287. Konoha's Future

"The child is unteachable!"

After careful instruction, Spectre still only knew how to call himself "Curly Hair," which made Uchiha Gin, who was initially full of confidence, feel utterly hopeless.

"Sigh~ I, Uchiha Gin, with unparalleled wisdom, have created a clone that's just... a fool."

Slumping to the side, Uchiha Gin looked at Spectre, who was still gulping down drinks, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"Another cup~"

Faced with Uchiha Gin's taunting, Kaguya wasn't angry. Instead, she pushed the empty cup back toward him.
As long as this descendant could provide her with a steady supply of her secret sweet drink, she could tolerate Uchiha Gin's verbal jabs.

"More?"

Uchiha Gin glanced at the lemons contributed by his little cousin and noticed that the raw materials were completely exhausted. Not a single drop could be squeezed out anymore. He waved his hand dismissively.
"None left, none left~"

Hearing this, Kaguya frowned. This descendant really didn't know his place. Letting him offer her tribute was already a sign of her favor. In the past, humans who wanted to give her gifts had to queue up half a year in advance.

"Another cup!"

This time, Spectre's tone was more human-like. Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking at her cold yet beautiful face, and noticed a hint of anger between her brows.

"No more lemons. How about ice cream?"

Feeling that Spectre's behavior was becoming more and more human-like, Uchiha Gin, driven by curiosity, glanced at the ice cream machine behind the counter and asked.

"You want ice cream?"

"Ice cream?"

Kaguya frowned. She had never heard of such a thing.

"Try it. It's a cold drink I personally developed. Guaranteed to be delicious~"

That's right. The ice cream sold at the small shop was created by Uchiha Gin himself.

After the founding of Konoha, Uchiha Gin secured the best location in the clan's district and gave it to Uchiha Eimi, allowing her to reopen her cold drink shop.

However, Uchiha Gin had grown tired of eating shaved ice all the time, so he decided to recreate the ice cream from his previous life. Surprisingly, it sold well and received rave reviews, even attracting foreign friends.

Rumor had it that not long ago, a child from the Land of Wind became so addicted to the ice cream that they refused to return home, insisting on joining Konoha. In the end, their teacher had to knock them out and carry them away.

If it weren't for the unstable times, Uchiha Gin would have loved to open a drink shop in Konoha. He already had a name in mind:

"Honey X Ice City"

As he spoke, Uchiha Gin stepped behind the counter and operated the ice cream machine, squeezing out a large sundae.

Kaguya tilted her head in confusion. The cold, white food in front of her emitted a rich, milky aroma. She instinctively swallowed and looked up at Uchiha Gin's warm smile before reluctantly accepting the large sundae.

"Eat it quickly, or it'll melt~"

Seeing Kaguya's cautious demeanor, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but laugh and urged her.
After a moment of hesitation, Kaguya extended a slender finger and tentatively touched the top of the sundae. The icy sensation sent a shiver down her spine.
She retracted her finger and slowly licked the creamy ice cream off it.

"Delicious!"

Kaguya sucked her finger vigorously, her eyes lighting up at the rich, sweet flavor of the cream. How could she have lived for thousands of years without tasting something so delicious?

She grabbed the large sundae from the table and began devouring it, her rough eating style splattering ice cream everywhere. Her dark face was soon smeared with sticky, milky liquid.

"Slow down. No one's going to steal it from you."

She didn't even use a spoon, just dug in with her mouth. Clearly, she was still a newly awakened puppet. Uchiha Gin felt that his journey of nurturing her was going to be a long one.

But Kaguya wasn't listening. She continued to bury her face in the sundae, creating a scene that was almost unbearable to watch.

"Sigh~ Look up."

Uchiha Gin couldn't take it anymore. He pulled out a tissue and called out to her.
"Huh?"

This time, Kaguya listened. She raised her head in confusion, wondering what Uchiha Gin wanted to do.

The next moment, a warm hand reached out and gently wiped the ice cream off her face. Kaguya, who had never experienced such treatment before, froze in place, allowing Uchiha Gin to handle her.

When Uchiha Gin's fingers accidentally brushed her lips, Kaguya's heart, which had been dormant for thousands of years, began to race for the first time. A blush spread uncontrollably across her face, and steam seemed to rise from the white hair on her head.

"Ding ling~"

Just as the atmosphere turned ambiguous, the door of the cold drink shop was suddenly pushed open, and the sound of the bell on the door curtain snapped Kaguya out of her daze.

"It's Little Haruka! Quick, go back!"

Just from the sound of the footsteps, Uchiha Gin knew who was coming. He quickly stood up to block Kaguya and urged her in a low voice.

Uchiha Gin had kept the fact that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan a secret from everyone. If others discovered Spectre's existence, he wouldn't be able to explain it.

"Huh? Mr. Gin, why are you..."

The person who entered was none other than Uchiha Haruka. The young girl was carrying two large bags of a familiar yellow fruit and looked at Uchiha Gin with surprise.

However, being observant since childhood, the girl immediately noticed Uchiha Gin's flustered expression and began scanning the room with sharp eyes, trying to find something.

Uchiha Gin took a quick glance behind him and noticed that the spot where Wangliang had been sitting was now empty. She had even taken the unfinished sundae with her.

"Whew~"

Uchiha Gin let out a sigh of relief, and the tension on his face slowly faded. However, the purple-haired girl in front of him was frowning more and more.
"Little Haruka, long time no see..."

Uchiha Gin took a step forward, ready to greet his disciple.
"Mr. Gin, stop right there!"

To his surprise, the usually gentle Uchiha Haruka suddenly spoke in an unusually stern tone. Her beautiful face showed a hint of disgust, leaving Uchiha Gin confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. Gin, if you really can't hold it in, please go to the bathroom to do... that."

"???"

Hearing this, Uchiha Gin was stunned. Following the girl's disgusted gaze, he slowly looked down at the tissue in his hand, which was soaked in a milky-white liquid that was slowly dripping.

"It's not what you think! Let me explain!"

---

**Shadow Realm**

Kaguya sat on her exclusive large bed, savoring the sundae she had taken from the real world. As she recalled the touch on her lips, her dark face uncontrollably flushed, and her white eyes were filled with unclear thoughts.

"That descendant... his name is Uchiha Gin, right?"

---

**Hokage's Office**

With one less helper Hashirama Senju had returned to his original duties and was working overtime. As he reviewed a report about a project that was progressing slowly, his brows furrowed, and he looked up at Tobirama Senju, who was organizing documents beside him.

"Tobirama, when will that money arrive?"

Konoha was in dire need of funds. Although Tobirama had previously retrieved a portion of the dividends, most of it had been used to pay Uchiha Gin, leaving the accounts in a state of deficit

"Brother, don't worry. The shipping company in the Land of Waves has just started. It will take some time for the profits to come in. Just wait a little longer~"

When asked, Tobirama stiffened slightly but then remembered the tea and letter sent by the official from the Land of Waves. He immediately felt reassured.

"But we need money everywhere now!"

If it were anyone else who had misused public funds, Hashirama would have already given them awooden figure massage. He wouldn't be so patient.

"If necessary, we can mortgage some of the family's ancestral property to solve this urgent problem."

Tobirama was well aware of Konoha's financial issues, but he firmly believed in the principle of money making money. Once the shipping company in the Land of Waves took off, he would be making a fortune daily, and he could finally stand tall in front of that curly-haired guy.

"Creak~"

"Thud thud thud~"

Just as the Senju brothers were planning to sell their family assets, the office door was pushed open from the outside, and a series of harsh footsteps entered their ears, causing them to frown immediately.
Who could be so rude, treating the Hokage's office as their own?
Thus, the displeased brothers turned their gaze to the intruder, ready to teach this rude person a lesson.
"Who are you..."

However, the intruder's appearance was so bizarre that Tobirama swallowed his words.

The person who entered wore an exaggerated pair of sunglasses, a black tight-fitting T-shirt with a large Sharingan pattern on the chest, white skinny pants, and golden pointed Chelsea boots.

Under his arm was a glaring green leather bag, and he stood at the door, shaking his head and posing.

"Oioioi, isn't this Hashirama? Long time no see, why are you so down?"

From the voice, this uniquely dressed person was none other than Madara Uchiha, Hashirama's close friend whom he hadn't seen in days. Madara walked up to the desk with a swagger, pushed his sunglasses up his nose, and spoke in a very arrogant tone.

"..."

"Madara, what's with the outfit?"

Finally recovering from the shock, Hashirama looked at Madara with disbelief. Previously, Madara had always been well-dressed and behaved like a refined young man from a scholarly family.

Who would have thought that he would now transform into a rebellious boy?

This was truly... surprising!

"How is it? This is the most fashionable outfit recently. Your long robes are outdated. If you go out like that, people will think you're an old fossil~"

Having completed his transformation, Madara pointed at Hashirama's plain robes and mocked him with a disdainful tone.

At some point, this trend had suddenly become popular in Konoha, started by a certain cheerful someone.

It then spread like a plague, and soon this style of dressing became trendy in every corner of the village. Any ninja with some strength would spend a fortune to have a custom-made outfit from an unknown designer.

"Now that you mention it, I have seen quite a few people dressed like this recently."

Hashirama, who had been mocked, wasn't angry. Instead, he showed a smile

What a handsome outfit! I want one too!

"Hmph! This kind of bad trend should be banned. Brother, you should issue an order to ban this style of dressing!"

Seeing his brother so captivated, Tobirama was furious and spoke with a gloomy expression.
"Huh? Since when has Konoha become so feudal? Can't we even have the freedom to dress as we please? If someone like you becomes Hokage, even the color of our underwear will have to be uniform."

Madara glanced at the fuming Tobirama, his eyes filled with disdain, and then launched into a series of sarcastic remarks.

"Alright, alright, why do you two always argue whenever you meet? We're all family here~"

Once again, Hashirama had to step in to mediate, as if this had become his daily routine.

"Hmph!"

The two who had been arguing turned their heads away, ignoring each other.

Seeing that they had calmed down, Hashirama sighed in relief and sat back down.

"Madara, why didn't you rest for a few more days?"

It had only been a few days since Uchiha Gin forcibly took Madara away. Hashirama was surprised that Madara had recovered so quickly and was back to work.

"I've handed over the clan's affairs to Izuna. I was bored, so I came back to work."

Madara casually adjusted the green bag under his arm and answered nonchalantly.

"Good, good. I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to finish all the work. Now that you're here, it's perfect~"

Hashirama welcomed the free labor with open arms. Not only was Madara capable, but he was also easy on the eyes. Hashirama could only secretly rejoice!
"I knew Konoha would fall apart without me."

Madara nodded in agreement and then sat down at his usual work position, where a pile of documents awaited his review. He quickly got to work, processing them at high speed.

Sitting across from him, Tobirama also chose to remain silent and continued working.

Although Tobirama disliked Madara, he had to admit that Madara was a rare talent—strong, intelligent, but emotionally unstable.

"Konoha is short on money again?"

Looking at the monthly financial report in his hands, Madara's brows furrowed behind his sunglasses. He had always known that Tobirama was unreliable, and the misused public funds were still unaccounted for.

"It's nothing, just a small difficulty. We've already thought of a solution~"

Seeing Madara bring up the issue, Hashirama, who was concerned about his younger brother, quickly responded.

"The Land of Water is attacking the Land of Whirlpools? What's going on? I thought we had a ceasefire?"

Moving on, Madara came across a piece of intelligence from abroad. Seeing the word "war," his brows furrowed again. They had just signed a peace agreement, so why was the Land of Water attacking its neighbor?

"I know about this, but the Land of Water didn't gain much. The tailed beast they just bought was almost captured by the Land of Whirlpools."

Tobirama, sitting across from him, looked up with his crimson eyes and explained.

"Regardless of the outcome, why is the Land of Water allowed to start a war so freely?"

Madara wasn't concerned about the result; he wanted to know the motive behind the war.

"Sigh~ Madara, there's nothing we can do. The peace agreement we signed only included the Five Great Nations and prohibited wars between them. As for the smaller nations, they weren't included."

It turned out that the Land of Water had exploited a loophole in the agreement. To avenge a previous defeat, they had taken their newly acquired tailed beast to attack the Land of Whirlpools, hoping to regain lost ground. However, the ninjas of the Land of Whirlpools were no pushovers.

When the Three-Tails, which had been dropped into the territorial waters of the Land of Whirlpools, opened its eyes, it was met with a barrage of chains. Before it could even speak, it was disarmed.

If it weren't for Byakuren bringing the recovered Hōzuki Gengetsu and Katsura to use the Mirage technique to trap the Uzumaki clan ninjas and then risk their lives to retrieve the frozen Three-Tails, the Land of Water would have suffered a double loss.

"Serves them right. Everyone knows that the redheads of the Land of Whirlpools are masters of封印术 (sealing techniques). Dealing with tailed beasts is child's play for them."

Madara shook his head disdainfully, showing no sympathy for the Land of Water's tragic fate.

"They definitely deserved it. I heard that Byakuren was seriously injured and might soon step down."

Tobirama rarely agreed with Madara, but this time he shared the same view.
"Fortunately, it was the Land of Whirlpools. If it were any other small nation, they might have already fallen."

Even though their interactions had decreased over the years, the blood ties still existed. If the Land of Whirlpools were truly in trouble, Hashirama would have stepped in to help immediately.

"Tailed beasts are indeed a thorny existence."

Through this incident, Tobirama saw deeper than the other two. Tailed beasts, as nuclear weapons, were a deterrent in peacetime and a trump card in war.

Although Hashirama and Madara could easily handle tailed beasts, what would happen in the future when Konoha underwent a generational change and no longer had such powerful figures to rely on? Without tailed beasts, Konoha would become an easy target for other nations.

"Tobirama, do you have something to say?"

Seeing his brother's deep expression, Hashirama, who knew his habits, asked.
"Brother, I think Konoha needs tailed beasts too."

When asked, Tobirama looked up and answered with a serious expression.

"Hmph~ What use are those things that collapse at a glance?"

Having personally captured tailed beasts, Madara scoffed at Tobirama's words. No matter how many tailed beasts there were, they couldn't compare to his pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan

"Do you think everyone is like you?"

Tobirama rubbed his temples in frustration. On this matter concerning Konoha's survival, he didn't want to engage in pointless arguments with Madara.

"Well... not exactly."

Madara was about to say no, but then he remembered the women around his older cousin and awkwardly scratched his face, his tone losing its previous arrogance.

"..."

"What I mean is, in many years, when we're no longer around, can you guarantee that Konoha will still have someone as strong as you?"

"I can guarantee it."

To Tobirama's surprise, Madara answered promptly this time.

"Don't be overconfident.Things are unpredictable..."

"Big cousin will live a long time, and Uchiha Hikari by his side will surely live long too."

Madara shook his head and mentioned Uchiha Gin's name.

"That curly-haired guy... You mean with the Yin Seal?"

Madara's reminder was like a wake-up call for Tobirama. That's right! The mysterious Uchiha Hikari had learned Uchiha Gin's Yin Seal technique, greatly extending her lifespan. As long as she didn't fight frequently, she could ensure Konoha's long-term peace

If tailed beasts attack, quickly call for Grandma Hikari!

However, the thought of Uchiha Hikari being from the Uchiha clan made Tobirama frown deeply.
If things really went as he imagined, Konoha would have to rely on the Uchiha clan in the future, which was something he didn't want to see.

No, we can't rely solely on the Uchiha clan. Konoha needs its own nuclear weapon

"I still think it's better to have tailed beasts as a deterrent. It can prevent a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Tobirama shook his head, still insisting on his point of view.

"Whatever. They're all just paper tigers."

Madara, who didn't care much about the matter, simply sneered but didn't refuse.

"Tobirama, your idea is good, but all the tailed beasts have been sold. Where can we find more?"

Listening from the side, Hashirama scratched his head and interjected. When they sold the tailed beasts, Konoha hadn't kept a single one.
"Brother, there's still one left."

Tobirama's lips curled into a mysterious smile.

"Still one... You mean..."

"That's right, the Nine-Tails!"

"Huh? But I made a promise to it!"

Indeed, after the Tailed Beast Pokémon Tournament, Hashirama had promised the Nine-Tails its freedom and vowed never to capture it again.

However, the despicable white-haired guy was disregarding Hashirama's agreement with the Nine-Tails and wanted to bring the lonely and helpless Kurama back.

"Hmph! Why bother with morals when dealing with a beast? Just capture it again!"

"No, no. I swore in the name of the Sage of Six Paths. If I capture it again, I'll die without a burial place and never reincarnate."

Hashirama showed a rare expression of difficulty. He couldn't fulfill his brother's request.

"Tch..."

Knowing that his brother valued promises, Tobirama had no choice but to give up on having Hashirama capture the Nine-Tails.
As he pondered, his eyes suddenly fell on Madara, who was diligently working at his desk. A glint of scheming flashed in his eyes, and a sly smile crept onto his lips.

"Konoha cannot be without tailed beasts, just as the Land of Fire cannot be without Konoha."

Suddenly, Tobirama said something cryptic. Madara, who was processing documents, looked up in confusion, wondering what the white-haired guy was up to now.

"Madara, do you know about the Nine-Tails?"

During the Tailed Beast War, the tailed beast Madara controlled was defeated by the Nine-Tails, causing him to lose the position of Hokage. Now, Tobirama was bringing up the past, clearly with an agenda.

"The Nine-Tails? That's the one Hashirama used to win in the end."

Madara certainly remembered that hateful big fox. If it weren't for the Nine-Tails, he would have already been sitting on Hashirama's head, ruling with authority. Instead, he was stuck here working overtime like a corporate slave.

"Brother, how strong is the Nine-Tails?"

Not understanding why Tobirama was asking this, Hashirama was about to say it was easy to handle when he remembered what he had told Madara after winning the Tailed Beast War. His eyes shifted, and he began to exaggerate.
"Well... it's very strong. See these hands? I had to use both to fight it to a draw."