so particular? It's not like I didn't leave him any food. The leftover garlic and chili on the plate are quite appetizing, aren't they?

"How's your understanding going? If you ask me, that unlucky stone tablet should be thrown into the sea as soon as possible."

After a hearty meal, Uchiha Gin, picking his teeth, turned to his taciturn older cousin and said...

"The stone tablet is an heirloom of our Uchiha clan; how can we discard it so casually?"

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's question, Uchiha Madara first shook his head, a strange look flashing in his eyes, before slowly speaking.

"Moreover, this time, I also gained more insights from the stone tablet."

"Hiccup~ It's just some old folks bragging about their deeds~"

"No, this time, I see another direction."

The supreme deity, desiring peace, categorized the forces of Yin and Yang, recognizing their mutual repulsion and eventual unification to create the myriad phenomena of the universe.

Madara Uchiha shook his head, looked at Gin Uchiha who seemed completely indifferent, and sighed inwardly. He chose not to reveal the specific contents of the stone tablet. Telling his older cousin, who didn't have the Mangekyou Sharingan, would only add to his troubles.

"How's the village doing lately?"

Not wanting to delve further into the topic of the stone tablet, Madara Uchiha changed the subject, inquiring about the village's recent situation.

"There's good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Let me tell you the good news first."

Madara Uchiha frowned. There was bad news. Could it be that something happened to Hasi Hot Mom?

"All the well-known ninja clans in the Land of Fire have been selected through a lottery system to enter the village. Congratulations, little cousin, your Konoha is a success!"

Squinting, Uchiha Gin relayed the news of the Shinobi Alliance and the Hyuga clan's participation to his younger cousin, who had just emerged from seclusion.

"Wow, there are already so many people! Our dream has truly come true!"

Upon hearing that so many ninja clans had joined, Madara Uchiha's usually icy face revealed a rare smile of relief. He never expected that the boast he and Hashirama Senju had made as children would actually come true today.

"So, what's the bad news?"

Having heard the good news, Madara Uchiha, in a good mood, asked about the bad news, but his face had already lost its worry. The village was developing so smoothly, what bad news could there possibly be?

"The dungeon is gone, I'm unemployed!"

Uchiha Gin's face was filled with a miserable expression, his lifeless eyes brimming with the dejection of middle-aged unemployment, his lips trembling slightly, still greasy from his recent meal. He stared intently at Uchiha Madara, the culprit who had caused his unemployment, gritting his teeth as he announced this devastating news to the public.

"ha?"

Madara Uchiha was completely dumbfounded. What kind of bad news was this? The dungeon was gone, which was good. The Uchiha clan could free up more manpower to build other aspects of the clan. As for Gin Uchiha's unemployment, there was nothing to say about that. With his status, why would he have trouble finding a job?

"It's just a jailer's job. I'll talk to Izuna later and find you a leisurely position within the clan with double the salary."

As the clan leader, Madara Uchiha spoke with an air of arrogance, simply waving his hand and giving Gin Uchiha clear instructions.

"But I really enjoy working in the dungeon!"

Despite losing his job, Uchiha Gin still misses the leisurely days in the dungeon, where he could earn two jobs, get paid and have food to eat, and enjoy double the happiness. Wasn't that wonderful?

"Okay, I'll ask Hasi Hot Mom tomorrow if Konoha's future prison is short of people."

Madara Uchiha went to great lengths to find an older cousin for him.

But he's my own brother, so if I don't spoil him, who will?

"Ahem, congratulations on your recovery, brother."

Just as Madara Uchiha was sighing, a weak voice sounded outside the door. It sounded somewhat familiar, and the two people inside immediately turned around curiously, wanting to see what was going on.

"Hey? Sir, who are you?"

(End of this chapter)