Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

"Gintoki, this isn't very nice of you to treat us."

Following behind Uchiha Gin, Uzumaki Masahiko spoke up somewhat embarrassedly, and Konan's father nodded in agreement.

"You can eat as much as you want, this handsome young man will pay for today's meal."

Uchiha Gin waved his hand magnanimously, and pulled Jiraiya in front of the two of them.

"Um, this guy looks kind of familiar?"

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar white-haired youth before him, Masahiko Uzumaki frowned and pondered for a long time, but he couldn't quite place him.
"He has an average face, so it's normal that he looks familiar."

Gin Uchiha glanced at Jiraiya, who was pouting, and explained with a smile,
Since the three of them were in the Land of Rain on an undercover mission, they naturally needed to maintain some basic disguise in their daily lives.
Orochimaru goes without saying; with black stockings on his legs, who would recognize the cold-blooded lord of Konoha?

Tsunade, who has transformed into a suburban miracle doctor, sees many patients every day. Normally, she only needs to use medical ninjutsu to make simple adjustments to her facial muscles, making her unrecognizable. This time, however, she has changed her appearance even further, giving her a face that even Masahiko Uzumaki, who had previously treated her, would not recognize.
Compared to the other two, Jiraiya's disguise was much simpler, merely adding a few moles with black hairs to his face and wiping away his signature eye makeup.

As a result, even acquaintances would have to look closely for a long time before they could barely recognize him, let alone Masahiko Whirlpool, who was just a neighbor.

"Hello, here is the menu!"

Just as Masahiko Uzumaki was frowning and staring intently at Jiraiya, the proprietress, holding a menu and a roster, pushed open the door and entered.

"Oh, sir, you're here again today!"

Upon seeing the familiar curly-haired man in the crowd, the energetic proprietress greeted Uchiha Gin with a beaming smile, while simultaneously searching for little Tsunade's figure.
"Didn't you bring that cute little girl today?"

"Oh, her grandfather caught her and took her home to spank her."

Gin Uchiha glanced discreetly at Tsunade sitting in the corner, then smiled and replied as he took the menu from the proprietress.

Having previous experience with the restaurant, the proprietress quickly left with a menu filled with orders. Uchiha Gin, who had just sat down, noticed the curious gazes from Uzumaki Masahiko and the others, so he took the initiative to briefly introduce the three disguised as Tsunade.
“The three of them are the sons of an old friend of mine. They were trained by me for a period of time when they were young, so there is a certain teacher-student relationship between them.”

"Oh~"

Upon hearing this explanation, Masahiko Uzumaki nodded with a look of realization, wisely refraining from pressing further.
Don't pry into ninja matters.

This is the experience his grandfather summarized from a lifetime of navigating whirlpools.

"The barbecue is here!"

Soon, the steaming grill was filled with fragrant, sizzling meat. The tempting aroma made everyone's mouths water, and the atmosphere in the private room instantly became lively.

"Where's the alcohol? How can you eat barbecue without alcohol?"

Adhering to the principle that if he eats one more bite, others will eat one less bite, Jiraiya ate heartily while calling out to the proprietress who brought in the food.
"Please wait."

The proprietress, sweating profusely from her busy work, laughed heartily, her charming yet mature allure captivating Jiraiya.
"Stop staring, their child is already a year old."

Seeing this, Uchiha Gin, who was sipping his sweet drink, gently nudged the absent-minded Jiraiya.
"What if they're divorced?"

Meeting Uchiha Gin's teasing gaze, Jiraiya shifted uncomfortably and asked in a low voice,

"No way, you're not actually interested in this proprietress, are you?"

Upon discovering that Jiraiya, that lecherous pig, seemed to have truly fallen for him, Gin Uchiha's deadpan eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't meddle in the affairs of young people."

Jiraiya, looking somewhat embarrassed, pursed his lips and ignored Uchiha Gin's teasing. It was clear he was indeed a little interested in the proprietress.
"Click~"

"Here's your drink, sir."

Soon after, the sake Jiraiya ordered was served. Just as the proprietress was about to turn and leave, the two women holding children in the private room simultaneously raised their hands.
"That." *2
The proprietress stopped upon hearing this, looking at the two hesitant women with a puzzled expression.
"Excuse me, do you have a more private room? I'd like to."

Taeko Uzumaki got up and went to the proprietress's side, whispering a few words in her ear.
"Oh, yes, yes, please come with me, I'll show you my little Yahiko~"

The proprietress seemed to understand after hearing this, then chuckled and waved to the two women with children. The three of them left together.

"Tsunade, what do you think they went out for together?"

Filled with curiosity, Jiraiya pondered for a few seconds, but having no clue what to do, he had no choice but to seek help from the only woman present.
"how could I know?"

Tsunade was sipping the warm sake she hadn't had a chance to try last time, and had no time to pay attention to Jiraiya.
"idiot."

Orochimaru, who was analyzing the texture of the grilled meat, turned his head and looked at him with a mocking expression.
"You stinky snake, don't act like you know everything."

"Of course I know."

Faced with Jiraiya's questioning, Orochimaru chuckled and nodded.

"doing what?"

"eat."

"what?"

"Humans need to eat to survive, especially nursing infants, who need to be fed more than ten times a day to ensure their basic growth."

"Uh"

Oh, she went to breastfeed!

Jiraiya scratched his head, picked up the wine glass on the table, and downed it in one gulp, which helped ease his awkwardness.

"Come on! Bro, let's have a drink!"

They say alcohol is the best glue; after a few drinks, Masahiko Uzumaki and Minami's father, who had just been arguing fiercely about who should treat, were now flushed, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, holding their glasses like old friends who had known each other for years.
"I feel a sense of joy when I see your hair color. Brother, you're sure to make a fortune in business!"

"Hiccup~ You're not bad either, little brother. Judging from your demeanor, you must be a scholar. I'll be entrusting the family business to you from now on~"

"."

Without their wives supervising them, the two rarely had the chance to drink freely. Over drinks, their relationship quickly warmed up, and it seemed they were about to have Uchiha Gin as their sworn brotherhood witness.
"Grandpa Yin, why did you bring ordinary people with you?"

Taking advantage of the two being quite drunk, Jiraiya secretly asked the question that had been buried in his heart.
Although their gathering was ostensibly a get-together with family and friends, the identities of those present were quite sensitive, making it rather inappropriate to involve ordinary people, especially locals from the Land of Rain.
"There's a reason I brought them here."

As Gin Uchiha sipped his sweet drink, he glanced at the two grown men, both newly fathers, huddled together, and softly explained to the curious Jiraiya...
“No, I have some connection with them. You happen to be continuing to infiltrate Amegakure, right? If you have time, could you help me look after them?”

The current situation appears peaceful, but Uchiha Gin knows that war could break out in the blink of an eye, plunging the entire Land of Rain into its clutches. Uzumaki Masahiko and Konan's family are ordinary people, and they would certainly struggle to protect themselves in the face of a sudden war. With Jiraiya and the others' protection, at least their lives would be safe.

"Oh, I see. Leave it to me!"

Jiraiya loved this kind of chivalrous act the most, and immediately patted his chest in agreement.
"I won't let you help me for nothing. Remember the Rasengan? I'll teach you that move after we finish eating."

Uchiha Gin wasn't one to take advantage of others for free. Since Jiraiya was so generous, he couldn't leave empty-handed, so he immediately nodded and taught Jiraiya the legendary skill, Rasengan.

"Really? That's great!"

Upon hearing the words "Rasengan," Jiraiya's drunken eyes widened instantly, his flushed face filled with surprise and delight.
After the battle against the clone army, Jiraiya reviewed the situation and identified his weaknesses from the experience.

He lacks a single-target skill that can quickly inflict damage, and the Rasengan is the perfect choice.
Orochimaru, who had been listening intently, wasn't jealous of Jiraiya's victory; instead, he frowned, his face full of thought.

"Grandpa Yin, do you know something?"

After a moment, he stared at the composed Uchiha Gin and asked in a low voice,
"Oh? You guys from the Root organization didn't get involved too, did you?"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow but did not answer. Instead, he asked in return with a strange expression,
Upon hearing this, Tsunade, who was proudly showing off her fine wine, Jiraiya, who was overjoyed at receiving the Rasengan, and Orochimaru, who was standing in front of them, all three of them froze, their eyes filled with evasiveness as they looked at Uchiha Gin.

He was right.

The expressions on the three men's faces betrayed everything. Uchiha Gin slowly put down his wine glass, a rare seriousness appearing in his deadpan eyes.

"Did Little Tuan Tuan ask you to interfere and sow discord between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind and Earth?"

"Uh, Grandpa Yin, this is an organizational secret, and we cannot disclose it."

The three men looked conflicted; they had indeed received the latest instructions from Root not long ago.
Their main task is to sow discord between Amegakure and Iwagakure, ideally driving them into a full-blown war. As Amegakure's new ally, Sunagakure will inevitably be forced into the conflict as well.

This would weaken Sunagakure's suddenly surging economic power and also deplete Iwagakure's strong military. Such a chaotic situation was exactly what Konoha wanted to see.

However, the three, who had always abhorred war, tacitly chose to outwardly comply with but inwardly defy Danzo's new orders.
They just shout slogans without putting in any real effort, nodding in agreement while shirking their responsibilities, resulting in the task's progress not increasing an inch over the course of time.
"Alright, as long as you do things in a way that you can live with your conscience."

Faced with the three silent men, Uchiha Gin neither reprimanded them nor forced them to reveal anything. He knew the children he had raised best.

Even their boss, Xiao Tuantuan, probably did the worst thing she could at their age: secretly sprinkling pepper into Hiruzen Sarutobi's tobacco.

"Grandpa Yin, it's me!"

"Click~"

Just as Jiraiya was about to explain, the two women, having fed their child, returned home together. Their smiles vanished upon seeing their husbands, who were completely drunk.
Then came the much-anticipated "family discipline march," where Uzumaki Masahiko and Konan's father, after being whipped by their wives, instantly sobered up and slunk home to kneel on a washboard. Before leaving, they apologized to Uchiha Gin, promising to make them treat them next time.

After the two families left, only a few familiar faces remained in the large private room. However, due to the questions they had just been asked, Jiraiya and the others were somewhat affected, and the meat in their mouths and the wine in their hands lost their flavor.

"We should go back to the village too."

Seeing the three dejected individuals, Uchiha Gin knew that these young people were experiencing a crucial moment in their lives, and whatever choice they ultimately made, he, as their elder, would choose to respect it.

Of course, the damaged leaves must be cut off.

"Grandpa Yin, won't you stay a few more days?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya and the others immediately tried to persuade him to stay. After all, having been lurking here for so many years, they had rarely encountered any fellow countrymen they could talk to.

"No, I have a lot of things to take care of in the village."

Uchiha Gin shook his head, politely declining the three's offer to stay. He then took out a scroll containing the Rasengan training method from his bag and handed it to Jiraiya. After that, he gestured for Uchiha Hikari and the other two to leave, leaving Jiraiya and the others with complicated expressions.

The weather in the Land of Rain remained as awful as ever, with continuous drizzle. However, the residents of Amegakure, who were already used to it, didn't seem to care. Instead, they happily enjoyed the momentary joy brought by peace.
"Ah Yin, were you angry just now?"

Walking on the muddy road home, Uchiha Hikaru looked at Uchiha Gin, who had been silent for a long time, and asked softly,
"Angry? No, why would an adult get angry with a child?"

Turning his head to look at the two women whose faces were full of worry, Uchiha Gin chuckled and shook his head.

Jiraiya and the other two were already adults; he couldn't keep interfering with their growth and forcibly mold them into the perfect creation he imagined.

Only after experiencing enough difficulties, witnessing enough blood and tears, and making enough choices can the three of them truly become capable ninjas.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Uchiha Gin stopped in his tracks, turned his head to look at the brightly lit street behind him, and a faint, inexplicable emotion surfaced in his half-closed, dead-fish eyes.

Seeing this, the two women behind them also stopped. Uchiha Osamu, who had caught Uchiha Gin's gaze, asked in confusion,
"Mr. Yin, did you forget something?"

"No, let's go home. I suddenly want to drink Mrs. Yongmei's handmade lemonade."

"Ugh"

After the three figures completely disappeared into the rain, in a dark alleyway, Madara Uchiha, having slowly withdrawn his farewell gaze, let out a long sigh.

"Big brother, aren't you really going to say hello to our cousin?"

Izuna, standing to the side, looked completely puzzled. His older cousin wasn't an outsider; there was nothing wrong with chatting for a bit, and he might even be able to use the opportunity to ask for some new enhancement items.

"I'm worried that I'll implicate my older cousin."

Madara Uchiha shook his head, his gaze falling on the four figures deep in the alley. He was now probably Jigen's primary target, and anyone who had been in contact with him could be implicated.
Hasi Hot Mom has already run into trouble, and he doesn't want his older cousin to follow in her footsteps.

"Okay, so where do we go next?"

"Wandering around like this isn't going to work. Now that our team has grown so large, we should establish a base of our own."

Their three-person team has expanded to six people, so it's only right and proper to set up a convenient base for meetings and rest.

"Um, how about we go to the Land of Waves?"

Izuna cautiously recommended, "There probably isn't a more suitable place than the Land of Waves, is there?"

This also provides an opportunity to confront my older brother.

You, Uchiha Madara, are the second candidate for the title of Daimyo of the Land of Waves!

As for first place, it naturally belongs to Uchiha Izuna!
"What are you going to do in that place full of mercenaries?"

Because he had been confronted by a construction company from the Land of Waves demanding payment, Madara Uchiha had always had a very poor impression of the Land of Waves. He immediately shook his head and rejected his brother's suggestion, while pointing to the bustling street nearby with a look of approval on his face.
"I think the Land of Rain is quite good. It's located in the center of the ninja world, with convenient transportation, low housing prices, and affordable living costs. It's the best choice for us to retire... no, to establish a base." (End of Chapter)