Come On!

A few days later.

Minato's team set out again.

During this time, the situation in the ninja world had grown increasingly tense. Most of the village's ninja had begun taking missions outside the village, while Jiraiya, after having fun for a few days, had also headed for the battlefield.

It could be said that the village had become much quieter as well.

Rumor had it that Iwagakure's ninja on the front lines had been acting sneaky, as if something strange was afoot. Spies in Kumogakure had also sent word that major movements there had become frequent. After receiving the intelligence, Konoha immediately began arranging its defenses.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Fuyou... continued living his life peacefully. His revenue target had been met, and after claiming the upgrade rewards, his body and mind had grown much stronger. He could now begin opening branch stores throughout the Land of Fire.

Although the war had left economies everywhere sluggish and consumer spending low, there was still a guaranteed baseline. Opening early had its advantages.

Besides, in wars between ninja... aside from Kirigakure crossing the sea to launch surprise attacks, no conflict had ever reached the Land of Fire itself. The battlefields were generally arranged in other countries or along the borders.

So, the Land of Fire remained fairly peaceful.

Now.

Uncle Sato still managed the milk tea shop in Konoha, while the barbecue restaurant... was temporarily managed by an ordinary civilian from the Uchiha Clan who had not awakened his Sharingan.

Fuyou had specifically chosen someone without mental issues and with a relatively mild temperament.

The Uchiha's mental illnesses came in two types. One type smiled all the time and treated everyone nicely, looking just like a good person, but once they snapped, they became extremely outrageous. At best, they committed suicide by jumping into the water; at worst, they wiped out their entire clan or destroyed the world. The other type... had expressionless faces, looked down on everything, and wore arrogant expressions. Those were actually not too bad. When they snapped, they merely acted tough. Not a huge problem!

Therefore, to avoid conflicts in the future, he had to choose the resident store manager carefully.

Of course, Uchiha worked quite seriously too. They had a strange obsessive-compulsive streak, perhaps caused by some latent madness~

So they took things too seriously. The Konoha Military Police Force worked almost like urban enforcement officers, enforcing the rules without a shred of humanity and stubbornly clinging to rigid principles, leaving everyone furious.

Then came the Nine-Tails incident. Once the rumors began spreading, they instantly ignited the conflicts that had been buried for years, giving Danzo an excuse to act.

That showed just how terrifying rumors could be. Even more terrifying was... when the people above refused to give you a chance to clear them up!

Enjoying Bell's Gentle Fist massage technique, Fuyou could not help letting out a moan.

This technique truly did not disgrace the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist~

However.

The moment he made that sound, the door opened.

"Fuyou, you..." Kushina appeared in the doorway with her usual carefree manner. Then, seeing Fuyou flushed and glassy-eyed before her, she froze and swiftly shut the door again. "Sorry, excuse me."

"..."

What was she apologizing for?

It was just a massage. Did she really need to make such a fuss?

Uchiha Fuyou kept his expression unchanged as he adjusted his clothes and looked at Bell, who was blushing slightly while adjusting hers.

"..."

Why were you adjusting your clothes?

Shaking his head helplessly, he opened the door and looked at Kushina, whose eyes were sneaking glances inside. He said irritably, "Stop looking! We were just discussing business!"

Was it strange for a boss and his secretary to discuss business in an office?

"What did you need me for?"

"Minato left, and I'm so bored! I don't even feel like eating barbecue alone." Kushina gave an awkward laugh. "That Nine-Tails keeps making noise too. It's driving me crazy. I can't even take an afternoon nap. I said I'd use a clone to play the Fight the Landlord game you taught it, but it refused! So I came to see whether Fuyou was free!"

"..."

Two against one? I would refuse too!

Have some shame!

Fuyou sighed helplessly. "You, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, keep coming to this Uchiha place. Aren't you afraid the Hokage will come looking for trouble with me?"

"Relax!" Kushina casually patted Fuyou on the shoulder. "You're not even a ninja. What are you afraid of?"

"So what did you come to me for?"

"Fight the Landlord?"

"No! It isn't easy for Minato to earn money. Save some for him."

"..." Kushina glared at him!

Did she look like someone addicted to gambling like Tsunade?

"Then how about a round of pai gow?"

"That's too quick. It's not much fun." Uchiha Fuyou stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. "Let's play mahjong! We can keep the stakes low, and one round can last quite a while. Just right for three people and one beast."

"Is Bell coming too?"

"I..."

"It's fine." Fuyou shook his head and directly opened his Three Tomoe Sharingan, smiling at Bell. "Remember not to tell anyone else."

Minato and Kushina both knew about the Uchiha Clan's affairs. And since he called Kushina his sister, the two had agreed to keep it secret!

If they did not keep it secret, Kushina would beat him up!

He casually shut the door as well!

"Let's go!"

As soon as he spoke.

The two arrived in a damp, dark place.

Bell stared around her in shock. Then she came back to her senses, nodded seriously, and whispered beside Fuyou, "I won't tell anyone."

Fuyou.

He was not like the wealthy man he appeared to be!

Although she did not know why he did this, Bell still believed in Fuyou.

At that moment.

"You little brat from the Uchiha Clan!" A deep, booming voice rang out. "You brought strange people again? There are four of you now. One more than before!"

"We aren't playing Fight the Landlord today!" Fuyou waved a hand, and a mahjong set and mahjong table appeared before him.

Looking at the Nine-Tails inside the cage, Fuyou remembered how he had merely joked to Kushina back then that she could try getting along with the Nine-Tails. He had not expected her to actually pull it off.

Over time, the two had become card-playing buddies.

Then, so he could secretly study the Nine-Tails' chakra... he had become a card-playing buddy too.

"We're playing mahjong."

"Mahjong?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Hmph! Boring! I've lived for so long, what haven't I seen? I'm merely a little curious, that's all!" The tsundere Nine-Tails snorted coldly. Its gaze was disdainful, yet it kept secretly glancing at the mahjong table. "Back then, it was only because I was too powerful and made that Hashirama Senju afraid deep down that he fought me for three hundred rounds. In the end, he used underhanded ninja techniques, shamelessly surrounding me with countless ninja. I was caught off guard for a moment and sealed away! Otherwise, you ninja today... I'd swallow you one by one!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Although that differed from the version Fuyou knew, where nine hundred and ninety-nine arms stretched out and one hand grabbed the Nine-Tails by the neck like a duckling, he did not interrupt its bragging. "Are you still betting chakra today? Otherwise, if you lose, let Kushina pay for you?"

He had a dream.

He wanted to play mahjong with all nine tailed beasts!

"I..."

Before the Nine-Tails could finish.

"No money!" Kushina refused without hesitation. Then, following Fuyou's explanation from earlier, she eagerly touched the mahjong tiles. "Come on, come on! Let's begin!"

"Hmph!" The Nine-Tails' fox face stiffened. After a moment, it snorted and said tsunderely, "Fine! I've got plenty of chakra!"

It wore the expression of a fox lord declaring that it had plenty of money!

Then.

Amid a clattering of tiles, the ninja world's first mahjong game began within the sealing space.

At the same time.

Minato's team had also encountered a crisis.

Obito held a kunai alongside Kakashi, protecting Rin as they warily watched the enemies before them.

After carrying out so many missions, he had grown. Facing enemies no longer made him as nervous as he had been at first.

But now.

Minato-sensei had lured away the enemy, yet they had not expected... there to be more enemies!

They were now facing two jonin from an enemy village.

They were only Genin, after all. This was dangerous!

"What do we do now?"

As soon as he spoke.

No one answered him. Facing enemies now, anything they said would be pointless.

Obito knew that too. The hand gripping his kunai trembled slightly as his mind kept searching for a solution.

Suddenly.

He saw a lump of black stuff behind the Iwa ninja in front of him, something no human should have been able to crap out. He froze slightly, remembering what that hateful guy had told him that night...

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