Konoha, Autumn of the 54th Year.
The breeze was gentle, and the sun was mild.
In the backyard of the Uchiha clan, the leaves of the maple trees were as red as if they were on fire, dancing with the wind.
At that time, three-and-a-half-year-old Sasuke was imitating his brother's movements, throwing shuriken with determination.
Whoosh!
Snap.
The shuriken hit the bullseye but fell down without embedding itself.
There was a good aim, but the force—was insufficient.
Tick.
Tick.
Sweat trickled down the sides of his cheeks to his chin, eventually dripping onto the collar bearing the Uchiha emblem.
"Hoo, so tired."
He slowed down, turned around, and prepared to wash his face.
But when he saw the lazy figure on the courtyard wall, his brows furrowed in annoyance.
"Hey!" Sasuke shook his sore wrist and said irritably, "The sun is almost setting! How long are you going to lie there?"
"When the sun goes down—or when Jin brings back the three-color dumplings."
Hearing this, Uchiha Jin turned over and leaned half his face out from under the blanket.
The sun filtered through the maple leaves outside the wall, casting mottled spots of light on his face.
Four years had passed, and the little boy had grown into a teenager.
The features of his face became more defined, but the one constant was his lazy demeanor.
"Don't call me 'Jin'! Call me 'Brother!'"
Sasuke was obviously even less pleased when he heard "Jin," and two veins popped out on his forehead.
"You know what? My brother graduated first in his class today!"
If the eldest brother, Itachi Uchiha, was his idol, then the second brother lounging on the wall was a thorn in his side.
Lazy and talkative.
This was his only impression of Uchiha Ember.
Over the past few years, every time he saw his brother, he was either basking in the sun on the courtyard wall or chatting with someone in the village!
All kinds of exams were always passed by on the narrowest margins!
A true underachiever!
But no matter how angry he was, Jin on the wall not only didn't rebut him but also laughed?!
Seeing the smile on Jin's face, Sasuke couldn't hold back.
With a training shuriken in hand, he shouted like a puppy denied its milk:
"Uchiha Ember! You're embarrassing the Uchiha name! I want to duel with you!"
"Shh, don't talk; listen." Jin suddenly raised his finger and gestured, "It's sunny, and the rain has stopped."
His serious demeanor made Sasuke think something was genuinely wrong.
He held his breath, with only the rustle of the wind blowing through the maple leaves in his ears.
Nothing?
No rain!
Damn Jin, lying to me again!
In a fit of anger, Sasuke fumed.
Little did he know that Jin was genuinely amused at this moment.
Before his eyes, constant prompts appeared.
[Conversation Target: Sasuke Uchiha.]
[Replicable Entries: Brother Control (Black), Strength Gained from Defeat (Black), Destiny's Child (Color), Lightning Release Master (Purple), Tsundere (White), Familiarity with the Sword (White), Loud Voice (White).]
[Replication Successful! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the ordinary entry: Shuriken Familiar (White).]
This entry was not the first time Uchiha Jin had seen it.
But each time he did, he couldn't help but sigh: Sure enough, brotherly bonds amplify each other's strengths.
This special entry appeared before the tsundere boy could even remember anything.
As for getting beaten and growing stronger?
Jin felt that this might relate to Sasuke's temperament.
There's a saying: when the sky is sunny and the rain has stopped, Sasuke feels good again.
Every time he gets stronger, he's either been beaten or is on the way to find someone to be beaten by.
But... he also likes to challenge what he's weak against, pushing himself against those who are strong.
Isn't that a bit of a sickness?
Of course, after so many years, Jin had long grown accustomed to it.
He laughed not because of Sasuke but due to the new prompts from the system.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for 108 minutes of sun exposure, chakra +108.]
[Ding! Current chakra: 1,000,000!]
[Congratulations to the host for exceeding the million chakra mark, and the probability of success for conversational entry replication is now 5%→10%.]
[50% chance of success in defeating an opponent to copy an entry →75%.]
[Number of corpse-grabbing entries: 1→1~2.]
This was the reason for his smile.
System changes!
To be precise, evolution!
Especially the probability of conversational replication, which had shifted from singular to even.
The impact is by no means just a 5% increase.
Besides, the "defeat" entry now had a 75% success rate, which was almost guaranteed. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Sasuke.
Here, there seemed to be a perfect experimental subject.
Sasuke was completely unaware. He held a kunai in his hands, looking at Jin with a cold face: "Hmph! Idiot Uchiha Ember, I'm going to duel with you!"
Hearing this, Jin waved his hand and chuckled: "Sasuke, have you ever been defeated?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Sasuke was taken aback and frowned slightly.
Swish!
But at that moment, Jin casually threw a shuriken.
Sasuke's eyebrows jumped again: You're looking down on me! I'll make you regret it!
But just as he prepared to attack, a flurry of shuriken suddenly appeared in front of him.
In an instant, the shuriken multiplied into twelve!
Shooting from odd angles!
Swish, swish!
Sasuke's pupils tightened as the trajectories of these shuriken constantly changed!
Finally, they pinned him in place with precision!
The corners of his clothes, the ends of his hair, and even the joints of his training clothes under his armpits were all penetrated by cold metal, yet his skin remained unscathed!
Tick.
For a moment, he couldn't tell whether it was cold sweat or hot sweat that dripped down his cheeks.
He was stunned.
A strange thought suddenly arose in his mind: Can I become stronger by simply basking in the sun?
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