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

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 – What You See Isn’t Always True, But I Really Am Not Me



Gin stared at the eerie old jailor before him in horror, unconsciously taking several steps back to open some distance between them.

I just wanted information… and he's coveting my body? Tch, damn old glass…

Even though he was swearing up a storm inwardly, for the sake of learning the truth of what happened six years ago, he couldn't show it. Forcing himself to keep a straight face, he spoke up stiffly:

"Thank you, senior, for… your attention. Then, let's move to the next question."

"Who was the one locked in the prison six years ago?"

Gin finally asked the question that had been gnawing at him.

"They called him…"

The old jailor let out a faint sigh. "…a traitor."

"A traitor?"

Gin's brows immediately knitted tighter. What exactly had happened back then, to involve a traitor?

"And this traitor…?"

He already had a vague suspicion in his heart as he asked.

"Just as you've guessed… a member of the Uchiha clan," the old jailor replied gravely.

"…Then that has nothing to do with the attack on the compound back then, does it?"

Gin felt his head ache. So the one locked up was an Uchiha traitor…

From what he understood, the Uchiha had always had internal strife — their sensitive emotions and deep attachments made conflict inevitable.

But the old man just chuckled darkly at Gin's muttering.

"You don't understand… they called that incident an attack. How laughable."

The jailor's cold laughter sent chills down Gin's spine.

"What do you mean?"

He couldn't help but ask — the old man clearly knew more than he was saying.

"They painted it as an attack… a convenient lie," the old man rasped, his words shocking.

Gin's mind reeled. He'd only meant to learn who was locked up back then, and now he'd stumbled onto an even darker truth.

"…But I was there," Gin whispered, clutching his pounding head. "I was the only survivor. I saw the Kaguya clan slaughter our women and children. I saw it all!"

The long-buried memory of that nightmare resurfaced, tearing at him. His breath came in ragged gasps, his eyes stained crimson, like a beast ready to kill.

"Are you so sure," the old jailor's voice cut through the haze, "that what you saw… was real?"

Gin froze.

"And how can you even be sure… that you really are yourself?"

Those words struck him like a thunderclap, exploding in his mind.

It felt as if someone had pried his skull open and was furiously stirring his brain with a stick.

His eyes went wide, blood vessels threatening to burst — and if one could see from outside, they'd notice that the two tomoe in his left Sharingan were spinning wildly, and… a third tomoe was slowly forming.

"AHHHHHHHH—!!"

The agony wracked him so violently that his screams echoed through the halls, startling the guards outside.

Uchiha Honoka and Uchiha Jirou rushed to the scene and found Gin collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat, his face pale, his eyes shut tight. They immediately tried to wake him — but no matter what they did, he remained unconscious.

With no other choice, they hoisted him onto their shoulders and ran for the clan's medical station.

And in his unconsciousness, Gin dreamed again.

A strange hospital room. A young girl curled in one corner. A slightly older boy sat silently in another.

The scene shifted — to a field of ruins, where the girl buried her head in the boy's chest, sobbing. His eyes were already overflowing with blood.

One last scene: the boy raised his head. In the sky hung a monstrous, blood-red moon.

At the medical station in the Uchiha compound, Gin lay on a bed, his expression shifting even in his sleep.

Izuna sat at his side, nervously glancing at Gin's pale face. He turned and asked the boy next to him:

"Big brother… is cousin dead…?"

Madara's face darkened, and he smacked Izuna hard on the head.

"Stop talking nonsense! Didn't Elder Byō just say this guy's built like an ox? Probably just an old injury flaring up."

Earlier, Byō had explained that Gin's unconsciousness was likely due to lingering damage from the mission where he'd been attacked by the Senju.

Outside the room, Uchiha Tajima stood with the round, sweating Elder En. The clan head's expression was cold as ice as he questioned:

"Elder En. What happened to Gin in the prison?"

Elder En wiped at his forehead, flustered. He truly didn't know — he'd visited Gin just yesterday, and he'd seemed perfectly fine.

As they spoke, Elder Byō emerged from the room. Both Tajima and En turned to him at once.

"His Sharingan has evolved again," Byō said, almost incredulous. "And… I detected that the seal is loosening."

The two men exchanged grim looks.

"Impossible," Elder En blurted. "Absolutely impossible. Forget the seal — even his eyes. Those were just some random ones I plucked off corpses. No way he could awaken a Sharingan with them!"

Tajima, however, was more concerned about the seal.

"That seal was my handiwork," he growled. "It cost me dearly. And now it's being eaten away?"

Byō shook his head. "I can only tell you that something is gnawing at it… but I don't know what."

"You will find out what secret Gin is hiding," Tajima ordered, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.

"…Is that really necessary?" Elder En muttered, still wiping his sweat. "A man without his own eyes isn't worth wasting time on. Right now our priority should be locating that… weapon."

At the mention of "weapon," even the elders' eyes betrayed fear.

"And how's the interrogation of the Sarutobi going?" Tajima asked.

"It will be done soon," En assured him. "With Ryuei personally handling it, not even the Sage of Six Paths himself could withstand his methods."

"Don't disappoint me again, Elder En," Tajima warned, his crimson eyes flashing. The pressure emanating from him left En struggling to breathe.

"And you," he added, turning to Byō, "finish analyzing the data that man left behind. When the 'weapon' emerges, we'll need chains ready. Otherwise…"

His icy gaze narrowed further — and for a fleeting moment, his eyes revealed a strange, four-pointed shuriken-shaped pattern.

"…otherwise the weapon may turn on its master."

The sight of those alien eyes left both elders holding their breath.

But then the tense atmosphere was broken by a voice shouting as the door burst open.

"Father! Cousin Gin woke up!"

The room's chill dissipated instantly as Izuna charged in.

"Elders, you're dismissed," Tajima said with a warm smile. "I'll go check on him."

The two elders practically fled.

"Izuna. Come."

Tajima pushed the door open and entered — just in time to see Gin sitting up on the bed, an odd look on his face.

But before Tajima could speak, Gin beat him to it — and his words were utterly outrageous.

"Uncle," Gin said with a perfectly serious expression. "Madara… is a perverted deviant. That's a sickness. He needs help."

(End of Chapter)

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