On the road back to Konoha.
Mizuna was calculating the money earned from selling the Tailed Beasts.
"One times one equals one... one times two equals two... March 8th is Women's Day... May 1st is Labor Day..."
Tobirama, sweating beside him, asked:
"Who taught you math?"
Mizuna turned and smiled.
"Do you even need to ask? You did!"
"Did I teach you that?" Tobirama's face darkened.
"You said ninjas need to innovate! I invented my own algorithm. Impressive, right?"
Tobirama's fist clenched.
"You little brat!"
Madara shielded Mizuna behind him and shouted at Tobirama:
"He's just a child! Tobirama! You're being too petty!"
Hearing this, Tobirama got angry. So Madara is using my own words from the meeting to annoy me!
"Naturally Evil Uchiha Madara! Give Mizuna back! He'll only learn bad things following you! I bet he learned that math from you too!"
Madara's face darkened.
"Tobirama Senju! Are you shameless?!"
"Come on then! Do I look scared of you? Come on!"
The two looked ready to fight. Hashirama hung his head dejectedly on the side.
I wanted to promote peace... but relationships are getting worse...
Seeing this wasn't going anywhere, Mizuna asked what to do with the remaining Tailed Beast (Seven-Tails).
Suddenly, a ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village, who had been hiding for a long time, leaped out.
"Lord Hokage and esteemed Konoha ninjas! Please, sell it back to our Hidden Waterfall Village! This is the foundation of our survival!"
Tobirama was confused at first, then remembered that the Seven-Tails did belong to some small village originally, before his brother and the evil Uchiha Madara forcibly dragged it away.
So Tobirama asked:
"How much are you willing to pay?"
The Waterfall ninja didn't speak but held up nine fingers.
"Ninety million Ryo?"
The Waterfall ninja shook his head.
"Nine million Ryo?"
The Waterfall ninja shook his head again.
Tobirama's face darkened.
"You plan to buy our Tailed Beast for 900,000 Ryo?"
The Waterfall ninja shook his head yet again.
"Are you dreaming?! For that little money?" Tobirama roared.
Seeing Tobirama angry, the Waterfall ninja stopped playing mute.
"Um... My Lord... actually it's 999,099 Ryo..."
Tobirama's face turned red with rage.
"You couldn't scrape together one million?! You had to save that one Ryo?! Did you buy candy on the way?!" Tobirama shouted.
The Waterfall ninja looked embarrassed.
"I'm sorry... My Lord... this is all we could gather. Not a single Ryo more..."
Tobirama fell silent.
The Waterfall ninja looked at Tobirama with teary eyes.
"We actually came with nine people, but I'm the only one left after the journey. To gather this money... everyone in the village... stopped eating. We skipped meals... the children are starving, skin and bones... Everything we did was to exchange for our Tailed Beast! To survive! If... if I fail this time... I won't have the face to return! Wuwuwu!"
The ninja started slapping his own face while crying.
Hashirama, hearing that children were starving to skin and bones, couldn't bear it.
"Tobi-rama... if there's no other way... just sell it to them cheap..." Hashirama said softly.
Madara said nothing. He saw through the act immediately. If it were him, he would have punched the guy to death already.
Mizuna, however, was delighted.
Hidden Waterfall? Kakuzu? That stingy bastard Kakuzu? Really? If I can catch him and 'train' him into one of us...
Mizuna licked the corner of his mouth like a pervert.
Tobirama, looking at the ninja, found him more and more unpleasant. He was about to pull out his sword.
At this moment, Mizuna spoke up.
"It's just a Tailed Beast~ Fine! 900,000-something, right? Sold! But I have a condition!"
Tobirama quickly tugged at Mizuna's clothes.
"Mizuna! That's a Tailed Beast! It's a strategic resource!"
Mizuna smiled.
"Don't worry, Mid! We can trade it for a talent! Trust me!"
Tobirama sighed and stepped back.
The Waterfall ninja was overjoyed and started kowtowing.
"Thank you, My Lords! Thank you, Lord Hokage!"
Mizuna raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't celebrate too early. I said there is a condition!"
The Waterfall ninja froze, then smiled obsequiously.
"Th... This young lord, what is your condition?"
Mizuna held up one finger.
"You can have the Tailed Beast. But I need a ninja named Kakuzu from your village to bring the money personally and take the beast back."
The Waterfall ninja hesitated. Mizuna pressed him:
"Hesitation means you aren't sincere! Konoha doesn't do business like that!"
The Waterfall ninja quickly looked up.
"Okay! No problem!"
At this time, Hashirama asked curiously:
"How did your village gather such a precise amount of money?"
The Waterfall ninja paused, thought for a moment, and replied:
"It was gathered by a Jonin named Kakuzu!"
Hashirama laughed.
"Haha! Is it this Kakuzu? To gather such a precise number, he must be a genius! I really want to meet him!"
The Waterfall ninja laughed awkwardly and handed the scroll on his back to Tobirama.
After Tobirama received the money, he told the ninja to leave and said they could pick up the beast later.
The Waterfall ninja bowed several times, turned around, and ran into the forest.
After he left, Madara walked up to Mizuna.
"That guy was obviously lying. There are people supporting him in the forest."
Tobirama crossed his arms.
"He was lying from the start. Giving the Tailed Beast to such people... Mizuna, do you think it's wise? Besides, can't you control Chakra? We could have kept the Tailed Beast."
Mizuna smiled.
"I can only control non-elemental Chakra. I can't control Tailed Beast Chakra. As for the Tailed Beast... let's see if Kakuzu can leave once he gets here~"
Hashirama was confused by their conversation. Although he sensed people in the forest, he didn't realize the other side was acting.
The group continued walking toward Konoha.
---
Perspective Shift: The Waterfall Ninja.
He ran a long distance. After confirming Hashirama's group was far away, he signaled his surroundings. Several ninjas emerged from hiding.
"How was it? Did the plan work?"
The ninja from before replied:
"Success! Just as Lord Kakuzu said! Konoha people have too much sympathy! They are so easy to trick!"
Another ninja chimed in:
"That's right! As expected of Lord Kakuzu! To think of such a way to save money!"
The Waterfall Village didn't have much money, but 1,000,000 Ryo wouldn't cause a famine. Obviously, this was all directed by Kakuzu, the stingiest man in the Ninja World.
At this moment, a captain-looking ninja spoke up.
"Alright, since the plan succeeded, let's go back! It's all because of those Konoha bastards! If they hadn't stolen our Seven-Tails, we wouldn't have to do this! When we get back, we must find a way to teach them a lesson!"
The surrounding ninjas agreed.
"That's right! Teach Konoha a lesson!"
"I don't think Hashirama Senju is that strong. I didn't feel much pressure from him just now."
"Let's report back and then teach Konoha a lesson!"
"Hearing you say that... why don't we just assassinate the First Hokage?"
A ninja who looked "wise" suggested.
Everyone nodded.
"Exactly! We need to make Konoha suffer!"
"But who should we send?"
They all thought of a certain masked figure with red eyes and green pupils.
A Waterfall ninja suddenly said:
"Let's send Lord Kakuzu! He is so strong! It will definitely be no problem!"
Others agreed.
"Yes! And Lord Kakuzu has the secret technique 'Earth Grudge Fear'. He should easily be able to kill the First Hokage!"
"Right! Let's hurry back and tell Lord Kakuzu this intel! I heard the First Hokage's head has a huge bounty!"
The group of Waterfall ninjas returned to their village happily.
In the shadows nearby, a pair of yellow eyes opened.
"Kakuzu? Earth Grudge Fear? Can easily kill the reincarnation of Asura? Then killing Uzumaki Mizuna... shouldn't be a problem either! Interesting! Uzumaki Mizuna! Your time has come!"
With that, the black blob (Black Zetsu) sank into the ground and disappeared.
---
Back to Mizuna's Group.
They arrived on the streets of Konoha.
"Aiyaya! Finally back in Konoha! GOOD AFTERNOON! MY BELOVED KONOHA!" Hashirama shouted like a ghost.
A villager sleeping upstairs was woken up by Hashirama's screaming. having worked the night shift yesterday, his temper flared.
He grabbed a basin of water and threw it out the window. It landed perfectly on Hashirama's head. Splash.
"It's the middle of the afternoon! What are you screaming for?! You dumbass!"
Everyone looked at Hashirama. He maintained the posture of being hit, motionless. No one could see his expression.
Suddenly, Hashirama looked up and laughed.
"Hahahaha! Don't misunderstand! That person must not have heard my voice clearly! I am the Hokage! How could a villager not recognize me? Hahaha!"
Everyone looked at Hashirama awkwardly.
Suddenly, another basin of water poured down. It was the same villager.
"Are you sick?! I told you not to scream! I have the night shift tonight! I don't care if you're the Hokage or the Mizukage! Shut up!"
Everyone: "......"
Hashirama: ??(?д?)??
......