On a dark and windy night, I stood guard at the door of the clan leader's office, as dutifully as ever, not daring to relax even for a moment despite the late hour, because the clan leader was still tirelessly working on strategies for the battle. Suddenly, I heard something crash, followed by the clan leader’s furious roar...

At this point, Uchiha Gin paused, his gaze sweeping over several intrigued Uchiha members.

"Come on, tell us what the clan leader shouted!"

Hearing this crucial part without follow-up, Uchiha Ryoichi hurriedly urged.

"Exactly!"

Uchiha Kaku and Uchiha Daro echoed in unison, while Uchiha Fuhuo, who had been silent, stared at him with curiosity.

Feeling a bit thirsty, Uchiha Gin touched the water bottle on his back, only to find it empty.

As he was contemplating this, Uchiha Ryoichi had already offered his own water bottle with both hands. Uchiha Gin, feeling the dryness in his throat, gratefully accepted it, twisting it open and gulping it down.

Once he finished the water comfortably, Uchiha Gin raised his hand to signal the others to calm down, then gathered his emotions and mysteriously said,

“Damn you, Senju Tobirama, I will grind you to dust and take care of your wife!!!”

“What do you mean by that?”

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were puzzled.

Uchiha Gin revealed an expression of being unable to bear it, sighed, and shook his head.

"Isn't it obvious that someone as weak as me can serve as the clan leader's personal bodyguard? Do you think I could stay in this position for so many years for no reason?"

"Is it not because the clan leader is your uncle?" Uchiha Kaku, who usually didn't speak much, quietly complained, but his words echoed in the confined cave as if amplified.

"Ahem, as the saying goes, 'One should not avoid appointing the worthy just because they are relatives.'"

Uchiha Gin coughed awkwardly.

"What I rely on is my unwavering loyalty to the clan leader, and more importantly, I can interpret the clan leader's every move."

"Interpret?"

"A ninja as great as the clan leader, even an unintentional gesture or a casual remark carries a deeper meaning."

"Some things the clan leader says are as good as not said, while some things he doesn’t say are beyond the understanding of ordinary people."

"Take our current mission for example. On the surface, the clan leader's order is to eliminate the genius of the Senju clan on the spot, but the deeper task is to capture him alive."

"Think about it, Senju Tobirama has always cherished his young son. Simply killing him would only provoke the Senju clan to fight to the death, causing unnecessary losses. However, if we capture Senju Tobirama's son, the clan leader can use him to coerce the Senju clan, which would be a hundred benefits and no harm for us Uchiha."

"What a brilliant plan!!! Did the clan leader reveal all this to you?"

Uchiha Fuhuo, who had been listening for a while, couldn't help but exclaim.

"No, it’s all just my guess."

"..."

Although it was risky, this explanation managed to placate Uchiha Fuhuo and the others, leaving them to wait for the mission's success to determine whether Senju Hidan lived or died, which was no longer Uchiha Gin's concern.

After a night of rest, the group regained some strength and began to return to the Uchiha clan's territory with the bound Senju Hidan.

Since they had penetrated deep behind enemy lines, the journey home would still take nearly half a month.

Because Uchiha Gin had unilaterally spared Senju Hidan's life, he alone had to shoulder the responsibility for transport.

However, the main reason was that he feared the others might accidentally kill Senju Hidan, which would mean his own death in failure.

The next day, after a day of travel, the group set up camp by a small river at night. During this time, Senju Hidan woke up once, but before he could regain his senses, Uchiha Gin knocked him unconscious with a slap.

Now he had no energy to communicate with Senju Hidan, already burdened by a captive.

Even though he had stripped Senju Hidan of the cumbersome armor, a child still weighed around thirty to forty pounds, and Uchiha Gin's weak body made it difficult for him.

Sitting there in a daze, Uchiha Gin suddenly remembered that today’s Heart of Steel treasure chest seemed to have not been triggered. He wasn't entirely clear on the triggering mechanism for the Heart of Steel treasure chest.

After thinking for a moment, he got up and walked over to Uchiha Ryoichi, who was leaning against a tree.

Seeing Uchiha Gin approaching, Uchiha Ryoichi frowned, not understanding why the other was coming to find him instead of resting properly.

It was because of him that the group had covered nearly half the planned distance during the day, leaving Uchiha Ryoichi somewhat resentful as he wanted to report back early.

"Ryoichi, big brother."

Uchiha Gin spoke first.

"Don't call me big brother; I’m younger than you."

Uchiha Gin was 24 this year while Uchiha Ryoichi was only 20, and although he was four years older, their strengths were vastly different.

"Ryoichi, the jailer."

Uchiha Gin didn’t hold back.

"..."

Looking at the other’s speechless expression, Uchiha Gin didn’t play coy.

"Ryoichi, the jailer, I want to spar with you."

"..."

Uchiha Ryoichi was taken aback and didn’t speak.

However, not receiving any prompt, Uchiha Gin thought to himself,

"It seems that initiating a challenge unilaterally cannot activate the battle conditions for the Heart of Steel."

"I don't have time."

Uchiha Ryoichi didn’t want to waste his rest time on someone so weak.

"Are you scared? After all, my shuriken technique was personally taught by the clan leader, and I have yet to meet an opponent."

Uchiha Gin shook his head with a sigh, indicating that it was lonely at the top.

"Damn it, if I don’t turn you into a sieve today, I’ll change my surname to Senju." Uchiha Ryoichi was instantly furious.

Poor ancient people had never learned the Art of War by Sun Tzu.

"Battle detected for the host, accumulating Heart of Steel treasure chest..."

Sure enough, upon hearing the prompt in his mind, Uchiha Gin felt a surge of joy.

Next was the battle with Uchiha Ryoichi. After all, they were from the same clan, and the moves would not be lethal.

Uchiha Ryoichi took the initiative, throwing five shuriken from five different angles towards the gaps in Uchiha Gin's limbs. Uchiha Gin skillfully threw out five shuriken in response, relying on the original host's memories.

As expected, the ten shuriken collided precisely, and as he looked at the scattered shuriken on the ground, Uchiha Gin couldn’t help but raise his evaluation of the original host. It seemed that the original host was not completely useless apart from being handsome.

"Interesting, let’s try this."

Seeing his shuriken being accurately intercepted, Uchiha Ryoichi became serious.

He removed the wind-style shuriken from his back and threw it hard at Uchiha Gin. Watching the massive shuriken flying toward him, Uchiha Gin did not rush to dodge, but calmly watched as it approached.

This scene frightened Uchiha Ryoichi, who had thrown the shuriken. He thought, "Is this guy trying to get himself killed by not dodging?"

He didn’t want to bear the guilt of killing a fellow clansman, so he quickly rushed over, hoping to stop his shuriken before it sliced Uchiha Gin in half.

Uchiha Ryoichi was fast, and just as he was about to touch the shuriken, Uchiha Gin quickly dropped to the ground in a full prostration, narrowly avoiding the deadly blow. This caused the now-targetless Uchiha Ryoichi to stumble, nearly falling into the river.

Lying on the ground, Uchiha Gin raised both hands and provocatively said,

"Truly, you are the clan's number one shuriken genius, Uchiha Ryoichi. I, Uchiha Gin, shall call you the strongest in shuriken! I humbly concede."

“Splash!”

Uchiha Ryoichi, infuriated by these words, lost control of his body and fell straight into the water. He had never seen such a shameless person.

"Host failed, gained Heart Energy *10. After two more battles, the Heart of Steel treasure chest reward can be unlocked. (Current accumulated Heart Energy: 11)"

Hearing the prompt, Uchiha Gin's eyes lit up. Ignoring his awkward position on the ground, he quickly got up and rescued Uchiha Ryoichi from the water.

"Ryoichi, the jailer, I think today’s battle ends here. It was truly a thrilling fight, and I learned a lot from it. I hope we can battle again tomorrow after resting tonight!"

Uchiha Gin's words sounded grand, making Uchiha Ryoichi's forehead throb with veins.

"Get lost!!!!!!!!"