Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

"The last one, just one more! A blue cat that cat lovers adore, gentle, obedient, and affectionate, with a sweet voice and soft body—you can pet it all you want~"

Holding up the last remaining Two-Tails card, Uchiha Gin enthusiastically shouted his encouragement.

"."

But no matter how eloquently he boasted, he couldn't make up for the two-tailed beast's congenital defects.

It has few tails and no bloodline.

"Weak and without any bloodline limit, who would buy it?"

Holding the three Tailed Beast cards, Shihe scoffed at what Uchiha Gin had said.

"Sigh~"

Uchiha Gin sighed inwardly. He had predicted before that the Two-Tails wouldn't sell very well. After all, these Kage weren't stupid; when buying tailed beasts, they would definitely consider practicality first.

As for its visual appeal, it's negligible. Not every tailed beast is like the Great Fox, possessing both strength and good looks.

Looks like I'll really have to lay down my cards.

Just as Uchiha Gin was feeling regretful, he caught sight of Retsuto, whose eyes were bloodshot. Looking at the First Kazekage who hadn't spoken a word the entire time, Gin's eyes darted around, and he spoke up.

"Lord Kazekage, your One-Tail is also a cat. Why don't you take the Two-Tail back and breed them? Maybe they can have a litter, and then you'll make a fortune!"

"Forehead"

He thought the First Kazekage would be furious at his teasing, but to his surprise, the guy was actually seriously considering the possibility of breeding.

Judging from his expression, he was genuinely tempted.

One tail costs 10 billion, and if they breed, there would be at least seven or eight offspring. Wouldn't Sunagakure be on the verge of taking off?

Just as Retsudou was lost in his golden fantasy, Shamon behind him clearly saw the mockery in Uchiha Gin's eyes and immediately leaned over, quietly breaking the First Kazekage's beautiful dream.

"Lord Kazekage, the One-Tailed Beast is a tanuki!"

"Ahem. How could I not know?"

Almost blinded by greed, Lie Dou coughed lightly twice, feigning composure, and returned with a normal expression. He glanced at the detestable Uchiha Gin and coldly replied,

"No need, Shukaku from Sunagakure is the strongest!"

"Okay, okay~"

Still being stubborn, no wonder he grew up chewing sand.

Even if the Two-Tails doesn't sell well, the meeting process can't be delayed. With some regret, Gin Uchiha put the Tailed Beast Cards back into his pocket, bent down, and said to Hashirama Senju...

"Hashirama, aren't you going to say something?"

"what?"

At this moment, Hashirama Senju's eyes were full of golden light. He had completely forgotten the speech he had prepared about his desire for peace. After hearing Gin Uchiha's reminder, he raised his head blankly and babbled for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

"Since the Hokage has nothing more to say, how about we go and inspect the goods?"

The First Raikage had long been fascinated by the Gyuki described on the Tailed Beast Card, wishing he could ride on its head the very next moment.

"That's right, that's right."

Bai Lian and Shi He, these two old rivals, echoed each other's sentiments. After saying that, they gave each other a provocative look, waiting to go back and clash with the tailed beasts.

Throughout the entire conference, Konoha emerged as the biggest winner, reaping enormous profits, while the other countries each gained something from the experience.

Besides Sunagakure Village~

"Wait a minute!"

Retsuto felt like he was just there to listen in. His initial proposal was rejected, and he could only watch enviously as Konoha made money from the sacks. He was so jealous he almost lost his teeth. He had originally planned to try to get some benefits when the peace treaty was signed, but now that Senju Hashirama had made his money, he was going to adjourn the meeting and shut down the power.

"Lord Fengying, is there anything else?"

The impatient First Raikage, his dark face showing a hint of displeasure, was truly a case of being poor and having more trouble than he was worth.

"Everyone else has reaped considerable benefits, while my Sunagakure village has become nothing more than a spectator. Isn't that a bit unfair?"

Lie Dou still had that long face, looking like everyone owed him a fortune.

"No, just because you can't afford it doesn't mean we can't buy it?"

The outspoken First Mizukage showed him no mercy whatsoever, practically wearing his disdain on his face. His contemptuous expression made Retsuto's teeth itch with rage.

"In that case, Sunagakure will not sign this peace treaty."

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who are wearing shoes. You look down on our Sunagakure Village, huh? Well then none of us will have an easy time.

"Peace agreement? I almost forgot about that."

The First Tsuchikage, who was originally about to criticize, slapped his forehead upon hearing this. He had long forgotten about the matter because he was attracted by the powerful abilities of the Tailed Beasts. Touching the three Tailed Beast cards he carried, Ishigawa's lips curled up slightly involuntarily.

"Our Iwagakure village also feels that signing a peace agreement shouldn't be rushed; perhaps we should wait a year or two before making a decision."

Three against two, the advantage is on my side. Although the Seven-Tails was purchased on behalf of Takigakure, as close allies, borrowing it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"snort!"

As old enemies, Bai Lian could easily see through Shi He's little scheme. She immediately snorted and glared at him fearlessly with her wise, eight-character eyes.

"Tsk, gentlemen, can't we let the focus of this meeting get sidetracked?"

Having no interest in getting involved in the war, the First Raikage stood up, frowned, and asked, his imposing 1.9-meter height exuding an air of authority, his tiger-like eyes sweeping over the Kage present.

"I think Lord Raikage is right!"

Hashirama Senju, who also saw that the peace agreement was about to fall through, excitedly echoed the sentiment, while secretly blaming himself for forgetting his original intention because of these material things.

Before the meeting even ended, a new disagreement arose. Uchiha Gin had just finished calculating his cut of the profits, then looked up, showing no sign of anxiety. Instead, he patted Senju Hashirama's shoulder reassuringly, signaling him not to panic.

"I believe everyone here is a peace-loving person. We can discuss the peace agreement after we've inspected the goods."

After Uchiha Gin said that, the other knights stopped talking and got up to see the tailed beasts.

A short while later, a group led by Hashirama Senju headed towards the forest outside Konoha where the tailed beasts were imprisoned.

On the way, Uchiha Gin deliberately slowed down and subtly gave the First Raikage a wink. Black Lao Da, who understood the signal, was puzzled, but he also deliberately slowed down and gradually fell behind the group.

"Brother A-Yin, what brings you here?"

The First Raikage, who was standing beside Uchiha Gin, asked with some confusion,

"Hey bro, need some money?"

Seeing that everyone was hurrying on their way and no one was paying attention to him, the mysterious Uchiha Gin secretly pulled open his shirt, revealing a golden Two-Tails card.

"Ah, thank you for your kindness, Brother Gin, but the Eight-Tails is enough for Kumogakure."

Unexpectedly, it was a scalper. The First Raikage was moved but refused, waving his hands repeatedly. He really didn't want to waste any more money.

"Tsk, Brother Ai, since we're so destined to meet, I'll give you a sneak peek."

Seeing that the other party wasn't taking the bait, Uchiha Gin then adopted a mysterious expression, looked around, and leaned closer to say...

"The power of the Tailed Beasts isn't so easy to control. Otherwise, why would Konoha distribute them to other ninja villages? Wouldn't it be better for us to keep them and sweep across the four countries?"

"I would like to hear the details."

Previously overwhelmed by the Eight-Tails' domineering aura, the First Raikage was only focused on being overjoyed and did not think about how to control the tailed beast.

"I'll give you a 2% discount on this two-tailed one, personally. See?"

"I bought it, just to support my brother's business."

Gritting his teeth and weighing the pros and cons, the First Raikage reluctantly acquired the last Tailed Beast Card. Two hundred billion in exchange for information on controlling the Tailed Beasts wasn't a bad deal.

"He truly is my good brother~"

With the deal finalized, Uchiha Gin smiled and took a palm-sized rectangular box from his backpack, handing it to the First Raikage.

"What is this?"

The item felt incredibly light in his hand. Looking at this mysterious artifact he had never seen before, the First Raikage frowned slightly.

"Shh~ Keep your voice down, this is a driver I worked so hard to make."

Uchiha Gin looked at the gift with a sigh. It was a tailed beast that he had studied all night to develop a driver for, but the conditions for its use were a bit harsh and it had a few minor side effects.

"Driver?"

After searching his memory for a long time, the First Raikage still couldn't find any information about the Driver. He then examined the box that Uchiha Gin had sent him.

This box, called the Driver, is entirely gray, with a single piece of transparent crystal embedded in the front. Card slots are deliberately left on the side, and its size is almost identical to the Tailed Beast Card that Uchiha Gin gave away before.

"Brother Ai, you may not know this, but the tailed beasts captured by the Hokage and his men have always been under the full management of our Uchiha clan. I happen to have a tiny bit of research talent, and through tireless research, I was able to develop this driver."

Actually, it's a driver that I rushed to make last night. I was worried that the tailed beasts wouldn't sell well, so I thought that including some freebies would help it sell.

"I never imagined Brother A-Yin was so talented! My apologies for not recognizing him sooner!"

The First Raikage was filled with awe. He never expected that the seemingly unreliable Uchiha Gin would actually be a scientific research talent. It was just a pity that he wasn't from their Hidden Cloud Village.

"I don't know how to use this drive?"

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words, the First Raikage put aside his initial disdain, looked at the driver emanating a mysterious aura in his hand, and asked in a low voice,

"first."

Just as Uchiha Gin was about to answer, a series of exclamations from ahead interrupted their conversation.

"Is that a tailed beast?"

It's much bigger than I imagined.

Unexpectedly, they arrived so quickly, so Uchiha Gin had to temporarily abandon his explanation.

"Brother Ai, I'll explain later. Let's look at the tailed beasts first~"

"Okay, I hope Brother Yin will do me the honor of joining us for a foot massage tonight~"

"Wrapped!"

A group of people spotted the enormous figure standing in the forest from afar. Even without looking at the chakra, the sheer size of the figure was enough to make them break out in a cold sweat.

Not far away, two figures, a considerable distance apart, were waiting for the group to arrive.

"Hassi Hot Mom, you're moving a little too slowly!"

With his arms crossed in classic pose and a displeased expression, Madara Uchiha said somewhat impatiently,

He actually left him alone with this white-haired guy. If it weren't for his mission, he would have torn off Tobirama Senju's tongue long ago.

"Here I am! I'll treat you to dinner tonight!"

With money in his pocket, Hashirama Senju spoke with much more confidence.

"Brother, how did the negotiations go? How much did you sell it for?"

Tobirama Senju, who also looked displeased, relaxed slightly upon seeing his elder brother arrive. He glanced for Gin Uchiha and saw him chatting happily with Blackie at the back of the group. His brows immediately furrowed.

Why is Uchiha Gin hanging out with those people from the Land of Lightning? Is he up to something?

"There's one left that hasn't been sold."

Following the principle of reporting bad news before good news, Hashirama Senju first delivered the bad news that the Two-Tails had not been sold.

"Hmph~ I knew it. That curly-haired guy is unreliable. What do you mean by Konoha's number one sales champion? That's laughable."

"Tobirama, shut up."

Unexpectedly, his younger brother reacted so strongly, and Hashirama Senju quickly spoke up to stop him.

"Can't we even complain if sales aren't good? Uchiha Gin's flying moves, if I were in his shoes, I'd sell every single tailed beast! Waaaaah!!"

"Keep your voice down, don't let Brother Yin hear you!"

With lightning-fast reflexes, Hashirama Senju covered Tobirama Senju's mouth before Gin Uchiha could even approach, and whispered in his ear,

"Waaaaah!!!" Tobirama Senju was still struggling. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't complain about the poor sales?

"Brother Yin sold just one of his tails for 10 billion! 10 billion, do you even know that?!"

"Waaah."

Like a duck being choked, Tobirama Senju's struggling voice abruptly stopped, his narrow red eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at Gin Uchiha.

Seeing that Tobirama Senju had stopped struggling, Hashirama Senju finally let go.

"Brother Hashirama, good news! I finally managed to sell the Two-Tails after much persuasion. However, I did give it a discount without my permission, so I hope you won't mind."

"Did it really sell?"

Hashirama Senju, who was originally thinking about how to deal with the Two-Tails, looked over with delight. As for the discount, he didn't care at all; as long as he could sell it, he would make a profit.

"We sold it at an 80% discount, so we lost a bit of money."

"Not a loss at all!"

"Big cousin, I'm a little short on cash lately."

Madara Uchiha, who had been listening intently to the whole story, sidled up to him with a smug grin. According to the previous agreement, Gin Uchiha had made at least hundreds of billions of yen from this deal. Now, he was drowning in debt, and people from the Land of Waves were coming to his door every day to collect the debt. They were practically moving into the Uchiha clan's territory, giving him a huge headache.

"hehe."

He hadn't settled the score with this kid for the information on the tailed beasts yet. If it weren't for the information bill that the cat brought him one night, he wouldn't have known that Uchiha Madara had done such a thing.

"This time, I lost."

With his mind already planning how to use this huge sum of money, Tobirama Senju, feeling quite uncomfortable, unusually yielded to Gin Uchiha.

Indeed, money can buy you anything.

"Is he Madara Uchiha? He doesn't seem as terrifying as the intelligence reports say."

The Konoha team was exchanging their findings, while the Kage admiring the Tailed Beasts were each lost in their own thoughts. The mysterious bandaged man, who hadn't spoken throughout the meeting, looked at the dejected Uchiha Madara and spoke in a very hoarse voice to the First Tsuchikage before him.

"No, don't be fooled by the ninja's appearance. Weren't you tricked by that flashy kid?"

With his deep gaze, Shihe also shifted his attention from the Tailed Beasts in the distance to the Konoha group, seemingly lost in thought.

"Lord Hokage, may we get a closer look at the Tailed Beasts?"

Some were impatient and asked Bai Lian, whose Land of Water was at war and desperately needed the support of super-powerful forces like the Tailed Beasts.

"Just you guys? You're barely passable."

Upon hearing Byakuren's words, Madara Uchiha shook off his earlier dejection, opened his crimson eyes, and swept them over the people from the other countries. After scrutinizing them, his disdain was palpable.

These guys are only about on par with the Tailed Beasts.

"Whom do you look down on?"

Retsudou, who reeked of sourness, was already in a bad mood. When Madara Uchiha mocked him like that, he immediately trembled with anger.

I didn't mean anything by it.

Madara Uchiha's gaze fell upon the somewhat sluggish Retsuto, the tomoe in his eyes slowly shifting. He gently shook his head and said with a very calm expression,

"Mada~ You've finally grown up!"

Hashirama Senju was worried that the argument would escalate and was ready to strike with his hand at any moment. However, Madara Uchiha's attitude was so peaceful that it surprised him and made him feel more relieved.

What's this called? This is what you call the potential to become a Hokage!

Upon hearing Madara Uchiha's words, Retsuto's expression softened somewhat, and he calmed down considerably. It seemed that the Uchiha clan wasn't as aloof as the intelligence reports suggested.

However, only Uchiha Gin felt that this matter was not simple. Given his cousin's temperament, how could he possibly act so calmly? There must be something fishy going on.

"I'm not targeting you personally, I'm saying everyone here is trash."

As expected, facing the people from the four great nations, Madara Uchiha spoke in a very calm tone, saying words that made their blood boil and their chakra flow backward.

"Arminos!"

"I work from 8 AM!"

"You have already chosen your own path to death!"

"Watch me refine it in an instant!"

"."

These Kage are all figures who stand at the pinnacle of their country's ninjas, and they are all quite old. When have they ever been insulted like this by a junior?

Their faces darkened, and their bodies began to radiate intense chakra, instantly creating a tense atmosphere.

"Ha, you think you can take it all?"

Madara Uchiha was always a straightforward person who spoke his mind without beating around the bush. These guys in front of him were just average; they were no match for him and Hasi Hot Mom.

Even without Hasi's hot mom taking action, he could have kept these guys here by himself, even if it took a little more time.

A deep blue chakra arose around him with a thought, and a cold and obscure power flowed out. The other kage from other countries sensed this captivating aura and immediately assumed a defensive posture.

"Big brother, aren't you going to stop that guy?"

Although Tobirama Senju really wanted to see Madara Uchiha suffer a setback, if he really left the shadows of other countries in Konoha, then the Land of Fire would inevitably fall into an endless war.

"No need, he'll handle it."

These photographers haven't paid yet!

"Thump!!!"

Just as the atmosphere was about to reach freezing point, a dark figure flashed behind Madara Uchiha, who had a domineering and arrogant look on his face, and delivered a sharp rap on the head.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Feeling the familiar touch on his head, Madara Uchiha's previous arrogance vanished, and he looked at the person behind him, clearly feeling embarrassed.

This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard, and they all craned their necks, trying to see who this person was who dared to launch a sneak attack on the eccentric Uchiha Madara.

"Phew~ I'll give you a little comfort. My little brother is a bit unruly, so please give me some face today and don't hold it against him. If you see him on the battlefield in the future, feel free to beat him up."

He blew on his fist, and Uchiha Gin, who had somehow appeared behind Uchiha Madara, offered a sincere apology to the wary Kage.

"Big Cousin!"

"You better behave yourself, they haven't paid yet!"

Pinning down Madara Uchiha's restless head, Gin Uchiha whispered an explanation in his ear.

"snort!"

Since Uchiha Gin had spoken, Uchiha Madara had no choice but to revert to his previous aloof demeanor, crossing his arms and pretending to be a master.

"You're Madara Uchiha's older brother?!"

Compared to the relatively unknown Uchiha Gin, Uchiha Madara's fame was known far and wide, and each of the Kage present had a copy of his information.

"The table, the table~"

"Oh, I knew it! How could one be straight and the other curly?"

After the turmoil subsided, Uchiha Gin took the initiative to act as a guide, leading the Kage to inspect the goods.

"The Two-Tails alone possesses such a massive amount of chakra. How exactly did Konoha manage to capture so many tailed beasts?"

The group that entered looked up at the large blue cat sleeping soundly on its nest, and subconsciously swallowed. Blackie, who had obtained the contract to sell himself to Two-Tailed Fox, couldn't help but ask a question.

"Does Konoha have something that attracts them?"

"Tailed beasts are not mindless wild animals. They have their own thoughts and can even speak human language. Because they have been hated for a long time, these guys are not close to humans. Our Hokage only managed to subdue these tailed beasts by relying on the restraint of his bloodline limit and then handed them over to our Uchiha clan to guard."

Uchiha Gin shook his head, offering a half-truthful explanation.

"Bloodline limit, that's something to be envied."

The First Tsuchikage smacked his lips, glancing subtly at the smiling Hashirama Senju behind him.

Due to the information blockade imposed after the establishment of Konoha, other countries knew very little about Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, only that it was a bloodline limit never seen before, and its specific power was unknown.

Why are they all sleeping?

The First Raikage looked at the sleeping cat and asked, quite puzzled,

"There's no other way. The Hokage is too busy with official duties and doesn't have the energy to suppress the Tailed Beasts with bloodline limits. As one of the founding clans of Konoha, our Uchiha clan certainly can't stand idly by. These Tailed Beasts have all been hypnotized by our Uchiha clan using the Sharingan, so they can sleep for a long time."

"You can easily hypnotize someone with the Sharingan? Can I return it?"

"Hey, ordinary Sharingan don't have this kind of power. Didn't you see my cousin stationed here? He's the only one in the entire Hidden Leaf Village who can suppress these Tailed Beasts with his eye power? And look at how weak he looks. This job must be very hard."

Hearing everyone's questions, Uchiha Gin used a pre-prepared excuse to deflect them, a reason so flawless that no one could find fault with it.

"Alright, everyone has seen the actual Tailed Beasts. It's time to pay and collect your goods, right?"

Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, Uchiha Gin pressed his advantage, urging them on.

"Damn it! How are we going to bring these tailed beasts back?"

Looking at the sleeping Three-Tails, Byakuren, though his face was full of drooling, still asked a question with perfect clarity.

We can't exactly let that old man carry this big tortoise back, can we?

"You'll have to pick up the goods yourselves. Konoha doesn't have that many people to deliver them to your door."

The following word count is not included in the charge:

Let your heart return to zero, and forgive yourself.

The work issue hasn't been resolved yet, but after two days of adjustment, the author has come to terms with it. If you lose a job, you can find another one; if you lose money, you can earn it back. Why waste time and energy internally and make yourself so anxious? It's really unnecessary.

Ultimately, I was just a scapegoat in this whole affair. I reported the mistake to management in a timely manner, but when it came to accountability, management turned a deaf ear and ended up making a nobody like me bear the consequences.

My family was very understanding of what I had gone through and didn't criticize me as I had imagined. Instead, they offered me a lot of comfort, which was the main reason why I was able to get out of the shadows so quickly.

However, I probably won't be able to leave in the short term. I'll have to wait for an announcement from above, a meeting with my supervisor, etc. Maybe things will change in the meantime, right?

I have read all the messages from my readers these past two days, and I am deeply touched. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your understanding and concern!

Updates will resume starting today. I can't guarantee anything else, but I absolutely will not abandon the story! (End of Chapter)