"…Gin, your… interests…"

Strapped to the cross, Yao's face twitched, his lower half going cold. His lone eye carried a rare pleading glint.

"You and I are still grandfather and grandson. There's no need to make this so ugly."

"Of course!"

Gin narrowed his dead-fish eyes, righteously declaring with the air of a model youth — yet the long blade in his hand was anything but righteous, emanating a bone-chilling cold.

"I do everything by reason."

"…Ask, then. I'll tell you everything."

Yao's… rear… tightened at the sight of that blade. He lifted his head with a pitifully honest look, as though the words I'll be good were stamped on his forehead.

"That transformation you did… can I learn it?"

Gin's eyes gleamed, unable to hide his greed after witnessing that badass transformation.

"No. That's my Mangekyō ability."

Yao shook his head slowly — that power was bound to him alone.

"…Tch, figures. Just thought I'd ask anyway."

Gin sighed and moved on. "That so-called 'dark side'… is there really no way to remove it completely?"

Thinking of Uncle and Hikari — both victims of the Amaterasu-onna — Gin hoped there was some cure.

"Sorry… like I said, that eye is already blind. There's no way to eliminate it at the source."

Yao's voice carried regret. He himself had suffered its torment — and knew just how troublesome it was.

"And it takes a huge toll to keep suppressing it. Otherwise the pain builds, your mind wears down, and eventually the darkness takes over completely."

"…Tch. What a pain in the ass."

Gin frowned deeply. If it couldn't be removed, then Uncle and Hikari were basically walking time bombs, ready to blow at any moment.

"…Sigh…"

A soft sigh drew Gin's attention back up to the old man.

"Gin… do you think… I was wrong?"

Since being betrayed by Wangliang, Yao had begun reflecting on everything. Somewhere along the way, he'd become twisted, extreme, his heart nudged step by step toward ruin by unseen hands.

"Now you realize?"

Gin raised an unimpressed brow, almost scolding.

"That creepy black Wangliang was obviously no good — yet you treated him better than you ever treated me, your own grandson."

Without waiting for a reply, Gin rambled on, recounting the truth he'd dug up about his parents' deaths.

"You see now? The memories in that pair of eyes you inherited… were tampered with. Dad and Mom's sacrifice wasn't directly Uncle's fault. Sure — if Dad had left Uncle to die back then, maybe none of this would've happened…"

He paused then, recalling the warmth of his parents — the sunny father, the aloof but soft-hearted mother — both still shining in his memory.

"…But Dad would never have done that. He never abandoned anyone."

Tears welled in Yao's lone eye.

He'd raised that son — he knew what kind of man Jin was. Someone who valued bonds over everything.

So why had he, Yao, grown so arrogant after awakening the Mangekyō? Why did he never stop to investigate the truth of his son's death?

It was too late now. He'd been used, made terrible mistakes, caused hundreds of needless deaths in the clan.

He hadn't even watched over his only grandson — instead scheming to use him for his own revenge.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

"I… wronged Jin… wronged you… wronged all the clan I harmed…"

Shaking, Yao wept bitterly, confessing through sobs.

Gin let out a long breath, his eyes complicated.

All those years of scheming — and in the end, he was just another pawn.

"…You asked me earlier, how to completely purge the Amaterasu-onna?"

Yao finally looked up, his gaze empty.

Gin stared, almost hopeful — maybe the old man had thought of another way?

"…The host dies. The darkness dies with them."

…The hell kind of answer is that?!

"Gin…"

Before he could curse him out, the old man spoke his name again.

"What now, you old fool? Another dumb idea?"

"Do you… really like that transformation?"

Damn right he did. Gin's eyes sparkled like a kid staring at his dream toy.

Yao's expression softened slightly, turning wistful. He remembered the day Gin was born — how he'd never once shown the boy any real grandfatherly affection. Not because he didn't care, but because the Uchiha way was always so repressed.

"Gin… since the day you were born… Grandpa never gave you a single gift."

It was true. Even as a child, Gin barely saw him. The one time he'd reached out for a hug, Yao had sidestepped him coldly.

The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy. This old man… Gin could sense his intent to die.

"Before I go… let me give Wangliang to you."

Yao smiled faintly, opened his Mangekyō one last time. The triangular pattern spun slowly, and a chilling chakra streamed into Gin's eye. For a brief moment the same pattern flashed in Gin's right eye — then faded.

"Hehe… once you awaken your Mangekyō, mine will merge with yours. Then you'll be able to use Wangliang."

Gin winced at the pressure in his eye, feeling as if two eyeballs were crammed into one socket.

"You old bastard…"

He looked up, ready to scold — but Yao's Mangekyō was already shut, his eye empty and leaking blood.

"I can't suppress it anymore without my Mangekyō…"

Blind now, Yao "looked" Gin's way, his voice full of regret.

"Too bad… I can't watch you walk your path anymore. My journey… ends here."

Gin's chest tightened. Yao bore his share of sins — but those sins had been twisted by Black Zetsu's schemes.

From now on, he resolved, his daily routine would include: eating, drinking… and beating that damned Zetsu to death.

"…I wonder… what kind of child an Uchiha and a Senju would have…"

As Yao's body crumbled in the real world, his spiritual form dissolved in the Tsukuyomi space, his final words little more than a whisper.

Gin, still stewing over how to kill Zetsu, didn't quite catch it.

"Huh? My cousin's having a kid with Bushy-Head?"

(End of Chapter)

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