Chapter 409: 353. Chapter 346: I don't need to tell you what expression to wear when apologizing, right?

353. Chapter 346: I don't need to tell you what expression to wear when apologizing, right?

Seeing Uchiha Gin pull out so many identical ninja tools, Chiyo had no choice but to believe him, even if she didn't want to.

When her father was still alive, he had once inadvertently revealed that this ninja tool was a gift from a man he had chatted with very congenially; even Master Shamon admired the other man's character.

For this reason, Chiyo had specifically asked her teacher about it, but as soon as Shamon heard what it was, his expression became very colorful; he subconsciously covered his sunken nose bridge and looked away, and in the end, she didn't get any real answers.

However, Shamon had specifically instructed Chiyo to feel free to use this ninja tool and not to worry about it.

Looking at the slightly smug curly-haired man before her, Chiyo finally understood why her teacher had been so evasive; it was because this powerful ninja tool had been gifted by a ninja from the Hidden Leaf.

Shamon: No, no, no, I was just afraid my dark history of being disfigured would be dug up.

"Sigh, I hit it off with your father the moment we met. Although we didn't spend much time together, we had a great conversation. I didn't expect that after a mere twenty years, he would..."

Throwing a bundle of Useless Big Sticks back into his backpack, Uchiha Gin's sorrowful expression didn't look fake. The sadness he exuded made Chiyo's heart tighten, and she was instantly enveloped by feelings of self-reproach.

I am such a beast, to have treated my father's friend with such a terrible attitude; I truly deserve to die!

"I'm sorry, Uncle. My attitude just now was indeed poor. I hope you don't mind."

As she spoke, Chiyo bowed deeply to Uchiha Gin, the large scar on her chest making someone's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.

What a sensible niece, knowing exactly what expression to wear when apologizing~

"Holy crap."

The two guards standing by, ready for battle, saw Uchiha Gin subdue the purple-haired woman—who looked like she had a very fiery temper—in just a few moves, and they nearly let out a string of profanities.

"No matter, no matter. How could I possibly get angry at a child!"

Having seen enough, Uchiha Gin shook his head lightly.

"But..."

Hearing this, Chiyo immediately raised her head, the apology contained within her shimmering, beautiful eyes visible to the naked eye.

"Alright, if you keep this up, I'm going to get angry. Let's go, Uncle will take you inside."

Uchiha Gin had received a generous reward in advance, so he naturally wouldn't take the little lady's benefits for free. He turned around and greeted the two dumbfounded guards.

"I'm taking her in, no problem, right?"

"Uh... no problem! Lord Gin, you can bring whoever you want in and out."

The two guards, recalled from their shock, exchanged glances, nodded repeatedly at Uchiha Gin, and pushed open the tightly closed gate behind them.

"Thanks, niece, hurry up and keep up~"

Waving at Chiyo, who was holding two Useless Big Sticks, Uchiha Gin stepped into the Hokage Building first.

"Okay!"

Chiyo was stunned for a moment, then strode forward with her long legs to follow. Looking at the two guards who had just been so hostile but were now bowing and scraping, her beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment.

She hadn't expected that this uncle she had just recognized would have such great influence; even the guards of the Hokage Building were so respectful to him. Could he be a high-ranking official of the Hidden Leaf?

"Uncle, here, returning this to you~"

Walking in the corridor of the Hokage Building, Chiyo, who was following closely behind Uchiha Gin, carefully handed over the other Useless Big Stick in her hand.

The ability of this ninja tool was extremely powerful; it could double the effect of the holder's escape techniques, whether it was destructive elemental ninjutsu or healing medical ninjutsu.

It was by relying on this short staff that Chiyo had leaped to become the No. 1 of the younger generation in the Hidden Sand Village, and she was even regarded by her teacher as the future of the Hidden Sand Village.

"There's no reason to take back something I've already given away."

Uchiha Gin couldn't be bothered to even look at such redundant spare parts, so he gave them directly to his newly recognized niece as a meeting gift.

"This is so precious..."

Chiyo, who had just wanted to decline, suddenly remembered the bundle of identical ninja tools Uchiha Gin had been tossing around casually, and her voice gradually faded. She then silently and carefully put away the two Useless Big Sticks.

"Thank you, Uncle~"

If Chiyo were still as loud and rude as before to such a generous uncle, she would be quite ungrateful.

"By the way, what business do you have with the... Hokage?"

There was still some distance to the Hokage's office on the top floor, so Uchiha Gin took the opportunity while climbing the stairs to ask Chiyo.

"Uh... I don't know if you, Uncle, know about creatures called Tailed Beasts."

Hearing this, Chiyo hesitated for half a second, then took a few quick steps to get close to Uchiha Gin's ear and whispered.

Feeling a warm breeze with the scent of red bean and strawberry brush against his cheek, Uchiha Gin subconsciously swallowed his saliva.

"Gulp~"

He really didn't mean anything else; he was just purely hungry.

Tailed Beasts?

Uchiha Gin collected his thoughts, his brows slightly furrowed. The One-Tail of the Land of Wind was the only Tailed Beast he hadn't seen so far. Over the years, the Hidden Sand Village had kept news of the Tailed Beast under tight wraps, and information about the One-Tail had always been a mystery.

Moreover, Uchiha Gin had never heard of any One-Tail knight, which indirectly indicated that the Hidden Sand Village's process of independently developing transformation items was not going smoothly.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Gin turned his head and said softly,

"I know a thing or two."

"Our Hidden Sand Village has a Tailed Beast, but some problems have arisen recently. This time, I came here under my teacher's orders to invite the Hidden Leaf's number one developer to help us solve the difficulty."

Since when did your Hidden Sand Village become so open, actually inviting foreign experts to guide your work? Is this still the Hidden Sand Village I remember?

And also...

The Hidden Leaf's number one developer?

Who is that?

Someone actually dared to call themselves the Hidden Leaf's number one developer; Uchiha Gin was instantly displeased.

His own technique for hand-crafting toys was so superb, yet he hadn't gone around loudly proclaiming himself the Hidden Leaf's number one developer.

This impostor simply didn't take him, Uchiha Gin, seriously. Once he got to his cousin's place, he would definitely file a formal complaint and have that fame-stealing guy thrown into prison for the rest of his life!

Bang, bang, bang~

"Hmph~ Niece, do you know who exactly that 'Hidden Leaf's number one developer' is?"

Bringing Chiyo along, Uchiha Gin finally arrived in front of the Hokage's office door. Before knocking, he specifically asked for the name of the fame-stealing impostor.

"Uh... my teacher told me, it's called Uchi..."

"Come in!"

Creak~

The sound of the door opening drowned out Chiyo's soft whisper, and Uchiha Gin didn't care; anyway, after he finished filing his complaint, that liar's fate would surely be miserable.

"Big Sister! You've finally come~ Wuu wuu wuu..."

As soon as they entered, before Uchiha Gin could speak, a tall purple-haired youth ran over with a face full of grievances. Anyone who didn't know better would think he had been subjected to office harassment.

"Thud! ~"

Sidestepping the youth who was sobbing, Uchiha Gin heard a crisp knocking sound the next moment. He turned his head and saw Chiyo, holding the Useless Big Stick, fiercely rapping the purple-haired youth on the skull, making a rhythmic sound.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang~

"You idiot, you actually went in alone, making me wait outside for half a day!"

Chiyo, who showed no mercy when hitting her younger brother, scolded him while she struck, venting all the grievances she had just suffered onto the skull of her brother, Ebizo.

"Wuu wuu wuu, stop hitting me, if you hit me any more I'll go bald!"

Ebizo, who didn't dare to fight back, could only silently endure his sister's loving beatings. Feeling the heavy blows to his hair follicles and foreseeing a future of balding, he felt his heart turn to ash.

"Go buy a watch!"

"Hey, not bad~"

Taking advantage of the gap while the siblings were interacting, Uchiha Gin walked into the spacious Hokage office, wandered over to the Hokage's throne, and looked at Uchiha Madara, who was trying to look the part, with a mocking smile.

"Big Cousin, please stop making fun of me."

Having maintained a dignified expression for the whole day, Uchiha Madara finally broke character in front of Uchiha Gin and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"How does it feel to be Hokage?"

Although Uchiha Madara was only acting as Hokage for the time being, his succession was basically a done deal.

"Hehe, it's pretty cool~"

Uchiha Madara glanced at Senju Tobirama, who had a foul expression on the side, and chuckled.

"Uchiha Gin, why did you only just arrive?"

A whole morning had passed since he summoned Uchiha Gin, and it was almost time for lunch. This curly-haired man had only just wandered in; was that brat Danzo slacking off and failing to notify him in time?

"I'm old, my legs and feet aren't what they used to be."

Uchiha Gin naturally didn't give this white-haired man a good look. He was already 55 years old; in any special position, that was retirement age, yet he was still putting his remaining energy to use in prison. You didn't give me a model worker title, and yet you're still bossing me around?

"I..."

Senju Tobirama's breath hitched, and he nearly blurted out some beautiful Hidden Leaf language, but thinking that there were foreigners present, he had to maintain his dignity, so he swallowed the words back down his throat.

"Big Cousin, the reason we asked you to come today is..."

"Save it for later. I am now filing a formal complaint: someone actually dares to impersonate the Hidden Leaf's number one developer to swindle people. The advertisements have even reached the Land of Wind. Are you high-ranking officials of the Hidden Leaf going to manage this or not?"

Waving his hand to stop his cousin's next words, Uchiha Gin gritted his teeth as he reported the unknown impostor, determined to make the other party pay the price.

"Huh?"

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words, Uchiha Madara and Senju Tobirama subconsciously looked at each other, and the expressions on their faces instantly became strange.

"Actually..."

"Don't try to brush me off. Just tell me, are you going to solve it or not? I'll put it this way: if you intend to shield that so-called 'Hidden Leaf's number one developer,' I'll cut off your New Year's money!"

Seeing Uchiha Madara looking away and his attitude not being firm at all, Uchiha Gin was furious. Sure enough, once you become an official, you forget your brother. If I had known, I should have let you lie in a coffin and go blind!

"No, no, no, Big Cousin, you've misunderstood. Is it possible that..."

Uchiha Madara looked at his puffed-up Big Cousin and awkwardly scratched his face.

"Misunderstanding my foot, the Hidden Leaf Village's number one developer must die!"

Just then, Chiyo, having finished lecturing her own younger brother, walked in, stood in the middle of the office, and shouted loudly toward Uchiha Madara, who was whispering to Uchiha Gin on the dais.

"Lord Hokage, the Hidden Sand Village sincerely invites Mr. Uchiha Gin, the Hidden Leaf Village's number one developer, to go and guide our research and development work. Regardless of success or failure, there will definitely be a generous reward!"

"Huh?"

Chiyo's voice was slightly hoarse but possessed great penetrating power. Even from a distance, Uchiha Gin heard it clearly. He slowly turned his head, looked at the purple-haired girl with a sincere expression standing several meters away, and pointed a finger at himself.

"Me? The Hidden Leaf Village's number one developer?"

"Cousin, the Hidden Sand Village specifically named you to go and help them research the Tailed Beast."

Uchiha Madara spoke up to wake Uchiha Gin from his stupor, then handed a letter into his hands.

"This is..."

Taking the letter blankly, Uchiha Gin scanned it at a glance, and only then did he grasp the situation, his expression gradually shifting from confusion to understanding.

No wonder the usually conservative Hidden Sand Village dared to ask the Hidden Leaf Village for help; it turned out to be the result of Shamon's mediation.

No, he could no longer call him Shamon casually; not long ago, he had taken the Kazekage hat from the aging Reto and officially become the Second Kazekage.

As soon as Shamon took office as Kazekage, he immediately launched research work on Tailed Beast Knights. Previously, when he brought the driver back to the Hidden Sand Village, he had explained the ins and outs of the matter to the First Kazekage, Reto.

However, because it was a time of peace, Reto, who had always advocated for conservatism, chose to temporarily shelve the research on Tailed Beast Knights after weighing the options, taking advantage of the gap without war to frantically send out Sand ninja to take on missions and accumulate funds to develop the economy.

He promised that once they survived the most difficult years of the Hidden Sand Village and had a bit more wealth on hand, they would consider researching the labor-and-money-consuming Tailed Beast Knights.

And so, whether the village became wealthy or not was unknown, but they did wait until Reto abdicated, and Shamon, who longed to become a Tailed Beast Knight, finally ushered in his spring.

Among the few people who participated in the siege of Kakuzu back then, only Shamon remained who hadn't become a knight, which caused him to stay indoors out of shame, fearing he would meet an acquaintance who had become a Tailed Beast Knight and be teased again as that clown who could only spray Vacuum Spheres.

The first thing Shamon did upon taking office was to establish a Tailed Beast Knight Research Institute in a large temple in the Land of Wind, gathering all the scientific research talent in the Land of Wind to study the One-Tail Shukaku nearby, attempting to develop a transformation item unique to the Hidden Sand Village.

Unfortunately, things went against his wishes; the R&D process was extremely unsmooth. There were even a few times when Shukaku took advantage of a gap in the research to break the seal and run out to spout insults. After a round of chaos, it was only by relying on the combined efforts of the elderly Reto and Shamon that the irritable fat raccoon was stuffed back in.

From then on, the progress of the R&D became even slower. Shamon, who was already balding, was so worried that even his eyebrows fell out. Just as it was about to come to a standstill, he suddenly remembered that he had a good buddy in the Hidden Leaf Village with good character and strong skills.

Back then, Decade had hinted obscurely that if their Hidden Sand Village wanted Tailed Beast Cards, they should go find the person who made them, but Shamon, out of gratitude for the Hidden Leaf Village's construction of his hometown Loulan, had always been too embarrassed to ask.

But now, the frequency of the One-Tail breaking its seal was becoming more and more frequent, and Lord Reto's body had been worn out to the point of collapse. If they couldn't transform Shukaku into a transformation item, the Hidden Sand Village would have no choice but to weld Shukaku's seal shut and use it as a trump card for mutual destruction.

In desperation, Shamon had no choice but to swallow his pride and write an invitation letter in his own hand. Worried that the other party would think he lacked sincerity, he thoughtfully bestowed upon his good buddy the elegant title of "Hidden Leaf Village's Number One Developer," and sent his two personal disciples thousands of miles away to invite him, giving him face and respect in every way, hoping that Uchiha Gin would, for the sake of their acquaintance, come to assist him in achieving his knightly dream.

"Curly, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. After all, the Hidden Sand Village is not exactly a kind place."

Seeing Uchiha Gin holding the letter with his head bowed in silence, Tobirama Senju frowned, his tone unusually carrying a hint of concern.

Back then, his older brother had encountered an assassination upon returning from the Land of Wind; it was quite possible that it was the work of villains from the Hidden Sand Village. Although Curly was annoying, for the sake of his younger sister, he should still warn him a little!

"I'm going! I must go!"

The more you, White Hair, oppose it, the more I want to go! (End of chapter)