Back at camp, Uchiha Ryoichi and Uchiha Hizuru had erased their traces and were ready to move out.
Spotting Uchiha Gin and Uchiha Tarou, they exchanged odd glances. While Gin went to fetch Senju Banma, they cornered Tarou.
"Did that guy Gin ask you to spar?" Ryoichi started.
Stunned, Tarou replied, "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Did he say the clan head taught him something?" Hizuru added.
Tarou's shocked look confirmed it—Gin had played the same trick on him.
"He's just messing with us. Calls it a spar, then surrenders after a few moves," Ryoichi said.
"Worse—he threw his sword down against me," Hizuru scoffed.
"He's mocking us."
Tarou, dazed, caught on. "So, Gin's pretending to learn from us but just screwing around?"
"Exactly!" Ryoichi and Hizuru nodded in unison.
Tarou's honest face flushed red, then purple. "That jerk!"
Curious, he asked, "What's he after?"
Silence fell.
"Maybe he's just bored," Uchiha Fuka, eavesdropping, drawled. "That kid's probably just an empty shell now."
"???" The trio blinked, confused.
Before they could probe, Gin returned, hauling the bound Banma. They clammed up.
Ryoichi stared at the sky, pretending something fascinating was up there. Hizuru studied ants marching at his feet. Tarou just glared at Gin.
"Tarou, my friend, about earlier—I still have questions…" Gin began.
"Hmph!" Tarou stormed off, radiating disdain.
"o((?﹏?))o" Gin stood, baffled.
"Move out!" Fuka barked, ignoring the drama.
The Uchiha and Senju contested lands lay in what would become the Land of Fire. The Senju's territory was east, near the coast, close to their distant kin in the Land of Whirlpools. The Uchiha's lands were west. Gin's team, starting from the east, now fled southwest along the shoreline.
June's sun blazed, but the coastal breeze cooled the trudging team.
Fuka's map suggested they were nearing the edge of Senju territory.
If they escaped, they'd shake their pursuers and reach the Land of Whirlpools' coast—safe at last.
At the rear, Gin chatted idly with the carried Banma. "Heard you Senju are tight with the Uzumaki from the Land of Whirlpools."
"Of course! They're our cousins. Their clan head visits our lands often. Last time, he even talked about arranging a betrothal," Banma boasted, subtly squirming to keep his sensitive spots from Gin's warm hands.
Knowing escape or suicide wasn't an option, Banma gave up resisting. He'd likely die in Uchiha lands—might as well live day by day.
Over days, he'd learned Gin was why he was still alive, sparing him when the others wanted him dead. Gin's motives seemed shady, but he didn't mistreat him.
Sure, Gin bonked him during spats, but afterward, he'd share jerky (to keep him from starving). He told weird jokes Banma didn't get but laughed at (to stay cheerful and live longer). He carried him without complaint (to avoid someone else accidentally killing him). Banma started seeing Gin like his revered older brothers.
"Poor kid, so young and already bound for love's grave," Gin teased, sighing.
"You want an Uzumaki wife too, huh? They live on misty islands—pale-skinned beauties with fiery red hair. Tsk, talk about tempting," Gin goaded, smirking at Banma's flush.
Blushing, Banma turned away, ears burning. "I-I don't want an Uzumaki girl! They're all violent maniacs!"
"Oh, getting shy? Got a secret crush? Spill it," Gin pressed, bored and playful.
"No! I don't like Momo-nee secretly!" Banma blurted in a panic, revealing a name.
"Ha! Little guy's got big feelings!" Gin laughed as Banma wished for a hole to hide in, tricked so easily.
"You evil Uchiha!" Banma yapped, fuming. "I'm done with you!" He shut his eyes, silent.
"Kid can't take a tease," Gin chuckled, shaking his head, pondering what to do with Banma post-mission.
His initial bluff about the clan head's orders would crumble once they reached Uchiha lands and Tajima confronted him. Banma might face a gruesome end.
"The task said save Banma from Fuka and the others. I've done that—why isn't it done?" Gin mused.
The task's brief description offered no clues. He was caught between two fires: returning home with the task incomplete risked death; freeing Banma secretly might spare his life but ensure a miserable future under Tajima's wrath.
"Ugh, why'd I get stuck with this ancient relic of a system?" he groaned.
Otherers got OP ninjutsu, god-tier gear, or stat boosts that sent them soaring. Him? A chest that opens every four days, reset by a system penalty after one win and one loss. A skill that nearly scared him to death, with 72 hours of Itachi torment yielding one fragment—needing 39 more rounds.
Days passed, no strength gained, just a Damocles' sword dangling overhead. Was there a more patheticer?
"System, when's my task done? I saved Banma!" he pleaded mentally.
"Detected host task completion: 60%. Protect target Senju Banma until he returns to Senju territory to complete. Reward: 10 points, 1 random orb. Banma dies: Task fails."
The silent system finally answered.
"&%￥%@￥&…!" Gin raged internally, then calmed. "The original task didn't say protect him back to Senju lands!"
"System was loading; 80% content unloaded, causing task data gaps. Task issuance module now complete. Task: Save Senju Banma from Uchiha Fuka and others, 'protect him back to Senju territory.' Reward: 10 points, 1 random orb. Banma dies: Task fails."
"The critical part was the unloaded bit?!" Gin fumed.
"Insufficient bandwidth. System load speed tied to host's strength," it replied coldly.
"!???"
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