Chapter 421: A Few Things About Cousin Secretly Getting Surgery

【Breaking News, Breaking News: The Land of Water and the Land of Earth have officially declared war! Hozuki Gengetsu has publicly declared that he and Mu will fight until one of them is dead.】

【The Land of Lightning is massing troops at the border; their wolfish ambition is clear for all to see.】

【The Konoha succession ceremony will be held next week. Who will ultimately claim the position of Second Hokage? Click the link below to check the Jonin approval ratings in advance.】

【The largest shipping company in the Land of Waves issues an emergency denial: they are not accepting foreign investment. Any internal financing conducted in the name of Land of Waves officials is a scam. All parties, please be vigilant and do not be deceived.】

"Thud!"

"Damn it! Give me back my money!!!"

The solid wood desk was smashed in two by a single punch. Senju Tobirama's eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on the headline news in the newspaper, his blood running cold.

"My hard-earned money!!!"

He wondered why he had only received a dividend once in all these years. Every time he wrote to inquire, the reply was always the same:

Something about the company being in a critical stage of development, or that the good days of stuffing money into burlap sacks were still ahead.

It turned out it was all just a stalling tactic; his money had likely long since been squandered by that despicable swindler.

"Sigh... Tobirama, I warned you long ago: aside from rolling dice, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

Senju Hashirama sat firmly on the Hokage's throne, looking at his younger brother's impotent rage with a pained expression. He had warned him many times that that so-called shipping company was unreliable.

"Hmph! You didn't drink any less of the tea they sent as gifts."

Tobirama turned his head, his gaze dangerous as he looked at his older brother. Hashirama had used plenty of the gifts sent by that swindler during the holidays, so by that logic, he was an accomplice.

"Uh..."

Hashirama scratched his face awkwardly, then put on a serious expression.

"Tobirama, I've helped you cover up this massive hole for so many years. Now that I'm about to step down, have you thought about how to fix it?"

Fortunately, Tobirama wasn't without precautions; he had specifically placed a Flying Thunder God mark on the person who claimed to be a Land of Waves official.

"Fix it? I'll go find that guy!"

With a cold, grim expression, Tobirama raised a finger, and with a flash of blue light, he vanished from the spot.

A second later, the blue light flashed again. Tobirama returned, soaking wet, his clothes covered in fresh seafood, his face terrifyingly dark.

"That guy definitely has a team. Without me knowing, they stripped away the Flying Thunder God mark and dumped it into the ocean."

Holding a scroll covered in green moss, Tobirama spat out a mouthful of salty seawater, then pulled a small crab pinching his ear off his face, speaking in a tone that was practically murderous.

"To have such sophisticated methods... I fear this was premeditated."

"Ah? Does that mean you can't get it back?"

Hashirama's expression turned bitter. That money was earned through Uchiha Gin's hard work selling Tailed Beasts; the village hadn't even used it yet, and now it had all been squandered by his brother.

"Give me some more time. I will definitely find that guy."

"It's too late. Madara is about to succeed me. When the accounts are made public, you won't be able to hide this massive hole anymore."

The money Tobirama had invested was no small sum. A hundred billion ryo, even in today's inflationary times, was an astronomical figure. Even if they sold the entire Senju Clan, they might not be able to cover it.

Wait... the Senju Clan!

"Tobirama, there is only one way out now."

After a moment of contemplation, Hashirama looked up, his expression extremely heavy.

"Brother, do you mean..."

Seeing Hashirama's expression of heroic sacrifice, Tobirama's heart tightened, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"That's right, I am going to..."

"You're going to submit yourself to that bastard Uchiha Madara?"

"Pfft!!!"

"You idiot, what are you thinking about!"

Hashirama, who had just picked up his tea, couldn't hold it in and sprayed the boiling liquid all over Tobirama's face, his expression incredibly vivid.

"Then, Brother, do you have any other way?"

Fortunately, he was already soaked, so Tobirama didn't pay much mind to the tea splashed all over him. After wiping his face, he asked in confusion.

With his powerful brain, he could only think of one way to bribe Madara, the future Second Hokage.

As for how to bribe him, he could only let his brother cater to his tastes. As a younger brother, though it pained him, he had no other choice.

"Sigh... when you go back, carefully audit the clan's assets."

Hashirama rubbed his aching temples and let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with exhaustion.

Ever since he recovered from that strange illness, he felt his body getting worse by the day. He used to be able to fight for three hundred rounds with vigor, but now he had to be extremely careful, fearing he might wake his bedmate and have to go another round.

"Brother, are you going to...?"

Hearing Hashirama's words, Tobirama's gaze sharpened, his expression looking like he was mourning the dead.

"The Senju Clan should also become history."

Soon, rumors began to circulate through the streets of Konoha about the Senju Clan's major moves.

"Have you heard? The Senju Clan is currently auditing their assets. Many properties and lands have been put up for auction."

"New emperor, new courtiers. With the First Hokage stepping down, the Senju Clan must be keeping a low profile. If they keep hoarding, they'll be targeted by the Second Hokage."

"Is that true? But I heard the First and Second Hokage were childhood sweethearts; they shouldn't be doing something so heartless, right?"

At the entrance of the village, several idle old men and women sat in a small teahouse, sharing gossip.

When it came to the village leader's scandals, they were full of gossip. One woman with a perm beckoned the others closer.

"Shh... keep it down. Let me tell you: my second uncle's granddaughter's cousin's son-in-law's neighbor's dog's former owner's ex-girlfriend is a clerk at the Hokage building. She told me that the First and Second Hokage are harmonious on the surface but harbor deep resentment in private, and the culprit behind all this is..."

"Who is it? Tell us!"

"Don't keep us in suspense. I'll let you cut in front of me when we grab eggs later."

The woman, receiving the full attention of the room, nodded with satisfaction. Her bright red lips parted, and she spat out a name:

"Senju Tobirama!!!"

In the Senju Clan's ancestral hall, a white-haired, withered old man looked at the expressionless Tobirama with a sinister gaze.

"Do you dare kneel before the ancestors' tablets and repeat what you just said?"

He pointed a trembling finger at the ancestral tablets and questioned him coldly.

"Great Elder, times have changed."

Tobirama shook his head, a trace of imperceptible disgust hidden deep in his eyes.

These parasites within the clan had sucked who knew how much blood from the Senju. Today, he would make these old bastards cough up their gold coins.

"Konoha is not the Senju Clan's Konoha. As long as Konoha has a need, the Senju Clan must be prepared to sacrifice at any moment."

"Bullshit! I've bled for the Senju Clan, I've blocked blades for Clan Leader Butsuma! You have no power and no right to confiscate my private property!"

Seeing Tobirama so insistent, even disregarding the name of the ancestors, the Great Elder's eyes rolled, and he began to throw a tantrum.

"Great Elder, you've lived this long, you must be a smart man. Some things, I won't put on the table."

Looking at the Great Elder who had turned into a deadbeat, Tobirama sneered. This old guy relied on his age to embezzle plenty of the clan's offerings.

"I'm just a lonely old man. I've saved up a few acres of thin fields and two small courtyards in my life. If you want them, take them. When I die on the street, I will definitely go to Clan Leader Butsuma and tell him every word of what you, this yellow-mouthed child, have done."

Old and treacherous, the Great Elder failed to stand his ground and immediately chose to advance by retreating, putting on a miserable expression in front of the clan members.

"Heh, do I really have to spell it out for you to give up?"

The Great Elder was acting, and Tobirama almost turned into Hyuga Tobirama. He smiled disdainfully and beckoned to his followers.

"Great Elder has a thousand acres of fertile land, over fifty properties, a commercial street, and thirty-two billion ryo in cash in the Fire Country Bank..."

As Tobirama's followers unfolded the scroll and listed the Great Elder's assets one by one, the air seemed to freeze.

"Wait! Don't say any more!"

Not expecting his assets to be investigated so thoroughly, the Great Elder's face turned darker and darker, and he shouted sharply to stop him.

"Senju Tobirama, good, you are very good."

"A few acres of thin fields? Two small courtyards?"

Tobirama shook his head mockingly.

"Great Elder, these are just the assets written in your name. As far as I know, you also have several illegitimate children..."

"I'll hand it over! I'll hand it over! I am willing to donate my assets to the village unconditionally!"

Finally hearing the answer he wanted, Tobirama wore a warm smile and walked up to help the Great Elder up.

"Really, Great Elder, if you had done this earlier, you would still have time to go to the village entrance and dance in the square."

"Do me a favor, I'll donate all the assets in my name to the village, just let my lineage go, how about that?"

The Great Elder's face was gray, his previous arrogance gone. Taking advantage of Tobirama helping him up, he whispered a negotiation, his words filled with pleading.

"I'll try to leave you a few acres of thin fields and two small courtyards so you can spend your remaining years in peace."

"You! Ga—"

His concession didn't bring the promise he wanted. The Great Elder was overcome with anger and fainted with a "ga" sound.

"Hurry and send the Great Elder down to rest!"

Tobirama wore a disdainful smile and casually tossed the unconscious Great Elder to the clansmen beside him.

"Let's go, next house."

A war without smoke broke out quietly within the Senju Clan. Countless greedy branches were cut off by Tobirama, collected, and turned into nutrients to fill his hole.

"Tsk tsk tsk, that white-haired guy is really ruthless~"

Because the annual Konoha festival was approaching, Uchiha Gin finally got a rare holiday. He flipped through the newspaper at the assets the Senju Clan was dumping and instantly guessed the gist of it.

"What happened to Second Brother again?"

Senju Itama, wearing an apron, became alert at the mention of "white-haired guy" and poked his head out of the kitchen, asking in confusion.

"Your family is bankrupt. You've really become a fallen heiress now~"

"Huh?"

Looking at the confused Senju Itama, Uchiha Gin shook his head regretfully, his expressionless dead fish eyes filled with mockery.

Uchiha Gin naturally knew what Tobirama was in such a hurry about.

With his cousin about to succeed, Tobirama still hadn't filled the hole from the Tailed Beast funds from years ago.

If the matter were exposed, his position as village branch secretary being dismissed would be a small matter; the entire Senju Clan would be implicated and become rats crossing the street that everyone shouted to beat.

Of course, it was impossible for Tobirama to recover the money; those funds had already been used to build the Wave and Whirlpool countries.

Therefore, there were only two paths before Tobirama:

1. Defect voluntarily, fight to the death, cut off all interpersonal relationships, and bear all the black accounts alone.

2. Sell ancestral property to make up for the village's fiscal deficit.

Now it seemed Tobirama still had some humanity, choosing to break his wrist to survive, using his own family fortune to make up for the deficit.

"Still too timid. With this much money, couldn't he just cook the books~"

Uchiha Gin was just talking without feeling the pain. A hundred billion ryo in his previous life would be tens of billions of yuan. If he had to cook the books for that, it would be enough to make Tobirama go bald.

"What are you mumbling about?"

Senju Itama brought over breakfast, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

"Nothing... By the way, are you interested in being the Senju Clan Leader?"

Thinking about being able to boss the Senju Clan Leader around, Uchiha Gin's eyes lit up instantly.

"..."

"Sigh... so you didn't have a fever. I told you not to stay up late at night. You just woke up and started talking in your sleep again."

She quickly stepped forward to touch the forehead of the babbling curly-haired guy. After confirming the temperature was OK, Itama rolled her beautiful eyes and didn't take Uchiha Gin's sleep-talking seriously at all.

"I didn't..."

Feeling like he was being treated as an idiot by Itama, Uchiha Gin wanted to defend himself, but his gaze was drawn to other content in the newspaper.

"No way, I was just bluffing, you guys actually started fighting~"

Looking at the news of war breaking out everywhere in the newspaper, Uchiha Gin's excited expression instantly collapsed.

He was an anti-war activist who loved peace. Otherwise, he wouldn't have worn the Decade mask and put drivers on the powerhouses of several major ninja villages as shackles to curb local wars.

As a result, he never expected that he had just casually bluffed Tobirama a few times, and that white-haired guy, who was full of schemes, had actually made a detailed deduction.

After using the greatest malice to speculate about others and engaging in a wave of crazy self-brainstorming, Tobirama quickly spread the news that Hashirama was seriously ill and his strength was greatly reduced.

Not only that, he also spread the false news that the First and future Second Hokage were at odds.

Other ninja villages that received the above intelligence were very restrained at first, but as the investigation deepened, they gradually believed in the authenticity of the above intelligence.

After all, even the old Konoha people on the street were saying that the relationship between the First and Second Hokage was complex and there was a big gap.

Itama, who had finished cleaning the kitchen, took off her apron and let out a long stretch. The seductive lines made Uchiha Gin's nose itch.

"War again?"

She sat down beside Uchiha Gin, kicked off her slippers, and rubbed her slightly sore black-silk-clad feet. Her starry eyes fell on the newspaper content, and her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"Stop scratching. You wear these every day, aren't you afraid of getting athlete's foot?"

Attracted by the deadly temptation of the jailer, Uchiha Gin took a deep breath, resisted the urge to turn his head, and complained.

"Huh? Where is there athlete's foot? If you don't believe me, smell it."

Unjustly labeled with athlete's foot, Itama was very indignant and handed her fragrant jailer over.

Hmph~ Right or wrong, I'll know with one taste!

Looking at the small foot reaching toward him, Uchiha Gin almost turned into a divine beast of the Inuzuka family.

"Bang bang bang~"

However, at this critical moment, the front door of Uchiha Gin's house was suddenly knocked.

"Tsk! Who is it!"

Regretfully retracting his tongue, Uchiha Gin turned his head, wishing he could smash the person outside into ashes to vent his hatred.

"Cousin! It's me."

Hearing Madara's familiar voice, Uchiha Gin shook his head in annoyance and got up to open the door. Itama, sitting on the sofa, had a slightly flushed face and a trace of inexplicable annoyance.

It was just a little bit more.

Creak~

Opening the door, he saw Madara's stinking face that owed him two hundred and fifty-eight thousand. Uchiha Gin immediately said unpleasantly:

"Isn't this the Second Hokage? How come you have time to come down to the grassroots to comfort the bottom-level employees?"

"Cousin, stop digging at me."

Hearing Uchiha Gin's blatant mockery, Madara showed a bitter smile on his face.

"I have serious business."

"Come in, remember to change your shoes."

Changing into slippers nimbly, Madara sat on the sofa in the reception hall and picked up the dessert on the table to eat without any politeness.

"Cousin, where did you buy these pastries? I'll go buy a few pounds too~"

Feeling that the taste of the yokan in his hand was good, not only was the texture soft and dense, but the honey poured on it was also unusually sweet and greasy.

"Imported from the Land of Waterfalls. If you count the travel expenses, it's 100,000 ryo a piece."

The delivery fee for Flying Thunder God takeout is very high, you know~

"Ga! Cough cough cough..."

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words that didn't sound like a lie, Madara, who was frantically devouring the yokan, almost choked to death. He hurriedly took a sip of the tea handed over from the opposite side to alleviate it.

"Thank you, Cousin."

Putting down the teacup awkwardly, Madara's expression gradually became serious. Uchiha Gin raised his eyebrows.

He didn't know what business he had coming to him at this juncture.

"Say what you have to say, I haven't had breakfast yet."

The segment of tasting the jailer was interrupted, and Uchiha Gin's stomach was still hungry now.

"Cousin, I just want to ask, is there any possibility for Hashirama's body to recover?"

In front of Uchiha Gin, Madara didn't sell it short and directly stated the doubts in his heart.

After saying that, he stared at Uchiha Gin with expectant eyes, hoping he could help his best friend.

"Isn't Hashirama eating well and having a strong body?"

Although Hashirama's body was not as good as before, it wasn't weak to the point of needing treatment.

"But his strength..."

Madara's expression tightened, and the disappointment on his face flashed by.

"So it's this aspect. You're not young anymore, why are you still so competitive?"

Looking at his cousin's loss, Uchiha Gin understood. Madara must have gone to spar with Hashirama, only to find that the high mountain he hadn't conquered for many years had been broken in half, and the sense of achievement after climbing could not satisfy his vanity.

"I admit I have my selfishness, but Hashirama himself is not having a good time either."

Generously admitting that he had indeed brought his own goods, Madara nodded lightly, his eyes filled with worry.

Uchiha Gin scratched his head helplessly. Although Hashirama had a bright personality and was always a good man, the decline in strength had indeed caused him no small blow.

Not long ago, when Hashirama came to thank him, he had secretly asked Uchiha Gin if there were any ways to strengthen his body and stay strong.

Uchiha Gin, who didn't want to cause a doctor-patient dispute, only took out the mysterious little pill he would never eat and gave a little bit to Hashirama, which blocked his mouth.

"It's quite difficult to want Hashirama to regain his past glory."

The root cause of Hashirama's decline in strength was the lack of Asura chakra. If he could stuff Asura's chakra back in, or find a similar substitute, he might be able to recover as before.

"Quite difficult? That means it can be done?"

Madara, who didn't have much hope originally, raised his head excitedly, staring at Uchiha Gin with burning eyes, hoping he could help his best friend.

"I have an idea, but it needs some time to verify. Don't hold too much hope for now."

Uchiha Gin shook his head and poured a bucket of cold water on Madara. Asura's chakra was not so easy to find; it might be hiding in the Pure Land waiting for the opportunity of reincarnation.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm not in a hurry now, as long as there is hope."

Hearing that Uchiha Gin didn't directly deny it, Madara grinned and showed a bright smile. The heart hanging in his stomach finally fell back.

"Are you hiding something from me?"

From Madara's expression, Uchiha Gin sensed something wrong and immediately asked with a frown. He always felt that the other party was hiding something from him.

"Huh? No! I didn't awaken Wood Release."

Immersed in joy, Madara jumped when he heard Uchiha Gin's sudden questioning and waved his hands in a panic to deny it, but as soon as he opened his mouth, it was a straight ball of self-exposure.

"Uh..."

Feeling the heavy gazes of Uchiha Gin and Itama on the side, Madara, after a short period of confusion, lowered his head honestly like a child who had done something wrong.

"Sorry, Cousin, I shouldn't have hidden it from you."

"I knew it. Why were you in such a hurry to let Hashirama recover? So you were full of bad water."

Looking up and down at Madara, Uchiha Gin quietly turned on his super perception, only to find that there was indeed a force of Wood Release in his cousin's body that was exactly the same as Hashirama's and full of vitality.

"Honestly explain, did you secretly do some minor surgery behind my back?"

(End of chapter)