"Ugh!"
Uchiha Izuna looked up at the chilling, sharp wooden branch overhead, instinctively closing his eyes as his life flashed before him, reliving the people and events of his short life.
Faces of his father, elder brother, friends, and others raced through his mind, finally settling on a collection of unspeakable books.
Sigh, he thought, if I die now, what will happen to my hidden collection?
If anyone finds it while sorting my belongings, my reputation will be utterly ruined.
"Cousin!"
As Izuna awaited his fate, he realized that the wooden branch above him hadn't struck.
Instead, he heard his older brother's astonished voice.
Opening his eyes, he saw a sight he would never forget.
Somehow, Uchiha Gin, previously dazed, now stood before him, his eyes full of life, blocking the attack with his hands pressed against the sharp wooden branch held by Senju Hashirama. Though his palms were pierced and bleeding, he held firm, not retreating a single step.
Crimson blood flowed down his arms, forming a small pool at his feet.
"Hey, little cousin, did you see your cousin's gallant stand?" Gin managed a faint smile, the three tomoe in his sharingan slowly spinning as he turned his head slightly, speaking in a casual tone.
"I… I closed my eyes just now," Izuna admitted truthfully, moved by his cousin's sacrifice but momentarily lost for words.
"Tch! This is one of my rare shining moments, and you missed it!" Gin fumed, feeling slightly betrayed by his little cousin's missed opportunity to witness his valor.
"Cousin, hurry up and escape!" Uchiha Madara, restrained nearby, watched Gin's self-sacrifice with a mix of relief and urgency, urging him to flee while Izuna was safe.
Gin raised an eyebrow at Madara's plea, tightened his grip on the wooden branch, and, with a sharp snap, broke it.
Flicking the blood from his hand, Gin positioned himself firmly, staring unflinchingly at Hashirama with a determined gaze. "Ha! Since when does a big brother abandon his kin and run?"
"Cousin, he's too strong!" Izuna and Madara called out, realizing that Gin intended to stay.
Though his sudden burst of strength was impressive, they knew it wouldn't be enough against Hashirama.
But Gin ignored their pleas. His usually blank, sleepy eyes were now filled with battle intent as he focused on the brothers before him, his lips curling into a slight smirk. "Brothers, watch closely. This is your cousin's way of embracing youth!"
With that, Gin's body emitted a brilliant blue chakra that rose like flames, catching Hashirama's attention.
"So, you've been hiding this power all along?" Hashirama muttered, slightly surprised.
"Come at me!" Gin challenged, stretching out a hand in a taunting gesture.
Hashirama scoffed, clapping his hands together as countless wooden branches erupted from the ground, surging toward Gin with unstoppable momentum.
"Don't think you're the only one with this technique," Gin said coldly, clapping his hands to summon a similar forest of wooden branches from the earth.
The two forests collided with a thunderous crash, their branches entwining and clashing, neither giving way.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!" Hashirama summoned a fearsome wooden dragon, riding atop its head as it opened its jaws wide, lunging at Gin.
"Watch out, cousin!" Izuna and Madara cried out as they watched the battle, amazed to see Gin fighting toe-to-toe with Hashirama, a sight that kindled a faint hope in their hearts.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!" Gin countered, summoning a dragon of his own that charged forward, clashing head-on with Hashirama's.
The two dragons entwined in a vicious struggle, snapping at each other with ferocity.
"Interesting," Hashirama said, eyes glinting with excitement as he observed Gin's determination. "An Uchiha besides Madara with this much spirit."
Gin simply chuckled, confidence exuding from his every move.
Watching the battle, Izuna and Madara noticed Gin's trembling legs and sweat-soaked back, realizing that he was pushing himself to his very limits just to protect them.
"Enough playing around, brother. Finish him!" Tobirama, watching with arms crossed, decided it was time to end this, calling out to Hashirama.
"Alright," Hashirama agreed, retreating a few steps, his expression hardening as he glanced at the three Uchihas. "Madara, none of us wanted this outcome."
"Hashirama!" Madara spat defiantly, though he remained bound in wooden restraints.
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!" A towering wooden golem appeared, casting a massive shadow.
Madara's eyes widened, recalling the fear this creature once instilled in him.
"Cousin, please escape! You're no match for him!" Madara implored as the giant closed in.
Gin gave his cousins a resolute look, his chakra glowing a determined green. "The only way to overcome fear is to face it head-on."
"Cousin, no!" Izuna cried as he watched Gin charge at the looming golem with a determined smile.
From his hands, Gin drew a strange, flashlight-like object, raising it above his head as his chakra flared around him. "Ultra…Man!" he shouted, enveloped in a blinding green light.
A massive, imposing figure emerged from the smoke, standing tall and poised.
"Is that…?" Izuna and Madara looked on, stunned.
The enormous green figure adopted a peculiar stance, its large eyes staring directly at Hashirama's golem as it issued a challenging gesture.
"Enough of this!" Hashirama, unable to resist the taunt, commanded his golem to charge, and the two giants clashed with a powerful explosion, sending fragments of wood flying.
"Can cousin really win?" Izuna wondered, watching the fierce battle.
"Believe in him," Madara said, watching intently, struck by the grand scale of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Hashirama, standing atop his golem, exchanged a subtle glance with Gin. The two giants continued their intense battle, until suddenly, Gin leaped from his titan's chest, aimed directly at Hashirama.
"This is it! Go, cousin!" Izuna and Madara cheered in unison as Gin took his final shot, prepared to end the battle and claim victory.
Hearing Uchiha Gin's shout, the surrounding Uchiha members empathized and looked excitedly at the figure surrounded by a dark and ominous aura of ocular power, hoping he would use the clan's strength to defeat the arrogant Senju Hashirama.
"Strike fear into the Senju, let our clan's power prevail!"
"Big brother, be careful! Look away now!"
Senju Tobirama, with his short white hair, added his own flair to the scene below, apparently inspired by the director's recent advice—this guy had potential too.
When Senju Hashirama heard his brother's warning, he didn't hesitate to shift his focus to Uchiha Gin's lower body, charging his fists with strength to land a powerful blow on this hard-to-find target.
"Where are you looking?"
Just as Hashirama was about to punch the incoming Uchiha Gin, a playful voice whispered in his ear, causing him to feel a chill down his spine.
Thud!
Before he could fully turn his head, a fist filled with monstrous strength smashed directly into his earnest, handsome face, distorting his features instantly.
"Yes!"
Watching Uchiha Gin's feint, Uchiha Izuna shouted excitedly.
"Huh?!"
Uchiha Madara, on the other hand, looked worriedly at the two people atop the wooden giant, caught in a dilemma—both sides were precious to him!
Thump!
As Hashirama was struck and knocked down, Uchiha Gin, who was free-falling, transformed into a piece of deadwood upon impact with the ground.
The real Senju Hashirama, hit with such force, shot into the ground like a cannonball, landing far away and sending up a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled, Hashirama lay in the crater, unconscious, sprawled out in a pose that resembled Yamcha's signature collapse—unmoving, his fate unclear.
Huff... Huff... Huff...
Uchiha Gin knelt on top of the wooden giant, breathing heavily, his eyes filled with irrepressible excitement.
"It worked! We're almost finished!"
Rumble...
The giant beneath his feet began to crumble with its master's defeat. Gin, struggling to stay upright, jumped down beside the unconscious Hashirama, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious light.
"Cousin, you're amazing! Finish him off!"
Uchiha Izuna, unable to contain his joy, shouted at the victorious Uchiha Gin.
"Cousin, the GOAT!"
"Cousin, wait…"
Uchiha Madara, caught between conflicting emotions, wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin.
If someone's trying to kill you, showing mercy might not be the best idea, right?
Uchiha Gin, with a calm expression, drew a decorative long sword, prepared to finish off the fallen Hashirama.
"Haha!"
Izuna burst out laughing at the sight of the glinting blade, unable to suppress his glee any longer.
"Gin-san… actually won!"
From the corner, Uchiha Haruka's beautiful eyes widened in surprise, seeing Gin unharmed. She felt a weight lifted from her heart.
Wait, why hasn't the binding on her from Hashirama's Wood Release been lifted, even though he's down?
The three captives ensnared by the Wood Release were oblivious: Izuna, caught up in the execution, had forgotten his binds, while Madara was lost in thought, his body entangled by branches.
"Gin-san, look out!"
Disregarding the pain from the thorns drawing her blood, Haruka forced herself upright, shouting with all her strength at Uchiha Gin.
"Huh? What's Haruka saying?"
Gin, though aware, turned around with a confused expression.
The next moment froze everyone's excitement as though their hearts had plunged into ice.
Squelch…
A chilling sound pierced the silence, and Gin felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Looking down, he saw a blade protruding through his chest, its glint blinding him.
Thud!
A puff of smoke rose as the supposedly unconscious Hashirama in the crater turned into a dead piece of wood.
"Wah—"
Blood gushed from Gin's mouth as he turned his head slightly.
Behind him, a slightly disheveled Hashirama stood with the blade pressed against Gin's back, his eyes closed, betraying no emotion.
"I… actually got stabbed in the back."
"Sorry, my dream is not yet complete—I can't fall here."
Even in a dramatic ending, Hashirama stayed true to his character, adding a final touch.
As Gin collapsed to the ground, blood continued to flow from his chest, forming a tragic yet beautiful scene like a painting, full of the sorrow of a curtain call.
BOOM!!!
After a moment of silence on the battlefield, three overwhelming bursts of chakra shot up, mixing with dark and ominous ocular power, sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Haha… Cousin, don't joke around. Stand up already."
Izuna was the first to speak, his head lowered as he laughed hoarsely.
Slowly raising his head, he whispered to Gin's body, hoping he'd stand up and crack a joke, just like when they practiced dueling.
Two streams of blood tears trickled down Izuna's cheeks as his dark pupils turned blood-red, a haunting design rotating within. As he spoke, a cold aura condensed behind him, seemingly ready to burst out.
"Damn it!"
Madara stared intently at Hashirama, whose hands were still stained with Gin's blood.
Even as his eyes were blurred by tears, he didn't blink, consumed with regret.
If he'd been just a little stronger, Gin would still be alive.
He'd vowed to protect his family, yet now, in a blink, they were worlds apart.
The helplessness filled him with remorse, and as his three tomoe spun with his emotions, they transformed into a similarly haunting pattern.
"It's not real; it's all fake."
In the corner, the girl, bleeding from the thorns piercing her, looked on with hollow eyes, her violet hair drenched in sweat. Staring blankly at Gin's unmoving body, she muttered to herself.
As her feelings of emptiness grew, her eyes turned blood-red, three fledgling tomoe spinning. When her emotions peaked, her bloodline's restraint broke.
Two streaks of blood tears slid down her face, and her three tomoe faded into a scarlet three-leaf clover, a sinister aura mixed with a faint, mysterious energy.
Faking death on the ground, Gin quietly opened one eye, sensing the conditions of the others around him.
Seeing even his young disciple awakening the Mangekyo, he couldn't believe his luck.
"Is this a buy-two-get-one deal? Unexpected gain?"
"Calling the director! Calling the director! Time to wrap this up!"
Switching back to the chat, Gin unblocked the director and shouted in the group chat. If he didn't come soon, things would get out of hand.
Just look—Izuna was about to awaken a Gundam, and Haruka seemed ready to unleash some strange technique.
Somebody, hurry up!
"Got it, got it!"
The director, who'd been watching from afar, nudged Uchiha Tajima beside him.
"Uncle, it's done!"
"Mm-hmm, I sensed it—but why are there three Mangekyos? Did you awaken one too?"
Barely able to make out the scene, Tajima squinted as he stood up, wanting to see clearly but inadvertently activating his Mangekyo and straining his eyesight.
"Not me, it's little Haruka."
Gin waved his hand hastily, making it clear he wouldn't touch such dangerous things.
"Oh, seems like your little disciple is fond of you~" Tajima smirked, nudging Gin with a knowing look.
"Don't start with that nonsense. My relationship with Haruka is pure! Besides, her mother and I are as close as Goku and Chichi; I wouldn't overstep those bounds!"
_
New entry: This Danzo Is Weird
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New. 220 adv ch of This Danzo Is Weird
1. 250 adv ch of Talent System In Naruto
2. 560 adv ch of Qian Renxue's Younger Brother
3. 270 adv ch of Uchiha Madara's Cousin
4. 163 adv ch of WDQK: Divorcing Ling Qingzhu (Complete)