Chapter 435

Inside the massive office, only the two men at the pinnacle of Konoha's power remained.

Uchiha Madara, dressed in the Hokage's haori, radiated an inexplicable aura. Without looking back, he sat upon the Hokage's throne he had longed for so dearly.

The moment his backside touched the seat, his heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions; he had waited far, far too long for this day.

"Speak."

After placing his worn conical hat on the desk, Uchiha Madara crossed his hands beneath his chin. His black pupils gradually stained a deep scarlet, and a cold, chilling ocular power leaked out, bearing down directly on the silent Senju Tobirama.

"Speak of what?"

Sensing he was locked in by that sharp gaze, Senju Tobirama immediately feigned ignorance, blinking his eyes in confusion, attempting to muddle through.

Slap!

Uchiha Madara's expression turned cold as he slammed a palm onto the desk.

"Don't take me for a fool; I am the Hokage now!"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Senju Tobirama stiffened his neck. As the Chief Secretary, his status was on par with the Hokage, so he naturally could not show weakness before an Uchiha; otherwise, he would forever be in a disadvantaged position in future work.

"Hashirama, what happened?"

His scarlet eyes fixed on the hat before him, Uchiha Madara forcibly suppressed the nameless fire in his heart and questioned him coldly.

"Didn't I tell you? Big Brother went to prepare a gift; he should be on his way back now."

Senju Tobirama brought out his previous excuse once again.

Uchiha Madara shook his head dismissively after hearing this.

"I know Hashirama better than you do. He would absolutely never miss my inauguration ceremony."

The bond formed by the two who grew up playing together had long since surpassed that of Senju Tobirama, the younger brother.

No one understood Senju Hashirama better than Uchiha Madara.

And vice versa.

"Tsk!"

Senju Tobirama clicked his tongue secretly, his expression growing increasingly gloomy.

As expected of the naturally evil and cunning Uchiha!

"Big Brother really did go to prepare a gift for you. Perhaps he was delayed by something?"

After pondering for a moment, Senju Tobirama gave an ambiguous answer. The fact that the two brothers were working side-hustles naturally could not be exposed.

Therefore, before Senju Hashirama returned, what Senju Tobirama had to do was stabilize Uchiha Madara and prevent him from discovering the loopholes in the financial reports.

Hearing Senju Tobirama's explanation, an inexplicable sense of unease suddenly arose in Uchiha Madara's heart.

Could the dignified God of Shinobi really be delayed by trivial matters?

"You have a way to contact him, right?"

"That goes without saying."

"Then why haven't you contacted him yet!"

"Are you so impatient to exploit a veteran cadre?"

Senju Tobirama curled his lip in disdain, raised his hand to activate his sensory abilities, and searched for the Flying Thunder God mark he had left on Senju Hashirama.

But after several minutes passed, Senju Tobirama's complexion grew worse and worse, and beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his temples.

"Impossible! How could it be gone?"

After repeatedly confirming it several times, Senju Tobirama lost his previous composure, his scarlet eyes filled with disbelief.

In his Flying Thunder God network map that spanned the entire Ninja World, the coordinate mark symbolizing Senju Hashirama had mysteriously vanished.

Uchiha Madara, who had been waiting on the side, felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Senju Tobirama's slightly panicked expression.

"What happened?"

Logically speaking, this white-haired man should be able to bring Senju Hashirama back neatly with a mere lift of his finger.

"A clone! Right, there's still the Shadow Clone!"

Senju Tobirama, whose heart had turned cold, remembered the Shadow Clone he had sent out earlier and his eyes lit up. That clone hadn't sent back a report, which meant it was still by Senju Hashirama's side.

As long as he dispelled the Shadow Clone now, he would naturally know Big Brother's intelligence.

"Release!"

Senju Tobirama, full of joy, performed the release seal, but after waiting for a long time, he felt not a shred of chakra feedback, let alone the memories he needed.

"Release!"

"Release!!"

After trying several times with all his might, Senju Tobirama was shocked to discover that he had actually lost contact with the Shadow Clone; he couldn't even dispel it from a distance.

Swish!

Uchiha Madara, who had been waiting impatiently, saw Senju Tobirama's frantic actions, stood up with a swish, and strode to his front.

"Where is my Hashirama?"

His scarlet eyes glinted with cold light as Uchiha Madara looked down at Senju Tobirama.

"Wait, give me a moment..."

Encountering this situation for the first time, Senju Tobirama racked his brains to think of the reason.

"This shouldn't be happening?"

Senju Tobirama could accept the Flying Thunder God mark being erased; after all, there was the bug-like existence of sealing techniques.

But losing contact with the Shadow Clone made Senju Tobirama's scalp tingle.

Prepare for the worst.

Big Brother and his Shadow Clone were attacked!

But the Shadow Clone would definitely have committed suicide at the first sign of being unable to win, passing the message back to the original body, rather than being completely silent like this.

"Take me to the last place Hashirama appeared."

Knowing he couldn't rely on this useless Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara reached out to shed the haori he hadn't even warmed up yet, revealing the combat gear underneath.

He was going to find Senju Hashirama's tracks himself.

"The last place... the Land of Bears!"

Senju Tobirama, who had originally wanted to go investigate alone, looked at the fully prepared Uchiha Madara and had no choice but to nod.

After placing his finger on the other's shoulder, Senju Tobirama locked onto a mark in the Land of Bears. With a flash of blue light, the massive office fell into silence.

Land of Bears.

A blue light lit up in the depths of a dense forest in the no-man's-land. Uchiha Madara, his face bruised and purple, and Senju Tobirama, slightly panting, landed on the ground.

"Ugh!"

The moment he touched the ground, Uchiha Madara couldn't help but vomit. This was his first time riding the Flying Thunder God express; he didn't know if Senju Tobirama was taking revenge for the previous ride on the Susanoo airplane.

"This is?"

Senju Tobirama looked around, discovering that the previously endless dense forest had become a complete mess. A large number of trees had been cut in half, the canyon in the distance had been leveled, and there were many bottomless pits on the ground.

"Big Brother's chakra."

The surrounding area still retained the scent of chakra familiar to Senju Tobirama. With a bad premonition in his heart, he leaped onto a large tree to overlook the entire battlefield.

"These are the traces of Hashirama's battle."

Uchiha Madara, who had vomited all his bile on the side, looked at the surrounding environment with a deep frown. Having fought Senju Hashirama for many years, he could naturally judge that a world-shaking battle had taken place here, even altering the terrain.

Senju Tobirama's brows were locked tight. It seemed Big Brother and his Shadow Clone had indeed been attacked, and the opponent's methods were very strange, actually being able to control the Shadow Clone, and Big Brother's whereabouts were unknown.

"Let's search separately."

Seeing things developing in an uncontrollable direction, the two put aside their rivalry and began to sweep the battlefield, attempting to find clues about Senju Hashirama.

"There's blood here!"

Before long, Senju Tobirama was the first to discover a pool of blood that had long since congealed. Judging by the massive life force leaking from it, this was definitely left by Senju Hashirama.

"Clack!"

When Uchiha Madara arrived at the news, his expression froze instantly because he saw something very familiar.

"That is?"

"Crack~"

Sticking the wide-bladed giant sword that glinted with a chilling light into the ground, Uchiha Madara's expression was incomparably gloomy. The two were more than familiar with this weapon; it was Senju Hashirama's signature greatsword.

"Hashirama is in trouble."

Combining the discarded weapon and the congealed blood, Uchiha Madara struggled to reach the most reasonable conclusion.

"Impossible, Big Brother is so strong, how could he be in trouble?"

"Maybe it was impossible before, but now..."

The past is the past, and now is now.

Ever since that serious illness, Senju Hashirama's strength had basically been halved. If he really encountered an unknown powerful enemy, there was a high probability of failure.

"Let's keep looking."

A silent atmosphere spread between the two. After a long while, Uchiha Madara spoke first and turned to continue searching.

One hour later.

After a carpet-like search by the two, they found no further clues within this battlefield.

Information on Senju Hashirama was cut off here.

"Let's go back first; Konoha cannot go a day without a Hokage."

After carefully collecting the blood from the ground, Senju Tobirama, with a deep expression, spoke up.

"I will not go back until I find Hashirama."

Uchiha Madara, standing on a treetop looking into the distance, lowered his head, his tone very firm.

"It's useless for us to waste time here. You have to trust Big Brother; he will definitely be fine."

"Hmph! I naturally know that."

The only one who can defeat Senju Hashirama is him, Uchiha Madara.

"Then are you going to disregard Big Brother's hard work?"

"But..."

Uchiha Madara's eyes turned red. Is Konoha without Hashirama still Konoha?

"I have one more method to check Big Brother's current situation."

Seeing Uchiha Madara, who had just taken the baton less than half a day ago, wanting to quit, Senju Tobirama, full of helplessness, spoke up.

Although he didn't get along with Uchiha Madara, that was a personal grievance and would not rise to the level of the entire village.

On the contrary, Konoha having a powerful Hokage was the thing that put Senju Tobirama most at ease.

"Really?"

"Guaranteed~"

With a flash of blue light, the two figures disappeared from the spot.

"Verify it quickly!"

In the blink of an eye, the two returned to the Hokage's office. Uchiha Madara couldn't care about the churning in his stomach, grabbed Senju Tobirama by the collar, and urged him anxiously.

"Don't be impatient, I need some..."

Senju Tobirama frowned, wanting to break free from Uchiha Madara's iron grip, but found he couldn't shake it no matter what, so he had to lower his voice.

"Sacrifices."

Konoha Prison.

After attending the cousin's inauguration ceremony, Uchiha Gin said goodbye to the two women who were going shopping and strolled back to his workstation alone.

But just as the tea was brewed and the sugar added to the second spoonful, he saw Uchiha Izuna rushing in aggressively.

"Yo~ little cousin, finally got swept up?"

Leisurely stirring the sugar granules in the teacup, Uchiha Gin wore an expression of heartbreak.

Which anti-vice sweep didn't involve you and Brother Brother Erlang?

"Big Cousin, what nonsense are you spouting? I'm acting on orders."

Uchiha Izuna's old face flushed, and then he raised the scroll in his hand, his expression slightly proud.

"Acting on orders? You finally managed to get an official position?"

"Uh... currently I'm the Hokage's secretary. After the probation period, I'll be the squad leader of the Jonin class~"

Eh~

Uchiha Gin looked at his little cousin with a strange expression. Had he forgotten the level of drudgery in the secretary position?

"Speak, what orders do you have?"

Since his younger brother had come to his territory, Uchiha Gin naturally wouldn't reject his face.

"Big Brother wants me to secretly take away a few death-row prisoners."

Although the order Uchiha Madara gave was a secret operation, Izuna naturally wouldn't hide anything from Uchiha Gin.

"Oh~ didn't say what to do?"

"That wasn't said, but Senju Tobirama, that white-haired man, is also there, so it shouldn't be anything shameful."

"Alright, you wait, I'll go pick a few for you."

Nodding nonchalantly, a sharp glint flashed in Uchiha Gin's half-squinted eyes.

It's the scent of gossip~

Soon, Uchiha Gin handed a list to Uchiha Izuna.

"This is?"

"Transferring prisoners in broad daylight is too conspicuous. You pick a few, and I'll send them over tonight."

"Big Cousin is still the thoughtful one~"

Casually pointing to a few unfamiliar names, Uchiha Izuna apologized to Uchiha Gin and went back to report first.

Midnight.

According to the address Izuna left during the day, the sneaky Uchiha Gin carried a few sacks into the Forest of Death outside Konoha Village. After walking for a while, he saw two figures waiting for a long time.

"SF Express, please sign for it~"

Throwing the few weak-breathing sacks onto the ground, Uchiha Gin looked at the two familiar people and revealed a professional smile.

"Uh... why is it you? Where is Uchiha Izuna?"

Senju Tobirama rubbed his temples with a headache. They had instructed Uchiha Izuna during the day that this was a secret mission and must not be known by outsiders.

How did he end up attracting this curly-haired guy in the blink of an eye?

Uchiha Madara on the side moved his eyes, his face full of conflict as he faced the suddenly appearing Uchiha Gin.

"Mieko's stomach started hurting, she might give birth tonight, so I came to cover for my little cousin."

Uchiha Gin scratched his face and gave an impeccable explanation.

"Fine, sorry to trouble you, Big Cousin. Your mission is complete, you can go back and rest now."

"Are you two preparing to perform some evil ritual?"

Facing Uchiha Madara's expulsion, Uchiha Gin didn't leave; instead, he looked at the pre-drawn incantations on the ground with great interest.

"I told you to leave, don't delay our serious business."

Senju Tobirama frowned; he didn't want the news of him using forbidden techniques to leak out.

"I'll just watch, I won't speak~"

Putting on an expression of a curious baby, Uchiha Gin prepared to stay and eat gossip with a thick skin.

"You!"

"Alright, time is of the essence, hurry and verify it. As for Big Cousin..."

Looking up at the dim sky, Uchiha Madara stopped Senju Tobirama's subsequent speech, his slightly helpless eyes falling on Uchiha Gin.

"He is trustworthy."

After so many years, regarding some things, Uchiha Madara had never questioned Uchiha Gin, even if he doubted himself.

When the word "trust" was mentioned, a tiny trace of inexplicable recognition flashed in Senju Tobirama's eyes.

"Since that's the case, you curly-haired guy, don't get scared!"

"Oh my, I'm so scared~"

PS:

debuff: Influenza A

Status: Dying (End of chapter)