Immortal Duo

At the border of the Land of Fire.

The Immortal Duo, dressed in black robes patterned with red clouds, strolled down a shaded forest path, chatting leisurely.

"Ha ha ha, Kakuzu, this job pays pretty well. No matter what, I'm taking at least thirty million ryo from it!"

Kakuzu couldn't be bothered with the chatterbox beside him. He seriously doubted the leader's hiring standards. Why did he keep stuffing every weird loser he found onto his team? Making money was exhausting enough already!

"Look at that little dog over there. The way its butt wiggles is so funny!"

"Oh, right, Kakuzu. I'm curious—your body is all stitched together with thread and needles. Did you stitch one of those onto yourself too?"

"But come to think of it, if you really could, wouldn't that make you invincible? Unlimited extension? Automatic retraction!!"

"Can you shut up? If you're really that bored, read the target dossier. Keep yapping, and believe me, I'll sew your mouth shut!"

Kakuzu felt his anger reach its breaking point. Not wanting to look at his headache-inducing teammate anymore, he suddenly quickened his pace.

Judging by the route, their target should be near the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron. He'd heard that Chiriku of the Fire Temple was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and his head was worth thirty million ryo. He could take this chance to pick up a private job.

Tanzaku Town.

Barbecue Restaurant.

"So this brat is on our side?"

Tobirama Senju stared suspiciously at Uchiha Sen. After speaking with Jiraiya for some time, he'd learned that the Uchiha Clan had been massacred several years ago. Of the vast Uchiha Clan, only the second young master, Sasuke Uchiha, and this mentally unstable Uchiha Sen remained.

But when something was out of the ordinary, there had to be something suspicious about it. Tobirama Senju quickly labeled Uchiha Sen as someone pretending to be insane. How could it be such a coincidence that he just happened to be away from the clan grounds that very night?

"Second Brother, try breaking through those shackles."

Hashirama Senju leaned close and whispered.

"Hm?"

Since he'd invented this technique, Tobirama Senju naturally had a way to undo it. Thinking his elder brother was preparing to eliminate the remnants of the Uchiha Clan, he obediently formed hand seals and mobilized the chakra within his body.

Wait!

Why was there no reaction at all?!

The flaw he'd deliberately left behind had actually been fixed?

When developing this technique, Tobirama Senju had deliberately left behind a fatal flaw. Ordinary people would never be able to discover it, because altering it would be equivalent to developing an entirely new technique.

Tobirama Senju stood frozen in place. Now he understood what his elder brother had meant.

Hashirama Senju had clearly tested it in secret already. In other words, as long as Sen was willing, he could control the two of them at any time, like puppets on strings.

Tobirama Senju looked warily at Uchiha Sen, who was sitting on a stool eating barbecue, and secretly let out a breath of relief. At least this brat didn't look very smart...

[Ha ha, not just not very smart—he's downright astonishing!]

[Detected that the host suffers from severe mental illness. Treatment required?]

"You bastard! Where are you? You're the one with mental illness! Hiding in that little blue box because you're too ashamed to show your face? Cursing Lord Sen from the shadows? You're like lighting a lantern in a latrine—looking for shit!"

"Get out here! Your grandpa is right here!"

"Good grandson, you've got the guts to curse people, but not the guts to come out? Sticking chicken feathers on a bat—what kind of bird do you think you are?!"

"This is...?"

The First and Second Hokage looked at each other. It was their first time seeing a ninja like this—standing on a stool and pointing at a wall while cursing for ten minutes straight. How deep was this grudge... Did the wall steal his barbecue?

"Don't mind him, don't mind him. He has a few hours like this every day. We're used to it by now."

Tsunade waved a hand casually.

Tobirama Senju stared intently, his face full of suspicion. Covering his mouth, he spoke softly.

"Little Tsunade, you're about to become the target too. Don't trust people so easily. There's something strange about that boy, so you must be more careful... Especially since neither your granduncle nor I can undo his Impure World Reincarnation."

"Though I hate to admit it, his mastery of this technique surpasses mine. What's most frightening is his age."

Tobirama Senju had always held immense hostility toward anyone from the Uchiha Clan.

"Ha ha ha, take things as they come. Second Brother, what the village becomes is no longer something you or I can change. Since we can't go back, we might as well stay here properly."

Hashirama Senju threw an arm around his good brother and laughed toward the sky.

"That's right, that's right. Although I'm taking over as Hokage, I planned to let Granduncle and Second Granduncle actually run the village."

Tsunade voiced her long-held wish. She hadn't wanted to truly sit in that position to begin with.

"You..."

For a moment, Tobirama Senju was speechless.

"Lady Tsunade, so this was what you had planned from the very beginning!"

Shizune, seated nearby, could no longer sit still and shouted in rebuke.

If the First and Second Hokage could be revived... then perhaps the Third and Fourth Hokage could be as well...

Jiraiya turned around and looked eagerly at Uchiha Sen. In the end, emotion overcame reason. He slowly walked over, rubbed his hands awkwardly, and said, "Sen, could you help me revive two people as well?"

"No."

Sen turned his head aside, ignoring Jiraiya's request.

"Why not...?"

Jiraiya looked somewhat disappointed.

"I just used up a thousand years of my cultivation! This great one is tired and empty now. I need lots and lots of meat, caw caw, and I need to soak in the finest hot spring pool to rest."

Sen spouted nonsense without a care.

Behind him, Haku and Zabuza couldn't hold back their laughter any longer.

Only then did Jiraiya understand. He readily promised, "No problem. You can eat as much as you want. I can even buy you a big house! And I can promise to do three things for you in the future!"

Haku and Zabuza were instantly filled with respect. Three favors from a Kage Level expert carried no small weight, and as one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya held a pivotal position in the Leaf Village.

"Can I really eat as much as I want?!"

Sen's eyes lit up. The way he stared at Jiraiya was like he was looking at a shy little girl.

"Yes, yes. Eat as much as you want."

Once this was settled, he could eat to his heart's content. Besides, how much could he really eat? Jiraiya thought to himself.

An hour later...

"What? You're charging me ten million ryo for one barbecue meal? Believe it or not, I'll burn your shop down!"

Jiraiya slammed the table furiously. What kind of joke was this? Before leaving, he'd specifically looked at the table. There had clearly only been around two hundred plates.

"Sir, we keep records. The two hundred and twenty plates eaten here came to three million ryo, but that guest took another hundred portions of barbecue with him before leaving."

Following the owner's pointing finger, Jiraiya saw Uchiha Sen dragging Haku away in a frantic escape...

Damn! That brat had set him up!

With his heart aching, he handed the owner a scroll...

Then he quickly left this place of sorrow.

Zabuza Momochi: Watching someone else have bad luck really does feel so much better~