Chapter 307: You Can Doubt My Strength, But You Cannot Question My Wealth

What is happening right now may be the greatest crisis Tobirama Senju has ever encountered in his life.

Even in the era of the Warring States, he had never felt the distance between himself and death to be so close.

Watching the giant hand about to descend before him, Tobirama Senju gritted his teeth, preparing to fight to the death.

The profound ocular power radiating from this unknown madwoman before him was not inferior even to Madara Uchiha, let alone that idiot brother of his, Izuna Uchiha.

He never expected the Uchiha clan to have hidden such a terrifying secret weapon; why didn't they bring her out during the previous decisive battle?

Even at this life-or-death moment, Tobirama Senju did not forget to speculate on the Uchiha clan's intentions, while his hands were not idle either.

A kunai inscribed with strange symbols appeared in his hand, its blade gleaming with a cold, chilling light, reflecting off Tobirama Senju's pale cheeks.

"Whoosh~"

Tobirama Senju flicked his hand and threw the kunai with incredible speed, aiming straight for the black-haired girl's face, while a faint glimmer flashed in his eyes, harboring a hint of anticipation.

Dodge it, you!

As long as the girl tilted her head to dodge the Flying Thunder God kunai, he could teleport directly behind her and give her a strike while she was in mid-motion.

"Hmph!"

The scene that followed, however, left Tobirama Senju stunned; facing the cold, gleaming kunai, the black-haired girl's expression remained as calm as an ancient well.

She merely raised her eyelids slightly, and everyone present felt a scorching heat emanating from the depths of their souls.

"Nani!"

A wisp of black flame suddenly rose upon the kunai flying in mid-air; although it was only a tiny amount, it made Tobirama Senju's eyelids twitch violently.

Amaterasu.

Tobirama Senju was all too familiar with this technique; Izuna Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan ability was Amaterasu, a technique with immense power but little flexibility.

But he had never encountered someone who could control Amaterasu with such precision; compared to that guy Izuna, she was on a completely different level.

In the blink of an eye, the menacing kunai was vaporized by the girl using Amaterasu into wisps of rising white smoke.

Seeing this, Tobirama Senju's heart sank; the opponent's ocular technique was a perfect counter to a flexible ninja like him, and if he were to be touched by even a bit of Amaterasu, his life would be over.

Thinking of this, he hunched his body slightly, assuming a combat stance, his brain—full of schemes—spinning rapidly, trying to find a way to break the deadlock.

"Ha~ out of tricks? Then die."

"

The murderous girl's red eyes flared, and she looked coldly at Tobirama Senju, who was preparing to put up a desperate resistance, declaring his end.

Hold your horses!

Just at this critical moment, Gin Uchiha, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines for a long time, made his move.

"Bang!!!"

He flashed and appeared in front of the black-haired girl, raised his sandbag-sized fist, and gave the black-haired girl a flick to her forehead.

Having hit the target with precision, Gin Uchiha blew on his smoking finger, his eyes filled with deep helplessness.

He knew that if he didn't intervene, this white-haired guy might end up dying in his house, and then endless trouble would come knocking.

"Ouch, what are you doing~"

Suddenly struck, the girl, after a brief moment of daze, raised her hands to cover her tender, red-swollen forehead, crystal-clear tears swirling in her eyes, looking like she was about to cry, pouting her little mouth in grievance as she complained.

Watching the girl's sudden change in attitude, Tobirama Senju felt as if ten thousand Mud King beasts were galloping through his heart; after lingering his strange gaze between Gin Uchiha and the girl for a long time, he frowned and asked.

"Who exactly is she?"

"Hi~ she's my childhood sweetheart, her name is Hikari Uchiha. She's been staying up too late lately, which has made her a bit grumpy in the morning. Don't take it to heart."

Raising an eyebrow, Gin Uchiha reached out and patted the girl's head to comfort her, then turned his head to look at the frowning Tobirama Senju and introduced her.

As expected!

"Then why did she deny her name earlier?"

Just now, he had tried to confirm her identity, but the girl had flatly denied it.

Looking at Hikari Uchiha, who seemed like a different person from before, Tobirama Senju questioned.

"Could it be that she suffers from schizophrenia?"

"How is that possible!"

Gin Uchiha's eyes darted around, and his tone was somewhat elusive.

"She must have been sleepy and confused!"

"Fine, since she is Hikari Uchiha, then I will inform you of the mission details."

Still feeling that something was wrong, Tobirama Senju studied them for a long time without finding any clues, then nodded and spoke, a faint glimmer of deep thought flashing in his eyes.

Hikari Uchiha's strength was indeed as terrifying as Madara Uchiha had said, but her mental state was like a ticking time bomb, which was quite worrying.

However, Gin Uchiha seemed capable of calming this Hikari Uchiha down, which could be considered a form of insurance for this guy.

"Let's go, this isn't the place to talk."

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Gin Uchiha simply gave up on thinking, grabbed the girl beside him, and walked downstairs.

Sitting in the living room, Gin Uchiha reached out to take the clear tea handed over by Itama Senju, took a sip, and his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed; he looked at the smug girl with some surprise.

This girl's tea-making skills were becoming increasingly superb, almost reaching the level of Mito~

"Phew~ good tea!"

After the commotion, Tobirama Senju, whose mouth was dry, didn't stand on ceremony and picked up the tea brewed by Itama Senju, gulping down a large mouthful, his eyes lighting up immediately.

It was so fragrant and sweet upon entering the mouth, and the aftertaste was long-lasting; compared to this, the tea leaves his big brother treasured were practically weeds.

"Where did you buy these tea leaves?"

Unable to resist the temptation, Tobirama Senju, who had finished the tea in one gulp, asked while savoring the aftertaste; he wanted to go back and order a batch of the same kind.

"Wait, let me think."

Not expecting Tobirama Senju to be a tea connoisseur as well, Gin Uchiha stroked his chin and began to ponder.

"Uh, just that mouthful you just drank, it was probably about one million ryo~"

After racking his brain for a long while, he finally remembered the origin of the tea leaves, and then explained to the enjoying Tobirama Senju with a strange look in his eyes.

The tea in their cups was brewed from tribute-grade tea leaves from the Land of Tea; the production was shockingly scarce, and its value was worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

Even the Daimyo of the Land of Tea would only take it out to brew when entertaining distinguished guests.

"Pfft!"

With his eyes slightly narrowed, Tobirama Senju was savoring the tea in his hand with great enjoyment; however, upon hearing Gin Uchiha's words, his hand holding the teacup shook, and the tea in his mouth sprayed out.

Opposite him, Gin Uchiha immediately showed an expression of heartache, thinking to himself.

I told you it was that expensive, and you're still wasting it here; how shameful!

"Cough, cough, cough, really?"

Coughing a few times to barely soothe the shock in his heart, Tobirama Senju carefully placed the teacup on the table and then asked for confirmation.

He really had never drunk a cup of tea worth one million.

"Do I have any reason to lie to you? You can doubt my strength, but you cannot question my 'money' power~"

Rolling his eyes in feigned annoyance, Gin Uchiha spread his hands, showing his family's wealth to Tobirama Senju.

"..."

Following where Gin Uchiha pointed, Tobirama Senju looked around the room again, and upon seeing a vase placed on the table, he immediately shed tears of poverty.

He had seen the same vase in the home of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire; the one in the Daimyo's mansion was guarded by layers of guards.

According to the Daimyo, that vase was originally a pair, but unfortunately, the other one was auctioned off at a high price in the black market by a mysterious person.

The specific amount was not convenient to disclose, but judging by the Daimyo's level of cherishing, it was definitely not a small sum.

Yet, such a precious vase was truly just used as a vase in Gin Uchiha's house, and what was the meaning of the chrysanthemums stuck inside it?

"Do you like chrysanthemums too?"

Looking at the tearful Tobirama Senju, Gin Uchiha asked curiously.

"That vase?"

"Oh~ so it's a vase; I just thought the pattern was interesting, so I bought it back to play with."

Scratching his head in confusion, Gin Uchiha didn't even remember how much the vase was worth; he only remembered that it was an ornament he bought casually when he went to the black market.

On the pure white vase, clusters of spotted bamboo were dotted, and in the lush bamboo forest stood a beautiful white-haired woman, her indifferent eyes not like those of a mortal, but more like a goddess from the kingdom above the heavens.

"You really do have some strength~"

After confirming multiple times that it wasn't a fake, Tobirama Senju, with a somewhat awkward expression, gave Gin Uchiha a rare positive evaluation.

"Average, average, third in the ninja world~"

Facing Tobirama Senju's compliment, Gin Uchiha accepted it readily; he couldn't help it, he was just such an excellent man.

"Uh, that jar?"

Having already understood Gin Uchiha's 'money' power, Tobirama Senju turned his gaze to a huge clay-colored jar placed in the center of the hall.

As a master of ninjutsu research, he could clearly perceive that the unassuming jar was by no means an ordinary object.

"That? It's a souvenir sent by two 'brothers'."

Glancing at the Amber Purifying Pot in the hall, Gin Uchiha replied with some nostalgia.

He wondered how those two 'brothers', Kinkaku and Ginkaku, were doing, and if they had suffered any grievances in the Land of Lightning.

Meanwhile, in the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning.

"Achoo!!!" *2

In the dim room, two loud sneezes sounded simultaneously, scaring the few people in the room into a state of heart palpitations.

Several dark-skinned bosses looked at the two who had just sneezed with some fear, not daring to speak much, for fear of angering these two gods of death.

"Phew~ Big Brother, can we catch a cold too?"

The tall, silver-haired youth wiped his nose, turned his head with eyes full of curiosity, and asked the mountain beside him.

"Only idiots don't catch colds."

Unexpectedly, that small mountain could actually speak; a muscular man with a build as tall as a mountain lowered his head, looked at his younger brother with eyes full of helplessness, and then said,

"The Hidden Cloud Village? That guy Ai, the name he came up with is truly awful!"

The silver-haired youth did not continue to dwell on this topic, but instead looked at the two forehead protectors in front of him with a displeased expression; the cloud pattern on them made him very unhappy.

"It doesn't matter. Once we become the Raikage, we can change it to whatever we want then!"

The blond youth gave a ferocious smile, completely disregarding the presence of others nearby, and directly made his ambition public.

"Boom~"

Just as the blond youth finished speaking, a massive bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, its blinding light filling the entire room and illuminating the long, six-path whisker-like markings on the cheeks of the two youths.

The scene returns to Konoha.

"You've been dawdling for so long, you aren't just here to mooch tea, are you?"

Watching Tobirama Senju refill his cup again and again, Uchiha Gin, who felt the other party was taking advantage of him, felt the veins on his forehead faintly throbbing with the urge to explode, so he spoke in a low voice, interrupting the tea-pouring action of Senju Itama, signaling her not to let this white-haired guy freeload off the tea leaves anymore.

"Tsk~ Truly petty."

Without leaving a trace, Tobirama Senju curled his lip, looked at his sister's back, and said irritably,

I gave you my sister, is there a problem with drinking a bit of your tea?

Uchiha An, who was on the side, was turning the teacup in his hand thoughtfully; judging by Tobirama Senju's performance just now, the other party must be here for Uchiha Hikari this time, though he did not know for what matter.

"Hmph! Speak quickly, and get lost once you're done!"

Uchiha Gin was not pained by the tea leaves, but because the longer Tobirama Senju stayed here, the higher the chance of Senju Itama being exposed.

If the other party discovered Senju Itama's true identity and chose to forcibly take her home, his mission system would be activated again.

There was no guarantee the next mission wouldn't be to make him sleep with Kaguya Otsutsuki, and if he couldn't complete it, he'd be erased~

"Hoo~ Uchiha Madara sent me."

Draining the last bit of tea in his hand and smacking his lips, Tobirama Senju straightened his expression and spoke slowly to the displeased Uchiha Gin,

That's right, previously when they asked Uchiha Madara how many pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan the Uchiha clan still had, the other party gave the answer of two pairs.

However, as the questioning deepened, they discovered that these two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan in the Uchiha clan were all inextricably linked to Uchiha Gin.

One of the Mangekyo owners, Uchiha Chiri, was a disciple brought up by Uchiha Gin himself, and her interpersonal relationships within the clan were very simple.

Aside from her own mother, she only had a very close relationship with Uchiha Gin.

As for the other one, information was extremely scarce; according to Uchiha Madara's own description,

The second Mangekyo owner, Uchiha Hikari, had a mysterious identity and unknown abilities.

Uchiha Madara's father, Uchiha Tajima, had never handed over detailed information about Uchiha Hikari to him.

He only revealed after drinking once that Uchiha Hikari only listened to one person, and that person was none other than Uchiha Gin.

In summary, Uchiha Madara had sold out his older cousin completely; he had originally wanted to keep him from interfering in the Tailed Beast matter, but now it seemed Uchiha Gin couldn't run even if he wanted to.

However, one thing that reassured Uchiha Madara was that the owners of those two pairs of Mangekyo would certainly not let Uchiha Gin suffer the slightest harm.

If a Tailed Beast accidentally sneezed and startled his older cousin, it was no surprise that those two women would directly sew that Tailed Beast's mouth shut.

"Older cousin? You should have said so earlier! You scared the hell out of me~"

He hadn't expected the middleman for this mission to be Uchiha Madara; this finally allowed Uchiha Gin's hanging heart to settle, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"What kind of mission is it? It wouldn't be asking me to guard prisoners, would it~"

Recalling that he had once asked Uchiha Madara to pull some strings and put in a good word with Hashirama Senju to arrange for him to work in the Konoha dungeon, he hadn't expected his younger cousin to be so attentive and act so quickly.

This year's New Year's money will be doubled!

With a smile in his eyes, Uchiha Gin had already begun to imagine the wonderful life of grinding experience in the future.

As a result, Tobirama Senju's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, simultaneously extinguishing his burning heart of a jailer.

"Guarding prisoners... the nature of the work is about the same, but what you are responsible for guarding is not human."

(End of chapter)