"Card bound."
The Metabolism Accelerator card was gone. Despite searching Tobirama everywhere—except his pants—Uchiha Gin found nothing, only hearing the system's belated notification.
Tobirama, by dumb luck, had activated the hex card, becoming its sole owner.
It was just a yellow hex, no big loss—less effective than gear and limited to one binding. Useless to Gin, it was payment for Tobirama's cleaning.
"Feel anything different?" Gin asked, pressing his forehead against the flushed, squirming Tobirama.
"Let go! I'll bite you, you perverted ape!" Tobirama snapped, lunging at Gin's hand, ignoring the question.
"Pretty lively, huh?" Gin dodged effortlessly, stroking his chin. If only I could see his chakra.
A sudden chill hit his eyes, his vision sharpening. Tobirama's meridians and flowing chakra were crystal clear.
What the—? Raising his hands, Gin realized his eyes were like X-rays, piercing flesh to trace chakra and acupoints.
"Your eyes! What's with the cataracts?" Tobirama, fuming, noticed Gin's daze and moved to strike, only to gape at his eyes.
Cataracts? Gin rushed to the bathroom. His eyes glowed blue-white, but lacked the Byakugan's bulging veins.
Not quite Byakugan, yet it had its powers.
Puzzled, Gin returned, using his pseudo-Byakugan on Tobirama. A fiery chakra pulsed at Tobirama's heart, fueling his body—the card's effect. As long as he didn't overtax himself, he'd live long.
Relieved, Gin relaxed. Their lives were linked by a system mission. If Tobirama died, even naturally, Gin would fail and face erasure. Now, with the card, Tobirama's longevity extended the mission's timeline indefinitely.
Gin had checked the system's tasks. Post-upgrade, it was dormant, listing only "Save Senju Tobirama" with a "prerequisite" tag. Without completing it, no further tasks would unlock.
"Kid, may you live long and prosper!" Gin patted the sulking Tobirama's head, dead serious. He'd equip the kid with any life-saving gear first.
Tobirama: ???
The following days were a rare vacation for Gin. Only his cousins, Madara and Izuna, visited, leaving him blissfully undisturbed.
"Not bad, Izuna. Your shuriken skills outshine mine. I bow to you," Gin yawned, half-hearted, as Izuna clutched a shuriken, fuming.
"Teasing me daily fun for you, cousin?" Izuna, tired of Gin's "sparring" scams, saw through the ploy—just playful bullying with fake praise.
"Come on, you're a prodigy! Beating me's normal," Gin coaxed, desperate to keep his sparring partner.
"Hmph! No more fights!" Izuna refused future bouts, then relayed, "Oh, Father wants you today."
At Tajima's mansion, Gin pondered why his uncle summoned him. The sealing issue?
Knock, knock. He rapped on the study door.
"Enter," Tajima's voice called.
Tajima, scribbling at his desk, glanced at his nephew, pausing. "Gin, recovered?"
"All good," Gin nodded.
"Then back to work," Tajima said.
It was about his job. Though Gin had pawned off dungeon archive duties to Uchiha Ryosa, new prisoners arrived daily, and old ones died, demanding updates.
"Got it. I'll return tomorrow," Gin agreed, unable to slack further. With Izuna wise to his tricks, dungeon sparring suited him fine.
"Go," Tajima said, eyeing Gin's eyes, hesitating, then waving him off to resume work.
Uncle wanted to say something but didn't. Noticing Tajima's restraint, Gin scratched his curly hair, shrugging. It'd come up when Tajima was ready.
Time flew, years passed.
Gin settled into dungeon work, convincing Yan to assign Ryosa as his secretary, offloading archiving. He spent days in Dungeons 1 and 2, diligently "farming" fights.
Work, then backyard NPC spawns. Over years, he faced teenage Sasuke hundreds of times, netting Indra's Chakra fragments, C-rank Fire Releases, and his coveted Chidori.
Not always Sasuke—other canon ninjas appeared, like the Twelve Guardians' mentors, yielding ninjutsu and secret techniques. The biggest haul was from a masked white-haired ninja dropping Kamui fragments, though he often gave Earth Wall with dog heads.
In the backyard, Gin raised his hand, Chidori's screeching lightning sparking. A voluptuous woman spawned. He charged, aiming for her chest, but her pale arm blocked it.
Looking at her fair face and blonde hair, Gin frowned. Script's off. Usually, one Chidori ended it, dropping Palm Sage Technique or Chakra Scalpel fragments. Today, she fought back.
A diamond mark on her forehead glowed, black seals spreading. Seizing the casting window, Gin's eyes shifted to blue-white Byakugan, scanning her.
"Found it! Your weak point!"
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