"Ta-da-da~ Sage Mode, full power on!"
Uchiha Gin didn't mind that the NPC's casting preparation was excessively long. Instead, he found it amusing and sat on a bench, patiently waiting while humming a simple tune to add to the atmosphere.
A strange, dense energy began to rise slowly from Jiraiya, who stood with his hands pressed together.
However, this energy was not the chakra Uchiha Gin was familiar with.
"So this is natural energy, huh? Feels pretty wild!"
As Uchiha Gin sensed the natural energy surrounding Jiraiya, he realized that this power was raw and primal, dangerous enough to backfire if not controlled properly.
"Boom!"
Once Jiraiya had balanced the natural energy within him with his own chakra, he placed his hand on the ground and activated the summoning technique. As the smoke cleared, two frog-sized toads appeared out of nowhere.
With the two toad sages on his shoulders, Jiraiya had finally completed his Sage Mode transformation.
At that moment, Uchiha Gin felt like an actor in a play. He rummaged through his backpack for a while and pulled out a black-and-blue book.
"Rejoice! For he is the one who wields the power of the three toad sages, a hero who braves the Six Paths of Reincarnation—Sage Mode Jiraiya, the greatest form of his life!"
With a serious expression, Uchiha Gin held the strange book in one hand, pointing dramatically at the fully prepared Jiraiya with the other, loudly reciting his exaggerated lines in an odd tone.
...The silence that followed was deafening.
This little performance was so ridiculous that it stunned the NPC for several seconds.
"Sigh~ Didn't get the joke, huh?"
Seeing the charging Jiraiya, Uchiha Gin sighed, feeling that this world was quite dull.
In Sage Mode, Jiraiya's stats had multiplied, and perhaps emboldened by this strength, the fear in his eyes had vanished, replaced with a satisfaction.
"Is this really the extent of Sage Mode?"
Uchiha Gin wasn't intimidated by the aggressive Jiraiya. Instead, he frowned slightly, disappointed. His advanced sensory skills told him that while Jiraiya's power wasn't weak, it wasn't as strong as expected.
If he had to quantify it, it would be like 1 Sage Mode Jiraiya = 0.8 of his uncle, at most.
"Boom!"
Sage Jiraiya closed the gap at lightning speed, his frog-like hand aimed at Uchiha Gin's head with no mercy. The sheer speed created a powerful gust of wind, tossing Uchiha Gin's hair side to side.
In an instant, Uchiha Gin's eyes turned red as his Sharingan activated. Jiraiya's movements seemed to slow down, and Uchiha Gin could clearly see the trajectory of the attack. Calmly, he tilted his head to easily dodge the strike.
"Come on, give me something more, buddy~"
Uchiha Gin glanced at the large hand that had just missed him, unable to help but sarcastically comment. This performance fell far below his expectations.
It was as if Jiraiya had heard the mockery. A faint blue light began to radiate from his hands, and he swung his fists at Uchiha Gin once more.
Assuming Jiraiya had run out of tricks, Uchiha Gin didn't pay attention to the change in his hands. As the punch came toward him, he simply prepared to dodge again, having already predicted its path.
"Thud!"
Just as Uchiha Gin turned his body to avoid the punch, he suddenly felt a tremendous force hit him. Caught off guard, he was sent flying several meters, kicking up dust as he landed.
Jiraiya's eyes were filled with satisfaction as he looked at the disheveled Uchiha Gin. He had been waiting decades for this moment.
Huh? What was that technique? He didn't even touch me.
Frog Karate (Kawazu Kumite), perhaps?
"Tsk! Looks like I underestimated you. Sage Arts do have some bite."
Uchiha Gin's surprised voice rang out from the cloud of dust. As the smoke cleared, he emerged, completely unharmed, brushing the dirt off his clothes.
He walked out slowly, glanced at the silent Jiraiya, and raised an eyebrow, speaking in a mocking tone:
"By the way, doesn't your hand hurt?"
???
Hearing this, Jiraiya instinctively looked down at his palms and realized they were covered in wounds, with blood streaming from them.
"Heh, doesn't feel great, does it? That's the pain of hitting someone wearing BladeMail~"
Uchiha Gin grinned as he looked at Jiraiya's bloody hands. After all, except for when he bathed, he always wore thorn armor.
"Alright, I've gauged your strength. Time for you to move on!"
Uchiha Gin nodded to himself, internally rating this version of Jiraiya as an S-rank NPC.
He extended his hand, and with a look of terror in Jiraiya's eyes, condensed a flash of lightning at his fingertip, lightly pointing at the frozen NPC.
"Swish~"
The massive amount of lightning chakra compressed to its limit, transforming into a thin lightning serpent that shot out at a speed faster than light, instantly piercing Jiraiya's chest, leaving behind a small coin-sized black hole.
As he watched Sage Jiraiya collapse, Uchiha Gin's thoughts wandered.
What should I call this move?
Piercing Wave?
Uchiha's Railgun?
No matter what, I just can't beat this damn curly hair in any world.
Lying on the ground, Jiraiya slowly closed his eyes, and then a ripple of light appeared from the sky, carrying him away.
"Backyard daily refresh: Random Skill [Sage Mode] acquired. Sage Mode fragment *1."
"[Sage Mode (1/100)]—collect 100 fragments to synthesize Sage Mode."
Not bad. A surprising skill, though I expected it to be fragment-based.
Uchiha Gin wasn't greedy. A skill as powerful as Sage Mode wasn't something that would drop fully formed; gathering fragments was a more reassuring process.
Feeling accomplished, Uchiha Gin stretched, feeling a refreshing sensation sweep through his body, instantly clearing the debuffs from the battle.
"Honestly, that wasn't necessary. I would've recovered with just a breath. Maybe save your effort next time~"
Uchiha Gin kindly reminded the system, though he wasn't sure if it could hear him.
Returning home, Senju Itama and Uchiha Hikari had temporarily called a truce, with no more of the chaos from earlier.
"Ah~ I'm going to rest now. You two should get to bed early too."
Exhausted from the day's events, Uchiha Gin yawned and headed upstairs for some well-deserved rest.
"Thud!~ Hmm? What's that milky scent?"
Back in his bedroom, without a second thought, he threw himself onto the bed. But as he breathed in, his sharp nose detected a strange, sweet smell.
Too lazy to investigate further, he gave up thinking about it and fell asleep, hugging the fragrant blanket.
The next morning, for the first time, the usually lazy Uchiha Gin didn't sleep until late, as he had something important to do today.
While washing up, he smelled something delicious from downstairs. After finishing his morning routine, he went down to find Senju Itama, who was wearing an apron and busy in the kitchen, humming a little tune as he worked. He seemed to have fully embraced this role, looking quite content.
"Hey kid, good morning."
Without any hesitation, Uchiha Gin pulled out a chair and sat at the table, eyeing the hearty breakfast spread before him with an eager appetite.
"Not bad, did you make this just for me?"
"No way! I eat this much every day, alright?"
Senju Itama, holding a spatula, immediately rushed out, pressing the hot utensil against Uchiha Gin's nose, blushing as he loudly denied it.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Uchiha Gin jumped back, clutching his nose, feeling both angry and amused.
Just as he was about to teach this brat a lesson, there was a knock at the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming~"
Uchiha Gin rushed to the door, momentarily forgetting about dealing with the brat Senju Itama.
"Sigh~ It's you?"
He eagerly opened the door, but standing there wasn't the generous cousin he had imagined.
Instead, it was his long-lost little cousin, Uchiha Izuna.
Disappointment filled his voice, tinged with annoyance.
"Cousin, you're finally back!"
Uchiha Izuna had visited several times in recent days, each time leaving disappointed.
Yesterday, his father told him Uchiha Gin had returned after completing a mission. Unable to sleep from excitement, Izuna came to visit first thing, before dawn.
"Come in."
Seeing the dark circles under his little cousin's eyes, Uchiha Gin opened the door, letting him in to talk.
"Have you eaten?"
Uchiha Gin sat back down at the dining table, while Senju Itama, knowing there was a guest, behaved himself in the kitchen.
"How could I have time to eat?"
Uchiha Izuna, anxious and frustrated, saw Uchiha Gin casually eating breakfast and nearly blew a fuse.
"Grrrrrr~"
But just as Izuna finished speaking, a loud grumbling came from his stomach, making the situation rather awkward.
"Heh, hear that? Your belly's growling~"
Uchiha Gin chuckled, pointing at the seat across from him.
"Let's eat first. You can tell me what's up afterward."
Embarrassed by his rebellious stomach, Uchiha Izuna resolved to fill it as punishment for betraying him at such a crucial moment.
The two of them devoured the entire breakfast spread in no time.
"Burp~ Cousin, you're my only hope now."
With his stomach full, Uchiha Izuna let out a big burp and raised his head, eyes full of hope, as he looked at Uchiha Gin, speaking in a serious tone.
"Stop beating around the bush. Get to the point."
Uchiha Gin, still picking his teeth, gave his cousin a look of annoyance. He hated when people dragged things out.
"It's about my brother! He hasn't left his room in three days. He hasn't even been doing his daily training."
Izuna, sensing Uchiha Gin's displeasure, shivered and hurriedly spilled the details.
"That's it? I thought it was something serious. He's probably just in his room doing... hand exercise~"
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So, I uploaded the wrong chaptera 🤣