Chapter 444

In the gloomy cell of the Torture Department, the prison staff gathered in a circle, curiously watching Uchiha Gin as he prepared his jutsu.

Uchiha Gin was seen smearing the flesh he had just gouged out onto a death-row inmate who had been delivered; only after it was applied evenly did he satisfy himself and toss the filthy kunai in his hand aside.

"Izuna, remember to reimburse me for 100 kunai later."

"As long as I can complete Big Brother's mission, never mind 100—even a thousand or ten thousand, I will compensate you."

At this moment, Uchiha Izuna could only pin his hopes on the somewhat unreliable Uchiha Gin.

"That word from you is enough."

Uchiha Gin nodded, raised his hands, and slowly performed a few hand seals, while a faint blue light rose around his body.

"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Once the jutsu was prepared, Uchiha Gin slammed his hands onto the ground, and tadpole-like runes spread out rapidly, scrambling to surge toward the unconscious death-row inmate.

The next moment, the grayish-white dust from the Pure Land, summoned by the jutsu, enveloped the inmate's body.

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"

Accompanied by shrill screams, the bewildered soul wandering in the Pure Land was summoned back once more.

"Ah!"

"It's that dead old guy!"

The prison guards watching from the side saw the old man standing up from the dust and were so frightened they collectively took several steps back, their faces turning uniformly pale.

"Such an evil ninjutsu—only that guy could come up with something like this."

Uchiha Izuna watched the "resurrected" Waterfall Ninja leader with a tense expression, unable to help but mutter a small complaint.

On the other side, the Waterfall Ninja leader, just dragged out from the crack of the Pure Land's gate by Uchiha Gin, slowly opened his black eyes after a brief period of adaptation.

Looking at the familiar cell and thinking he had narrowly escaped death, Xiong Er laughed quite wildly.

"I—I actually didn't die? That brat Jiji is still too green, hahaha! I am the true Child of Destiny!"

Having survived this disaster, he would surely lead the Waterfall Ninja to rise and recast their former glory.

"Huh? What's that..."

After finishing his self-absorbed triumph, the Waterfall Ninja leader's gaze fell inadvertently on the corpse in the corner with blood spraying from its backside.

Looking at the very familiar figure and clothing, his cracked, aged face revealed an expression of regret for not having met sooner.

This person had good taste in clothes.

"Hey, hey, hey, have you seen enough?"

Seeing the old man in the Impure World Reincarnation body shaking his head with a regretful face, Uchiha Gin, who was chewing on a lollipop, spoke up.

"Who are you?"

"I'm just a passerby... ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

Hearing the familiar question, Uchiha Gin subconsciously followed the script, but halfway through, he remembered his current identity and immediately changed his words.

"Who I am is not important; you only need to answer my questions."

"Hmph! I've already said everything I should; I want to see Senju Hashirama."

"Kneel."

A sneer appeared on the Waterfall Ninja leader's face; he was, after all, the leader of a village, how could he—

"Thump!"

"Huh?"

Staring in bewilderment at his own legs that refused to obey, the Waterfall Ninja leader tried to control his body to stand up, only to discover in horror that he could not move no matter what.

"Cousin, this kind of jutsu that toys with the souls of the dead should be..."

Uchiha Izuna witnessed the scene of Uchiha Gin controlling the old man's movements, his face full of strange expressions.

"That's right, it is exactly that person you guessed."

Uchiha Gin nodded.

"Tsk, sure enough, it could only be that guy."

Curling his lip, Uchiha Izuna was speechless, yet a trace of faint admiration welled up in his heart.

Although Senju Tobirama was not a good person, in terms of scientific research, he was indeed a rare genius; in the entire Ninja World, apart from Cousin, no one could surpass him.

"What are you talking about? What dead person? Isn't this old man living perfectly well—"

The Waterfall Ninja leader, having heard the conversation between Uchiha Gin and the other, couldn't help but interrupt.

But before he could finish, Uchiha Gin, who was picking his ear, raised a foot and kicked the corpse lying on the ground in front of him.

"He is..."

Looking at "his own" terrified, dead appearance, the Waterfall Ninja leader's black pupils dilated sharply.

"Impossible... this isn't real, this must be Uchiha's genjutsu!"

"Cousin, stop playing around, handling the real business is what's important."

"Relax, relax~"

Uchiha Gin made a 'calm down' gesture to the anxious Uchiha Izuna, then raised one hand and performed a seal to manipulate the Impure World Reincarnation.

"This old man cannot die yet! I still haven't..."

The terrified Waterfall Ninja leader's body stiffened, the look of fear slowly dissipated, and his whole person became incredibly dull.

"Ask."

"Who exactly is the person behind you?"

Hearing this, the Waterfall Ninja leader slowly raised his cracked, aged face, his black pupils as deep as a black hole.

"I was..."

Hidden Rock Village.

Slap!

The office desk made of granite was smashed by a tiny fist, leaving a large crack.

"Those idiots!"

Ohnoki, who had combed his hair into an adult style, bared his teeth and hid his bruised palms behind his back, pacing back and forth in the office with veins popping on his forehead, looking just like an angry little old man.

"Forget about forcing out Senju Hashirama; they didn't even get through the gates of Konoha before being captured."

"Lord Tsuchikage, you don't need to worry; I have already planted a curse on Xiong Er. As long as he prepares to speak any information about the Hidden Rock Village, he will die on the spot."

Kneeling before Ohnoki was a young man wearing a Waterfall Ninja headband, fawningly trying to claim credit for himself.

Looking at his appearance, it was actually the young man who had always followed by Xiong Er's side.

"Jiji, you've done well. The next leader of the Waterfall Ninja Village will be none other than you."

Looking at the young man who betrayed his master for glory, a look of contempt flashed in Ohnoki's eyes. If this kind of trash were in their Hidden Rock Village, he would have long been sent to the mines to dig until he died.

However, as a dog, this kind of person was undoubtedly the best candidate.

"You go down first."

"May I ask about this year's aid..."

"That? It will be delivered on time."

"Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage!"

The young man named Jiji was full of flattery, pressing his head against the hard floor in a gesture of gratitude.

Clang—

"Lord Tsuchikage, a report from a Konoha spy!"

A hurried figure pushed the door open and entered, holding a scroll high in his hand.

Browsing the information in his hand, Ohnoki's expression gradually turned gloomy, and the scorching pressure unconsciously radiating from his body made the few people present feel a bit breathless.

"Hoo... Jiji, congratulations."

"Huh?"

"Xiong Er is dead."

"Hehehehe... to actually want to betray Lord Tsuchikage, Xiong Er deserved to die."

Pressing his head to the ground, the young man Jiji, whose expression could not be seen, let out a creepy, weird laugh, his whole body trembling violently as if suppressing unbearable emotions.

"Tsk, go back and prepare to take over; I will arrange for people to assist you."

Scrambling up in a sorry state, Jiji maintained his fawning, bent-over posture, which eased Ohnoki's bad mood slightly.

"Thank you very much!"

Jiji, with his head lowered, turned and left, thoughtfully closing the office door on his way out.

In the corridor, the young man's figure appeared somewhat desolate. A moment later, his long-bent waist finally straightened again, and his face, which had just been full of flattery, was now full of sorrow, with glistening light faintly flashing in his reddened eyes.

"Lord Xiong Er, I will never let you down."

Inside the office, Ohnoki, who had sat back on the Tsuchikage's throne, had a thousand thoughts in his eyes.

"Senju Hashirama, are you dead or alive?"

Many years ago, under the leadership of Senju Hashirama, the five great ninja villages signed a peace agreement, allowing the Ninja World to be at peace for so many years, and the major ninja villages also took this opportunity to have a chance to develop.

Although the major ninja villages were cheated out of a large sum of funds by someone, with the existence of the strongest mission tool-men like the Tailed Beast Knights, the missing economy was quickly made up for.

After having money, the ambitious ninja villages inevitably gave birth to some rebellious little thoughts.

However, Senju Hashirama's deterrence still existed; the secret technique that could suppress Tailed Beasts with a wave of his hand was still the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the major ninja villages.

As for the Second Hokage, Uchiha Madara?

After participating in the First Knight War, the knights found it difficult to feel much fear for Uchiha Madara, who had almost lost to a bald guy.

Isn't that right?

Don't you all know that for ordinary people, the belt is a glorious evolution,

But for a god, it is just a shackle that limits power.

Have you heard of the Awakened Vajra Body Susanoo Buddha?

"How is it going with the Seven-Tails?"

After struggling for a long time, Ohnoki looked up and asked.

"Reporting to you, Lord, still no one has successfully activated the Seven-Tails card."

The ninja who had just come to deliver the information had a stiff expression, but still truthfully reported this bad news.

"Which batch is this already?"

"All ninjas with Jonin strength have been eliminated."

"Then let the Chunin go; if the Chunin can't do it, then the Genin. I don't believe that in such a large village, we can't even pick out a single compatible person!"

Ohnoki indignantly raised his bruised fist, hesitated for a moment, and then gently put it down.

"What about the Hidden Mist?"

"They haven't found a compatible person either."

Hearing this relatively good news, Ohnoki finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and the pressure on his body gradually dissipated.

"Hoo... speed it up; knights are an indispensable power for the village."

"Yes!"

After his subordinates left, Ohnoki's eyes were suddenly attracted by a small but shiny water stain on the floor.

"These guys, how do they clean up!"

Konoha.

Uchiha Madara, sitting on the Hokage's throne, looked at the report in front of him with a gloomy face, while Senju Tobirama, on the side, also had his brows tightly furrowed.

"Is this confession authentic?"

Senju Tobirama picked up the report and checked it repeatedly several times, asking Uchiha Izuna in front of the desk with some suspicion.

"You white-haired guy, you actually dare to question me?"

Uchiha Izuna rolled his eyes and retorted angrily.

Big Brother hasn't even spoken yet, why are you jumping out first?

"Can't I? Who knows if it's false information you, this warmonger, forced out through interrogation? Wait for me to verify it again."

Curling his lip, Senju Tobirama put the information back in its original place; after all, the Waterfall Ninja's confession was too unbelievable, so he decided to go out himself in a while to properly interrogate those Waterfall Ninjas.

"The Waterfall Ninja leader is dead."

"Huh?"

"Then this confession..."

"For this, we have to thank the Secretary. If it weren't for Cousin using your jutsu, we wouldn't have been able to ask for detailed information."

Looking at Senju Tobirama's distrustful expression, Uchiha Izuna said sarcastically.

"Uh..."

Senju Tobirama's expression stiffened, and he sat back in his original position with a pout, no longer questioning the authenticity of the information.

"Isn't the Hidden Rock Village currently in a stalemate with the Hidden Mist? How would they have the heart to come and provoke us?"

Staring fixedly at the information on the table with cold eyes, Uchiha Madara's tone was very cold.

"The mission the Waterfall Ninja leader received was only to force out Senju Hashirama; as for the next step of action, they were also completely in the dark."

Facing Big Brother's inquiry, Uchiha Izuna answered immediately.

"These guys actually dare to play small tricks; I'll go and deal with them right now!"

This matter was related to his missing best friend, so Uchiha Madara naturally could not sit idly by, and immediately stood up and opened the window, staring with a sinister gaze, starting to look for the direction of the Hidden Rock Village.

"Hold your horses!"

Seeing this, Senju Tobirama hurriedly spoke to stop him.

"Why are you so impulsive? Have you forgotten your current identity?"

"Just because I am the Hokage, that's why I can't let those cats and dogs ride on our heads and poop."

Uchiha Madara turned his head back, his scarlet eyes revealing a man-eating light, and the cold, obscure pupil power pressed Senju Tobirama's heart tight.

This guy has become stronger again.

"I will send someone to warn the Hidden Rock, but they haven't done anything out of line this time. If it's just on the charge of probing the whereabouts of the former Hokage, they will at most pay some money to settle it."

The Waterfall Ninja incident, in the final analysis, was just a large ninja village commissioning a small ninja village to do espionage work.

Even if it were found out, according to the details of the peace agreement signed before, this kind of spying did not belong to the category of war. The final result of the incident would most likely be the Hidden Rock Village apologizing and sending a few scapegoats over to let Konoha vent its anger.

"But!"

"Right now, finding Big Brother is our top priority."

Seeing Uchiha Madara's expression loosen slightly, Senju Tobirama breathed a sigh of relief, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.

The Hidden Rock Village's purpose was unknown; if Uchiha Madara went rashly and encountered any accidents, Konoha would only be able to rely on him to hold the line.

Uh... at most add a curly-haired one.

Izuna?

A rustic person, not worth using.

"Since that's the case, then let them off for now."

As the leader of a village, Uchiha Madara had also learned to look at problems with a big-picture view.

He immediately suppressed the anger in his heart, deciding to settle accounts with those petty people after finding Senju Hashirama.

"Speaking of which, is there still no news from your shadow clone?"

Uchiha Madara's eyes returned to their normal color, and after sitting back in his chair, he shifted his gaze to Senju Tobirama on the side.

"I'm still researching; this kind of thing is too unbelievable."

Senju Tobirama shook his head upon hearing this, his face full of contemplation. As the main body, he was actually unable to dispel his own chakra clone; this situation was truly unheard of.

He had tried many methods, even trying to drain the chakra in his body until he fainted from exhaustion, but the missing shadow clone still had no reaction.

Now, Senju Tobirama, who was proficient in time-space power, already had a very ominous guess.

His shadow clone and Big Brother might already not be in the time-space they were currently in.

Seeing Senju Tobirama's difficult expression, Uchiha Madara's eyes moved slightly. At this time, he suddenly felt that his own family was more reliable.

"If it really doesn't work, go and ask Cousin for advice; he has many weird ideas, maybe he can think of some way." (End of chapter)