Uchiha Gin stared in horror at the strange-looking old prison guard across from him and instinctively took a few steps back to distance himself.
He had only come for information, but the other man had set his sights on him!
Disgusting!
Ugh, old creep!
Even though he cursed inwardly, he couldn't show it because he still needed the information from six years ago.
He forced himself to respond calmly, "Thank you for your... attention, but let's move on to the next question."
"Who was the person imprisoned six years ago?" Uchiha Gin asked eagerly.
"It was who they called..." The old guard answered slowly, "A traitor."
"A traitor?"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin furrowed his brows. What had happened six years ago that involved a traitor?
"Who was this traitor?" Gin asked, his suspicions growing.
"As you guessed, it was someone from the Uchiha clan," the old guard replied, his tone heavy.
"Then... does this have anything to do with the attack on the clan six years ago?" Gin felt overwhelmed. The person they captured turned out to be a traitor from his own clan.
From what Gin knew, internal conflicts had always existed within the Uchiha clan. The reason was simple: Uchiha people were highly emotional and had deep obsessions with people and things, often leading to internal strife over differences of opinion.
"Attack on the clan? Heh." The old guard chuckled sinisterly when he heard Gin mumbling to himself.
"What do you mean?" Gin sensed there was more to the story and couldn't help but ask.
"They disguised that event as an attack, but it's laughable," the old guard sneered.
"What exactly do you know?" Gin's heart trembled. He had only been trying to find out who had been imprisoned, but now it seemed there was a deeper, hidden story.
After a moment, Uchiha Gin clutched his head, which was starting to ache. "But I was the sole survivor of that attack. I saw with my own eyes that the Kaguya clan slaughtered our elderly, women, and children."
The painful memories he had long sealed away surfaced again, causing a sharp pain in his head. His eyes turned blood-red, and he resembled a wild beast.
"How can you be sure what you saw was real?" the old guard sighed, looking at Gin, who was clutching his head in pain. "And how do you know you're really you?"
The old guard's words hit Gin like a thunderclap, exploding in his mind.
It felt as if someone had ripped off the top of Gin's skull and was wildly stirring his brain with a stick.
His eyes bulged, ready to burst. If someone saw from a third-person perspective, they would notice that the two tomoe in his left eye, which had never moved before, were now spinning rapidly. Slowly, a third tomoe emerged.
"Ahhhhh!"
The intense pain made Uchiha Gin scream, his cries alarming the guards outside.
Uchiha Matawa and Uchiha Jiro rushed to the scene. They found Uchiha Gin lying inside the cell, drenched in cold sweat, face pale, and eyes tightly shut. The two immediately tried to revive him, but no matter what they did, he wouldn't wake up. Knowing they were out of options, they carried Gin to the clan's medical center.
While unconscious, Gin dreamt of an unfamiliar scene.
In a strange hospital room, a young girl sat with her knees tucked in one corner. In another corner sat a slightly older boy.
The scene shifted. In the middle of some ruins, the girl leaned her head on the boy's chest, crying about something, but by then, the boy's eyes were already overflowing with blood.
The final scene showed the boy raising his head toward the sky, where a strange red moon hung.
Back at the Uchiha clan's medical center, Uchiha Gin lay on a bed with two boys sitting nearby.
Uchiha Izuna looked anxiously at Gin, whose expression kept changing. He turned to the boy beside him, asking, "Big brother, do you think cousin will die?"
Uchiha Madara's face darkened at Izuna's rambling, and he slapped his head. "What nonsense! Didn't Elder Haru say this guy's as strong as a bull? He probably fainted from an old injury during his last mission."
Uchiha Haru had told them that Gin's unconsciousness was caused by a recurrence of an old injury.
According to mission records, Uchiha Gin had been attacked by the Senju clan, causing head trauma.
Outside, Uchiha Tajima, whom they hadn't seen in a while, was talking with the round Uchiha Hiro. With a frown, Clan Leader Tajima asked coldly, "Elder Hiro, what happened to Gin in the dungeon?"
Uchiha Hiro was sweating profusely. He really had no idea how Gin had collapsed in the dungeon.
Just yesterday, he'd gone to check on Gin, who had been in perfect health.
When Uchiha Haru came out, both men turned to him.
"Uchiha Gin's eye power has increased again," Uchiha Haru said incredulously. "And I detected that the seal on him is loosening."
The two exchanged serious glances upon hearing this.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Never mind the seal; these eyes he has now, I plucked them off random corpses! There's no way he could awaken the Sharingan!" Uchiha Hiro said confidently.
"What about the seal?" Tajima asked, more concerned about the seal than the Sharingan.
That seal was one he'd personally placed. It had taken years for his own eyes to recover from the aftereffects of the overuse back then.
"I can only sense a force gently probing the seal and slowly eroding it," Haru said, shaking his head, admitting he was also baffled.
"Find out what's hidden in Uchiha Gin," Tajima said, squinting his eyes.
"Is that really necessary?" Hiro asked, wiping his sweat. "He's not worth our time anymore, especially since our priority should be finding that 'weapon.'"
At the mention of the "weapon," a look of fear crossed the eyes of those present.
"How's the interrogation of the Sarutobi prisoner in the dungeon?" Tajima asked.
"We'll have results soon. Ryuei is personally handling it. Even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't withstand his methods," Hiro said confidently.
"Don't let me down again, Elder Hiro," Tajima said coldly. His red eyes glinted ominously, sending shivers down Hiro's spine.
"Elder Haru, continue studying the notes left behind by that person. When the 'weapon' is revealed, we'll need shackles to control it. Otherwise..." Tajima's eyes turned even colder. The usual three tomoe were gone, replaced by a four-pointed shuriken pattern.
"The 'weapon' could turn on its master."
The strange pattern vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Hiro and Haru stood silently, not daring to breathe.
"Father, Cousin Gin is awake!" The tense atmosphere dissolved as Izuna burst into the room, excitedly announcing Gin's awakening.
"Elder Hiro, Elder Haru, you may go. I'll check on Gin," Tajima said, smiling warmly.
"Yes, yes," the two elders said, relieved, and hurried out.
"Izuna, let's go," Tajima said as he entered the room.
Seeing Gin sitting up in bed, ready to ask questions, Tajima was caught off guard when Gin spoke first.
His expression was odd as he said, "Uncle, Uchiha Madara has a serious problem. This is an illness, and it needs treatment!"
---
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