On the wasteland outside Konoha.
The Susanoo raised its enormous blade, about to slash down again.
With the blade halfway up, Madara stopped the Susanoo and did not bring it down.
Shinichi stood in the clearing opposite the Susanoo.
He lifted his head and looked at Madara above him.
Madara stood inside the Susanoo, looking down at Shinichi.
After exchanging so many blows, he had not even touched the edge of the kid's clothes.
Madara understood now.
Without using his full strength, he could not defeat this kid at all.
To defeat him, he would have to unleash his complete-body Susanoo.
He would have to crush him with sheer, overwhelming power.
Madara was not frustrated.
Facing an opponent who could truly fight actually felt exhilarating.
Enough, enough. We agreed this would only be a spar today, and I've had my fill!
The Susanoo dissolved into blue-violet chakra and dispersed in midair.
Madara landed back on the wasteland.
Shinichi looked at Madara opposite him.
Seeing Madara dismiss his Susanoo, he deactivated his Tenseigan Chakra Mode as well.
The layer of pale blue light around him faded away with it.
Hashirama walked over from beneath the tree with Scarface.
Grinning, Hashirama stepped forward.
"That was one satisfying fight you two had!"
He turned to Madara and casually teased him.
"Madara, you couldn't even touch his clothes with your Susanoo. You're slipping."
Madara did not respond to Hashirama at all.
He turned to Shinichi.
"Let's go. We'll discuss business back at the compound."
With that, Madara turned and headed toward Konoha.
Shinichi and Scarface followed.
Hashirama cheerfully came over and joined them.
The group headed toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
They arrived at Madara's house.
The group sat down.
Hashirama found a seat off to the side, folded his arms, and listened cheerfully.
Shinichi looked at Madara across from him and began calculating the price.
"Ten thousand shuriken, five thousand kunai, and five thousand explosive tags."
"If we go by market prices in the Land of Fire."
"A shuriken costs three thousand ryo, a kunai five thousand ryo, and an explosive tag twenty thousand ryo."
"Altogether, that comes to around a hundred and fifty-five million ryo."
Shinichi paused there.
He looked Madara in the eye.
"I'll add another thirty percent and round it off."
"Two hundred million ryo."
"Consider the extra money a gesture of friendship from the Hyuga to the Uchiha."
With that, Shinichi reached inside his clothes.
He took out all the banknotes he had brought and placed them on the table between them.
It was a thick stack of banknotes worth a full two hundred million ryo.
Madara leaned against the back of his chair and glanced at the banknotes on the table.
This Hyuga kid isn't just strong. He's straightforward in business, too.
Madara felt that the Hyuga were indeed worth befriending.
He raised his head, looked at Shinichi, and spoke.
"Kid, you're far more straightforward than that scoundrel Tobirama Senju."
"We Uchiha accept the Hyuga's friendship!"
At the mention of Tobirama Senju, Madara's expression darkened, and he snorted coldly.
"Unlike that fellow Tobirama Senju, who does nothing but scheme behind people's backs all day."
"He's a scoundrel who knows nothing but plots and tricks."
Madara drew his gaze back to Shinichi.
"All right."
"I accept this deal with your Hyuga Clan."
Madara called over the Uchiha clan member stationed outside the door.
"Go open the storehouse."
"Bring out all the shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags in the quantities the Hyuga requested."
The clan member quickly acknowledged the order, then turned and ran off to gather people.
Shinichi stood up.
Together with Hashirama, he followed Madara out of the house.
They soon arrived in front of the Uchiha storehouse.
The heavy storehouse doors stood open.
Dozens of Uchiha clan members were busy inside.
Working in pairs, they carried out wooden crates filled with weapons, one after another.
Before long, a large pile of wooden crates had been stacked in the clearing outside.
Word that the Hyuga had paid an extra thirty percent quickly spread among the clan members doing the work.
When they heard that the Hyuga had readily paid tens of millions of extra ryo just to befriend the Uchiha, the clan members began talking as they carried the crates.
"This young clan leader of the Hyuga has a good eye."
"He knows that if you want quality goods, you have to buy from us Uchiha."
A young Uchiha ninja put down the crate he was carrying and chimed in with a smile.
"Paying an extra thirty percent to make friends-that was a fine gesture from the Hyuga."
"For being that straightforward, the Hyuga are friends of us Uchiha from now on."
An older clan member beside him nodded.
"I heard this Hyuga Clan Leader even exchanged blows with Lord Madara outside the village just now."
"Anyone who can exchange blows with Lord Madara is truly powerful."
"Someone that strong deserves to be a friend of us Uchiha."
The dull thuds of crates hitting the ground rang out continuously.
Full of energy, the Uchiha clan members carried the goods outside, crate after crate.
Hashirama stood to one side.
He looked at the wooden crates in the clearing.
The crates filled with shuriken and kunai were piling higher and higher.
The smile slowly disappeared from Hashirama's face.
The Uchiha alone could easily produce this many ninja tools.
How could Konoha as a whole possibly fail to do the same?
The Senju would only have more ninja tools than the Uchiha.
Even if they had distributed some to clans like the Sarutobi and the Ino-Shika-Cho.
There was absolutely no way they could fail to scrape together even this quantity.
He remembered what had happened in the Hokage Building that morning.
He remembered what Tobirama had said while sitting at the desk.
All that talk about Konoha having nothing to spare now either.
Looking at the small mountain of ninja tools before him, Hashirama finally understood completely.
It was not that Konoha could not provide these supplies at all.
In the office that morning, Tobirama had deliberately made excuses and refused to sell ninja tools to the Hyuga.
On the streets of Konoha.
Several Uchiha clan members stood on a street corner, chins raised as they spoke to the people beside them.
"Have you heard? The Hyuga Clan just bought a huge batch of ninja tools from us Uchiha."
"They handed over a full two hundred million ryo in banknotes without even blinking."
A young Uchiha clan member folded his arms, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Compared with market prices, the Hyuga paid a full thirty percent extra."
"The Hyuga Clan Leader said it himself. That extra money was just to make friends with us Uchiha!"
More and more passing Konoha villagers gathered around, all listening intently.
The Uchiha clan member glanced toward the Hokage Building and raised his voice further.
"In the end, didn't they have to come to us Uchiha to buy what the Senju couldn't provide?"
One person told ten, and ten told a hundred.
Before long, news that the Uchiha had sold a large batch of ninja tools to the Hyuga spread throughout Konoha.
People on the street gathered in twos and threes, all discussing the matter.
A ninja from the Senju Clan stood in the crowd.
He heard every word the Uchiha clan members said, and his brows immediately furrowed.
Without drawing attention, he turned and squeezed out of the crowd.
The Senju ninja hurried down the street toward the Hokage Building.
He had to report this to Lord Tobirama at once.
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