Chapter 345: 345. Chapter 340: Shifting the Blame to the Stone Tablet, It Won

345. Chapter 340: Shifting the Blame to the Stone Tablet, It Won't Argue Back Anyway

Tick. Tick. Tick.

In the quiet hospital room, only the ticking of the instruments remained. Senju Hashirama and the other two sat surrounding Uchiha Gin, each holding their breath, waiting for him to reveal the unknown secrets.

Uchiha Gin, the center of attention, was in no hurry to explain to the curious group. Instead, he looked at the room-temperature horse urine in his hand, curled his lip in disgust, and then a faint, cold white light bloomed from his palm. In the blink of an eye, he cooled it to a slushy state. Only then did he unscrew the cap with satisfaction and take a sip of the iced black tea that tasted better than national cellar liquor.

Refreshing!

"How do you know Ice Release?"

Senju Tobirama, sitting on the left, looked in surprise at the jutsu Uchiha Gin had just performed. As a master of ninjutsu, he naturally understood the principles of Ice Release; it was a Kekkei Genkai unique to the ninja clans of the Land of Water. How could this curly-haired guy know it?

"I have a friend in the Land of Water."

Uchiha Gin, having just enjoyed his iced black tea, didn't even think before speaking. It was true, he really did have a friend in the Land of Water, and they just happened to be a member of the Yuki clan.

"Stop! We don't want to hear your nonsense. Let's talk about the real business first."

Senju Tobirama, who understood Uchiha Gin's tendency to ramble, started at zero frames, cutting off his attempt to go off-topic. He indicated that they should first discuss the speculations regarding the identity of that Black Fox Knight so everyone could weigh in.

"Tsk~"

"Gulp."

Interrupted, Uchiha Gin pulled at his drooping mouth corners and took another large gulp of iced black tea. His hearty, refreshing manner made the three people below him swallow their saliva involuntarily, unable to help but feel a bit of appreciation.

"Hoo~"

After letting out a long sigh, Uchiha Gin looked at the three people's slightly eager gazes, subconsciously tightened the cap of the iced black tea, and put it behind him. Then, he put on a serious, upright posture, his eyes becoming deep.

"All of this must start from the day the Uchiha clan was born..."

The day the Uchiha were born?

Senju Hashirama and the other two looked at each other. They had thought the topic had been steered back to the original subject, but they hadn't expected it to go off-track again.

"Big Cousin, isn't that a bit too early?"

Uchiha Madara raised his hand, frowning.

"Is it early?"

Scratching his head helplessly, Uchiha Gin blinked his dull, dead-fish eyes to express confusion.

"Get straight to the point. We aren't in the mood to listen to the history of your Uchiha clan."

Senju Tobirama crossed his arms, the look of disgust in the corner of his eyes not hidden in the slightest.

"Fine, fine. Young people these days..."

He had finally managed to start Gin Sansan's Happy Little Classroom, yet this white-haired guy was still such a killjoy. He wondered how the training in the Gold and Silver prison was going and if they could beat this guy up.

"Little Cousin, do you remember that stone tablet passed down by the clan?"

Straightening his expression, Uchiha Gin spoke slowly. This question left Uchiha Madara, who was listening intently, completely confused. Why did it have to come back to the stone tablet for no reason?

"What about the stone tablet?"

The stone tablet at the Naka Shrine had been passed down for many years. It was said to be an ancient object that existed since the early days of the Uchiha clan's founding, and it was revered by generations of clansmen as a sacred relic.

"I speculate that the Black Fox Knight who snatched your body very likely came from that stone tablet."

"Huh?"

The sentence stunned all three of them, especially Uchiha Madara. He couldn't figure out for the life of him what connection that Black Fox Knight could have with the ancestral stone tablet.

"Don't be in such a hurry to refute. Let's analyze this problem from a professional perspective."

Seeing the three of them about to speak, Uchiha Gin waved his hand before they could, and began to analyze blindly.

"Little Cousin, doesn't the ancestral stone tablet require ocular power to decipher?"

"That is indeed the case."

Uchiha Madara nodded. He was a long-time user of the stone tablet; he went to stare at it whenever he had nothing else to do.

"Since that's the case, hasn't that stone tablet been stained with your ocular power?"

"Ah, this..."

Being pointed out like this, Uchiha Madara immediately looked thoughtful. To say it hadn't would be a lie; the ancestral stone tablet required extremely strong ocular power to be deciphered word by word. Even after he had awakened his Mangekyo, he found it quite strenuous to decipher, often stopping only when his eyes were sore and his ocular power was exhausted.

"You mean..."

Senju Tobirama, who was listening to their conversation from the side, suddenly had a flash of brilliance in his eyes. After raising his head, his face carried a look of sudden realization.

"As expected of Konoha's second developer, you can barely keep up with my rhythm~"

"Get lost!"

"Hi~ You're really not humble. Since you understand, you explain it."

Looking at Senju Tobirama's foul expression, Uchiha Gin took out the iced black tea from behind him and used all his might to unscrew the cap and drink heartily.

"Tobirama, do you already know the answer?"

Senju Hashirama, who was completely lost, moved his gaze away from the iced black tea and onto his brother.

"Yes, I roughly understand. That Black Fox Knight must have been formed by the chakra left on the stone tablet by some previous Uchiha clansman."

"That doesn't seem impossible."

Uchiha Madara's expression was quite colorful. Although he also felt it was incredible, upon closer thought, this speculation did seem to have some logic to it.

The Uchiha clan's ancestral stone tablet had gone through thousands of years of time. During this period, who knew how many powerful predecessors had sat in meditation and enlightenment in front of it.

It wasn't impossible that one or two ancestors who possessed the Mangekyo had used a special ability similar to the current Transcribing Seal to engrave chakra containing their own consciousness onto the stone tablet.

"Madara, I remember you used to go to the shrine to seclude yourself all the time. Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

Senju Hashirama suddenly remembered that during the early stages of Konoha's founding, Uchiha Madara would tell him every few days that he was going into seclusion to meditate. Could it be that he had picked up something unclean at that time?

"Uh... now that you mention it, it seems there was indeed something."

Uchiha Madara, who had lowered his head into memories, couldn't help but recall that after he had awakened his Eternal Mangekyo, when he was meditating in front of the stone tablet, he always had a sense of being watched by a stranger from behind.

But at the time, he had searched for a long time with his Sharingan and found no peeper, so he just assumed it was an illusion caused by having too large a blind spot behind him.

"Aiya~ I advised you long ago to smash that broken stone tablet and throw it into the sea, but you wouldn't listen. Now look, you've been possessed by a ghost~"

Seeing that he had successfully rounded off the story about Indra taking over the account, Uchiha Gin immediately put on a look of heartbreak and shook his head and sighed at Uchiha Madara incessantly.

Shifting the blame to the stone tablet—Uchiha Gin didn't have a single psychological burden~

"I'll throw that thing away as soon as I get back to prevent future trouble!"

"Wait, if you don't want it, why don't you give it to me to study?"

Senju Tobirama, whose interest in the Uchiha clan's ancestral stone tablet had greatly increased, used a rare tone of negotiation to put his request to Uchiha Madara.

"Hmph, even if I crushed it and drank it with water, I wouldn't give it to you."

Uh... no need for that, I'm afraid you'd burst~

"As expected of the naturally evil... Ah!"

He hadn't expected that his humble request would be met with deep contempt. A red glint flashed in Senju Tobirama's eyes, and his classic quote was about to slip out. Fortunately, Senju Hashirama at the side was quick-witted and gave his brother an elbow, causing his subsequent uncivilized quote to die in the womb.

"Alright, alright~ Tobirama, Madara hasn't fully recovered from his serious injuries, you should say less!"

"Madara, don't take it to heart with Tobirama. He's been under too much work pressure lately, so it's normal for him to have a little temper."

"Mm."

Clutching his painful ribs, Senju Tobirama bit his teeth with a face full of cold sweat, but the sorrow in his heart far exceeded the pain in his body. Watching the three black-haired people chatting and laughing, he felt at this moment that he was the only outsider.

"Hoo... Since that's the case, I'll head back first. I still have to go to work in a while."

Senju Tobirama looked at the fish-belly white appearing on the horizon outside the window, let out a long breath, stood up, and turned to leave.

Once the only different-colored element had left, Senju Hashirama asked Uchiha Madara with a serious expression.

"Madara, what are your plans now that you're back?"

"I want to go and apologize to everyone in the clan first."

Uchiha Madara's expression dimmed at these words. Back then, his resolute departure from the village had left the Uchiha clansmen deeply disappointed. Now that he had returned from his mission, he had to apologize properly to the elders and fellow villagers in the clan.

"Mm, I will announce the news of your return today to clear up the misunderstandings everyone has had about you all these years."

Although the high-level officials had never made a final decision on Uchiha Madara's departure from Konoha, everyone tacitly agreed on the fact that he had defected.

However, what was strange was that the ninja clans of Konoha still communicated with the Uchiha clan as friendly as ever, as if Uchiha Madara's departure hadn't had a negative impact.

Hehe, after all, someone was holding a stack of IOUs, enough to keep these ninja clans eating until the Boruto era.

"Ha~ It's getting late. You two best friends keep chatting. I'm going back to catch up on some sleep. I'll bring Izuna to see you tomorrow."

Having been tossed around by these two guys all night, Uchiha Gin hadn't closed his eyes at all. He just wanted to go home, wrap himself in a Banshee's Veil, and have a good sleep.

"Big Cousin/Brother Gin, take care~"

The two, who had long wanted to talk alone, wished Uchiha Gin, this lightbulb, would leave quickly.

The next day.

Uchiha Gin, who was flirting with a white-haired royal sister in his dream, had just grabbed the other's small hand and was preparing to savor it properly, but when he looked up, he saw a pair of Byakugan filled with mockery.

The next moment, a fair, tender hand had quietly pressed onto his lower abdomen.

Giant force entered his body.

"Boom!"

"Pfft!!!"

Uchiha Gin, whose abdomen had been suddenly struck heavily, felt as if his intestines were about to be squeezed out of his anus. In pain, he immediately spat out a mouthful of old blood and opened his eyes tremblingly.

"Curly-haired baboon! Sleeping on lemon ice, get up and eat dinner!"

He saw Senju Itama, wearing a small apron, sitting right on his stomach. His black and white hair was tied into twin tails, and his puffed-up little face was filled with displeasure.

"Get... up... quick... your cousin is being discharged from the hospital in a while."

The chubby little short legs wearing zebra-patterned over-the-knee socks rhythmically slapped Uchiha Gin's kidneys, but it didn't arouse the slightest lust in him.

Even though Senju Itama had turned himself into a little loli like Kanna by relying on the Yin Seal, according to the law of conservation of energy, his super strength hadn't diminished because of his smaller size. Therefore, this seemingly welfare-like massage from the little fleshy legs was actually a lethal move that could break bones and tendons.

"You... you get down!"

Uchiha Gin felt that his ribs had already faintly developed cracks, so he endured the pain, reached out to Senju Itama's armpits, lifted him up, and threw him out.

"Ouch... what are you doing!"

Senju Itama performed a 360-degree turn in the air, landed steadily, and let out a sharp cry, his round little face puffed up like a steamed bun.

"Is it already this late?"

Uchiha Gin, whose beautiful dream had been interrupted, didn't pay attention to the culprit. He turned his gaze to the window and found that the sun had already set behind the mountains. More than twelve hours had passed since he returned from the hospital.

"Hehe~ You missed a good show!"

Senju Itama, pouting his little mouth, saw that Uchiha Gin wasn't paying attention to him, so he rubbed over again, crossed his arms, and spoke with a very proud tone.

"Oh~ what good show?"

"The great Hokage-sama announced in front of the whole village this morning that your cousin left back then to carry out a highly confidential mission. Now that the mission has been successfully completed, he has returned and will officially serve as the Hokage's assistant."

Uchiha Gin raised his eyebrows at these words. He hadn't expected Hashirama to be so fast. Not only did he clear the name for his big cousin in public, but he also made it official, becoming a formal employee with a position but no salary.

One had to know that before, when Uchiha Madara helped Senju Hashirama, he was working under the table for free. He had the title of a candidate, but no official certification. The Hokage candidate title was just something everyone called him in private.

"Hokage assistant, huh..."

At the same time, the residents, after being baptized by the bombshell during the day, were all chatting about Uchiha Madara's affairs after dinner, praising the new Hokage assistant's excellent character of enduring humiliation to fulfill a mission and being the first to sacrifice for others.

In a relatively secret izakaya,

The Ninja Clan Alliance, led by Sarutobi Sasuke, was quietly holding a small meeting. Shimura Kenichi, whose figure was much fuller than a few years ago, said with lingering fear,

"It's a good thing I listened to you, Sasuke, and didn't become enemies with the Uchiha clan, otherwise I'm afraid I'd be targeted in the future."

"Kenichi, save it. You didn't even dare to fart when you saw Uchiha Gin, and you're talking about becoming enemies?"

Yamanaka Minako, who had already drunk a few cups alone, had a few red flushes on her increasingly charming face. Hearing Shimura Kenichi's words, she almost laughed out loud.

"Who said I didn't dare to fart? Believe it or not, I will right now!"

"Uh..."

Everyone present tacitly moved their butts, staying away from Shimura Kenichi, who was throwing a tantrum, worried that he wouldn't be able to hold it in and would hurt the innocent.

"In short, Uchiha Madara's return is a good thing."

Sarutobi Sasuke, sitting in the first seat, had a monkey face full of contemplation. Regardless of what the reason for Uchiha Madara's departure back then was, as long as he could return, it was a great thing for Konoha.

Such a top-tier combat power, even if it was just placed on paper, would make the surrounding countries wary.

"Sigh~ I'm really envious of the Hokage assistant position!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, it's easy to enjoy the shade under a big tree. They, these small ninja clans, still had to rely on Konoha to develop, but thinking of the Hokage assistant position appointed by Senju Hashirama during the day, they couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

Yamanaka Minako's slightly drunk beautiful eyes carried a look of confusion. Although she had a yearning for the Hokage position, she still had self-knowledge.

"It seems that Uchiha Madara is a sure thing for the Second Hokage position~"

The Nara clan head, who had a pineapple hairstyle, flicked the wine glass in front of him, looking a bit dejected.

"What sure thing? Uchiha Madara is now just one hat away from the Hokage position." (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 346 =====