He Had Already Opened the Box Where the Money Was Kept

Well, the gambling house wasn't even in sight yet, and the hard-earned money Hibari had saved was already starting to flow away.

Time always seemed to fly when he was reading and studying. Neither Tobirama nor Hibari noticed the sun had quietly climbed to its highest point.

Knock, knock.

A soft knock sounded at the door. Hibari looked up from his book and saw that Tobirama was still completely absorbed in writing and sketching something. So he got up and went to open the door himself.

A middle-aged maid he vaguely recognized stood outside. Smiling warmly, she said, "Young Master Hibari, Madam Mito sent me to invite you and Lord Tobirama to lunch."

Hibari glanced outside at the sky and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, it's already this late? Sorry for the trouble. We'll be right over."

After seeing the maid off and closing the door, Hibari turned toward the desk. "Lord Tobirama, it's time to eat. You can figure all this out later. We shouldn't keep Grandma Mito waiting."

"Mm." Tobirama answered, quickly adding a few more strokes before setting down his brush. "Let's go."

He had long since grown used to interruptions like this amid his many duties, so he didn't mind.

They tidied the desktop a little, then left the room one after the other.

The dining hall was lively. When Hibari pushed open the door, he saw the long table laden with food and already surrounded by quite a few clan members. It seemed they were all waiting for Tobirama.

His gaze swept around the room. He naturally took the empty seat beside Uzumaki Mito and asked curiously, "Huh? Grandma Mito, where's Tsunade? Grandpa Hashirama's not here either... Did they call him away on official business again?"

Tobirama took his seat too. Though he said nothing, there was a questioning look in his eyes.

Once everyone was seated, Uzumaki Mito said gently, "There's no need to wait for those two. Everyone, go ahead and eat."

Hibari didn't hold back. He picked up his bowl and took a serving of food, continuing to press for answers with his eyes as he ate.

Seeing this, Uzumaki Mito smiled. "Those two happily went out together. The servants said your Grandpa Hashirama somehow came into some money and took little Tsunade to the gambling house for a bit of fun."

Hibari's face immediately fell. "It's bad enough that Grandpa Hashirama went by himself. Why bring Tsunade along...? Isn't he worried he'll lead her astray? But where'd he get the money? The Hokage's salary isn't paid until the end of the month, is it?"

As soon as he asked, he paused, then let out an "Oh," as realization dawned. "Right, that mission from before! I got a million and five hundred thousand ryo, so as Hokage, he must've gotten at least two million, right? That really is a windfall..."

Uzumaki Mito shook her head gently, indicating she didn't know the details. "Perhaps. I didn't ask. He's busy most of the time, and this is one of his few hobbies. Let him enjoy himself."

"That's true." Hibari nodded, sympathetic. "Being Hokage is a tough job. It's stressful, so I can understand needing a hobby to unwind."

Tobirama took a bite of rice and swallowed before speaking in an unhurried voice. "I don't know where my elder brother got the money, but it definitely wasn't from what you're thinking. He wasn't paid for that mission at all.

"I know him too well. Whenever he gets his hands on money, no matter how much, it never lasts until the next morning. He'll make one round of the gambling house, and it'll all be gone."

"Hahahaha, seriously? Grandpa Hashirama's life is just so..." Hibari started laughing, but stopped halfway through.

Then he suddenly remembered how his eye had been twitching constantly a while back. His face fell. "Lord Tobirama... I think I know where that awful feeling I had came from."

Tobirama was a sharp man. One look at Hibari's utterly devastated expression, and he understood. He nearly burst out laughing.

"Oh? Tell me." Tobirama set down his chopsticks and asked with keen interest, the corners of his mouth already twitching.

Hibari looked miserable, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. "If I'm not mistaken... that pair of clowns in our family must have snuck into my room while I was away and helped themselves to the more than one million ryo I had left in there!!!"

The moment he said this, the Senju clan members burst into laughter.

Even Uzumaki Mito smiled behind her lips and gently tried to comfort him. "Look on the bright side. Maybe... they left you a little."

That only made Hibari look more dejected. "Grandma Mito, the way you put it... even you think it's a done deal, don't you? If you ask me, they either didn't touch my money box at all, or..."

"They didn't leave you a single coin," Tobirama calmly finished, picking up a piece of fish.

"Exactly! Lord Tobirama, you understand them!" Hibari muttered darkly, stuffing a mouthful of rice into his mouth.

At that moment, the woman in her thirties sitting beside them turned to Hibari with a smile. "Then why are you still sitting here eating, Hibari? Hurry back and check your room!"

Hibari waved a hand wearily. "Aunt Toka, what's the point of checking?

"If they didn't take it, the money's still safe. If they did, it's probably already all lost. If I don't go look, I can at least fool myself into hoping for the best, and I can still eat.

"But if I go and confirm the 'tragedy,' I won't even know how to cry. How could I still have an appetite...?"

The woman was Hibari's aunt, Senju Toka, and also one of Tobirama and Hashirama's trusted aides.

Senju Toka laughed. "Oh, I didn't realize you were so good at finding excuses for yourself."

"What can I do? Life goes on." Hibari sighed.

His expression made everyone laugh again.

"Go check. You might be in for a surprise!"

"Exactly. What if Lord Hashirama had a change of heart and put it back for you, little Hibari?"

As the family ate and chatted merrily, Uzumaki Mito wore a gentle smile the whole time.

When the meal was nearly over, Hibari leaned closer to Uzumaki Mito and lowered his voice. "Grandma Mito, if I really go back and find the money gone... you'll have to stick up for me and give Lord Hashirama a good talking-to!"

"Hehe, all right. If that's what happened, Grandma will get even with him for you." Uzumaki Mito smiled as she agreed.

Hibari knew perfectly well that getting the money back from Lord Hashirama would be difficult. His eyes shifted toward Uzumaki Mito.

But before he could say anything, Tobirama, who had also set down his bowl, cut him off.

"Don't even think about it." Tobirama smiled. "If that really happened, I'll deduct the amount from the Hokage's salary this month and pay you back."

Hibari finally managed a small smile. "Great! Hearing that from you puts my mind at ease, Lord Tobirama. I'll go check right now..."

With that, he stood, greeted the elders, and hurried back to his room.

He hadn't even reached the door when he spotted it from afar. His heart sank. The door had been shut tight when he left that morning, but now it was standing ajar.

Then he looked down at the floor. Good grief, there was a trail of dusty little footprints across the clean floor. Tsunade must have gone stomping around inside without changing her shoes.

"I can't believe this, Princess Tsunade! So Grandpa's your real family, but your big brother's just some stranger you picked up off the street?" Hibari ground his teeth in anger, unable to stop himself from muttering.

But looking at those tiny footprints, he couldn't help finding it a little funny... Lord Hashirama, you really had led little Tsunade astray.

Hibari pushed the door open and looked inside. Sure enough, he had already opened the box where the money was kept. It was completely empty, and the box itself had been casually tossed onto the floor.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" Hibari stamped his feet in anger. "Is there no order in this house anymore? Huh?"

Hibari picked up the wooden box and put it away, then quickly cleaned the floor Tsunade had dirtied with her footprints.

Although he knew Lord Hashirama was probably enjoying himself at the gambling house he often visited in the village, with little Tsunade in tow, he had no intention of going there to argue with him.

For one thing, Madam Mito had already promised to deal with Hashirama when he got back. For another, Tobirama had clearly said he'd take the money out of the Hokage's salary this month and pay Hibari back.

Since Hibari wasn't actually losing anything, he felt there was no need to make a fuss throughout the village. If he went to the gambling house and made a scene, it wouldn't reflect well on Lord Hashirama's image as Hokage.

Besides, family matters were best handled behind closed doors. There was no need to let outsiders laugh at the Senju Clan.

And Hibari wasn't really angry. Lord Hashirama might constantly drag little Tsunade into all sorts of nonsense, but he had always treated Hibari well, and that was the honest truth.

After tidying up the room, Hibari took out the scroll Lord Tobirama had given him, went to sit beneath the shade of a tree in the courtyard, and spread it open to study carefully.

The Shadow Clone Technique was, at its core, a variation of the Clone Technique. Hibari already knew the Clone Technique, so the scroll didn't seem all that complicated to him.

"It's just injecting chakra into an ordinary clone to give it a physical form. The clone can think independently and take a few hits..." he muttered as he read. "Oh, whatever the clone experiences gets sent back to the original when the technique is released..."

This was more or less what he already knew. The rest of the scroll included a few cautions, such as how the clone's fatigue would return to the original when the technique was released.

Only then did Hibari understand why Lord Tobirama wanted to classify the Multi Shadow Clone Technique as a Forbidden Technique. Taking back too much fatigue at once could genuinely cause someone's heart to stop.

After going over the hand seals and the details of chakra control again, Hibari felt confident enough to try the technique.

Hand seals were, at the end of the day, just an aid. By performing them in a specific order and linking them to the chakra in one's body, a ninja could release Ninjutsu.

They had no essential connection to the Ninjutsu itself. It was like solving a problem: some experts didn't need complicated steps at all. They could glance at it and immediately give the answer.

When a ninja knew a Ninjutsu well enough, simplifying the hand seals was commonplace. Some could even release powerful Ninjutsu with a single seal.

And if one was skilled enough, it was possible to use chakra control alone without performing any seals.

Take Lord Hashirama, for example—the very man who had stolen his money. He might have no sense of decorum in daily life, but he was incredible when it came to fighting. He could release many powerful jutsu just by bringing his hands together, without needing to perform any seals.

But since this was Hibari's first time learning the Shadow Clone Technique, he didn't get cocky. Instead, he dutifully prepared to perform the hand seals.

He followed the sequence shown in the scroll, and chakra began circulating through his body. Once he completed the final seal, Hibari called out, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

But just as his chakra was about to split evenly into two streams and produce a clone, his whole body suddenly seized up. Then the chakra inside him began to churn violently.

With a soft poof, the jutsu failed. The sudden failure left Hibari's chest feeling tight and uncomfortable.

"That shouldn't have happened..." He rubbed his aching chest, looking baffled. "It's only a B-rank Ninjutsu, and an easy one at that. I controlled the chakra correctly, and I didn't mess up the hand seals... How could it have failed?"