Guesswork

After inspecting the scroll in his hands, Hashirama looked up and happened to see Qile edging backward with a wary expression. A hint of confusion stirred in Hashirama, and he asked, "Hey, what are you up to now, kid?"

Hashirama's question clearly startled Qile. He hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands as he explained, "Ah... n-nothing! I just finished training, and I'm drenched in sweat. I was about to go take a nice bath." As he spoke, though, he didn't stop moving. Instead, he quickly took another couple of steps backward.

Seeing this, Hashirama didn't suspect a thing. He smiled and waved him off. "I see. Then go on. After your bath, we'll have a couple of exciting rounds of dice!" As he spoke, he tucked the scroll into his robes.

But that wasn't the end of it. Hashirama tilted his head slightly and muttered to himself, "Hmm... With this money, I can have Tobirama make another trip to the capital tomorrow and ask the Feudal Lord for a bit more. Then we'll have secured all the funds the village needs for this year!"

Just then, Madara's deep, authoritative voice came from inside the house. "Qile! Stop dawdling and get in the medicinal bath!"

"Coming!" Qile called back hurriedly. Then he turned to Hashirama and said, "Lord Hokage, I'll go soak in the medicinal bath now." With that, he bolted toward the bathroom as if his feet were greased.

Hashirama seemed completely lost in his own thoughts. He merely gave a casual reply to Qile's words: "Go on, go on!" Then he continued counting on his fingers, muttering calculations to himself.

When Qile entered the bathing room, a strong herbal scent filled his nose. At some point, a tub had been placed in the middle of the room, filled with an unknown herbal concoction that gave off a strange fragrance.

Qile didn't give much thought to what the herbs might do. Without hesitation, he stripped off all his clothes, leaving himself completely naked. Then he stepped into the tub and settled down inside.

"Mm~" The moment he touched the medicinal water, a warm, comfortable feeling washed over him.

Admittedly, the medicinal bath wasn't appealing to look at or smell, but it felt wonderfully soothing.

The instant Qile settled into the tub, he could clearly feel his arms—previously sore and weak—beginning to relax, as if the medicine were gradually easing their soreness.

He first picked up a clean towel from beside the tub and soaked it thoroughly. After wringing out the excess water, he laid the damp towel over his face.

At that moment, Qile's thoughts began to wander like a wild horse. He couldn't help recalling the low muttering he'd heard from Hashirama earlier.

It wasn't difficult to infer from Hashirama's indistinct words that Madara had gone out to make money.

What Qile couldn't understand was, why would Madara need to go out fully armed just to earn some money?

After all, in the Ninja World, the only person whose strength could match Madara's was probably the guy still sitting on a stone stool, fiddling with his fingers as he counted up the accounts!

And yet there was no denying that Madara had gone out fully armed. Looking at him after he returned, he seemed somewhat tired, so the trip had clearly not gone smoothly.

Just then, Qile, who had been lazily leaning against the edge of the tub, suddenly straightened up as if he'd realized something important. He murmured, "The Nine-Tails? No, the Tailed Beasts would be more accurate!"

Madara couldn't have found the Nine-Tails' hiding place so easily. The most likely possibility was that he'd first seek out another Tailed Beast that knew where it was, then use the fact that they were both Tailed Beasts to ask about the Nine-Tails' whereabouts.

After all, if anything out there could make someone as powerful as Madara prepare for a serious fight, it could only be the Tailed Beasts, beings with the power to destroy the world.

It seemed that even though Qile had caused Madara to put off leaving Konoha for the time being, his desire to leave hadn't wavered. He'd merely slowed down a little.

Still, Qile was quite certain that Madara had turned his attention to the Nine-Tails.

After all, the Nine-Tails was the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts. Someone as proud as Madara would naturally choose it.

Qile himself was also extremely interested in—and ambitious about—this legendary strongest Tailed Beast. So no matter what, he had to figure out how much Madara already knew about the Nine-Tails.

He didn't want Madara to end up controlling the Nine-Tails with his Sharingan, then use it to attack Konoha, only for Hashirama to seal it inside Mito Uzumaki on the grounds that its power was too great.

That would only make the Nine-Tails hate humans even more, and the Uchiha in particular...

If he could really choose, he'd rather try to get along peacefully with the Nine-Tails for a while first.

In his view, the Nine-Tails at this stage might not like humans much, but it certainly wasn't at the point where it would kill them on sight.

Especially not someone like Qile, who was a member of the Uchiha Clan.

After all, the Uchiha Clan were said to be descendants of the Sage of Six Paths! So no matter how much the Nine-Tails hated humans right now, that special connection ought to give him some room to express himself, at least.

Once he got the chance to speak, his silver tongue would surely be enough to fool the Nine-Tails—a fox that seemed vicious but was actually just tsundere!

Never mind everything else. Just knowing the Nine-Tails' name would be enough to leave it dazzled by his flattery!

Then, could he ride the Nine-Tails by himself and pilot a giant robot...

Just as Qile was lost in such a wonderful fantasy, a gentle, sweet voice drifted into his ears. "Young Master Qile, it's about time, and the food has arrived too. The clan head and Lord Hokage are waiting for you."

Hearing this, Qile briskly picked up the towel he'd laid over his face and quickly wiped it a few times. Then he smiled and answered, "All right, I'll be right there."