章節 1: Chapter 1: The Unchanging Person (False)
Konoha, Year 27
"Today is another peaceful day."
On the streets of Konoha, a man with naturally curly black hair strolled leisurely under the eaves of shops, with the carefree gait of a young man who seemed unbothered by his family responsibilities.
The man was handsome, but his dead-fish eyes ruined his entire demeanor, making him appear as though he deserved a beating.
Despite looking like an unreliable idler, the people around him didn't avoid him. An old man basking in the sun smiled and asked:
"A Yin, are you off to complete a mission?"
"No, just taking a stroll. I'm giving myself a day off today," replied the man with curly hair, Gin, as he stopped and answered nonchalantly.
After speaking, as if remembering something, he fumbled in his high-collared robe for a while, took out a lollipop, threw one to the old man, and took one for himself.
The old man frowned at the lollipop and said,
"We're too old to eat things like this."
"Really? I remember you used to like them," Ah Yin squinted at the old man, a strange emotion flashing in his lifeless eyes.
"Yeah, that was in the past," the old man smiled, though he didn't eat it. He still put the lollipop away.
"I'll save it for my grandson. He'll be a month old tomorrow. You're invited to the celebration."
"Why do you always want to drink? How can I afford that on a Genin's salary? I guess I'll have to catch some more cats," Ah Yin scratched his curly, chicken-coop-like hair in annoyance.
"Hey, don't forget to come."
"Have you decided on a name for your grandson? Let me help. I can guarantee it'll be an easy-to-raise name. How about calling him Goudan?" Ah Yin suggested, half-joking.
The old man looked at him silently.
"We've decided—Minato."
Ah Yin, who was still toying with name ideas, froze when he heard that. Something flickered in his mind for a moment.
"What's wrong? Don't like the name?" the old man asked.
Suddenly remembering the old man's dazzling blond hair in his youth, Ah Yin relaxed.
"No, just some old memories coming back."
Raising his head, Ah Yin glanced at the two contrasting rock carvings on the distant hill and sighed,
"I think your grandson has potential. Maybe he's the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths. Could even become Hokage one day. He'll definitely have a bright future."
The old man looked puzzled.
"But you haven't even seen him."
"I observe the stars at night," Ah Yin replied.
The old man glanced up at the scorching midsummer sun.
"Quite the constellation."
When he turned back, Ah Yin had disappeared.
"Tsk, still sneaking off without saying goodbye after all these years."
The old man shook his head and returned to his shop.
Meanwhile, Ah Yin continued wandering aimlessly, his lifeless eyes devoid of interest in anything.
"Master Yin, the clan meeting is about to start. Why are you still wandering around here?" A respectful voice suddenly called out behind him. A young, black-haired man knelt before Ah Yin.
"The clan leader isn't home, so why bother with a meeting? Why listen to the elders' nonsense? I'd rather take a stroll," Ah Yin replied casually, scratching his ear as though mocking the importance of the event.
The messenger seemed to expect this answer. He hesitated, eyes filled with a mix of fear and confusion, carefully choosing his words.
"Please don't make it difficult for me. I'm just here to notify you. Whether you attend or not is your choice. But the Great Elder asked me to remind you that you're still an Uchiha."
With that, he disappeared in a flash.
"Boring. They think they're ready to stir up trouble now that the white-haired guy is gone? Konoha's murky waters aren't something simple-minded people like them can navigate. And fighting for a position no one wants? Might as well join me in catching cats," Uchiha Gin muttered, rolling his lifeless eyes in the direction the messenger had gone.
The Hokage's office, under the Hokage Rock, was filled with smoke. A figure was buried in a towering pile of paperwork when the door suddenly burst open.
"Hiruzen! I've received reliable intel that the Uchiha clan is having another secret meeting today. I know the general agenda. It's time to act!" A handsome man in his thirties, with an X-shaped scar on his chin, slapped a document in front of the person working.
Hiruzen looked up, speechless, at his best friend and threw the document in the trash.
"You!!!" The younger Danzo widened his eyes in disbelief, nearly losing his breath.
"Danzo, don't focus all your attention on the Uchiha right now. The village has finally reached peace, and there's plenty of work to do. We can't afford internal strife," Sarutobi Hiruzen, the newly appointed Sandaime Hokage, said, puffing on his pipe to calm his friend.
"They're an innately evil clan. We mustn't underestimate them," Shimura Danzo replied harshly, but inwardly, he was pleased. *Hehe, finally caught them.*
"Shh!" Hiruzen glanced around cautiously, hushing Danzo at the mention of "innately evil."
Realizing his slip, Danzo's expression turned unnatural, but he stubbornly defended himself.
"You're Hokage now, what are you afraid of?"
"What's there to be afraid of?"
A lazy voice interrupted their conversation.
"I'm still afraid of that curly-haired guy with the big—"
Danzo, mid-sentence, froze in horror, realizing someone was standing behind him.
"Big what?"
"Big, uh, handsome guy," Danzo stammered, turning pale.
"Ah, isn't this little Danzo? Long time no see," Uchiha Gin patted Danzo on the shoulder with a grin.
"What've you been up to? Still tinkering with your 'root'? Got any openings? I'm short on cash lately."
Danzo's panicked expression satisfied Uchiha Gin, who gave him a playful pat.
"Just kidding!"
"Hey, Hiruzen, I'm here to take some D-rank missions. The Namikaze family's little one is having a full-moon banquet, and I need to earn some money," Uchiha Gin said, turning to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
With an unsurprised expression, Hiruzen pulled out some mission lists from his drawer and handed them to Gin.
"Got them ready for you. Are you sure you don't want a tougher mission? Your strength—"
"Strength? I'm just a Genin, the No. 1 Genin personally appointed by Hashirama. Don't you know how strong I am?" Gin replied cheerfully, flipping through the mission lists.
"These are perfect. I'm off. You two have fun."
After Gin left, Danzo sighed heavily.
"Why is he still like that?"
Hiruzen, also relieved, replaced the hint of fear in his eyes with a solemn expression.
"He still looks like he's thirty. All these years, since we were kids, he hasn't aged a day, right?"
"Yeah, never changes."
"Could that technique really be so powerful?"
Both men fell into deep thought. After all, there were few people left who knew the technique, and they had no way of verifying the truth.
---
**PS:**
The first chapter is just a prologue. The main text begins in the second chapter! Important things should be said three times.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票