In the end, despite all her earlier bluster, Itama didn't actually sleep in the same bed as Gin.
The moment they returned to the old house, she immediately chickened out, grabbing her blanket and scampering to the couch without even looking back.
"You sure you don't want the bedroom?"
Gin pulled off his shirt, his sculpted muscles catching the moonlight as he lazily glanced at her, confusion written on his face.
"I… I don't want to smell your old-man stench!"
Itama, her face flushed red all the way to her ears, turned away sharply as she clutched her blanket tighter. Her voice was stiff, though her words lacked bite.
For the first time ever, Gin was at a loss. He lifted his arms and sniffed at his pits. He didn't smell anything unusual.
"Nope. Here, check for yourself."
He leaned closer with a teasing grin. But Itama leapt back like a startled rabbit, scampering to the couch and curling up tightly under her blanket, leaving only her little head poking out as she glared at him warily.
"Tch. What a boring little brat."
Gin shook his head, slipped on some loungewear, and pushed the door open.
"I'm going to get some air. Rest up."
Out in the backyard, he lay on a wooden recliner. After a few days of missions, he hadn't even had a chance to grind skills. While waiting for his cooldowns, Gin tilted his head back, staring at the stars, and thought back to the original timeline.
He wasn't far off from the founding of Konoha now, was he?
If he really was immortal now, wouldn't he be able to watch the entire story of Naruto unfold, live?
As he mused about when he might finally meet that blond brat, a familiar golden glow suddenly lit up the yard.
Blonde, spiky hair. Whisker-like marks on a cheerful, youthful face, though right now those bright blue eyes were hollow and empty.
Konoha's crown prince, in the flesh!
Well now. Speak of the devil.
Before he could even get up for a closer look, the boy's dull eyes flared with a flash of clarity. Without hesitation, he charged at Gin, fist raised.
"…Does that mean if I think of someone, they appear?"
Gin casually sidestepped Naruto's attack, his mind already drifting elsewhere.
Maybe tomorrow he'd think of Hagoromo. Would the Sage of Six Paths himself show up?
He caught Naruto's fist mid-swing, but then his hand burned hot. A crimson chakra cloak burst into life around the boy, an ominous, violent aura filling the air.
"…Tailed Beast, huh?"
Gin narrowed his eyes, watching the fox-cloaked Naruto drop to all fours, his beastly chakra forming claws.
"Seriously? You call this a skill?"
The next moment, Naruto shot forward like a red streak of lightning, claw outstretched for Gin's face.
"Tch. You think a fox can stand up to me now?"
Gin's half-lidded eyes sharpened. If this were years ago, he might've just stood there and taken the beating. But now? Tailed Beast? Please. Just a dog.
He clapped his hands together. Green light flared between his palms as thick wooden branches erupted from the ground, twisting to ensnare Naruto.
The fox-cloaked boy weaved between them, eyes wild and feral, barely dodging each strike.
Not bad. But nothing special.
Gin watched him dart around his Mokuton (Wood Release) with mild approval.
"All right. Walk's over. Go to bed."
He smirked at the panting Naruto, earning a glare in return.
Oh? Even the system's NPCs had such realistic reactions now?
But still—NPC or not, time to cough up the skill drop.
Gin's eyes glowed scarlet as his Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) spun to life, black tomoe swirling as a wave of killing intent swept over the boy.
Naruto froze. Just for a second, Gin saw him hesitate, almost backing down… but then the boy's gaze hardened again as he stared defiantly into Gin's eyes.
Heh. Brave little thing.
But bravery wasn't enough.
The feral Naruto's eyes rolled back and he collapsed unconscious in an instant.
Ah… to be young and able to sleep anywhere.
The familiar system window appeared as Naruto's body vanished in a shimmer of light.
"Backyard random daily skill drop: Nine-Tails Chakra. You've obtained 1/100 fragments."
Gin raised an eyebrow. So it really could drop pieces of the fox's chakra? Though it'd take 100 pieces to assemble a full set. Not likely anytime soon.
But he wasn't disappointed. Tailed Beast power wasn't that useful to him anyway—better to keep grinding and refine his bloodlines.
Opening his long-neglected character sheet, he took a look:
Sharingan (max), Mokuton (S), Monster Strength (S), Uchiha Taijutsu: Hidden Arts (S), Chidori-ryū (S), Yin Seal (S-), Mutated Byakugan (S-), General Ninjutsu (A+)…
A perfectly balanced, thoroughly punchable Uchiha humanoid Gundam.
…He had no comment on that last part.
Flipping to the bloodline tab:
Trace Uzumaki (12/100)
Trace Hagoromo (2/100)
Everything beyond his Uchiha bloodline was just scraps.
The odds of pulling bloodline fragments from the steel-heart loot orb were abysmally low: 0.01%.
sigh… Becoming the godlike Ōtsutsuki of the mortal world was going to take a lot more grinding.
He shut the character screen and stretched, his nightly training done. Time for sleep.
Back inside, Itama was already out cold, sprawled on the couch with her blanket kicked to the floor and her limbs flung every which way.
Ah… it's hard being the dad here.
Gin draped the blanket back over her, yawning as he headed to the bedroom.
But as his door clicked shut, Itama's eyes quietly opened. Her clear gaze was full of complicated emotions.
At the same time, in Gin's mansion across town, Hikari shot up in bed, her crimson Sharingan scanning the dark.
But she found nothing.
"Am I just imagining things…?"
She deactivated her eyes and lay back down, grumbling.
But then a mocking voice sneered in the dark:
"Sleeping? At your age, you can sleep?"
Annoyed, Hikari sat up again, her Sharingan spinning as icy power flared.
"You hiding rat. Come out!"
Her overwhelming aura swept through the room, and with a yelp, a black shadow was forced out of her body, tumbling awkwardly before hovering in the air.
"Not bad… that Mangekyō really is terrifying."
The pale figure's voice was grim.
"Who are you? Why are you inside me?"
Hikari's eyes burned with fury.
But the shadow just sneered.
"Hmph. Pathetic loser, barking at me?"
"You coward. Show your true face!"
The shadow froze at her words, then hesitantly raised a hand to its face.
"…Wait. Is your Mangekyō really that good?"
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