Uchiha Ryōichi and the others had begun their assault on the Senju warriors protecting Senju Itama, while Uchiha Gin… was slacking off on the side.
This level of battle was still way out of his league — and he had no intention of becoming the shortest-lived isekai protagonist ever.
His gaze swept over the unfamiliar faces of the Senju before eventually locking onto the boy in the center — Senju Itama.
From a distance, he observed the poor kid who had such a tragic fate in the storyline, and recalled:
"Wait a minute… isn't this famous scene in the original? The one where Senju Itama gets surrounded and killed by five Uchiha?"
Suddenly, a familiar game-like loading sound echoed in Gin's mind — then time around him stopped.
Everything froze in place — the distorted faces of the warriors on both sides halted mid-expression.
Ding!
Host has encountered a key story character. System early-access mode initializing. Complete prerequisite tasks to unlock hidden features.
At that moment, Uchiha Gin nearly cried. Heaven hadn't forsaken him! The clichés of all those isekai novels… They were real!
Overcome with excitement, he mentally tried summoning the system. As soon as he did, a primitive-looking dialogue box popped into his view.
"Accept a prerequisite task?"
"Yes yes yes yes YES!"
Gin furiously spammed "Yes" in his mind.
Task Accepted: Rescue Senju Itama from Uchiha Fūka's group. Reward: 10 Points.
If Itama dies, the mission fails.
Upon reading the objective, Gin's blood pressure ran cold.
"Save that brat? Yeah, no thanks!"
Then he asked cautiously:
"What do these points even do?"
Complete a D-rank task daily to earn 1 point. Accumulate enough points to unlock the system shop. Once unlocked, the shop will drop random golden orbs daily.
"Unlock the shop? Golden orbs?"
Gin stared blankly at the system's explanation. Wasn't this just a cheap knockoff of a game from his past life?
"And what does early-access even mean?"
The system is not fully activated. The shop module is still loading. Points earned in early-access will carry over once the full system launches.
"So basically… grinding points now is useless?"
If the system wasn't fully functional, then the task's outcome hardly mattered.
And trying to save Itama now? He'd probably just get KO'd by Fūka and the others — if not executed on the spot, then dragged before Uchiha Tajima for punishment.
"Can I just… not accept this mission?"
Gin asked, testing the waters.
Mission already accepted. Cannot decline. Failure to complete will result in immediate termination of the host.
Termination??
What kind of system are you?! What year is this again?!
"When did I even accept it?!"
Gin shouted mentally, utterly confused.
"Yes yes yes yes YES!"
The system played back the scene of him excitedly spamming "Yes" earlier.
You idiot. You got baited by an ancient-tier scam system… Who wouldn't say yes when first handed a cheat system?
But the system didn't give him time to argue. Another prompt appeared:
Newbie gift pack incoming. Accept?
Gin really wanted to say no — but seeing as he'd already been tricked into accepting the task, there was no point in rejecting a freebie.
Received: Newbie Gift Pack x1. Open?
"Screw it," he muttered, and selected "Yes."
Congratulations, host has obtained: Heart of Steel Chest x1, Purple Orb x1.
Gin blinked.
"Points unlock shop, Heart of Steel, Purple Orb… wait a minute — is your system logo a penguin holding a golden frying pan?!"
Floating in front of him were two objects:
A large gray chest — looking exactly like the Heart of Steel item from a certain MOBA game.
A glowing purple orb, with a giant "?" in the center.
Gin was speechless. Seeing the blatant resemblance to his previous life's game, he seriously doubted this system's credibility. What if all its content was just outdated nonsense?
Still, he had no choice. He clicked the chest first.
Heart of Steel Chest:
Defeat opponents to gain "Heart Energy."
Lose a fight to gain even more Heart Energy.
Every four days, convert Heart Energy into a powerful reward.
(One fight per day max. Evolvable.)
"Okay, this is 100% that Heart of Steel synergy… and it's the Triple Steel version, too."
"Eh, not bad for a starter setup," he admitted.
No one could resist this kind of bait.
"If you have Steel, use Steel. If not — fake it 'til you Steel it!"
Next, he turned his attention to the Purple Orb, muttering:
"Oh spirits of fortune, Buddha almighty — GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD!!!"
With a dramatic slap, the orb burst into dazzling light — and then… vanished.
Nothing. Nada. Not even a pebble.
"It's EMPTY?!"
Gin started yelling.
"Trash system! Give me my money back! I'm uninstalling this thing!"
Just then, a message rang out in his head:
Ding. Backyard skill refresh: 1 random skill generated daily. Learn now?
"Backyard… skill refresh? What?"
Curious, he accepted.
Backyard Skill Refresh:
Each day, a random skill will spawn in the backyard of your home.
Skill is cast by a refresh NPC and cannot be controlled.
It cannot kill the host.
After the skill ends, there's a chance to obtain a copy or fragment.
Collect enough fragments to learn the skill.
"Wow, super useful… if I had a house."
He was currently a drifter. The so-called backyard might as well be in another dimension. At present, these items were utterly useless. The only way to survive the task… was to come up with another solution.
With the newbie rewards claimed, time suddenly began to flow again. Though it felt like ages inside the system, only a moment had passed outside.
Despite the system's uselessness, its existence gave Gin a sliver of hope — maybe he could survive long enough to witness the founding of Konoha.
"But first… I need to finish this damn mission. Otherwise, 'termination' makes it all moot."
Though the rewards weren't helpful now, Gin was still determined. Now that he had activated this idiotic system, he and Senju Itama were — for better or worse — in the same boat.
Nearby, Uchiha Fūka was steadily overpowering Senju Kōji. The outcome would be decided soon.
Ryōichi and the others were gradually wearing down the three remaining Senju. Because they had to protect the boy behind them, the Senju could only fight defensively.
Suddenly, one of the Senju spotted a gap in their encirclement. With a loud clap, he used Earth Release: Earth-Flow Wall to block Ryōichi and the others' line of sight.
Another Senju warrior seized the moment and hurled Itama out of the encirclement using brute strength, shouting for him to escape.
Launched dozens of meters away, Itama immediately understood — and without hesitation, he bolted toward the opening.
Unfortunately, the direction he ran… was exactly where Gin had been quietly standing around the whole time.
Ryōichi saw Itama escape and tried to give chase, but the Senju warrior who used Earth Release blocked him.
Left with no choice, Ryōichi could only hope — and then noticed something.
"Gin! He's running right at you! Take him down!"
The Senju warriors' eyes went bloodshot with rage — they hadn't expected another Uchiha lurking in ambush. One of them lashed out in panic, punching Ryōichi square in the chest with incredible force.
At the last second, Ryōichi turned, revealing a massive Fūma Shuriken strapped to his back. With a loud crash, the blow landed squarely on the weapon, sending him flying but not seriously injured.
He quickly counterattacked with a slash, and the two resumed their fierce battle.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Gin was now face-to-face with the approaching Senju Itama — and completely at a loss.
(End of Chapter)