Getting Shaken Down?

The old man beat his chest and stomped his feet, wailing loudly, filling Obito and Hideki with guilt.

Hideki had already begun imagining it. What kind of moving love story could this tree possibly hold for the old man to be so heartbroken?

That year, he was eighteen.

That year, she was eighteen too...

Hideki felt a little panicked. Honestly, he had not been this nervous even when he blew Uchiha Beiying's cousin unconscious yesterday.

"Hideki, what do we do now?"

Uchiha "What Do We Do Now" Obito had gone online.

Hideki had a headache too. "What can we do? Admit your mistakes, stand straight when you get hit... Let's just wait."

Obito sighed with a miserable expression. He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a one-hundred-ryo bill, and handed it to Hideki.

"This is my living allowance for the month. I don't know if it's enough to compensate him... Sigh!"

Hideki took the money and froze for a moment, his expression then becoming complicated.

This definitely was not about money. Otherwise, the old man would not be crying so miserably.

Maybe this tree had been planted by the old man and his late wife when they were young. Now that she was gone, the tree was all he had left to remember her by.

Watching the old man continue to sob, Hideki sighed.

No choice. This is the only way.

Though he felt terribly guilty, he was still a child, at least in everyone else's eyes.

Children had their own ways of handling things, along with the privileges that came with being children.

Hideki immediately took several more bills from his pocket. Come to think of it, the ninja who had delivered his living allowance some time ago seemed to have given him extra—twice as much, in fact.

His monthly allowance was even higher than Obito's, despite Obito coming from a clan with a complete ninja industry chain behind it.

He had a full one hundred and fifty ryo. Together with Obito's money, that made exactly two hundred and fifty.

"Grandpa... We didn't mean to do it. This is the money we've saved for a long time. We'll give it to you as compensation, so please don't be sad anymore..."

Hideki tried his best to fill his voice with childlike innocence, aiming for an utterly guileless feeling.

And surprisingly, it really worked.

The old man stopped crying, wiped his tears, and accepted the money with a sorrowful expression.

"My dear wife..."

To Hideki's stunned expression, the old man quickly counted the money and tucked it into his clothes.

The smoothness of his movements and the naturalness of his expression made Hideki wonder whether he had been scammed.

Still, Hideki inadvertently caught sight of the mesh undershirt beneath the old man's coat, as well as the Konoha forehead protector hanging from his waist.

That proved the old man was a ninja.

He probably... was not a scammer.

Hideki sighed inwardly. Logically speaking, breaking a tree in Konoha should have been perfectly normal.

As the ninja village of the Shinobi World's strongest nation, Konoha was incredibly wealthy and lacked nothing—especially trees.

Being able to snap a tree with a Rasengan should have been something to celebrate. If Shimura Danzo or Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it, they would probably start nurturing him as a genius on the spot.

"Grandpa?" Seeing that the old man had finally recovered, Hideki called out tentatively.

However, he was met with an extremely wary look from the old man.

"What, you think two hundred and fifty ryo is enough to send this old man away? Do you know where this tree came from? You damn brats!"

"..."

Hideki did not know how to respond. Had his childish voice stopped working? That could not be it. He was not even six yet, so he should not have reached puberty.

"Anyway, go call your parents over. This matter isn't over!"

The old man glanced at Hideki, then at Obito. His gaze paused briefly on the Uchiha fan emblem on Obito's collar, and waves of disgust flashed through his eyes.

"So you're an Uchiha brat too... Perfect! The Uchiha aren't short on money. Go tell your clan head that this old man will be waiting right here!"

The old man was clearly getting fired up.

Hideki's brows gradually furrowed. He felt like he really had been scammed.

And when Obito heard that they had to call the clan head, he immediately became unhappy.

"It's just one tree! You're clearly looking for trouble!" Obito lost his temper too, shouting at the top of his lungs with an exaggerated expression.

Hideki's heart skipped a beat as he inwardly cried that this was bad. Scammer or not, the old man's strength was there for all to see. Hideki wanted to stop Obito, but it was already too late.

"I'm looking for trouble with you Uchiha! You Uchiha have turned perfectly good Konoha into a complete mess. Even a little brat dares to spout nonsense at this old man. Believe me, I'll beat you so badly that even your grandmother won't recognize you!"

"Holy shit!? You think I'm scared of you, you old fossil... Mmph! Hideki, what are you doing!?"

Hideki finally grabbed Obito. While giving the one-track-minded fool meaningful looks to calm him down, he pressed Obito's head down and bowed deeply to the old man with him.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. This really is our fault. How about this? Name your price, and the two of us will go gather the money right away."

Hideki's attitude was extremely proper. Then he looked sternly at Obito. "Uchiha Beiying, calm down. Have you forgotten what our teacher taught us?"

"When you make a mistake, you must have the courage to admit it. Understand?"

Obito was left somewhat bewildered by Hideki's words, but out of trust, he instinctively nodded.

"Hmph! You've got some sense, brat. What a pity you've mixed in with Uchiha people."

The old man snorted and waved them away.

"Hurry up and call your parents... Uchiha Beiying, I'll remember that name. I'll give you one hour. If I don't see your parents by then, I'll go straight to the Konoha Police Force!"

"Perfect. This old man also wants to see what sort of thing the current Uchiha clan head is!"

Hideki was startled.

Just who was this old man?

From the sound of it, he seemed pretty damn important!

But they could not worry about that right now. Running was what mattered!

The two immediately took off running, afraid they would be dragged back if they were even a step too slow.

Hideki felt nervous. This old man probably had quite the background. He searched through his memories, but could not recall any major figure from this era who was this old.

A ninja who looks even older than Hiruzen Sarutobi and hates the Uchiha intensely.

Oh no, could he be...

Hideki's heart thumped.

He had a faintly ominous feeling.

"Pfft! That was brilliant, Hideki!"

At that moment, Obito finally could not hold it in and burst into laughter. "That Uchiha Beiying kid probably won't even know how he died this time! Hahaha!"

But soon, Obito's expression froze, as did Hideki's.

The two only felt a gust of wind sweep past them. The next moment, that familiar sensation of weightlessness returned, and they were once again lifted into the air by their collars!

There was no need to guess. It was that old man again!

"You two think this old man is so easy to fool? Hm!?"

Bang!

The two were slammed heavily onto the ground. The force was not too great, but it was not light either.

Neither was hurt, but they grimaced in pain.

Hideki suddenly sensed more information appearing in his mind—every one of his clones had been knocked out by the old man.

"We're done for." Hideki was startled, but Obito beside him could no longer restrain himself.

"Hideki, run! I'll stop this hateful old man!"

Hideki felt like he had heard that line before. It seemed that Obito had reacted the same way when they encountered Minato last time.

Say what you wanted about him, Obito was someone you could count on. Whenever something happened, he really stepped up!

Hideki immediately stopped worrying about anything else. "You definitely can't beat him alone. I'll help you!"

The old man's identity was no longer important for the moment.

That was right! It was not important!

Hideki was somewhat fired up now. Being lifted like a chick twice in a row was far too humiliating!

Thus, two minutes later.

On the empty grassland, everything was lush and vibrant, except for two little heads sticking out of the ground.

They were not some rare species of plant, but two youths who had bravely resisted.

"Old man, if you've got the guts, let me out! Lord Obito's Great Fireball will teach you how to behave in minutes!!!"

Obito's face was red as he roared madly.

The old man wore a mocking expression and did not answer. Instead, he casually sat down nearby, pulled out a small flask, and drank contentedly.

That sight only made Obito burn with more rage. He desperately thrust his head forward, wishing he could leap straight out of the soil!

As for Hideki, his gaze was filled with shock.

After the brief rush of anger, he had calmed down. The old man's identity was now all but obvious.

This time period, this age, his hatred for the Uchiha, his special attachment to "trees," and the deep emotional value he had given them.

Everything pointed in one direction: a surname that had gradually been forgotten in Konoha...

Senju.