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 as he sat down on the Hokage throne he had longed for, without even looking back.

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

"Speak."

After placing his hat on the desk, Uchiha Madara crossed his hands beneath his chin, his black eyes gradually staining with scarlet as cold, icy pupil power leaked out, bearing down directly on the silent Senju Tobirama.

"Speak of what?"

Feeling himself locked in by that sharp gaze, Senju Tobirama immediately feigned ignorance, blinking his eyes in confusion as he attempted to muddle through.

Slap!

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

"Don't take me for an idiot; 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 in front of an Uchiha, or he would remain in a disadvantaged position in all 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 coldly demanded an answer.

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

Senju Tobirama once again brought out his previous excuse.

After hearing this, Uchiha Madara shook his head in disdain.

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

The bond formed by the two of them, having played together since childhood, had long since surpassed that of Senju Tobirama, the younger brother.

No one understood Senju Hashirama better than Uchiha Madara.

And the reverse was also true.

"Tsk!"

Senju Tobirama clicked his tongue in secret, his expression growing increasingly gloomy.

As expected of the inherently 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 jobs 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 squeeze an old 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.

As a result, several minutes passed, and Senju Tobirama's complexion grew worse and worse, with beads of sweat the size of beans sliding down his temples.

"Impossible! How could it be gone?"

After repeatedly confirming it several times, Senju Tobirama lost his previous ease, 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 bizarrely vanished.

Uchiha Madara, who had been waiting to the side, felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing Senju Tobirama's slightly flustered expression.

"What happened?"

Logically speaking, shouldn't this white-haired man be able to lift a finger and bring Senju Hashirama back neatly?

"Clone! That's right, there's still the Shadow Clone!"

Senju Tobirama, feeling cold in his heart, 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, formed 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 astonished to discover that he had actually lost contact with the Shadow Clone, to the point where he couldn't even dispel it remotely.

Swish!

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

"Where is my Hashirama?"

His scarlet eyes piercing with cold light, 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, the bug-like skill of Sealing Jutsu existed.

But the loss of 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 the moment it couldn't win, passing the information 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 remove the Hokage 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 Xiong Zhiguo!"

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 fingers on the other's shoulder, Senju Tobirama locked onto a mark in the Xiong Zhiguo, and with a flash of blue light, the massive office fell into silence.

Xiong Zhiguo.

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

"Ugh!"

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

"This is?"

Senju Tobirama raised his head to look around, discovering that the previously boundless dense forest had become a mess, with a large number of trees snapped in half, the canyon in the distance filled in, and many bottomless pits on the ground.

"Big Brother's chakra."

The surrounding area still held the lingering scent of the chakra Senju Tobirama was familiar with; with a bad premonition in his heart, he immediately leaped up 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 to the side, frowned as he looked at the surrounding environment; having fought Senju Hashirama for many years, he could naturally judge that a world-class battle had taken place here, even changing 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 split up and search."

Seeing things developing in an uncontrollable direction, the two put away their competitive spirit and began to clean up the battlefield, attempting to find any clues about Senju Hashirama.

"There's blood here!"

Before long, Senju Tobirama was the first to discover a pool of already congealed blood; judging by the massive life force leaking from it, this was definitely left by Senju Hashirama.

"Clack!"

When Uchiha Madara arrived upon hearing the news, Senju Tobirama's expression instantly froze, because he saw something very familiar.

"That is?"

"Crack~"

Sticking the wide-bladed greatsword that shimmered with cold light into the ground, Uchiha Madara's expression was incomparably gloomy; the two were all too familiar with this weapon—it was Senju Hashirama's personal 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 was the past, and the present was the present.

Ever since that serious illness, Senju Hashirama's strength had basically been cut in half; if he had truly encountered an unknown, powerful enemy, there was a high probability of a disaster.

"Let's keep looking."

A silent atmosphere unfolded between the two; after a long while, Uchiha Madara spoke first, turned around, and continued searching.

One hour later.

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

The information on Senju Hashirama ended here.

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

After carefully collecting the blood from the ground, the deep-faced Senju Tobirama spoke up.

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

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

"It's useless for us to waste time here; you have to believe in Big Brother, he will absolutely be fine."

"Hmph! I naturally know that."

The only one who could defeat Senju Hashirama was him, Uchiha Madara.

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

"But..."

Uchiha Madara's eyes turned red; was Konoha without Hashirama still Konoha?

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

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

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

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

"Really?"

"Guaranteed~"

With a flash of blue light, the two figures disappeared from where they stood.

"Hurry and verify it!"

In the blink of an eye, the two returned to the Hokage 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 grip, but discovered he couldn't shake it no matter what, so he had to lower his voice.

"Sacrifices."

Konoha Prison.

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

As a result, just as the tea was brewed and he added the second spoonful of sugar, he saw Uchiha Izuna rush in aggressively.

"Yo~ little cousin, were you finally raided?"

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

Which anti-vice raid didn't involve you and 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 smug.

"Acting on orders? Did you finally get an official position?"

"Uh... I'm currently the Hokage's secretary for now; after the probationary period, I'll go be the squad leader of the Jonin squad~"

Eh~

Uchiha Gin looked at his little cousin with a strange expression; had he forgotten how much of a workhorse the secretary position was?

"Speak, what are the orders?"

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 for a secret operation, Izuna naturally wouldn't hide anything from Uchiha Gin.

"Oh~ didn't say what for?"

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

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

Nodding as if nothing was wrong, 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 out 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, and after walking for a while, he saw two figures who had been waiting for a long time.

"Express delivery, please sign for it~"

Throwing the few weak-breathing sacks onto the ground, Uchiha Gin looked at the familiar two 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 that outsiders must not know.

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

Uchiha Madara, to the side, had his eyes flicker, his face full of conflict as he faced the suddenly appearing Uchiha Gin.

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

Uchiha Gin picked at 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 dismissal, Uchiha Gin didn't leave; instead, he looked with great interest at the incantations drawn on the ground in advance.

"If I tell you to leave, then leave; don't delay our serious business."

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

"I'll just watch, I won't say a word~"

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

"You!"

"Enough, time is of the essence, hurry and verify it; as for Big Cousin..."

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

"He is trustworthy."

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

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

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

"Oh my, I'm so scared~"

PS:

Debuff: Influenza A

Status: Near death (End of chapter)