The three returned to camp, where Ryouichi and Tsuru had already finished cleaning up and were waiting to depart.
When they saw Gin walking back with Dairou, the two exchanged a strange look. While Gin was off grabbing Hashirama, they sidled up to Dairou.
"Hey, Gin came to spar with you too, didn't he?" Ryouichi asked first. Dairou blinked, puzzled.
"Yeah… how'd you know?"
"And he said something about the clan head teaching him stuff, right?" Tsuru chimed in.
Seeing Dairou's surprised face, the two were certain he'd been played the same way.
"That guy just messes with us. Every time he 'sparred' he'd just throw his blade down and give up after a few moves."
"Not even! When he sparred with me he threw the blade down immediately!"
"Yeah, he's just mocking us."
Dairou's face shifted colors as he processed their words. After a moment he muttered, "So you're saying Gin pretended to ask for guidance but was just screwing with us?"
"Exactly!" the two said in unison.
Dairou's honest face flushed with shame and anger. "That bastard!" But then he tilted his head. "But why would he even bother?"
The three fell silent at that.
"Maybe he's just bored," came a languid voice. Uchiha Fenghuo, who'd been listening from the side, spoke up. "That kid… probably nothing left but his body."
"???" The three younger ones all stared at him, confused.
Before they could press for answers, Gin came back carrying the tightly-bound Hashirama, and the others quickly shut their mouths. Ryouichi and Tsuru looked up at the sky and down at the ground respectively, pretending to be fascinated with ants. Only Dairou still glared at Gin.
"Dairou-aniki, about earlier, I still have a few doubts—"
"Hmph." Dairou just turned and walked away with a look of disdain.
Gin blinked, confused.
"Move out," came Fenghuo's calm order, ignoring the sideshow entirely.
The land contested by the Uchiha and Senju lay within the future borders of the Land of Fire. The Senju homeland was to the east by the sea, adjacent to their distant cousins, the Uzumaki. The Uchiha were based in the west. Gin's group was now fleeing southwest along the coast.
The June sun blazed, but the proximity of the sea brought a faint coolness to the otherwise stifling air. According to Fenghuo's map, they were close to escaping Senju territory. Once they reached the Uzumaki shores, they would be safe.
At the rear, Gin carried Hashirama and idly chatted with the little captive. "Hey, kid, I hear you guys get along with the Uzumaki pretty well."
"Of course. We're cousins! The Uzumaki clan head visits all the time. Last time they were even talking about an arranged marriage."
As he spoke, Hashirama subtly squirmed, trying to keep his body parts away from Gin's warm hands.
Hashirama knew he couldn't run or kill himself, so he just gave up resisting. At least he was still alive thanks to Gin, even if the man's motives weren't exactly pure. Gin didn't mistreat him, though. He'd rough him up in a playful way, then hand him jerky so he wouldn't starve, even telling strange jokes that he didn't quite get but still made him laugh.
"Poor kid, already walking into the grave of love at your age," Gin muttered wistfully.
"You… you want to marry an Uzumaki woman too, don't you?" Hashirama accused, cheeks red. "They say the women are all fair-skinned beauties with that fiery red hair…"
Gin grinned teasingly. "Oh? You getting shy? Don't tell me you already like someone? Out with it."
"I-I don't! I don't like Sister Momoka at all!" Hashirama blurted, then froze when he realized he'd let a name slip.
Gin laughed. "Smart mouth for a little kid."
Furious and embarrassed, Hashirama turned away and shut his eyes. "You're evil! I'm not talking to you anymore!"
"Such a touchy brat," Gin chuckled, but inside he was already thinking about how to handle this little hot potato once they got back.
The excuse about the clan head's 'secret orders' would crumble once they were home, and Tajima would likely skin this kid alive.
"Wait… why hasn't the system marked the task complete yet? I've already saved the kid from Fenghuo and the others."
He called out to the system again in frustration. "Hey, system, when's the task gonna finish? I saved him already!"
A cold voice finally replied: "Task completion: 60%. You must continue protecting the target Hashirama until he returns safely to Senju territory."
Gin nearly coughed up blood. "You what?! You didn't say that before!"
"Task module was only partially loaded at the time of issue. Data was incomplete. Task details are now fully loaded: 'Rescue Hashirama from Uchiha Fenghuo's squad and protect him until he returns to the Senju territory.' Reward: 10 points, 1 random orb. Failure if Hashirama dies."
"…So the most important part wasn't even loaded yet?"
"Insufficient data bandwidth. Please improve host strength to improve system load speed," came the icy response.
"!???" Gin's jaw dropped in rage.
(End of Chapter)
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