"One God of Shinobi, one Asura of the Ninja World, one Second Hokage, and one Uchiha Izuna."
"All sprawled out in the hall for the customers to see?"
"What, has the Undead Tavern turned into a drunkard exhibition?"
Hashirama lowered his head even further.
Madara tightened his grip on his glass, but said nothing in protest.
Tobirama's face darkened.
Izuna also stood up and bowed his head solemnly.
"Boss, we promise it won't happen again."
Hashirama immediately chimed in.
"Right!"
"Boss, I promise!"
"I'll never sneak another drink from the tavern!"
Madara was silent for a moment before speaking too.
"There won't be a next time."
Tobirama's voice was cold and stiff, but held a rare note of shame.
"I'll establish a new liquor inventory system."
"And I accept a pay deduction for this dereliction of duty."
Zhang Yu snorted.
"First, clean up the hall."
"Put all the liquor you drank on the tab."
"Whoever drank it pays for it."
The four answered at once.
"Yes, sir."
Zhang Yu picked up the wrapped flowers and turned toward the office.
At the door, he paused again.
"Let me catch you one more time, and I'll empty the entire liquor cellar."
"None of you will get a single drop."
Those words had a tremendous effect.
Hashirama's expression changed.
Madara's brow twitched.
Tobirama silently lowered his head.
Even Izuna didn't dare speak.
Only after the office door closed did everyone in the hall slowly let out a breath.
Hashirama slumped into a chair, lingering fear written all over his face.
"We're done for. The boss is really angry."
Madara snorted.
"Now you realize it?"
Hashirama immediately looked at him.
"Madara, weren't you the one who said we should finish it once it was open?"
Madara's expression didn't change.
"You were the one who wanted a drink first."
Hashirama opened his mouth, but couldn't argue.
Tobirama sat behind the bar, rubbing his temples, his voice low.
"It was bad enough that you two stole the liquor. Why did you have to call me over to sample it?"
Hashirama gave an awkward laugh.
"Tobirama, that drink you mixed really was good."
Tobirama's expression grew colder.
Madara said mildly, "You drank it."
Tobirama fell silent.
That was the problem.
At first, he really had only gone to check the inventory.
But Hashirama and Madara said they wanted to develop a new drink and asked him to sample it as the manager.
He had originally intended to find fault with it.
But after vodka was mixed with beer, fruit syrup, and ice, the taste really was unusual.
So he tried a glass.
After that, there was no after that.
Tobirama raised a hand and pressed his fingers between his brows.
"I actually made such a basic mistake."
Madara glanced at him.
"You even inscribed a Flying Thunder God Formula in the cold storage room."
Hashirama immediately piled on.
"That's right, Tobirama."
"You said it would make fetching liquor easier in the future."
Tobirama froze.
Izuna looked at him too.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Tobirama slowly raised his head, his voice still calm.
"That was to check the security of the liquor cellar."
Madara sneered.
"Behind the vodka shelf?"
Hashirama nodded.
"And you hid it well, too."
Tobirama closed his eyes briefly.
He suddenly felt like throwing his last-night self into the Dispute Arena.
He had spent his whole life being strictly impartial.
Yet after dying and taking a job at a tavern, his first serious dereliction of duty had been stealing liquor.
He had even added a Flying Thunder God shortcut to the cold storage room while he was at it.
If word got out, the Second Hokage would have nowhere to hide his face.
Izuna braced himself against the table and stood up, looking at the empty bottles on the floor.
"Let's clean up first."
"The boss is still angry."
Madara stood up too.
He saw that Izuna was still a little unsteady on his feet and immediately frowned.
"Izuna."
Izuna was just about to say he was fine when he swayed.
Madara stepped forward and caught him.
Izuna said quietly, "Brother, I'm fine."
Madara glanced at him and paid him no heed.
The next second, he lifted Izuna onto his back.
Izuna froze for a moment.
"Brother?"
Madara's voice softened considerably.
"You drank too much."
Izuna lay against Madara's back in silence for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Mm."
Madara carried him upstairs.
The light in the hall fell on the two brothers, with less sharpness and more quiet.
Madara's steps were steady.
He could feel Izuna breathing beside his ear.
The warmth of someone alive.
A real weight.
Not an illusion.
Not a dream.
He had once thought he would never carry his younger brother on his back again.
And that he would never hear Izuna call him brother again.
But now, in this strange tavern, he had those things again.
The anger in Madara's heart slowly faded somewhat.
He had to admit it.
Even if Zhang Yu scolded them, docked their pay, and ordered them around like employees,
it was also Zhang Yu who had brought Izuna back to his side.
Who had let him eat and drink with his younger brother after death, sitting together at the same table.
That kind of ordinary life would have seemed almost unreal in its extravagance to the Madara Uchiha of the past.
Madara carried Izuna upstairs, his voice very soft.
"Get some sleep."
"I'm here."
Izuna lay on his back and murmured a quiet reply.
Hashirama stood in the hall watching the scene, his face full of envy.
He turned to look at Tobirama.
Tobirama had already picked up a broom and was cleaning up the empty bottles on the floor, his face expressionless.
Hashirama's eyes darted around. Suddenly, he clutched his forehead and swayed.
"Oh dear..."
Tobirama looked up at him.
Hashirama leaned to one side, his voice weak.
"Tobirama, it looks like your big brother drank too much too."
Tobirama looked at him coldly.
Hashirama swayed again.
"I might need someone to hold me up."
Tobirama shoved the broom into his hands.
"Hold on to that."
"And sweep the floor while you're at it."
A month passed quietly.
The Undead Tavern was fully up and running.
During the day, Hashirama greeted customers, his smile warmer than anyone else's.
Madara kept order. With him sitting beside the bar, customers didn't dare drink on credit.
Izuna took charge of the kitchen, growing more adept at making snacks, grilled meat, and dishes to go with drinks.
Tobirama handled the accounts, schedules, inventory, and rules. Even Zhang Yu, the boss, felt like a hands-off owner.
As for Zhang Yu himself,
he spent most of his days at the tavern.
He checked the accounts, had a drink, kept an eye on the system, and made sure two legendary employees didn't sneak into the liquor cellar to steal vodka again.
Over the past month, business at the tavern had grown increasingly stable.
But another matter had remained on Zhang Yu's mind.
The Land of Waves.
Zabuza Momochi.
Haku.
Once the pre-signing agreement for posthumous recruitment had become available, those two had been the key targets Zhang Yu had set his sights on.
One was the Demon of the Hidden Mist; the other was a boy with the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
Combat strength, potential, rarity-they had enough of all three.
The time was about right now.
It was time to make a move.
Early that morning, before the tavern had officially opened, Zhang Yu called Hashirama and Madara to the hall.
Two documents lay on the table.
Tobirama sat behind the counter keeping the accounts, while Izuna prepared breakfast in the kitchen. Both looked over.
Hashirama looked at the documents on the table and asked curiously, "Boss, what are these?"
Zhang Yu pushed the two documents forward.
"Recruitment documents."
Madara looked up.
"Who are the targets?"
"The Land of Waves."
Zhang Yu's tone was matter-of-fact.
"Zabuza Momochi and Haku."
Hashirama's expression grew more serious.
"Are they the two people you mentioned before?"
"Yes."
Zhang Yu nodded.
"Your main purpose on this trip isn't to fight."
"The priority is to find them and complete the pre-signing for post-death recruitment."
"Talk to them if you can. Don't start fighting right away."