After debriefing, Uchiha Ryuei left without lingering.
Uchiha Gin, baffled by the fragmented clues, couldn't piece together any solid truth.
Weighing his options, he decided to focus on his work for now.
With the color-coded scroll system clear, sorting was efficient. Soon, the chaotic scrolls were neatly divided.
Facing three piles of green, blue, and purple scrolls, Uchiha Gin moved to the next step.
Scrolls needed not only dungeon-based sorting but also clear prisoner annotations and a catalog for quick reference.
He started with the green scrolls.
Shimura Jinji: Shimura Clan, poisoned Uchiha water sources, killing 23 clansmen. Skilled in Wind Release, poisons.
Despicable. Straight to Cell Block One.
Sarutobi Takinosuke: Sarutobi Clan, ambushed Uchiha supply team, killing 12, crippling 5. Skilled in Fire Release, Earth Release, Summoning Jutsu.
Brutal. Cell Block One.
Yamanaka Ichiya: Yamanaka Clan…
Reading through, Uchiha Gin noticed most high-level criminals hailed from clans that later became prominent. In the Warring States era, civilian ninjas struggled, while clan ninjas dominated.
Green scrolls were few—only the worst offenders landed in Cell Block One. Their strength made capture rare, with just over a dozen listed.
Quickly sorting the green scrolls, Uchiha Gin checked capture records. All predated the six-year-old massacre, offering no suspects.
Scratching his curly hair, he turned to the blue scrolls, hoping for valuable leads.
Halfway through, nothing stood out.
Blue scroll prisoners were mostly minor clan members or rogue ninjas, weaker, committing lesser crimes like espionage or attacking lone Uchiha.
Among them, Kaguya Josuke's crimes—killing two Uchiha—were the heaviest, but his mental instability and interrogation failures led to his Cell Block Two placement.
Cell Block Two had more scrolls than One. Halfway through, Uchiha Gin's eyes ached, head throbbing, like his past life's dread of work.
Work needs balance, he rationalized, dropping the scrolls to slack off, eyes closed.
A cautious knock interrupted.
"Come in," he called, snapping his eyes open and grabbing a scroll to "work."
Uchiha Rusa, from yesterday, entered, glancing around. Seeing only Uchiha Gin, he relaxed.
"Lord Gin, your dedication is a model for us all," Rusa said, laying on flattery at the sight of Uchiha Gin "studying" a scroll.
"Just doing my job," Uchiha Gin said modestly, waving it off. "What brings you, Brother Rusa?"
"No need for 'Brother,' Lord Gin. Just Rusa's fine," he replied.
"Alright, Brother Rusa, what's up?" Uchiha Gin pressed.
Seeing no one else, Rusa stepped closer, whispering, "Lord Gin, I've got a lead on your request."
Tasked yesterday, Rusa had scoured the dungeon, finally coaxing a tip from an elderly guard.
"Speak, Brother Rusa," Uchiha Gin said, eyebrow raised, impressed by Rusa's speed.
"An old guard said this dungeon's layout wasn't always like this," Rusa said, pointing to the wall map, gesturing between Cell Blocks One and Two. "Six years ago, there were four blocks. Elder Yan decommissioned one, leaving these three."
He circled a large blank area, indicating a lost block.
"If it's decommissioned, it's unused, right?" Uchiha Gin asked logically.
"I don't know if it's used, but the guard said, before it was abandoned six years ago, it secretly held someone," Rusa said mysteriously.
"Secretly? How'd he know?" The tantalizing lead raised doubts about the guard's credibility.
"Uh… I didn't ask," Rusa admitted, caught off guard.
He hadn't questioned how the guard, a stranger, shared such a secret. Was it just because I mentioned I'm the Clan Leader's nephew's aide?
"Forget it. What else did he say?" Uchiha Gin pressed, uneasy about the guard's convenient timing.
"He said the prisoner never left. Soon after, Elder Yan declared the block abandoned due to disrepair," Rusa said, swallowing hard.
"Who was held there?" Someone from the clan grounds attack?
"I asked, but he clammed up after that," Rusa said awkwardly.
"Where's this guard now?" Uchiha Gin clung to the faint lead.
"He's in Cell Block Three, doing… cleaning, due to personal issues," Rusa hedged.
"What issues?"
"He's blind," Rusa mumbled, eyes darting.
???
A blind guard knowing such secrets? The story's reliability was shaky.
No wonder Rusa found it so fast—he'd interrogated a blind man.
"Thanks, Brother Rusa. Keep me posted on any more leads," Uchiha Gin said, skeptical. A lowly blind guard knowing about secret prisoners seemed far-fetched.
"My honor to serve, Lord Gin," Rusa said, flustered.
Frowning, Uchiha Gin sifted through the original owner's memories.
The original owner, though temperamental, only bullied clansmen who provoked him, sparing those without malice. Why, then, did the clan fear him so?
"Brother Rusa, how do clansmen view me?" Uchiha Gin asked.
Caught by the loaded question, Rusa's eyes flickered, words stuck.
Despite two days showing Uchiha Gin wasn't as vile as rumored, Rusa feared a trap.
"Brother Rusa, we're close now. Speak freely," Uchiha Gin said, smiling warmly, patting his shoulder to signal trust.
"Alright, I'll say it," Rusa said, steeling himself, eyes resolute.
After a pause, he blurted, "From what I know, Uchiha Gin's a total jerk."
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