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Uchiha Gin touched the bead in his pocket, recalling the words of Uzumaki Mito:
"The sealing technique of this bead can only be released at close range, and only when the other person has let down their guard."
Mito, with her cute bun hairstyle, puffed up her cheeks as she instructed Uchiha Gin.
"Your brother is such a strong Taijutsu ninja. If I get close to him, I'd probably be smacked to death before even reaching him," Uchiha Gin said dispiritedly, holding the bead.
"Idiot, use your brain! Who said you have to face him head-on?" Uzumaki Mito said, exasperated.
"Looks like I'll just have to improvise," Uchiha Gin muttered to himself as he carefully tucked the bead away and left, leaving behind a worried Mito.
The memory abruptly ended as Uchiha Gin stared at Hanamichi, who was emitting an aura of red chakra. He sighed inwardly, realizing that a direct approach was his only option.
He took the first step toward Hanamichi. Seeing Uchiha Gin boldly approaching, Hanamichi cautiously asked, "What are you trying to do?"
The giant Fireball Jutsu from earlier had left a deep impression on him, and he feared another attack.
In response to the suspicion, Uchiha Gin planted his samurai sword into the ground and raised both hands to show he had no ill intent.
This puzzled Hanamichi, who had expected a fight to the death, but the situation seemed quite different from what he had imagined.
"Is the heir of the Uzumaki clan really afraid of a regular Uchiha like me?" Uchiha Gin said mockingly, his hands still raised.
"Afraid of you? Ridiculous!" Hanamichi, easily provoked, instantly flashed to Uchiha Gin's side, looking down at him.
Although Uchiha Gin stood at 1.8 meters tall, which was impressive within the Uchiha clan, he still seemed small compared to the over-two-meter-tall Hanamichi.
For the first time, Uchiha Gin observed the young heir of the Uzumaki clan up close.
The boy, about eighteen or nineteen, had a delicate face paired with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger's—a contrast so striking that it almost made Gin's vision blur.
Unconcerned with Uchiha Gin's strange expression, Hanamichi spoke first: "Despicable Uchiha, where have you hidden my sister? Tell me now, and if she's unharmed, I might consider sparing your life."
With his overwhelming strength, Hanamichi wasn't too cautious around a weaker opponent like Gin.
To him, even with the two-tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Gin was nothing more than a toy he could easily crush.
Uchiha Gin didn't respond directly but played along. "If the young master of the Uzumaki clan spares us, I assure you your sister won't be harmed."
"Sparing your life is already the most I'll do, so don't push your luck by negotiating," Hanamichi said, considering that Gin, though an Uchiha, might be a distant relative of the Uzumaki clan.
Even if his bloodline was "tainted," his father might want to deal with him personally.
A hint of struggle flashed across Uchiha Gin's face as if he were conflicted, but he finally made up his mind and said, "Alright, if the young master promises not to harm me, I will take you to see your sister immediately."
"Smart choice," Hanamichi replied, raising his head proudly, as if to show off his superiority to the world.
"Then it's settled," Uchiha Gin said, extending a fist.
"What do you mean?" Hanamichi asked, frowning.
"A fist bump. I learned it from the northern countries. It symbolizes that an agreement has been reached," Gin explained solemnly, holding out his fist.
"What a strange custom." Though confused, Hanamichi, full of pride, extended his massive fist and lightly bumped it against Gin's.
The moment their fists touched, a sly grin crept across Uchiha Gin's previously serious face.
Seeing this expression, Hanamichi's heart tightened.
As he prepared to activate his advanced sensory abilities, he suddenly felt his chakra come to a standstill, as if it had turned into stagnant water.
At the same time, he sensed a powerful suction force from Gin's hand, as if he were trapped by a black hole.
Looking down, Hanamichi saw that Gin's hand had opened, revealing a familiar bead resting there.
Black tendrils had emerged from the bead, tightly wrapping around his hand. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
"The Four Symbols Sealing Bead! How did you get this?" Hanamichi shouted in shock. His father had only made one such bead and had given it to Uzumaki Mito for self-defense.
Without answering, Uchiha Gin concentrated his chakra, commanding the black tendrils to completely envelop Hanamichi, rendering him immobile.
Gradually, Hanamichi was engulfed by the shadows.
The bead in Gin's hand exerted a tremendous force, twisting and pulling Hanamichi's massive body until he was finally sucked inside.
With the last shadow absorbed into the bead, Uchiha Gin collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily. He stared in awe at the bead, which now shimmered a dark red, and sighed, "Sealing techniques are truly the most mysterious skills in the original story—terrifying."
"If the Uzumaki clan hadn't been wiped out, with just their sealing techniques, they could have killed gods and demons alike. Such a shame they were plot-armored to death by the storyline."
"Ding! Uzumaki Hanamichi has been defeated. Mission: Save Uchiha Fuka's squad from certain doom, completion rate 80%."
For the first time, the system's notification sounded pleasant.
After quickly gathering his equipment, Uchiha Gin, relying on his Uzumaki heritage, had recovered most of his chakra.
Now, only Uchiha Ryo and the others' battle remained unresolved. But before dealing with that, there was someone he had to see first.
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away in a cave, Senju Itama slowly regained consciousness, still gagged with a smelly sock.
He didn't see the annoying Uchiha, but instead, a bun-haired girl stood before him who was lost in thought.
Hope flickered in his eyes.
Ignoring the foul taste in his mouth, he began to make muffled noises in an attempt to get her attention.
"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm..."
The strange sound broke the girl's train of thought. She turned to look at the child who had been tied up by the Uchiha kidnapper.
"Mmm... Mmm..." Itama, seeing that he had caught her attention, struggled even more vigorously.
The girl, Uzumaki Mito, thought for a moment before asking, "Do you want to say something?"
Itama nodded furiously. Mito, slightly disgusted, stood up and rummaged around for a stick.
Using the stick, she awkwardly tried to remove the sock from the boy's mouth, pinching her delicate nose in disgust.
However, the sock was so smelly that instead of pulling it out, she accidentally pushed it deeper into his throat.
Feeling the sock getting closer to choking him, Itama shook his head in agony.
Not wanting to soil her hands, Mito continued to poke at the sock, unaware of how close she was to suffocating the poor boy.
"Hey, hey, what kind of weird game is this? If you keep pushing, this kid is really going to die."