Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Bullshit Destiny, Bullshit Reality, Bullshit Responsibility
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Chapter 183: Bullshit Destiny, Bullshit Reality, Bullshit Responsibility
Click.
Uchiha Shinji closed the door, blocking the cold outside, and his body was gradually filled with warmth.
"Shinji, go change into some clean clothes. I tried to make a new dish today."
A gentle voice came from the kitchen, and Shinji looked up subconsciously.
Although the house in front of me is not very big, the walls and floors are mainly ivory white, with light colors as the main color and dark colors as the secondary color, giving people a very bright and simple first impression.
Coupled with the faint smell of smoke wafting from the kitchen, the room seems to have a warmer and more lively atmosphere.
Even though he had lived here for a while, Uchiha Shinji couldn't help but be stunned for a moment when he saw this completely new "home".
What was this place like before that woman moved in?
Since his parents all died in the war, he moved out of the Uchiha clan's land and returned the spacious and deserted house to the clan in exchange for enough wealth for a civilian to live a carefree life in Konoha.
The house he lives in now is where his mother lived before she married into the Uchiha clan. It is an ordinary house of about 80 square meters.
It is neither small nor big, and certainly cannot be compared with that house, but in this old building, it should be considered relatively large.
However, because the place has been uninhabited for a long time, the wall paint has peeled off, the corners are covered with cobwebs, the gaps between the floor tiles are so big that a person can fit through them, the kitchen and bathroom are full of rust and stains, and all kinds of old furniture are covered with dust.
It's just that he didn't care at that time, or rather, he didn't care about anything at that time.
After he had lived here for a while, the floor was littered with leftover fast food packaging, and the rusty sink was filled with water, in which were soaked clothes that had not been washed for who knows how many days. Anyway, he could just buy new clothes when they got dirty.
Moreover, because the lights and windows had not been turned on for a long time, there was always a strange musty smell in the air in the room, and he was also permeated by this smell during that time.
In the words of those kids who like to bully others, the smell is like the smell of old people from the grandparents' generation.
Decayed, old, dilapidated...
But everything changed when this woman moved in without any objection.
All the garbage in the house was thrown away, the usable old furniture was refurbished as a keepsake, and the unusable ones were directly replaced with new ones. The whole house was carefully decorated by the woman.
At the beginning, Shinji also expressed dissatisfaction because his peaceful and accustomed life was disrupted.
As a result, the woman responded to him with "You don't want the Uchiha clan to know that you are a genius who opened double tomoe at the age of six or seven, right?"
Later on, I slowly got used to it.
Or rather, this is actually quite good.
Looking at the busy figure in an apron working in the kitchen, Shinsi suddenly felt the scene in front of him become blurry.
In the world he saw, the environment of the house vaguely overlapped with his former "home", and the outline of the back figure was a little blurry, and he imagined his mother busy in the kitchen and his father sitting at the table with a stern face reading a newspaper.
This was a scene that occurred every day in this house a few years ago. Even though several years have passed, it has not been erased from Shinji's memory. It often appears in his dreams, and now it strangely overlaps with the reality before his eyes.
It feels like a composition on two pieces of rice paper, forced to overlap under the white light. The shadows of the woman and the mother are intertwined, hazy, and even the emotions begin to overlap.
Shinji has always respected his father very much, because in order to ensure the purity of the bloodline and to ensure that the talents of future generations are not affected, the Uchiha clan rarely allows members to marry outside the clan.
Because it will inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of the elders in the clan, as well as criticism from other members of the Uchiha clan.
After all, in the Uchiha clan, which believes in powerism and is proud of its family bloodline, no personal interests can override collective interests, and any personal interests must give way to collective interests.
But even in this situation, his father, an elite Jonin in the clan, ignored the advice and threats of clan members, friends, father, and elders after falling in love with his mother, a Chunin, and resolutely moved out of the clan, married, and lived with his mother.
Shinji was born here, and he grew up in this little house.
At that time, the war had not yet begun. They lived like an ordinary family in a house that was neither too big nor too small, with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The couple loved each other, the child was cheerful and lively, and the family lived in harmony and warmth.
Until the war came again, his father, an elite jonin of the Uchiha clan, was recruited by the clan to go to the front line of the battlefield to perform tasks, and he and his mother moved into the clan's house.
But later, the person who knocked on the door again was the Uchiha clan leader with a regretful expression on his face, and his father's relics in his arms.
Shinji still remembers the pale and thin face that was still smiling when he asked his mother where his father had gone.
"This is his destiny, his responsibility, his reality," she said.
Shinji was confused at the time, and later, the hemp rope broke at the thinnest part, and his mother also died on the battlefield.
Now Shinji understood, but he wanted to say it now.
Bullshit destiny, bullshit responsibility, bullshit reality.
From then on, he would rather move away from the Uchiha clan, reject the kindness of his clan members, and blend in with the crowd than bear any "responsibility".
Close yourself off until you rot.
"..."
"...Shinji?"
"Shinji!"
A vague sound came from his ears, gradually becoming louder, causing Shinsi to open his mouth and his slightly dilated pupils to solidify.
The house layout was somewhat similar, but different from before, the woman frowning at him, the swaying warm yellow chandelier...
"What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
Yakushi came over with a spatula in one hand, put her other hand on his forehead, and asked doubtfully: "With your physique, it shouldn't be a big deal even if you get caught in the rain once."
"But I thought you would at least get an umbrella. I didn't expect you to come back in the rain. Are you a fool? If I had known, I would have picked you up and taken you home first..."
Listening to the nagging voice in his ear and the warmth on his forehead, Shinji's pupils trembled.
He subconsciously raised his hand and slapped her hand away, then turned and walked towards the bedroom expressionlessly: "It's okay, I'll go change my clothes."
Yakushi didn't seem to care about his behavior and smiled faintly, "Hurry up, the food will be ready soon."
Click.
Shinji entered his bedroom and instead of changing his clothes, he walked to the window and opened it.
What Minato Namikaze said was right, it is rare for Konoha to have such heavy rain.
The weather was fine when I woke up in the morning. I took a short nap at school and when I opened my eyes again, I saw only heavy rain falling outside the window and strong wind sweeping fallen leaves into ripples in the ditch.
But unlike Minato Namikaze, this was not the first time Shinji had seen such heavy rain. It also rained like this on the day of his father and mother's funerals.
He thought he had forgotten it long ago.
But ever since he was poisoned by the poison gas released by the invasion of the Sky Legion, his parents' funeral has often appeared in his dreams.
"..."
The raindrops floated on his cheeks like sticky spider silk. He reached out to wipe them away but couldn't, leaving only water marks.
But the cold touch reminded him that he was in reality, not a false dream.
Shinji believed that he was standing in reality at this moment. In front of him was Konoha in the heavy rain. He stood there feeling the damp and cold wind, but warmth came from the kitchen behind him.
His father was dead, his mother was dead, but at least he was still alive, and he had... someone he cared about who depended on him. This was his reality, an unquestionable reality.
He should stop dwelling on the sorrow of the past and try to change.
Bang!
Shinji patted his rain-soaked cheeks hard to sober himself up a little.
After changing clothes and walking out of the bedroom, he saw a woman in an apron placing plates on the table in the living room. They were all filled with fragrant, steaming, and colorful freshly made side dishes.
"Don't just sit there lazily. Go and get the food." Yakushi patted his head and ordered him bluntly.
Shinji gave her a dissatisfied look, but still got up and walked into the kitchen obediently, filled two bowls of rice and then sat back at the table.
"The semester is almost over, how are you preparing for the exams?" Yakushi took off her apron and looked at Shinji and asked.
"That's it." Shinji said vaguely.
Although this was not the first time they had communicated like this, he was still not used to this topic.
"The little money you have at home is enough for a civilian to live on for a lifetime, but you will become a ninja in the future, and that little money will soon be gone." Yakushi glanced at him while holding the food and reminded him, "If you do poorly in the exam, the clan may cancel your preferential treatment next year."
"I know, I know. I will read in the evening."
Shinji did not refute her words that he would become a ninja. He just sighed impatiently, looked at the red and oily tofu on the plate, and asked, "What is this dish? Where did you learn it from?"
"What a poor way to change the subject."
Yakushi exposed his little thought, but still smiled and said: "I just learned a new dish. I heard it came from the Land of Rain. How about trying it? It may be a little spicy."
Shinji's face turned red for a moment, but he sat down calmly, clasped his hands together, said "I'm eating", then stretched out his chopsticks to taste the dish.
After taking the first bite, he paused subconsciously, immediately looked up at Yakushi, and then never looked up again. The only sound in the entire living room was the sound of him wolfing down his food.
"Eat slowly, don't just eat fried rice, mapo tofu is also very good."
Yakushi sat quietly opposite him, drinking from a cup of hot water in her hand, but her eyes behind her glasses seemed to be thinking about something.
After Shinji swallowed a mouthful of rice and paused for a moment, Yakushi smiled slightly and asked, "How does it taste?"
"...Very good." Shinji wiped his mouth and whispered, "I can't even tell whether you are a chef or a doctor!"
"I took that as a compliment." Yakushi smiled and shook her head, placing the water in her hand on the table. "By the way, why did you come back so late today? If you had come back a little later, I would have gone out to pick you up from school."
Shinji swallowed another mouthful of fried rice and thought for a moment before speaking: "Because I met a friend and chatted for a while."
"You have friends?" Yakushi raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Me having friends really surprised you this much?
Well, I don't have any friends…
Thinking of this, Shinji's face darkened a little, and he said stubbornly: "Why not, Namikaze Minato, do you know?"
Yakushi didn't say whether she believed it or not. She just smiled and said "oh", propped up her chin and asked, "What did you talk about?"
"…That good and obedient student had a fight with others some time ago."
Shinji hesitated for a moment, but still explained: "I asked him, and he didn't seem to want to say anything, but I could tell that it was probably because someone scolded someone important to him."
Speaking of important people, he raised his eyes slightly and glanced at Yakushi in front of him, but was met with a pair of gentle eyes with a smile, which made his expression slightly freeze and he subconsciously looked away.
"Speaking of this, I probably know something about it."
Looking at the shy boy in front of him, Yakushi rarely did not tease him. She just chuckled and said, "I heard that the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito-sama from the Uzumaki clan, has a child from the same clan studying in Konoha."
"That child should be the person that your friend, Minato Namikaze, values."
Hearing this, Shinji's embarrassment disappeared and he frowned.
As one of the victims of the last terrorist invasion of the Sky Legion, and as a former member of the Uchiha clan, he had naturally heard of the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Mito.
She is the wife of the first Hokage, the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the princess of the Land of Whirlpools. Her strength and qualifications are among the best in the entire Konoha.
Unfortunately, such a legendary female ninja had her reputation ruined not long ago.
Because, in that invasion, the one who caused Konoha the greatest losses was not the Sky Legion, but Uzumaki Mito, who was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki but she suddenly lost control and went berserk.
There are countless people in Konoha who lost their wives and children, their families and loved ones in that terrorist invasion because of her, and they have not recovered yet.
Even after that, when Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, announced that the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Mito had committed suicide in the Konoha Hospital because she was too overwhelmed with guilt, she was unable to completely quell the anger and resentment of those people.
If such a "sinner" who was nailed to the pillar of shame really had young members of her clan going to school in Konoha, one can imagine how much malice they would have to endure.
But it has nothing to do with him.
Shinji lowered his head and took a few mouthfuls of fried rice. The pungent spicy taste rushed straight to his head, making a layer of sweat appear on his forehead. He gasped with a hissing sound from the spiciness.
"It's still a little spicy for you."
Yakushi handed over a few pieces of paper, squinting her eyes as if she was doing it on purpose, and then said with a smile: "The hot water is ready. Take a hot bath after dinner to avoid getting sick from the rain."
Shinji lowered his head without saying a word and nodded.
At the same time, on a tree outside the window, looking at the warm and harmonious scene in the room, Tobi laughed and said, "Their relationship seems so good."
On the side, Uchiha Madara's eyes were somewhat deep, and on that expressionless face, a smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Tobi, you did a good job."
That kid might really be able to bring back the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan, which hasn't appeared in decades.
(End of this chapter)