After the two of them shouted, the air suddenly fell quiet for a moment.
Naruto and Sasuke both froze.
Sakura blinked.
Sweat began to bead on Kakashi's forehead.
Once Hashirama recovered, he scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "That just now... slipped out."
Madara snorted.
"Don't compare me to those two brats."
Hashirama immediately took offense.
"Madara, that's not fair."
"The way they argue really is a little like us when we were kids."
Madara said coldly, "I wasn't that stupid as a child."
Hashirama's eyes widened.
"Who are you calling stupid?"
Madara looked at him.
"Whoever answers."
Hashirama pointed at Madara on the spot. "Madara, you're as unreasonable as ever!"
Madara folded his arms.
"You're as noisy as ever."
Hashirama: "How am I noisy?"
Madara: "You're being noisy right now."
Hashirama: "I'm just being reasonable!"
Madara: "Your reasoning is worthless."
Hashirama: "Madara!"
Madara: "Hashirama!"
The longer they argued, the closer they edged toward each other.
Everyone around them was dumbfounded.
Naruto looked at Hashirama, then at Sasuke, and muttered, "Why are those two like this too?"
Sasuke's expression darkened further.
Sakura's mouth twitched.
Tazuna had been about to urge them along, but after seeing this, he didn't dare speak.
Kakashi's scalp tingled.
When other people argued, they might have a fight at worst.
If these two really fought, forget the mission-even Konoha's entrance might be gone.
He hurried forward, his tone exceedingly careful.
"You two."
"It's about time for the mission."
"How about... we set off first?"
Hashirama glanced at Kakashi, and his imposing manner immediately eased.
"Right, the mission comes first."
Madara snorted but didn't continue the argument.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.
But the next second, Madara's gaze fell on him.
More precisely, it fell on his left eye, hidden beneath his Forehead Protector.
Kakashi's body stiffened slightly.
In that instant, he felt as if he had been seen through completely.
Madara narrowed his eyes.
The Sharingan.
And the fluctuations of its ocular power felt vaguely familiar to him.
It wasn't Kakashi's own.
An eye of the Uchiha Clan had ended up with a descendant of the Hatake Clan.
Zhang Yu had mentioned a few things before.
Obito.
Kakashi.
Kannabi Bridge.
The thoughts flashed through Madara's mind, but he didn't speak up then and there.
Now wasn't the time.
Kakashi, however, already felt a chill down his back.
He knew Madara had noticed.
But Madara didn't ask.
That only made it more nerve-racking.
Tazuna was growing a little impatient as he waited nearby, but he didn't dare show it too openly and could only cough.
"Now that everyone's here, let's hurry and set off."
"I'm in a hurry to get back to the Land of Waves."
Madara's gaze finally shifted to Tazuna.
Just one look.
Tazuna's expression changed.
Those weren't the eyes of an ordinary ninja.
Cold.
Heavy.
Like a mountain bearing down on him.
Madara walked up to Tazuna, one step at a time.
"You're the client?"
Tazuna swallowed.
"Y-yes, that's me."
Madara looked down at him.
"You concealed the mission's true difficulty to save money."
"Disguised a high-risk escort mission as an ordinary C-rank."
"Made a few newly graduated brats risk their lives with you."
"You're good at calculating costs."
Tazuna's face instantly turned deathly pale.
Naruto froze.
"What high-risk mission?"
Sakura looked at Tazuna too.
"He concealed the difficulty?"
Sasuke frowned.
Kakashi was silent.
He had actually already noticed that something was off about the mission.
But now that Madara had exposed it outright, there was no glossing over it.
Tazuna opened his mouth to protest.
But when he met Madara's eyes, the words caught in his throat.
That pressure was simply more than an ordinary person could bear.
Tazuna felt a tightness in his chest and a chill in his hands and feet. He could barely keep hold of his cane.
It wasn't as if he had never seen vicious people before.
Gato's thugs and samurai were each more ruthless than the last.
But those people's viciousness lay in frightening others with blades.
The man before him was different.
He only had to stand there, and it was as if he could decide whether others lived or died at any moment.
Cold sweat broke out on Tazuna's forehead.
"N-no..."
His voice trembled.
"I didn't have a choice..."
Madara sneered.
"You had no choice, so you deceived others?"
"Your life matters, but other people's lives don't?"
Tazuna shuddered and couldn't say another word.
The excitement vanished from Naruto's face too.
He looked at Tazuna, his expression complicated.
Sakura bit her lip.
Sasuke snorted but said nothing.
Kakashi sighed softly.
Hashirama walked over then and placed a hand on Madara's shoulder.
"Madara."
"That's enough."
Madara didn't turn around.
Hashirama looked at Tazuna, his tone much gentler than Madara's.
"Sir, if you're in trouble, you can tell us."
"But the difficulty of a mission concerns the lives of the people carrying it out."
"Especially when these children are still young."
"Don't hide it this way again."
Tazuna lowered his head, his voice strained.
"I... understand."
Hashirama looked at Madara again.
"Let's get going."
"Since the boss sent us, let's get the job done."
"If there really are enemies, we'll deal with them on the way."
Madara was silent for a moment, then finally suppressed the disdain in his heart.
"If you hide anything else, I won't be as easygoing as Hashirama."
Tazuna hurriedly nodded, not daring to argue.
Seeing that the situation had finally settled down, Kakashi quickly got the team organized.
"All right."
"Now that everything's clear, let's set off as planned."
Naruto still wanted to ask questions, but when he saw Kakashi's expression, he could only keep quiet for the time being.
Sasuke secured his ninja tool pouch.
Sakura checked the belongings he had with him.
Tazuna gripped his cane tightly, his face still a little pale.
Hashirama took his place at one side of the group, a smile returning to his face.
Madara walked on the other side, arms folded and gaze cold.
Looking at this utterly absurd group, Kakashi sighed inwardly once more.
Team 7's first official mission outside the village.
Accompanied by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
If this went into the mission report, the Hokage's office would probably fall silent for quite a while.
But things had come to this.
He could only steel himself and lead the team.
Once everyone had gathered their gear, they set out together along the main road from Konoha's entrance, heading for the Land of Waves.
The tavern was quiet for a change.
Zhang Yu sat behind the bar with a ledger open before him and a glass of ice water at his side, completely at ease.
After the past month, the Undead Tavern no longer needed him to oversee every little thing.
Welcoming guests at the door, seating them, taking orders and collecting payment, serving food from the kitchen, recording inventory-everything had an established procedure.
Tobirama Senju sat on the other side of the bar with a thick stack of ledgers in front of him.
He checked the previous day's drink consumption while recording the current inventory, the sound of his pen on paper steady and quick.
How many bottles of beer each person had drunk, how many plates of snacks each had ordered, which table still owed them a "see you next time"-Tobirama remembered it all clearly.
Zhang Yu glanced over and felt pleased.
Now that was professionalism.
With the Second Hokage keeping the books, it would be hard for him, the boss, to lose money even if he tried.