Chapter 204: Please Respect My Profession

"Look, Tobirama is no match for me~"

Seeing that the situation was not looking good, Hashirama Senju exerted force with both hands, hoisted up the equally stunned Tobirama Senju, and said with a grin to the Senju clansmen who had appeared,

"Whew~ That's right, I was just sparring with my big brother in taijutsu."

Tobirama Senju, suspended in mid-air, mimicked the expression he ought to have and said with an indifferent look,

"Why have you all come here?"

"We just heard a violent explosion nearby, so we came to investigate."

The cold and tall woman cupped her hands and reported truthfully,

"Haha! It's nothing, Tobirama and I were wrestling just now, and we made a bit too much noise. You don't need to continue searching."

Hashirama Senju laughed heartily, waved his hand at the woman before him, and signaled for them to rest easy.

"Uh... if that's the case, then we shall take our leave."

A flash of sharp light crossed the woman's eyes. As she turned to leave, she released her sensory perception. The result of her detection made her expression relax, so she did not linger and waved her hand to order her subordinates to depart.

"Captain Toka, why did the Clan Head and the Second-in-Command feel so strange just now?"

A Senju clansman beside the woman leaned in and asked,

"Shut up, do not speculate about the Clan Head's behavior."

The cold woman named Toka scolded him, though a few traces of doubt also surfaced in her eyes; however, she immediately dismissed the thought that had just arisen.

The chakra of the Clan Head and the Second-in-Command was fine, ruling out the possibility of outsiders impersonating them, but...

"But why were the two lords red-faced and disheveled, tugging at each other in the small woods?"

Just as Toka Senju was pondering, another clansman said with eyes full of gossip,

"That's right, that's right, Lord Tobirama's top is nowhere to be found. It seems the 'battle' between the two was indeed incredibly intense~"

A young girl in the group raised her head, her black pupils filled with pink bubbles, and she crossed her hands and spoke in a strange tone,

"No wonder the Clan Head agreed to the Uzumaki clan's breaking of the engagement, so it turns out..."

"Hehe..."

Inexplicable, strange laughter rose and fell within the group.

"Sigh, you guys!"

Toka Senju looked at her intensely gossiping subordinates, shook her head in exhaustion, and muttered to herself,

The scene from just now must be kept secret; if it spreads through the clan, it might cause a huge uproar.

"Listen well, no matter who asks, you must insist that we saw nothing and encountered no one just now."

After thinking it over repeatedly, in order to preserve the Clan Head's reputation, Toka Senju commanded her chattering subordinates with a stern expression,

"Understood, Captain! Yes, Captain!"

"Right, right, right, right, right."

Everyone accepted with a grin and swore an oath to their ancestors that they would never reveal even a single word.

Seeing her subordinates so cooperative, Toka Senju, who had let out a sigh of relief, turned around and was about to leap away when she discovered two familiar figures walking out of the jungle ahead.

"Uh... Clan Head! Second-in-Command?"

Toka Senju's heart tightened; could it be that they had come to kill them to silence them?

"Ah! Isn't this Toka? It's been a long time since we last met!"

Hashirama Senju, wearing red armor, saw Toka Senju leading a team discussing something on the spot. Out of curiosity, he stepped forward to greet them.

"Huh?"

Toka Senju and the subordinates behind her were all dumbfounded; hadn't they just seen them?

And the two of them had changed their clothes quite quickly afterward.

"Did you encounter something?"

The meticulous Tobirama Senju sensed that the group before him was acting a bit strange. He narrowed his scarlet eyes and asked with a slightly cold tone, carrying the aura of "if you don't tell me, I have plenty of ways to make you talk."

Toka Senju felt the chill in Tobirama Senju's tone. Her heart tightened instantly, and she broke into a cold sweat.

It's over. Lord Tobirama is fishing for a confession to see if our mouths are tight enough. If we say anything about what just happened, I'm afraid this team won't live to see tomorrow's sun.

"No, no, no, we were just patrolling ahead and didn't find anything suspicious."

Toka Senju, whose mind had shifted gears, immediately denied it flatly, while simultaneously signaling her subordinates with her hand behind her back.

"Right, right, we didn't find anything!"

"In this godforsaken place, we didn't even see a rabbit."

"Since that's the case, continue your patrol."

Although he felt that these people were looking at him with somewhat strange eyes, out of consideration that they were fellow clansmen, Tobirama Senju did not fuss and waved for them to leave.

"Yes!"

Toka Senju felt as if she had been granted amnesty. She took her subordinates and ran toward the camp without looking back, fearing the other party might change their mind.

"How strange, Toka wasn't this jumpy before."

Hashirama Senju tilted his head, looking at Toka Senju's retreating back, and said strangely,

"Big Brother, let's put the trivial matters of the clan aside for now. The top priority is dealing with the Uchiha clan."

Tobirama Senju turned his head and reminded Hashirama Senju, who was lost in thought. Then, thinking of something, a flash of annoyance crossed his eyes,

"That woman Mito Uzumaki actually dared to break the engagement. Can't Ashina Uzumaki control his precious daughter?"

"Uh... I don't want to get married yet~"

"No! You must marry, otherwise those strange thoughts of yours will never cease."

Tobirama Senju said through gritted teeth,

"Huh? What strange thoughts?"

Hashirama Senju looked at Tobirama Senju, who was bowing his head in deep thought, with a face full of question marks and asked,

"Good! Since the Uzumaki clan has broken the engagement, then we shall find a suitable one from within our own clan!"

Tobirama Senju treated his big brother's words as wind past his ears. Recalling Toka Senju's appearance just now, his eyes lit up. He clapped his hands excitedly and muttered to himself,

"Ah???"

On the other side.

"What to do? What to do?"

The two, who had managed to fool Toka Senju with great difficulty, were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. Tobirama Senju no longer had the ambition to conquer the world he had just moments ago; at this moment, he wished he could slap himself twice to teach his own big mouth a lesson.

"Whew~ There's no other way, only..."

After a brief moment of thought, Hashirama Senju raised his head, his expression solemn and dignified, and said to the frantic Tobirama Senju,

"Only what? Do you have any good strategy to remedy this?"

Tobirama Senju stopped pacing and looked at the confident Hashirama Senju, asking suspiciously,

"Hehe, let the original body handle this kind of mess~"

Hashirama Senju gave a cunning smile, voluntarily dispelled his transformation, and vanished into the world as a wisp of white smoke.

"Tsk!"

Tobirama Senju looked at the fleeing Hashirama Senju and clicked his tongue fiercely.

He never expected that this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow would also betray the revolution.

However, this also made him realize that he should let the original body clean up the mess. Anyway, he was just a clone, why bother worrying so much?

With his mind made up, Tobirama Senju steeled himself, formed a seal, and dispelled himself, leaving only a wisp of white smoke to prove he had once been there.

Meanwhile, in the medical ward of the Uchiha clan grounds.

"Quick, save my big cousin!"

Izuna Uchiha tugged at Miao Uchiha, who hadn't appeared in a long time, and pleaded with tears in his eyes,

"Young Clan Head, please let go first. I can't examine him like this."

The thin and gaunt Miao Uchiha looked indifferent and unobtrusively distanced himself from Izuna Uchiha.

Uh... I hope the snot doesn't get on my new clothes.

"Izuna, let go quickly."

Madara Uchiha, standing to the side, spoke up. Currently, Miao Uchiha had the highest level of medical skill in the entire clan grounds, so he shouldn't delay the rescue of his cousin.

"Gin Uchiha, it really has been a long time."

Standing by Gin Uchiha's bed, the fully equipped Miao Uchiha felt a slight movement in his eyes. So many years had passed, and the disgust he felt for the person before him had long since faded; he was not as repulsed as he had been in previous years.

"According to seniority, you should still call me Second Uncle..."

People love to ramble when they get old.

Operating the instruments in his hands, the usually taciturn Miao Uchiha actually started making small talk with Gin Uchiha, leaving him, who was pretending to be unconscious, a bit confused.

Wasn't it said that everyone present twelve years ago had the subconscious thought of hating him planted in them? Could it be that Uncle's Kotoamatsukami had expired?

As an outsider, Gin Uchiha had no grudges regarding his own past trivial matters; on the contrary, he should be thankful for this "intelligence-lowering" behavior, which had indirectly lowered the difficulty of his "grinding." He was lucky he wasn't secretly laughing.

"Uh... how can there be such rich vitality?"

Miao Uchiha, who had been rambling in Gin Uchiha's ear for a long time, looked at the data on the instrument in his hand. His withered face wrinkled like old tree bark, and he whispered in a very puzzled voice,

He then checked Gin Uchiha's internal organs and found them to be far more robust than an ordinary person's. Immediately after, the cell test results also came out.

"What! The cell activity is actually this high?"

Looking at the test report in his hand, Miao Uchiha's eyes nearly popped out. He had dissected at least eight thousand people in his life, but this was the first time he had seen cells with such activity.

With a puzzled heart, Miao Uchiha turned and walked out of the ward, finding Tajima Uchiha and the others who were waiting anxiously. Before they could say anything, he asked first,

"Clan Head, what happened before Gin Uchiha fell unconscious?"

"."

His question was met with silence from the crowd.

"Did he eat something strange, or did he use some kind of special technique?"

Uchiha Miao, unwilling to give up, continued to press for an answer; if he hadn't accidentally ingested something that stimulated his cells, then he must have cast some secret art for his cellular activity to be that high.

Tian Dao did not speak, instead turning his gaze toward the two brothers, Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Gin, for by the time he had arrived on the scene, Uchiha Gin had already begun playing dead.

"Let's step aside to talk."

Sensing his father's gaze, Uchiha Madara stepped forward and said to the bewildered Uchiha Miao,

"My cousin was not unconscious before."

Arriving at a secluded spot, Uchiha Madara spoke slowly,

"I know, so I want to ask if Uchiha Gin ate—"

Hearing Uchiha Madara's non-sequitur, Uchiha Miao frowned and interrupted,

"Before my cousin fell unconscious, he had been dead for a period of time."

Uchiha Madara ignored Uchiha Miao's words, deciding not to play the riddle-maker and instead stated directly the state Uchiha Gin was in before he lost consciousness,

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Miao's Sharingan nearly popped out; he had previously guessed that Uchiha Gin might have eaten some heaven-sent treasure or cast some strengthening secret art, but he never expected that the other party had actually returned from the dead.

"Young Clan Leader, please do not insult my profession with such talk!"

Uchiha Miao felt somewhat stifled; how could something as unscientific as returning from the dead possibly happen?

Izanagi: Do I have no face???

"I, Uchiha Miao, am a scientist, and I only believe in science in this life!"

(End of chapter)