There was no time to go home.
If Gen went to the Grand Elder's residence now, then to the clan treasury afterward to choose a ninjutsu, the whole afternoon would probably disappear. Since the draw opportunity was already in hand, he decided he might as well use it on the way.
[System extraction in progress…]
[Obtained: Skill Learning Card (Green)]
[Skill Learning Card (Green): With a complete training method and the corresponding chakra nature, this card allows the user to rapidly learn a skill through twenty-four hours of focused training. Green-quality cards are only effective on techniques of C-rank difficulty and below.]
It hit.
A flash of delight rose in Uchiha Gen's eyes at once. So far, he had drawn nine times in total, and only two of those draws had produced green cards.
As one of the game's original planners, he knew exactly how the pool had been structured. If you wanted players to spend money, you couldn't make the system too generous—but you also couldn't leave ordinary players with nothing to hope for.
If a game became nothing but a playground for whales, then without ordinary players to serve as comparison, rankings, and audience, those whales would eventually lose the very sense of superiority they were paying for. And if spending money gave them everything too quickly, boredom would come just as fast. They would clear the content, feel the loneliness of being invincible, and move on to the next game.
So the system needed a second layer: something that stretched out the life cycle, something that let skilled non-paying players keep chasing the heavy spenders. In this game, that mechanism was simple—the quality of the gacha pool was tied directly to the player's level.
At Gen's current level, only two tiers of cards existed in the pool. Higher-rarity cards would not unlock until later, and even then the rates would only improve step by step.
One tier was the white card, the kind that had helped him enormously throughout his years in the Ninja Academy. Sakura Haruno's character card was one of them, along with the tools tied to her early-game loadout: shuriken, kunai, steel wires, and traps.
The other tier was the green card now sitting in his inventory.
At this stage, the drop rate for green cards was only ten percent. Even with the tenth-draw character guarantee factored in, probability theory said that by level ten he should only have pulled at most two green cards under normal circumstances.
And yet this time, it had actually landed.
That alone was enough to make his mood rise. He still remembered the white Skill Learning Card he had pulled three years ago, back when the system was even stingier than it was now.
That white card had only worked on D-rank techniques and below. He had used it on shurikenjutsu, which was one of the reasons his throwing skills had become so clean, so sharp, and so difficult for his classmates to defend against.
"You look distracted," Mikoto said suddenly, turning her head toward him as they approached the entrance to the Uchiha district. "But happy, too."
The gateway ahead of them was broad and severe, carrying a solemn dignity that set the clan grounds apart from the rest of Konoha. Uchiha Gen glanced at her, then answered honestly, "Of course I'm happy. We graduated today. Starting tomorrow, our lives won't be anything like they were over the past few years."
Mikoto's dark eyes drifted toward the bustling midday street behind them. Her voice softened when she spoke, almost as though she were talking to herself as much as to him.
"Life after graduation is only harder," she said. "You have to train, keep getting stronger, carry out missions, face war, watch people bleed, watch people die, understand what matters, and understand what it means to lose it. For the sake of your family. For the sake of the village."
As the granddaughter of the Uchiha Grand Elder, she had never lived a loose or carefree life. Discipline had been wrapped around her from childhood like an iron frame. Looking at her now, Gen could feel a faint weight beneath her calm tone—a seriousness that didn't belong on someone still so young.
Still, he smiled.
"But isn't that exactly because we want to protect what we have now?" he said. "A prosperous clan. A peaceful village. Children who can grow up healthy and strong. Isn't that what a ninja's struggle is for in the end?"
Mikoto blinked, momentarily caught off guard. Then the corners of her lips lifted into a soft smile, the kind that warmed her whole expression.
"You're right, Xiaoyuan," she said. "Come on. We're here."
The residence of the Grand Elder stood behind a broad gate and high walls bearing the red-and-white Uchiha fan crest. The courtyard inside was spacious and impeccably kept. Bonsai trees sat in careful rows along the brick path, and near the main building there was a side yard paved in stone, outfitted with targets, dummies, and other training equipment like a private practice ground.
Mikoto slid the door open.
"Grandfather, I brought Gen back."
"Come in," an old voice answered from inside.
She beckoned with one hand, and Gen removed his shoes before following her into the house.
The entryway opened into a large room that functioned as both sitting room and dining room. An elderly man in a gray kimono was kneeling behind a low table, his posture straight despite his age. Thin curls of steam drifted through the gaps in the lattice door at the back, and a middle-aged woman in an apron leaned out from the kitchen with a spatula in hand.
"Oh, Mikoto's back?" the woman said brightly. Then her gaze landed on Gen. "And you brought a guest. Have you eaten? Would you like to stay for lunch?"
"Mother, this is Uchiha Gen," Mikoto said. "He ranked first in this year's Ninja Academy class."
The woman's eyes widened with recognition. "Gen? Taki's boy? My, you've grown so much. The last time I saw you, you were still being carried around." She set down a bowl of fish soup and began arranging bowls and chopsticks with easy familiarity. "You came straight from the academy, didn't you? Then you probably haven't eaten yet. Sit. Mika's cooking is very good."
The Grand Elder nodded once as well, indicating that Gen should take a seat.
"Thank you for the hospitality, Elder," Gen said politely. "Thank you, Aunt Mika. Thank you, Mikoto-nee. Then I'll accept."
The meal was simple but excellent. By the time it ended, the last of the noon light had begun to slant across the corridor outside.
Afterward, the Grand Elder rose and led Gen outside for a walk along the wooden veranda to settle the food. Mikoto followed a pace behind, then flashed Gen a quick wink the moment her grandfather wasn't looking directly at her.
Gen's heart skipped a beat.
What was that supposed to mean?
Then the old man spoke, and the meaning of her hint became clear at once.
"Gen," said the Grand Elder slowly, "in your eyes, as one of the younger generation of ninja, what should the relationship between the clan and the village be?"
So that was it.
This was not a casual question. It was one of the core issues that had haunted the Uchiha for years. Ever since Madara's departure, the question of how the clan should stand in relation to Konoha had become a knot that never truly loosened.
And now, because Gen had shown outstanding talent, the Grand Elder wanted to know what kind of answer this new genius would give.
Gen thought carefully before speaking. If he wanted to respond as an Uchiha, then he had to start from the interests of the clan itself.
"The Uchiha and the Senju were the founders of Konoha," he said. "And the Uchiha, who oversee the Military Police Force, are one of the village's most important pillars. The clan needs to stand with the village, because only by standing with Konoha can we maintain safety in this chaotic era and preserve the glory of being the strongest clan in the ninja world. In the same way, the village also needs the strength of the Uchiha in order to resist the other great ninja villages."
He paused briefly, making sure not to rush. The answer mattered too much to be careless with.
"So in my view, the clan and the village should not be treated as opposing sides," Gen continued. "They should be mutually dependent. If Konoha is stable, the Uchiha can continue to flourish. If the Uchiha remain strong, Konoha becomes harder for any outside force to threaten. The two should be inseparable."
The veranda fell quiet after he finished.
A breeze stirred the leaves in the courtyard. Somewhere beyond the walls, the sounds of the village continued faintly on, but here inside the Uchiha compound, the silence carried a very different weight.
The Grand Elder did not answer immediately. He walked several more steps with his hands behind his back, his expression unreadable, as though he were testing every word Gen had just spoken and measuring its shape.
Mikoto, meanwhile, glanced sideways at Gen. Her eyes were clear and bright, and for an instant there seemed to be a touch of approval in them.
Gen kept his breathing steady, but inwardly he remained alert.
This was no ordinary family lunch. This was an evaluation.
And depending on what the Grand Elder chose to make of his answer, it might shape far more than just which ninjutsu he would be allowed to study next.