Chapitre 1: The Unchanging Person
Konoha, Year 27
"Today is another peaceful day."
On the streets of Konoha, a man with naturally curly black hair was strolling leisurely under the eaves of shops, moving with the gait of a carefree young man. Despite his relaxed demeanor, the man's handsome features were marred by his lifeless, dead-fish eyes, giving him a look that made people feel he deserved a beating.
Although he appeared to be an unreliable idler, the people around him did not avoid him. An old man, basking in the sun, asked with a smile,
"Gin, are you heading somewhere to complete a mission?"
"No, I'm just taking a stroll. I want to give myself a day off today," the curly-haired man, Gin, replied nonchalantly as he stopped walking.
After speaking, he seemed to remember something. He fumbled inside his high-collared robe for a long time, eventually pulling out a stick-like object, which he threw to the old man before taking one for himself.
The old man frowned at the lollipop tossed to him and said,
"We're too old to be eating this kind of thing."
"Really? I remember you used to like it," Gin replied, squinting at the old man with a strange emotion flickering in his otherwise lifeless eyes.
"Yeah, that was in the past," the old man said with a smile. Although he didn't eat it, he still put the lollipop away.
"I can save it for my grandson. He'll be one month old tomorrow. I'll treat you to the celebration."
"You just want an excuse to drink again. How can I afford such a meal on a Genin's salary? I guess I'll have to catch some more cats to make ends meet," Gin muttered, scratching his curly hair, which resembled a chicken coop, in annoyance.
"Hey, don't forget to come," the old man reminded him.
"By the way, have you decided on a name for your grandson? How about I help? I guarantee it'll be easy to raise him with the name I choose. How about calling him Goudan?"
The old man stared silently at the slightly crazy man.
"The name's already decided. He'll be called Minato."
Gin, who had been mulling over the child's name, was stunned when he heard the chosen name. A series of memories seemed to flash through his mind.
"What's wrong? Don't you like the name?" the old man asked.
Remembering the old man's dazzling golden hair from his youth, Gin sighed in relief.
"It's nothing, just some old memories haunting me."
He looked up at the distant hilltop where two very different rock carvings stood and sighed.
"I think your grandson has a unique bone structure. He might even be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths. He's got the potential to be Hokage and will definitely have a bright future."
The old man was puzzled.
"But you haven't even seen him yet!"
"Just watch the stars at night," Gin replied cryptically.
The old man, bewildered, glanced up at the scorching midsummer sun. When he turned back, the man beside him had disappeared.
"Tsk, after all these times, you still leave without saying goodbye," the old man muttered, shaking his head before returning to his shop.
On the other side, Gin continued to wander aimlessly, his dead-fish eyes showing no interest in anything.
"Master Gin, the clan meeting is about to start. Why are you still hanging around here?" A voice suddenly called out. A young man with black hair knelt behind Gin, speaking to him respectfully.
"The clan leader isn't even at home. Why bother with a clan meeting? Why listen to those so-called elders spouting nonsense? I'd rather take a stroll," Uchiha Gin replied dismissively, sneering at the idea of attending such an important event.
The messenger seemed to have anticipated this response. He hesitated, his eyes filled with seven parts fear and three parts confusion. Choosing his words carefully, he said with some trepidation,
"Please don't make things difficult for me. I'm just here to notify you. It's your choice whether to attend. But the Great Elder said to remind you that you're still an Uchiha."
With that, he vanished in a flash.
"This is so boring. Do they really think they can cause trouble just because that white-haired guy is gone? The murky waters of Konoha aren't something you straightforward folks can navigate. You're all fighting for the Hokage position, which even dogs wouldn't want. Why not just join me and fight instead?" Uchiha Gin muttered to himself, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
At the Hokage's office beneath Hokage Rock, the room was filled with smoke as a figure worked on a pile of documents that towered over him. Suddenly, the door was pushed open.
"Hiruzen, I've received reliable information that the Uchiha clan is holding another secret meeting today. I have a report on the general content. It's time to take action!" A handsome man in his thirties, with an X-shaped scar on his chin, slapped a document onto the desk of the person working on it.
The disturbed person looked up at his best friend, exasperated, and promptly tossed the document into the trash.
"You!!!" The young Danzo Shimura's eyes widened in disbelief, nearly choking on his words.
"Danzo, don't focus all your attention on the Uchiha clan right now. The village has finally entered a period of peace, and there's a lot of work to be done. We can't afford any major incidents within the village at this time," Sarutobi Hiruzen, the newly appointed Third Hokage, said as he smoked his pipe, trying to calm his friend.
"They're a clan born of evil. We mustn't underestimate them," Shimura Danzo said, his tone venomous, though inwardly he was quite pleased with himself.
Heh, I've finally caught him slipping!
"Shh," Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly hushed him, warily glancing around as he heard the words "born of evil."
Shimura Danzo, realizing his mistake, shifted uncomfortably but stubbornly retorted,
"You're the Hokage now, and you're still afraid?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" a lazy voice suddenly interrupted.
"I'm afraid of that curly-haired guy with the big—" Shimura Danzo was cut off mid-sentence when he suddenly realized a figure was standing behind him. He froze in horror.
"Big what?" the voice asked.
"Big... big handsome guy," Danzo stammered, his face flushing with panic.
"Hey, isn't this Little Tuan? Long time no see," Uchiha Gin said with a smile, casually touching Shimura Danzo's shoulder.
"What have you been up to lately? Still tinkering with that root of yours? Need any help? I'm a little short on money."
Danzo's panicked expression only deepened as Uchiha Gin patted his shoulder.
"Just teasing you!" Gin laughed.
"Little monkey, I'm here to take on some D-rank missions. The old man from the Namikaze family has become a grandfather and invited me to a full-moon banquet. I need to earn some cash."
Sarutobi Hiruzen, unsurprised, pulled out a few task lists from his desk drawer and handed them to Uchiha Gin.
"I've got everything prepared for you. But are you sure you don't want to take on a more difficult mission? With your strength—"
"What do you mean, with my strength? I'm just a Genin—the No. 1 Genin personally appointed by Hashirama. You should know how strong I am!" Uchiha Gin said, flipping through the task list with satisfaction.
"These are good. I'll be off now. You two best friends can have fun together."
After Uchiha Gin left, Shimura Danzo let out a long sigh of relief, his expression heavy.
"Why is he still like this?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, too, breathed a sigh of relief. A hint of fear lingered in his eyes, replaced by a solemn expression.
"He still looks about 30 years old. It's been so many years. Ever since we can remember, he's always looked like this, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he never changes."
"Could it be that the technique is really that powerful?"
Both of them fell into deep thought. After all, there were only a few people who knew the technique, and they had no way to verify the answer to this question.
PS:
The first chapter is just a prologue. The main story begins in the second chapter!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone