The sun set over the horizon.
In the Land of Fire, in the Hidden Leaf Village, at the Uchiha Clan's compound—
"Boss, give me a bento box!"
Gin, dressed in a simple black T-shirt and shorts, had the iconic Uchiha fan crest displayed proudly on his back.
He stood at the counter, drooling over the bento boxes on display.
Although honestly, even without wearing anything that showed his clan, it wouldn't have mattered much.
Normally, no villager dared to step into Uchiha territory anyway.
"Uchiha Gin, you disgrace of the Uchiha clan!!"
An angry shout snapped Gin out of his daze.
But it wasn't the store owner who had yelled—it was a little brat who came striding out from inside the shop.
The owner's son, Uchiha Yahika.
"Forget it," Gin muttered, shaking his head. He decided against buying the bento. He could just throw something together with whatever he had left at home.
Seeing Gin completely ignore him, Yahika continued to jeer.
"Acting like you didn't hear me won't change anything! You failed the ninja exam again, didn't you?"
Gin grinned, baring his teeth proudly and giving a big thumbs-up.
"Right on!"
Yahika's face turned purple with rage. How could someone be so shameless?
Since when had the Uchiha clan produced a member who couldn't even pass the basic ninja exam?
"You bastard! Do you have any pride left as an Uchiha?!"
"Hey, before you continue—maybe you should look behind you," Gin interrupted casually.
But Yahika refused to fall for it.
"Yeah right, like I'm falling for that old trick!"
He knew exactly what would happen if he turned around: Gin would vanish, just like he had so many times at school.
"You little punk! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
A huge hand clamped onto the back of Yahika's neck, making him flail around and wail in panic.
It was the store owner, a middle-aged man with a limp.
Uchiha Nogi.
"I'll deal with you later," Nogi growled, tossing Yahika back inside the shop before turning back to Gin with a smile.
"Ignore him, Gin. He needs a good beating. Don't worry about failing this time. Just keep trying."
He handed Gin a carefully prepared bento box.
"Here, don't go hungry."
"Uncle Nogi, how much for this?" Gin asked.
"No charge. Take whatever you like."
"Thanks, Uncle," Gin said, nodding gratefully. As he walked away, he waited until he was a fair distance off before pulling out a fifty-ryō coin and casually tossing it back toward the counter, letting it arc through the air and land with a clink.
"This kid..." Nogi chuckled, picking up the coin and shouting after him, "You gave too much!"
"Save it for next time!" Gin's voice echoed back.
Watching Gin's figure disappear into the distance, Nogi's face grew complicated.
"What a shame..."
His parents had been jonin—elite ninja—yet their son had no talent for ninjutsu at all.
In a clan like the Uchiha, obsessed with strength, life wouldn't be easy for a failure. But there was nothing Nogi could do except sigh heavily.
Yahika came back, rubbing his sore head.
"Why, Dad?!"
Why treat a useless guy better than your own son? Yahika was his real kid! Sometimes it felt like his dad liked Gin better.
"You brat!" Nogi shouted, rolling up his sleeves. Yahika realized what was coming and tried to bolt—but too late. He got grabbed again.
Nogi picked up a broom nearby and started whacking him, scolding between strikes.
"Your old man's life was saved by Gin's father! And you still dare to treat Gin like that?! Don't you know he's even helping our shop's business?!"
But Yahika couldn't hear a word through the flood of pain.
"Stop hitting me! I get it, I get it!"
"You'll learn respect today if it kills me!"
Whack, whack, whack—the harsh sound of the broom connecting made passersby wince.
Meanwhile, Gin's trip home wasn't exactly peaceful either.
Out of nowhere, a group of little sprouts—kids not even old enough for the Academy—surrounded him, skipping in circles and singing:
"Uchiha pride, Uchiha Gin,Uchiha's shame, can't pass the ninja exam!"
Instead of getting angry, Gin hummed along with their tune, not caring about the lyrics at all.
It was reality, after all. Getting insulted wouldn't make a piece of him fall off.
"Hmmhmm"
He even started dancing along with them. Not surprising, since he was still only twelve years old.
Passing Uchiha clansmen sneered, scoffed, or sometimes gave him pitying looks.
But Gin just bounced happily to the rhythm of their teasing, his mood lifting.
The little kids, however, were getting frustrated.
They were here to mock him, not to be his backup dancers!
"Bleh!" they all stuck out their tongues and ran off.
Gin didn't mind. He skipped all the way home.
"A kid should experience a kid's joys, after all," he chuckled.
Even if the atmosphere wasn't exactly friendly, entertaining himself was good enough.
At home, he lit three sticks of incense for the parents he had lost in the wars of this world.
"Not exactly the custom here... but it feels right," Gin muttered, looking up at the black-and-white photos of his parents.
He felt deeply grateful to them.
In his past life, he had died in a stupid accident—crossing the street without looking, getting nailed by a construction truck.
His promising life had ended just like that.
When he opened his eyes again, he was here, in the chaotic world of Naruto, born into the Uchiha clan.
Talk about asking for death. Being an Uchiha was practically a curse.
This timeline might seem peaceful now, but conflicts popped up constantly. And beyond that, the final showdown was inevitable.
First, he would have to survive the Third Great Ninja War.
And even if he made it through that, there was still the looming massacre of the Uchiha Clan.
It was like living with a guillotine hanging over his head.
Any moment, his life could end.
As for failing the ninja exams—he wasn't doing it on purpose. He had genuinely failed.
Last time, it was the Clone Jutsu.
This time, it was the Substitution Jutsu.
He couldn't perform either.
He might well be the only Uchiha ever who couldn't even use basic ninjutsu.
As for awakening the Uchiha's hereditary Sharingan?
He had long since given up on that.
Sharingan required intense emotional trauma to activate.
And as for the Mangekyō Sharingan? That demanded even deeper bonds—and their destruction.
It wasn't about talent. Look at how Sasuke had to watch his entire clan die just to awaken his first tomoe.
As for Gin? Forget "deep love"—he barely had enough emotional attachment to this world to stir a ripple.
No emotions meant no awakening.
And the main reason he couldn't use ninjutsu at all?
Well, that came down to...
"That damn gold finger!"
His cheat ability, or "gold finger," was called Simulation.
It could simulate or deduce anything—from immortality techniques to "how to fall asleep faster."
Sound amazing, right?
Wrong.
The system demanded ridiculous conditions.
First, he had to provide a detailed concept and technical foundation.
If he wanted to simulate postpartum care for a sow, for example, he first needed to provide all the biological knowledge, birthing process, and care techniques for sows.
Why not just buy a textbook?!
In short, Simulation required full foundational knowledge first.
"It's like inventing stuff yourself after studying it thoroughly!"
The only upside: 100% success rate. No trial and error.
A mad scientist's dream come true.
"You should've gone to work for Orochimaru, not me!"
But ultimately, it was still his key to survival and growth.
One more nasty catch:
Once something was simulated, he automatically learned it—and couldn't undo it.
He had paid dearly for that lesson.
Digging through his parents' old ninja scrolls (and they had a LOT), he found that most of them dealt with sealing techniques.
Weird, right?
It wasn't until he found his father's diary that he understood:
"If I can break the Nine-Tails' seal and host it myself, maybe I can use its power to make Uchiha the Hokage."
Turns out his parents had been part of the radical faction—planning crazy stuff long before Kushina's death!
Congratulations... or not.
They had gambled and lost before even making it to the finals.
Setting aside their radicalism, what mattered was: he had piles of sealing jutsu.
He studied day and night.
At first, he didn't understand much. But then an idea struck him—
What if he created a "chakra internal technique" based on sealing arts?
Instead of extracting and expelling chakra to perform jutsu, he would store and refine it internally, like a cultivation manual.
Simulation said: great potential detected.
And thus was born: the Chakra Inner Cultivation Technique.
It could slow aging, enhance healing, boost physical strength...
Basically a variant of Tsunade's Yin Seal technique.
Pretty awesome, right?
Except—
This technique made it impossible to release chakra externally.
If he tried to use it for ninjutsu, the internal technique would forcibly drag the chakra back inside.
No room for regrets either—the skill had been instantly and forcibly imprinted on him.
Gin's tears were practically dry at this point.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
The worst part?
To further advance the technique, he needed other people to help expand his limits.
Gold finger, have a heart.
...But it wasn't human to begin with, so never mind.
Uchiha Gin: (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴
What could he do? He was stuck.
The technique had ranks, requiring slow expansion of chakra seals throughout the body, enhancing physique and extending lifespan.
Once he could fully cover his body in seals, he'd finally be able to use normal ninjutsu.
What kind of broken game setting was this?!
"Just destroy this world already..." Gin muttered, face crumbling.