"My name is Uchiha Haruka. I'm twelve years old. My father died the year I was born, and my mother is just an ordinary housewife."
"Six years ago, while running errands to help with household expenses, I met an interesting child and became good friends with him."
When Uchiha Haruka heard her friend's shocking statement about stalker, her face showed a look of surprise. She glanced up at Uchiha Gin in front of him with a hesitant expression and spoke with some doubt in her tone:
"Mr. Gin, if you truly have an idea, please hold on for a few more years. I'm still..."
"Aaahhh! It's all your fault, you little brat, spouting nonsense!"
Uchiha Gin, the culprit behind the misunderstanding, pressed the boy down, veins bulging on his forehead, fists clenched as if ready to teach the kid a lesson.
"Help me, Haruka!"
Having already experienced the iron-fisted punishment before, Senju Itama, panicked, called out to his best friend for help. However, to his dismay, his friend's gentle face wore an unreadable smile, with a dark aura faintly emerging from her narrowed eyes.
"My, my, Itama and Mr. Gin certainly have a close relationship."
Resting her chin on her hand, Uchiha Haruka tilted her head with a "jealous" look, clearly expecting some compensation for saving her friend from harm.
No! I should never have trusted an evil Uchiha! Every Uchiha is rotten to the core! Senju Itama, devastated, looked at his most trusted friend with despair, tears of regret flowing down his face.
"Little Haruka, I'll be taking Itama home now. Come visit when you have time; I've prepared lots of sweets."
With a satisfied grin, Uchiha Gin hoisted the unconscious Senju Itama over his shoulder and turned to smile at Uchiha Haruka, who had been watching the scene unfold.
Diligent and considerate, Haruka was practically Gin's dream child.
What a stark contrast.
Glancing at Itama hanging over his shoulder, Gin couldn't help but think, What a naive fool this kid is.
"Alright, Mr. Stalker Gin."
???
Seeing Uchiha Gin's dumbfounded face, the purple-haired girl covered her mouth in shock, whispering apologetically, "Oops, I accidentally said my thoughts out loud."
Not wasting any time, Uchiha Gin carried Senju Itama home, tossing the unconscious boy onto the bed and leaving without looking back.
Itama, who had been out cold, twitched his ear at the sound of the door closing and quietly opened his eyes, a complex emotion flickering across his face.
Back in his room, Uchiha Gin began preparing for tomorrow's mission. He reached into the system-provided bag, pulled out a bunch of gear, checked each item, and finally selected three pieces. He then stored the rest.
"These three should be enough to avoid getting instantly knocked out, right?"
Gin rubbed his chin, satisfied with his chosen equipment.
On the left was the BladeMail, his first item. In the middle, the Dragon Claw Necklace, and on the right, a wooden armor he got later.
"Too bad I can only wear three items. If I could wear more, I'd be invincible."
There was a limit to how much gear from the system one could equip—wearing more than three items had no additional effect.
Time to test the defense.
Gin donned the Blademail as inner armor, with the wooden Raging Armor over it, and hung the Dragon Claw Necklace around his neck.
Fully equipped, he felt the intense life force emanating from the gear, filling him with a sense of security.
He moved to the backyard, stretched his body, and noticed that the gear didn't weigh him down. It felt as light as air.
As he was warming up, the air in the backyard suddenly froze. A familiar light screen appeared out of thin air, bringing with it a new figure.
A new character has spawned.
Gin raised an eyebrow, looking at the newly spawned NPC, waiting for them to make a move.
The NPC had long black hair, a cold and pale face, and slitted pupils like a snake. Their face, adorned with purple eyeshadow, gave off a sinister and eerie vibe.
It was the first time the Orochimaru had appeared. I wonder what skills I can learn.
Recognizing the NPC instantly, Gin smiled to himself. His current strength allowed him to crush most NPCs with ease. It had been a while since he faced a worthy opponent.
The newly spawned Orochimaru stood still, eyes glazed over like any other NPC, but strangely, it hadn't moved at all since appearing.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't tell me it's just a training dummy."
Curious about the lack of action, Gin walked closer to check if the NPC was malfunctioning.
Just as his outstretched hand was about to touch the motionless Orochimaru, the NPC's body twitched, and his snake-like eyes suddenly focused. Gin's heart skipped a beat as he took a few steps back.
He frowned, watching Orochimaru begin to form hand seals. A hint of doubt crossed his mind. He could've sworn he saw a fleeting smirk in the NPC's eyes just now.
Before he could dwell on it further, a massive shadow loomed in front of him, surging toward him like a tide. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a swarm of poisonous snakes rushing at him.
Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes
One of Orochimaru's signature early-stage jutsus. The oncoming flood of snakes didn't pose much of a threat to Gin now, but in terms of shock factor, it far surpassed anything else.
Low damage, high fear factor.
With the intent to test his gear, Gin steeled himself against his discomfort, held his breath, and raised his arms to protect his face, bracing his body for the wave of snakes.
Feeling the cold, foul-smelling snakes slither over his body, Gin couldn't help but get goosebumps.
However, he soon realized that none of the snakes were biting into his flesh. Glancing down, he was surprised to see that the snakes' fangs couldn't even penetrate his defense.
The Raging Armor emitted a faint green glow, forming a protective barrier around him, keeping the fangs at bay.
Relieved, Gin dropped his arms and calmly waited for the snake tide to pass.
Orochimaru's Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes lasted a full ten minutes before ending. Looking at the exhausted Orochimaru, Gin nonchalantly cleaned his ears and laughed, "Is that it? Really?"
As if understanding the taunt, Orochimaru, who had just finished, raised his hands to perform another seal.
"Goodbye!"
Already tired of the encounter, Gin had no intention of letting the same thing happen again. He formed a lightning spear in his hand, crackling with electricity, and aimed it at Orochimaru in the distance.
Chidori: Eiso (Spear)
The lightning spear shot out, expanding in size and piercing through Orochimaru's chest in the blink of an eye, just as he was about to summon more snakes.
Before being retrieved by the light screen, Gin could vaguely see a knowing smile on Orochimaru's face.
"Has the AI technology improved this much?"
This wasn't the first time Gin had noticed strange behavior in the NPCs. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off—was AI technology now being used in the NPCs as well?
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