Tajima said it on purpose

The birds hidden beneath the eaves heard every word of Madara Uchiha's conversation with his father.

One of those birds slipped silently out from under the eaves.

It dared not make too much noise. First, it hopped onto the roof, then cautiously flew away from the Uchiha Clan Head's courtyard. Only when it reached the edge of the Clan Grounds did it suddenly pick up speed and swiftly leave the Uchiha Clan behind.

As the bird flew out from beneath the eaves, Uchiha Tajima's scarlet Sharingan casually flicked toward the window, following the direction it had taken. The smile never left his face.

The bird chirped as it flew. When it passed through the forest, many birds that looked exactly like it flew out of the trees, chirping in response.

They stopped at the edge of the forest, while another group of birds, upon hearing their calls, spread their wings and soared over the forest by the Naka River toward the Senju Clan's Clan Grounds.

Within the Senju Clan's Clan Grounds, different birds sang in unison, their calls mingling with the chirping of insects.

Sunlight reflected off the rows of roof tiles.

The courtyard brimmed with greenery.

After prying into the various ninja clans' private affairs for half a month, Yanbai began to find this round-the-clock snooping boring. He had had enough.

Yanbai's enthusiasm never lasted long. If he wanted to do something, he did it. If he did not, he stopped.

Butsuma Senju had already obtained a considerable amount of intelligence through this and did not insist that Yanbai record the various ninja clans' worthless daily routines every day.

Besides, the Senju Clan was "back in business." Yanbai's older brothers had all put their studies on hold and grown busy.

His eldest brother, Hashirama Senju, was naturally going to be sent on missions. This time, even Kawarama and Itama were not spared.

Meanwhile, after being "corrected" countless times by Yanbai, Tobirama Senju now looked more and more like him.

For certain reasons, Tobirama Senju had discussed something with Butsuma Senju and stayed at the Clan Grounds to look after Yanbai.

Under the scorching sunlight.

The narrow veranda was brightly lit.

Yanbai's beguiling voice echoed through it.

"So it really was true. That old bastard Tajima actually said that..."

Yanbai sent the messenger bird away with some insects, looking thoroughly glum.

At the same time, from the edge of the narrow veranda in Yanbai's courtyard.

Tobirama Senju's calm voice rang out. "I told you, if you really gave that thing to the Uchiha, you had to be prepared for either a marriage proposal or someone coming to kill you."

Then Tobirama Senju added, "You lost the bet this time. A bet is a bet. Give me seven days' worth of the rations you made. You promised."

As he spoke, Tobirama Senju held out his hand to Yanbai without any change in expression.

"You're such a pain, Tobirama..." Yanbai rolled his eyes.

Yanbai turned around, rummaged through his cabinet for the Cookies he had made the day before yesterday, and handed the entire box to Tobirama Senju.

Yanbai had made those Cookies intending to savor them over time and occasionally use them to reward the little animals.

Unfortunately, Tobirama Senju had spotted them fresh out of the oven.

Tobirama Senju had actually used this matter to make a bet, all for that one box of Cookies. Yanbai was utterly speechless.

Tobirama Senju took the box of Cookies, a rare smile appearing on his face. "You thought that once Tajima knew you could spy on them, he would never say something like that, didn't you? Did it ever occur to you that he said it specifically for you to hear?"

At those words, Yanbai's brows drew together slightly.

Tobirama Senju opened the box and began eating right away, continuing as he did. "Tajima is testing you, and he's testing Madara too. Someone as shrewd as Tajima can still use the smallest clues to work out exactly what kind of relationship you two have."

Yanbai raised his eyes to look at his devious bastard of a second brother, who was busy eating Cookies.

Tobirama Senju lowered his gaze. "After all, it's a fact that you infiltrated the Uchiha Clan alone to treat Madara Uchiha. If I didn't know your real objective, I would also suspect you had designs on him."

Yanbai raised his eyebrows.

Tobirama Senju looked at Yanbai. "Did you think the only reason I didn't stop you from giving them that Dungeon was so I could eat a few more Cookies?"

Yanbai said nothing, only giving a soft chuckle.

These days, Tobirama Senju was just like Yanbai: he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. How could his motives possibly be that simple?

Tobirama Senju continued, "Think about it carefully. If you were Uchiha Tajima, and you discovered that an exceptionally gifted girl was infatuated with your son, but your son didn't really love her, what would you do?"

"As the one being loved, the man can act without fear, use that affection to bind the woman to him, and exploit her until she dies. That's a perfectly normal line of thinking, isn't it?"

"Once you displayed your extraordinary abilities while also showing excessive concern for his son, Uchiha Tajima made his choice."

"Uchiha Tajima is sending you a message: 'I don't object to you being with my son. Come join our Uchiha Clan.'"

Hearing this, Yanbai did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Uchiha Tajima doesn't know I'm from the Senju Clan. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said that."

"He doesn't know your real reason for going to such lengths to infiltrate the Uchiha. He'll only think you're interested in Madara-and very interested at that." Tobirama Senju stared at Yanbai's beautiful face and said quietly, "But, like our eldest brother, Madara knows something of your true colors. He might not be willing to cooperate with his father."

The mention of this only made Yanbai want to laugh.

For an instant, Yanbai even imagined Madara Uchiha looking resentfully at Hashirama Senju and demanding, "Why are your younger brother's pectoral muscles so outrageously large...?"

That image was too magnificent to contemplate.

But Yanbai had no intention of telling Tobirama Senju about this. Otherwise, Tobirama Senju would be the first to fall apart.

Yanbai chuckled softly.

"What we need to consider is how to use our existing resources and intelligence to benefit ourselves." Tobirama Senju closed the box of Cookies and looked Yanbai straight in the eye, speaking sternly. "And stop acting as though they don't matter."

Yanbai's smile faded. "I'm not acting as though they don't matter."

"You should take it easy. Rein yourself in when you need to, and don't go casually toying with the Uchiha Clan." Tobirama Senju's expression did not soften in the slightest. "Their love will get you killed."

Yanbai looked at Tobirama Senju in bewilderment.

Tobirama Senju added, "Your behavior is far too easy to misinterpret. Although I don't know why you've singled out Madara Uchiha, I suggest... that you exercise a little more restraint."

Yanbai narrowed his eyes, then nodded.

"I don't know what measures the Uchiha will take toward you," Tobirama Senju continued. "For now, we can only wait and see. Our employer's enemies have probably already paid a hefty sum to hire the Uchiha Clan. Before long, the two clans will meet on the battlefield. You'll have to be careful with everything you do..."