Konoha: The Thirty-Year-Old Uchiha Can’t Be Bothered

After learning what he could, Uchiha Kage didn't linger and soon left.

Still thoroughly confused, Uchiha Gin couldn't piece together any real truth from the scraps of clues he had.

After weighing his options, he decided to just focus on his work for now.

Since he now understood the archives were organized by color, his efficiency doubled. Before long, he'd sorted the messy scrolls into neat piles.

Looking at the three piles in front of him, each in a different color, Gin began the next step.

Not only did he need to arrange the scrolls by block, he also had to clearly label each prisoner's record and compile an index for easy reference.

After thinking it over, he decided to start with the green scrolls.

"Shimura Shinji: of the Shimura clan. Poisoned the Uchiha clan's water source, resulting in the deaths of twenty-three Uchiha. Skilled in fuuton (wind release) and poisons."

Too despicable. Definitely belongs in Block One.

"Sarutobi Takenosuke: of the Sarutobi clan. Ambushed the Uchiha supply team, killing twelve and leaving five permanently disabled. Skilled in katon (fire release), doton (earth release), and kuchiyose no jutsu (summoning technique)."

Far too ruthless. Block One.

"Yamanaka Ichino: of the Yamanaka clan…"

After flipping through a number of green scrolls, Gin realized most of these prisoners came from clans that would later be well-known.

Even during the Warring States era, it seemed that growing as a civilian ninja was incredibly difficult — the elites were almost all clan-born shinobi.

There weren't many green scrolls. Anyone thrown into Block One was guilty of truly heinous crimes, and since they were generally strong and hard to capture, there were only a dozen or so of them.

Before long, Gin had finished sorting the green scrolls. He also reviewed the capture records, but most of them dated to before the incident six years ago — nothing suspicious there.

Scratching his curly hair, Gin turned his attention to the blue scrolls and kept at it, hoping to find something useful.

Unfortunately, halfway through he still hadn't seen anything noteworthy.

Most of the blue-scroll prisoners were from minor clans or were wandering shinobi — not particularly strong. Most had been caught spying or attacking lone Uchiha.

In fact, Kaguya Joshin's crime was the most severe among the blue scrolls, but due to his mental issues and inability to communicate, he'd been placed in Block Two.

Block Two had noticeably more scrolls than Block One. After going through about half of them, Gin's eyes were sore and his head was throbbing — exactly like he'd felt in his previous life when he didn't want to go to work.

Work should be balanced with rest… he told himself, setting the scroll aside and closing his eyes to slack off.

While he was resting, a cautious knock came at the door.

"Come in."

Gin immediately opened his eyes and grabbed a scroll to make it look like he was working.

It was Uchiha Rucha, whom he'd seen yesterday. The man peeked around to make sure no one else was in the room before stepping in and relaxing.

"Gin-dono, your dedication is truly a model for all of us!"

Seeing Gin seriously reading a scroll, Rucha laid it on thick.

"Not at all. I'm just doing my job," Gin replied modestly, setting the scroll down. "What brings you here, Rucha-dono?"

"Please, just call me Rucha. I don't deserve such respect."

"Very well. Then, Rucha — what can I do for you?"

After making sure no one else was around, Rucha stepped closer and said in a low voice,"Gin-dono, I've already found something on what you asked me about."

As soon as Gin had tasked him yesterday, Rucha had gone straight to work — questioning people throughout the dungeon. At last, his persistence paid off when an old guard let something slip.

"Go on," Gin said, raising his brows, impressed by how quickly Rucha had produced results.

"According to an old guard here, the dungeon wasn't always laid out like this."

He pointed at the dungeon map on the wall, indicating the area between Blocks One and Two.

"There used to be four blocks here, but six years ago, Elder En decommissioned one of them, leaving the three we have now."

Rucha traced a circle over the empty space between Blocks One and Two.

"So since it was decommissioned, it hasn't been used, right?" Gin asked.

"I couldn't say. But the old guard told me that, before it was shut down, that block secretly held one prisoner…"

A mysterious glint shone in Rucha's eyes.

"If it was secret, how did he know?"

Gin immediately found that detail suspicious — the guard seemed to know too much.

"I, uh, didn't ask…"

Rucha faltered under the question. He really hadn't thought about why the man had been so quick to tell a complete stranger something like that — maybe just because he'd hinted at being the new clan head's nephew's man?

"Never mind. Go on — what else did he tell you?"

Gin's instincts told him something about this mysterious old guard was off. His timing was just a little too convenient.

"He said that the prisoner who was put there never came back out. Not long after, Elder En declared the block unsafe and shut it down."

Rucha swallowed hard, as if his throat had gone dry.

"Who was that prisoner?"

Could it have been one of the people who attacked the clan six years ago?

"I asked, but after telling me that much, the old man wouldn't say another word," Rucha said awkwardly.

"Where is this guard now?"

Gin wasn't about to let this lead slip away.

"He's working cleaning duty in Block Three. For… personal reasons," Rucha added with difficulty.

"What kind of reasons?"

"…He's blind."

Rucha's eyes darted away sheepishly.

What???

The person who supposedly knew all this just happened to be a blind old man? That cast serious doubt on the credibility of the story.

No wonder Rucha had found something so quickly — he'd even grilled a blind guy for information.

"Thank you, Rucha. If you find anything else, let me know right away."

Even if this was just made up, Gin decided to keep the lead just in case.

"You honor me, Gin-dono. It's my privilege to serve you."

Rucha bowed low.

Gin frowned, recalling the original host's memories.

The original Uchiha Gin was temperamental and often bullied clan members under the protection of being the clan head's nephew.

But he hadn't been excessive toward those who bore him no ill will — so why was everyone so afraid of him?

"Rucha… what do the others really think of me?" Gin asked.

The question caught Rucha off guard. His eyes flicked away and he hesitated.

The last two days had made Rucha realize that Gin wasn't nearly as bad as the rumors, but what if this was just some sort of trap?

"You can speak freely, Rucha. You're one of mine now," Gin said warmly, patting his shoulder to reassure him.

"…Alright."

Rucha seemed to steel himself, his gaze taking on the air of a man about to face death.

After a long pause, he finally squeezed out:"As far as I know… Uchiha Gin… is just pure-born trash."

(End of Chapter)

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