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

Beep. Beep. Beep.

In the quiet ward, only the ticking of the medical instruments could be heard. Senju Hashirama and the other two sat around Uchiha Gin, holding their breath and waiting for him to reveal the secrets that no one else knew.

Surrounded by admirers, Uchiha Gin didn't rush to explain to the curious group. Instead, he looked at the lukewarm horse urine in his hand, curled his lip in disgust, and then a cold white light emanated from his palm, instantly cooling it to a slushy state. Only then did he satisfiedly unscrew the cap and savor the iced tea, which tasted even better than the finest liquor.

Transparent!

"How do you know Ice Release?"

Sitting on the left, Tobirama Senju looked at Gin Uchiha in surprise at the ninjutsu he was performing. As a ninjutsu master, he naturally understood the principle of Ice Release, which was a bloodline unique to the ninja clans of the Land of Water. How could this curly-haired guy know it?

"I have a friend in the land of water."

Having just enjoyed a chilled iced tea, Uchiha Gin didn't hesitate and blurted out, since he did have a friend in the Land of Water who happened to be a member of the Snow Clan.

"Stop! We don't want to listen to your nonsense, let's get down to business."

Knowing Uchiha Gin's tendency to ramble, Tobirama Senju immediately stopped him from going off-topic by using zero frames, and suggested that he first share his speculation about the identity of the Black Fox Knight so that everyone could discuss it.

"Tsk~"

"Gurgle."

Interrupted, Uchiha Gin twitched the corners of his drooping mouth and gulped down a large mouthful of iced tea. His hearty drinking style made the three people below the stage swallow hard, and they couldn't help but feel a little appreciative.

"Phew~"

After letting out a long sigh, Uchiha Gin, seeing the three people's slightly eager gazes, subconsciously tightened the lid of his iced tea and put it behind him. Then, he sat up straight, his eyes becoming serious.

"It all started on the day the Uchiha clan was born."

The day the Uchiha clan was born?

The three, including Hashirama Senju, immediately exchanged bewildered glances. They had thought they had steered the conversation back to the original topic, but it seemed they had gone off-topic again.

"Big cousin, isn't this a bit too early?"

Madara Uchiha frowned and raised his hand.

"Is it early?"

Scratching his head helplessly, Uchiha Gin blinked his lifeless, dead-fish eyes in confusion.

"Get straight to the point. We're not interested in hearing about the history of the Uchiha clan."

Tobirama Senju crossed his arms, his eyes revealing undisguised disdain.

"Okay, okay, these days young people."

I finally managed to organize a fun little lecture for Yin San San, but this white-haired guy is still such a spoilsport. I wonder how well Jin and Yin are doing in prison, and whether they can beat this guy up.

"Younger cousin, do you still remember the family heirloom stone tablet?"

Correcting his expression, Uchiha Gin slowly opened his mouth. This question left Uchiha Madara, who was listening attentively, completely confused. Why did the topic of the stone tablet suddenly come up again?

"What happened to the stone tablet?"

The stone tablet at Namakawa Shrine has been around for many years. It is said to be an ancient artifact that existed in the early days of the Uchiha clan and has been revered as a sacred object by generations of clan members.

"I suspect that the Black Fox Knight who took over your body may very well have come from the stone tablet."

"ha?"

These words left the three people completely bewildered, especially Uchiha Madara, who couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried, what connection there was between the Black Fox Knight and the ancestral stone tablet.

"Don't rush to refute this; let's analyze this issue from a professional perspective."

Seeing that the three were about to speak, Uchiha Gin waved his hand first and began to offer his rambling analysis.

"Younger cousin, is it necessary to have special eyesight to decipher the ancestral stone tablet?"

"That's true."

Uchiha Dazzle nodded. He was a long-time user of the stone tablet and would glare at it from time to time.

"If that's the case, is that stone tablet tainted with your eye power?"

"Oh, this."

Upon being reminded of this, Madara Uchiha immediately put his mind to it. It would be a lie to say that he didn't. The ancestral stone tablet required extremely strong eye power to decipher each word. Even after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, he still found it quite difficult to decipher, and he would only stop when his eyes were sore and his eye power was exhausted.

"You mean..."

Tobirama Senju, who had been listening to their conversation, suddenly had a glint in his eyes. He looked up, a look of realization on his face.

"As expected of Konoha's second-best developer, he can barely keep up with my pace~"

"roll!"

"Hey~ You're not being modest at all. Since you know it, you can explain it."

Seeing Tobirama Senju's extremely sour face, Gin Uchiha took out the iced tea behind him and, with great effort, unscrewed the cap and drank it down.

"Tobirama, you already know the answer?"

Completely bewildered, Hashirama Senju shifted his gaze from the iced tea to his younger brother.

"Hmm, I think I understand now. That Black Fox Knight should be the chakra left on the stone tablet by a member of the Uchiha clan."

"That doesn't seem impossible."

Madara Uchiha's expression was quite interesting. Although he also found it unbelievable, upon closer examination, it seemed that this guess made some sense.

The ancestral stone tablet of the Uchiha clan has stood for over a thousand years. Countless powerful ancestors have meditated and sought enlightenment before it during that time.

It's not impossible that one or two ancestors with kaleidoscopes might have used a special ability similar to the modern transcribing seal to inscribe their own chakra onto a stone tablet.

"Madara, I remember you used to go to the shrine for seclusion all the time. Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

Hashirama Senju suddenly remembered that during the early days of Konoha's founding, Madara Uchiha would tell him every few days that he needed to go into seclusion to meditate. Could it be that he was tainted by something unclean during that time?

"Now that you mention it, it does seem to exist."

Madara Uchiha, head bowed and lost in memories, couldn't help but recall the feeling of being spied on by strangers when he meditated before the stone tablet after awakening the Eternal Eye.

But even after searching for a long time with his Sharingan activated, he couldn't find the peeping tom and assumed it was just a misperception that there were too many flaws in his back.

"Oh dear~ I told you long ago to smash that broken stone tablet and throw it into the sea, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened, you've been possessed by a ghost~"

Seeing that he had successfully smoothed things over regarding the Indra's Top, Uchiha Gin immediately put on a heartbroken expression, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly at Uchiha Madara.

Gin Uchiha felt absolutely no remorse for blaming the stone tablet.

"I'll throw that thing away when I get back, to avoid future problems!"

"Wait, if you don't want it, can I take it and study it?"

Having developed a keen interest in the ancestral stone tablet of the Uchiha clan, Tobirama Senju, in an unusually consultative tone, presented his request to Madara Uchiha.

"Hmph, I'd rather crush it up and soak it in water than give it to you."

Um, there's no need for that. I'm afraid you'll overeat.

"He was born evil, after all!"

Unexpectedly, his humble attitude was met with deep contempt. A red glint flashed in Tobirama Senju's eyes, and a classic quote was about to slip out when, fortunately, Hashirama Senju reacted quickly, elbowing his younger brother and stopping his impolite remark in its tracks.

"Alright, alright~ Tobirama, Mada's still recovering from his serious injuries, so you'd better keep quiet!"

"Madara, don't take it personally with Tobirama. He's been under a lot of work pressure lately, so it's normal for him to be a little temperamental."

"Hmm"

Clutching his aching ribs, Tobirama Senju gritted his teeth, his face covered in cold sweat. The sorrow in his heart far outweighed the physical pain. Looking at the three black-haired men chatting and laughing, he felt like an outsider.

"Well, since that's the case, I'll head back now. I have to go to work in a bit."

As Tobirama Senju looked out the window at the first light of dawn on the horizon, he let out a long sigh, stood up, and turned to leave.

Once the only element of the opposite color had left, Hashirama Senju looked at Madara Uchiha with a serious expression and asked,

"Madara, what are your plans now that you're back?"

"I would like to apologize to everyone in the family first."

Madara Uchiha's expression darkened upon hearing this. Back then, his resolute departure from the village had utterly disappointed the Uchiha clan members. Now that he had returned from his mission, he was determined to apologize to the elders and villagers of his clan.

"Yes, I will announce your return today to clear up all the misunderstandings people have had about you over the years."

Although the higher-ups have not yet officially confirmed the nature of Madara Uchiha's departure from Konoha, everyone tacitly acknowledges his defection.

What's strange is that the Konoha ninja clans continued to interact amicably with the Uchiha clan as always, as if Madara Uchiha's departure had no negative impact.

Heh, after all, someone has a stack of IOUs in hand, enough to feed these ninja clans all the way to Boruto.

"Ha~ It's getting late. You two buddies can chat for a while. I'm going back to catch up on some sleep. I'll bring Izuna to see you tomorrow."

After being tormented by these two guys all night, Uchiha Gin didn't get a wink of sleep. All he wanted to do was go home, wrap himself in the Banshee's Veil, and get a good night's sleep.

"Take care, Big Cousin/Silver Brother~"

The two, who had long wanted to have a private chat, were eager for Uchiha Gin, the third wheel, to leave as soon as possible.

the next day.

Uchiha Gin, who was dreaming of playing with a white-haired older woman, had just grabbed her small hand, ready to examine it properly, when he looked up and saw a pair of Byakugan eyes full of mockery.

The next moment, her fair and delicate hand quietly pressed against his lower abdomen.

A tremendous force entered the body.

"Bang!"

"puff!!!"

Uchiha Gin, who had been struck hard in the abdomen, felt as if his intestines were about to be squeezed out of his anus. Overwhelmed by the pain, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and shakily opened his eyes.

"Curly-haired baboon! Sleeping on lemon ice cream, wake up for dinner!"

Wearing a small apron, Senju Itama sat gracefully on her stomach, her black and white hair styled in twin ponytails, her puffed-up face full of displeasure.

"Get up quickly, your cousin will be discharged from the hospital soon."

The chubby little legs, clad in zebra-print over-the-knee socks, rhythmically patted Uchiha Gin's waist, but it didn't arouse the slightest lust in him.

Even though Senju Itama can transform herself into a little girl like Kanna using the Yin Seal, according to the law of conservation of energy, her superhuman strength is not reduced by the shrinking size. Therefore, this seemingly pleasing massage of her fleshy legs is actually a sure-kill that can dislocate bones and sever tendons.

"You, you get down here!"

Uchiha Gin felt that his ribs were starting to crack, so he endured the pain, reached under Senju Itama's armpit, lifted him up, and threw him away.

"Ouch! What are you doing!"

Senju Itama did a 360-degree spin in the air, landed safely, and let out a sharp cry, her chubby little face puffing up like a bun.

"Is it already that late?"

Uchiha Gin, whose sweet dream had been interrupted, ignored the culprit and turned his gaze to the window, only to find that the sun had already set in the west, and more than twelve hours had passed since he returned from the hospital.

"Hmph~ You missed out on the good show!"

Seeing that Uchiha Gin ignored her, Senju Itama, pouting, sidled up to her again, crossed her arms, and spoke with great smugness.

"Oh~ what's the show?"

"This morning, the Hokage announced in front of the entire village that your cousin left to carry out a highly difficult and secret mission. Now that the mission has been successfully completed, he has returned and officially assumed the position of Hokage's assistant."

Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He hadn't expected Hashirama to be so quick to clear his name. Not only did he publicly vindicate his cousin, but he also gave him a permanent position, making him a formal employee with a government job but no salary.

It's important to know that when Madara Uchiha helped Hashirama Senju before, he was doing paid work under the table. He had the title of candidate but no official certification. The title of Hokage candidate was just something people called him in private.

"The Hokage assists, right?"

Meanwhile, after being bombarded with bombshells during the day, the residents, over tea and after meals, all started talking about Madara Uchiha, praising the new Hokage's excellent character of enduring hardship and taking the lead.

In a rather secluded izakaya,

The ninja alliance, led by Sarutobi Sasuke, was secretly holding a small meeting. Kenichi Shimura, who looked considerably more portly than a few years ago, spoke up with lingering fear.

"It's a good thing I listened to Sasuke and didn't make enemies with the Uchiha clan, otherwise I'm afraid I'd be in trouble later."

"Kenichi, save your breath. You didn't even dare to fart when you saw Uchiha Gin, and you want to make enemies?"

Minako Yamamoto, who had already enjoyed several drinks alone, had a few rosy blushes on her increasingly charming face. Hearing Kenichi Shimura's words, she almost burst out laughing.

"Who says I wouldn't dare release it? Believe me, I will right now!"

"Forehead"

Everyone present tacitly shifted their positions, moving away from the raging Kenichi Shimura, worried that he might not be able to hold on properly and could hurt innocent bystanders.

"In short, Madara Uchiha's return is a good thing."

Sarutobi Sasuke, sitting at the head of the table, had a thoughtful expression on his monkey-like face. No matter what Madara Uchiha's reasons were for leaving back then, as long as he could return, it would be a great thing for Konoha.

Such top-tier combat power, even if it's only on paper, would make surrounding countries wary.

"Sigh~ It's so enviable to have a Hokage as your assistant!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, it's good to be under a big tree. These small ninja clans still need to rely on Konoha for development. However, when they thought about the position of Hokage's assistant appointed by Hashirama Senju during the day, they couldn't help but feel a little envious.

Minako Yamamoto's beautiful eyes, slightly intoxicated, held a dreamy look. Although she yearned for the Hokage position, she was still very self-aware.

"It seems Madara Uchiha has a sure thing about becoming the Second Hokage."

The Nara clan chief, with his pineapple-shaped haircut, stirred the wine in his cup, looking somewhat dejected.

"What do you mean 'a sure thing'? Madara Uchiha is just one straw hat away from becoming Hokage." (End of Chapter)