Conjecture

Hashirama Senju finished examining the scroll in his hands and looked up, just in time to see Qile backing away with a guarded expression. A flicker of confusion crossed Hashirama's mind, and he asked, "Hey, what kind of mischief are you up to now, kid?"

Hearing Hashirama's question, Qile was clearly startled. He quickly shook his head and waved his hands, explaining, "Ah... no, nothing at all! I just finished training and I'm covered in sweat, so I was just heading off to take a proper bath." Even as he spoke, his feet didn't stop for a second; instead, he retreated even faster.

Seeing this, Hashirama didn't suspect a thing. He waved his hand with a smile and said, "Is that so? Then go ahead. Once you're done, the two of us have to play a few rounds of dice!" As he spoke, he tucked the scroll into his robe.

However, the matter didn't end there. Hashirama tilted his head slightly and muttered to himself, "Hmm... with this money, I'll have Tobirama make a trip to the capital tomorrow to ask the Feudal Lord for some more. Once that's done, all the funding needed for the village this year will finally be settled!"

Just then, the deep, authoritative voice of Madara Uchiha echoed from inside the house: "Qile! Stop dawdling and go soak in the medicinal bath!"

"Coming!" Qile shouted back in a hurry. He turned to Hashirama and added, "Well, Lord Hokage, I'm off to my medicinal bath now." With that, he took off toward the bathroom as if his feet were greased.

Hashirama seemed completely lost in his own thoughts. Hearing Qile, he just replied casually, "Go on, go on!" He remained where he was, counting on his fingers and muttering to himself as he calculated.

As Qile entered the bathing room, a thick, pungent scent of herbs hit him. At some point, a wooden tub had been placed in the center of the room, filled with water infused with mysterious, fragrant herbs.

Qile didn't waste time pondering the medicinal properties of the concoction. He stripped off his clothes without hesitation, baring himself completely. He stepped directly into the tub and sat down firmly.

"Ugh~" As soon as he touched the water, a wave of warmth and comfort washed over him.

It had to be said that while the appearance and smell of the medicinal bath were far from pleasant, the actual experience was incredibly soothing.

The moment Qile settled into the tub, he could clearly feel the soreness and fatigue in his arms beginning to fade, as if the medicinal power was slowly driving the aches away.

He reached out to grab a clean towel from the side of the tub, soaked it thoroughly, wrung out the excess water, and draped the damp cloth over his face.

At this moment, Qile's thoughts began to drift like a wild horse. He couldn't help but recall the muttering he had heard from Hashirama earlier.

From Hashirama's vague words, it wasn't hard to deduce the purpose of Madara's recent outing—it seemed to be for the sake of earning money.

However, what puzzled Qile was why Madara would need to be fully armed just to go out and make some cash.

One had to remember that in this Ninja World, the only person capable of matching Madara's strength was likely the same guy currently sitting on a stone stool, fiddling with his fingers and crunching numbers!

Yet, it was an undeniable fact that Madara had gone out fully armed. Looking at his exhausted expression upon returning, it was clear the mission hadn't been smooth sailing.

Just then, Qile, who had been leaning lazily against the edge of the tub, suddenly straightened up as if he had realized something important. He whispered to himself, "Nine-Tails? No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say Tailed Beast!"

It was impossible for Madara to find the Nine-Tails' hiding spot so easily. The most likely scenario was that Madara would first seek out other Tailed Beast whose locations were known, and then use their shared nature as Tailed Beast to track down the Nine-Tails.

After all, if there was anything in the world capable of making someone as powerful as Madara prepare for a serious fight, it could only be those Tailed Beast, who possessed the power to destroy the world.

It seemed that even though his own presence had caused Madara to delay leaving Konoha, the man's desire to depart hadn't wavered; he had merely slowed his pace.

However, Qile was quite certain that Madara had already set his sights on the Nine-Tails.

After all, the Nine-Tails was the most powerful of all the Tailed Beast. With Madara's pride, his choice would naturally be the Nine-Tails.

Qile himself also harbored great interest and ambition regarding this legendary, strongest Tailed Beast. Therefore, no matter what, he had to find a way to figure out how much information Madara had already gathered on the Nine-Tails.

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

That would only make the Nine-Tails hate humanity even more, and the Uchiha even more so...

If he truly had a choice, he would rather try to coexist peacefully with the Nine-Tails for a while.

In his view, even if the Nine-Tails didn't have a favorable opinion of humans at this stage, it certainly wasn't at the point of killing on sight.

Especially for someone like Qile, who was a member of the Uchiha clan.

One had to remember that the Uchiha were the descendants of the legendary Sage of Six Paths! So, no matter how much the Nine-Tails hated humans, this special connection should at least grant him some room to express himself.

When that time came, as long as he could secure a chance to speak, he was confident that with his silver tongue, he could successfully hoodwink the Nine-Tails—that seemingly ferocious but actually tsundere fox!

Not to mention anything else, just knowing the name of the Nine-Tails would be enough to make the beast dizzy with flattery!

By then, would he be able to ride the Nine-Tails and pilot a Susanoo all by himself...

Just as Qile was lost in these pleasant daydreams, a soft, gentle voice drifted into his ears: "Young Master Qile, it's about time, and the meal has been delivered. The Clan Head and Lord Hokage are waiting for you."

Hearing this, Qile quickly grabbed the towel from his face, wiped it a few times, and then replied with a smile, "Alright, I'll be right there."