"Lord Madara, I sincerely advise you to hold off on visiting your clan and that young descendant of yours for now..."
Black Zetsu quickly urged.
"Why?"
Lord Madara snorted coldly.
Why?
Because you might get punched to death by your own descendant!
Black Zetsu had observed Madara for decades and considered himself one of the few who truly understood him.
He naturally knew Madara's personality well.
Madara was indeed strong and exceptional.
Yet he possessed a gentle, sensitive nature, combined with pride and self-confidence...
Especially when facing his younger clansmen, he probably wouldn't start off giving his all.
After all, what adult gets truly angry when dealing with a kid?
Therefore, should he rashly confront that 'annoying, despicable, shameless' brat, Shimoku Uchiha...
He might underestimate his opponent and become overly confident.
Thus making one mistake and being instantly defeated!
I mean, can you really expect a teenage brat to play fair and stick to rules?
Besides, Madara currently had a flesh-and-blood body,
not an Impure World body.
One punch could literally kill him!
Having waited over a thousand years, Black Zetsu had placed all hopes of reviving his mother Kaguya on Uchiha Madara.
He certainly didn't want to throw everything away because of some unnecessary risk...
"Lord Madara, due to Nagato's failure, the entire Akatsuki organization is now on the verge of collapse."
"I believe we should reorganize first, to prepare for capturing Tailed Beasts in the future!"
What Black Zetsu said made a lot of sense.
Faced with such a severe setback, if immediate consolidation didn't occur, the Akatsuki would likely disintegrate completely.
However, Black Zetsu's sudden advice proved ineffective.
Instead, it only fueled Madara's displeasure.
"Are you telling me how to do things?"
Lord Madara snorted coldly.
A violent oppressive aura surged forth, forcing Black Zetsu to tremble and kneel submissively on the ground.
Pretending to submit, he replied, "No way, no way!"
Madara: "Don't forget who created you! Recognize your place."
Black Zetsu: "Never forgotten..."
Madara nodded, letting it slide.
With his proud character, how could he possibly allow a mere Black Zetsu to lecture him?
Nevertheless, Black Zetsu wasn't foolish either.
Immediately, he changed tactics and proposed again, this time much more humbly.
"Lord Madara! Right now the Nine-Tails resides within Konoha Village. What if we first capture the Nine-Tails, then ride the Tailed Beast to meet your young descendant? Wouldn't that make a grander impression?"
"And besides, you could also take this opportunity to visit Lord Hashirama Senju first. After all, none of us know how much longer that Hashirama may remain in this world..."
This humble suggestion noticeably pleased Madara far more.
At the mention of Hashirama, Madara felt a wave of nostalgia as well.
Madara actually felt rather nostalgic, eager even to see his old friend sooner than later.
"Not bad at all! I could pay Hashirama a visit first and then bring the Nine-Tails along afterward—no problem."
Madara murmured thoughtfully, slightly moved.
As an ancient ancestor returning to meet his descendants,
appearing mounted atop a Nine-Tails would surely be quite impressive.
Lord Madara didn't really care about his reputation—it was just that he refused to let some young upstarts outshine him.
After all, every living person has a little bit of competitiveness in them, right?
Especially when they were once known as the "Two Great Rivals" who had fought each other for decades.
"Let's go. It's been so many years. I'll visit [Konoha] again!"
"Master, as you command."
Black Zetsu quickly bowed, voice dripping with flattery.
But deep down, he was secretly delighted.
In his opinion, Madara's perfect resurrection combined with possession of the [Rinnegan] meant he was definitely no weaker than in his prime.
As for Hashirama Senju, he'd just fought a huge battle—and was brought back through an incomplete forbidden technique. His power must've dropped significantly.
This time around, Madara would most likely defeat Hashirama and seize the Nine-Tails.
Then, bolstered by both the Nine-Tails' power and the [Rinnegan], even that brat Shimoku Uchiha wouldn't stand a chance against Madara.
Once those two were dealt with, his plan to save their mother could finally move forward...
Wouldn't that be wonderful?
"Oh right, where's Obito?"
"Obito should be on his way back too..."
Black Zetsu wasn't entirely sure.
Busy controlling Nagato and reviving Lord Madara, he hadn't paid much attention to Obito's whereabouts.
Anyway, that kid was merely a backup plan left behind by him and Madara.
"Is [Maki White Zetsu] still around?"
"Yes."
"Leave him here. Tell that brat Obito to keep recruiting and rebuild the [Akatsuki] organization..."
Madara gave another order.
Although he was eager to meet Hashirama again, he wasn't foolish.
At present, none of the Tailed Beasts had yet been captured. Maintaining the existence of the Akatsuki organization definitely still had its uses.
And it could also let Obito serve some purpose while he still could. Why not take advantage of it?
"Understood!"
Black Zetsu accepted the order joyfully, dove into the ground, and quickly went to inform [Maki White Zetsu].
As for Lord Madara himself, he swiftly rushed out of the base.
After briefly identifying the direction, he headed straight toward [Konoha Village].
"[Hashirama!] Wait for me—I'm coming!"
"Hahaha—"
Meanwhile,
Outside Homura Hidden Village, Uchiha Long, responsible for the Shipping Company's trade operations,
had finally returned to the village at the head of a weary caravan.
"Young Master, I'm back!"
"Uncle Long!"
Shimoku's face lit up with excitement as he eagerly ran forward to greet him.
To anyone else watching, it would look like she was greeting her groom at the altar!
"Young Master, you've really shot up in height again! And even handsomer than before!"
Uncle Long exclaimed emotionally, eyes filled with pride.
Just like Uncle Tō, he had watched Shimoku grow up from a child, so their bond was especially deep.
He naturally noticed the changes in Shimoku immediately.
"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Long."
"Ah, we encountered a storm along the way, which delayed our schedule. Otherwise, we would've returned much earlier."
Uncle Long continued, sighing regretfully.
Compared to the stormy, dangerous seas we travel through, our village feels so calm and safe.
However, for the sake of the village, and for the future of the Uchiha clan,
some suffering just has to be endured!
Moreover, compared to the pressure and threats Young Master and the others faced, managing a company was already quite easy...
"Not important, not important."
"Glad you're back safe."
"Hurry up, tell me how much we made this time!"
Shimoku asked eagerly, never one for pleasantries or fake courtesy.
After all, he only cared about one thing—how much money they brought back.
Better to just give the clan half a month's bonus later instead of wasting time with useless small talk now!
"This is the company's profit over the past three months—81.6 million taels total. Necessary company expenses have already been set aside, leaving 36.4 million taels in surplus, which I've brought back."
"Additionally, we've sold nearly two-fifths of the rare jewels and valuable antiques stored in the Company Underground Vault. Total profit was ... million taels."
"As requested by Young Master, all profits mentioned above have been exchanged into physical silver taels, not settled using the standard currency notes of the Land of Water."
"Therefore, there was a slight discount during exchange."
"On top of that, we also purchased nearly ten million taels worth of essential supplies for the village."
"In total, final profit came out to: ... million taels!"
"Due to limited space scrolls available, the remaining smaller amount of silver was sealed into iron chests and transported back accordingly."
Master Long rattled off his report with practiced precision.
Obviously, he'd spent the whole trip back memorizing every number by heart...
Of course, for Shimoku, none of those side details mattered at all.
What he truly cared about was the final cash profit alone.
So when he heard they actually earned close to one hundred and forty million taels this time—
His face immediately lit up, bursting with joy.
We did it, we did it!
Coins galore!
I'm rolling in dough again!
Oh tricky Lady Luck...
Just wait. I'll come conquer you real soon—with coins!
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