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

"Kakuzu, I advise you to stay away from those two, or you'll regret it."

Chongming's sharp voice rang in his mind, and Kakuzu, who was trying to get on good terms with the two newcomers, paused for a moment and immediately stopped his deliberate flattery.

Little did he know that his act of pulling back from the brink of disaster would save the lives of both a human and an animal.

"Um... I have a mission to complete. Let's talk again next time we meet."

Adhering to the principle of heeding the advice of beasts and getting a full meal, Kakuzu nodded to Tobirama Senju, who was preparing a killing move, and quickly left this place of trouble.

"Oh dear, why did they leave so suddenly? That pointy-headed guy doesn't seem like a bad person~"

After Hashirama Senju smiled and waved goodbye to Kakuzu, he turned away with a regretful expression. Tobirama Senju coldly curled his lip.

"He's lucky to have survived."

"Tobirama, you've gotten too big for your britches."

Shaking his head, Hashirama Senju's face showed a hint of solemnity. Although his strength was now halved, he could still sense a tremendous aura emanating from Kakuzu.

If Tobirama Senju were to actually fight his opponent one-on-one, he probably wouldn't last long and would eventually have to rely on the Flying Thunder God Technique to flee in panic.

"He is Kakuzu, the rogue ninja of the Land of Waterfalls, and also the Seven-Tails Knight."

"Huh? Is he the guy Madara was talking about who's pretty strong?"

Hashirama Senju had overheard his close friend recounting his impressions of the other Tailed Beast Riders during casual conversations. Even the notoriously arrogant Madara Uchiha held the Seven-Tails Rider in high regard.

The other person is described as a knight who knows how to protect.

"That's right, but I'm definitely no match for you, brother."

It turns out that the reason Tobirama Senju was so arrogant was entirely because his older brother was present, which is why he dared to raise his voice at Kakuzu.

This is a classic case of a dog relying on its master's power.

"It's hard to say, my strength is not what it used to be."

"That's not something just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can pull off a staged accident."

"Alright, alright, making money is the priority."

After enjoying Tobirama Senju's persuasive sales pitch, a satisfied Hashirama Senju waved his hand, and the two of them slipped into the exchange shop. They poured the mission items from their storage scrolls onto the counter, awaiting the staff's counting.

"Please wait a moment."

The staff naturally recognized the up-and-coming duo, given their distinctive features: one was stern, quiet, and short, while the other was tall, liked to laugh, and had a very loud voice.

Since the nickname "Black and White Duo," which Tobirama Senju had casually coined, had already been registered by a mysterious individual with strikingly black and white hair, the exchange platform randomly assigned the two nicknames that perfectly matched their characteristics.

[Careless and Unhappy]

When Tobirama Senju heard this nickname earlier while turning in a mission, he was so angry he almost threw the latrine in the gold exchange into the ground.

Fortunately, Hashirama Senju intervened in time to subdue his enraged younger brother, preventing the nickname "TFboy" from falling on them.

Among the items on the counter, besides the corpses most commonly found in gold exchange shops, there are also some odds and ends. Some of the black market missions posted by some people are not about taking lives, but also ordinary missions to find lost items or missing persons.

"Hello, the count has been completed. The total amount of the bounty and mission reward, after deducting the service fee, is 6.85472 billion taels."

Soon, another staff member came out with a storage scroll. Senju Tobirama opened it immediately after passing through, revealing hundreds of suitcases neatly stacked together. He nodded in satisfaction.

After flexing his fingers, Tobirama Senju turned to his older brother beside him and said...

"Brother, let me check the rewards first. Go see if there are any new missions."

"Hehe, leave it to me!"

Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

Just as Tobirama Senju transformed into a ruthless money-counting machine, Hashirama Senju curiously took the bounty mission sheet from a staff member.

Hashirama Senju's possessions consisted mainly of bounties for murder and revenge, which held little interest for him.

Until he saw a yellowed missing person poster, his eyes immediately filled with curiosity, and he reached out and pulled out the task.

"Can I accept this one too?"

"That's possible, but..."

Upon seeing the missing person poster in Hashirama Senju's hand, the staff member frowned slightly.

"What is it?"

Seeing the staff member's hesitant expression, Hashirama Senju's curiosity was instantly piqued.

"This task has existed since the beginning of the exchange. Someone once reserved a large sum of money as a reward, but after so many years, the task is still on the list."

"We'll accept the reward as long as it's there."

It's just a task to find someone; even if I don't find them, it's not a loss.

"but."

"Is there a problem?"

Hashirama Senju, who had already begun screening other tasks, looked up in confusion at the hesitant staff member who seemed about to speak.

"You brainless sir, this mission is a bit strange."

Perhaps it was due to Hashirama Senju's inherent affability that the gold exchange worker felt a pang of sympathy and quietly offered him a hint.

"Is this strange?"

Hashirama Senju narrowed his eyes, knowing that this mission was not simple.

"Please check the posting time of this task."

Upon hearing this, Hashirama Senju pulled out the missing person poster he had just put away and noticed an unfamiliar time stamp in the lower right corner.

[Year 478 of the Ancestor's Calendar]

"The Land of Ancestors? I've never heard of such a country."

Hashirama Senju's knowledge base was not low, but he had never actually heard of any country in the ninja world called the Land of Ancestors.

"The Ancestral Kingdom, isn't that the country that perished over a thousand years ago?"

On the other side, Tobirama Senju, who had finished counting the money with lightning speed, saw his older brother secretly whispering with a staff member. Driven by curiosity, he went over and just happened to hear the words "Ancestor Country".

"I never expected that Lord Unhappy was a scholar who knew about the Ancestral Country."

If it weren't for the genuine adoration in this staff member's eyes, Tobirama Senju would have sent him to meet the Old Ancestor of the Six Paths long ago.

"If what you say is true, this mission was originally issued in the Ancestral Kingdom a thousand years ago?"

Hashirama Senju's small hand trembled in fright, and the yellowed missing person poster fell onto the counter. All three of them immediately turned their gaze to the portrait of the target.

He was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, and judging from his clothes, he was dressed as a wandering monk, a style that was popular many years ago.

Apart from that, there are no other obvious features.

The description of the mission objectives below is minimal, consisting mostly of a self-description by the mission initiator, the most striking of which is:

"When I was thirteen, I met a divine monk by chance and heard his chanting. When I was sixty-three, I met him again. The monk's appearance was still the same. I wanted to ask for his help, but I could not find him."

"Another fool seeking immortality."

After reading the contents of the missing person notice, Tobirama Senju wore a disdainful smile.

The person who posted this task encountered the same monk twice, once in his youth and once in his old age. He discovered that his entire life had passed, yet the monk still looked exactly the same as when they first met. He then asked for the secret to immortality, but the monk immediately ran away upon hearing this.

That's why the person who posted this task spent a huge sum of money to launch this missing person notice, all in order to find this immortal monk and learn the secret to immortality.

As a result, the monk was never seen again until the person who issued the mission died. However, before his death, he specifically instructed his descendants to find this immortal monk and learn the secret of immortality.

A thousand years have passed, and the mission remains even after the person dies.

"Why did you take on this expired task?"

Tobirama Senju rolled his eyes at his older brother, then tossed the missing person poster to a staff member.

"And you guys, you're not burning this waste paper, but keeping it for Qingming Festival?"

A thousand years have passed. Even if that monk had some secret to preserving his youth, he was destined to turn into dust.

"Oops! Whew~"

The staff member hurriedly took the missing person poster, his expression gradually turning strange. After taking a deep breath, he whispered...

"My lords, this mission is not overdue."

"ha?"

The Thousand Hands Brothers were taken aback. What kind of mission had such a long shelf life, lasting for a thousand years?

"Because there was a record of witnessing this mission objective 52 years ago."

The staff member's voice wasn't loud, but it stirred up a storm in the hearts of the Thousand Hands Brothers.

"Is it really possible for someone to live for a thousand years? It's not like I'm a turtle."

Hashirama Senju muttered to himself, while Tobirama Senju beside him wore a similarly solemn expression, his eyes filled with deep thought.

Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, the two of them simultaneously looked up at each other, a look of realization dawning on their eyes.

"It seems like it's not impossible."

"Haha, it seems we're thinking the same thing."

Seeing his younger brother's pained expression, Hashirama Senju laughed heartily.

They retrieved the missing person poster again, and in the blurry portrait, they finally found what they were looking for.

"Sure enough, I knew it. How could someone with curly hair possibly develop such amazing techniques?"

Pointing to the monk's chin in the portrait, Tobirama Senju's face was full of mockery. Upon closer inspection, there was a diamond-shaped mark there, the same shape and size as a hair on someone's forehead.

"So, this mission is real?"

"If the eyewitness account from 52 years ago is true, then this monk who has lived for a thousand years may really exist in some corner of the ninja world."

He carefully put the missing person poster away. A researcher with such a strong sense of curiosity as Tobirama Senju was destined not to let go of such rare research material.

A living, thousand-year-old relic.

"We'll take it!"

Leaf.

With the Hokage election approaching, the entire Uchiha clan territory was bustling with excitement. All the Uchiha clan members were well aware that their clan head's appointment as the Second Hokage was a foregone conclusion, so celebrating with champagne at the halfway point was not an exaggeration at all.

Among the jubilant Uchiha clan members, one boy stood out. Unlike the other clan members who were laughing and joking in small groups, he was holding a small notebook, constantly writing and calculating, his delicate brows furrowed in deep frown.

"We absolutely cannot let this great opportunity to make money slip by."

The fifteen-year-old Uchiha Tomoyu, despite being the grandson of the former clan head and the son of the current vice-clan head, has not developed an arrogant or domineering personality.

Moreover, he is much more thoughtful than the average Uchiha, and he doesn't glare at people with red eyes at the drop of a hat.

"My lord, what brings you back to the clan today?"

A sharp-eyed member of the clan spotted Uchiha Fuyu and immediately went up to greet him with a smile.

"I've come to see my father to discuss something. You all should eat and drink well."

Uchiha Fuyu smiled and nodded in response, appearing every inch the gentleman.

Inside the clan head's office, Uchiha Izuna was discussing this year's clan dividends with Uchiha Madara.

"Brother, we're a bit tight on finances lately."

With the arrival of two new forces in Konoha, the pie that had been divided in two by the Uchiha and Senju clans has been torn into three pieces.

It has little impact on those ninja clans that only drink soup, but it is a significant blow to a towering tree like the Uchiha.

"How so?"

Madara Uchiha, who never concerned himself with finances and always asked his older cousin for money when he was short, frowned slightly.

He's about to become Hokage, and the future of the Uchiha clan is destined to be in Izuna's hands. But at this crucial moment of the New Year, he's told he's broke?

Isn't this just asking for a beating?

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"It's all because the Land of Waves and the Land of Whirlpools waged a price war against us, which eroded a lot of our market share."

Forced by his elder brother's tyranny, Uchiha Izuna had no choice but to shift the blame for his poor leadership onto the Uzumaki Kingdom, which had just entered Konoha.

"Especially that Land of Waves, it's like they're born without skin problems. They sell whatever we sell, and they've even stolen the Uchiha clan's traditional craftsmanship. They can imitate it so perfectly that even the elders in the clan can't tell the difference."

Speaking of the Land of Waves, Uchiha Izuna was furious. The Uchiha clan was good at making cat-themed handicrafts and merchandise, but the Land of Waves' themed street had the same items, and they looked much more exquisite than theirs.

Is this really true?

Madara Uchiha narrowed his eyes. Although there was no such thing as intellectual property rights now, the Land of Waves' blatant plagiarism had indeed crossed the Uchiha clan's bottom line. As one of the leaders of Konoha, he had to do something to set things right.

"It's true!"

Bang bang bang~

"Come in."

"Greetings, Uncle; greetings, Father."

As Uchiha Tomoyu entered, a look of admiration flashed in his eyes when he saw Uchiha Madara sitting in the main seat.

"Yes, I am wealthy. Is there anything you don't understand about your cultivation lately? Your uncle happens to have some time recently and can answer your questions."

Looking at his nephew, who had grown into an outstanding adult, Madara Uchiha nodded in satisfaction.

He had seen the name Uchiha Fuyu quite a few times in the mission hall. At such a young age, he had already completed many difficult missions and was hailed as a genius by many.

"Uncle Xie, I'll definitely come to you first if I have any problems."

Smiling and nodding, Uchiha Yuuki turned his gaze to his father, his face filled with excitement.

"Father, I've come this time with a good idea."

"Stop! Don't talk about your so-called ways to make money anymore. What you need to do now is focus on your cultivation."

Uchiha Fuyu's initial enthusiasm was extinguished before it could even rise, thanks to Uchiha Izuna's frown.

Looking at his son who was gradually going astray, Uchiha Izuna rubbed his temples with a headache.

Fu You is a wonderful child in every way, but for some reason, he developed a passion for making money, and he's quite lucky with it. Several of his investments have yielded substantial returns, much to the delight of his mother, Mihoko.

But in Uchiha Izuna's view, this was simply neglecting his duties. The future of the Uchiha clan was likely to be handed over to the wealthy. If they neglected their training now, how would they support the entire clan in the future?

Not to mention that most of the Uchiha clan still dream of becoming Hokage through hereditary succession.

"It would be such a waste if we didn't seize this wonderful opportunity of our uncle taking office!"

Seeing his father's stubbornness, Uchiha Tomoya's face showed anxiety. Uchiha Madara, hearing that it concerned his own appointment as Hokage, curiously spoke up...

"Izuna, shut up. You're the one who says you're rich."

"Big brother!"

"My words no longer carry weight?"

"Fu You, tell your uncle the truth, and don't embellish it."

Faced with his elder brother's cold gaze, Uchiha Izuna's sphincter tightened, and he had no choice but to compromise.

"Uncle Hu, you're about to become the second leader. If you do a good job of publicity beforehand, Konoha will definitely have a lot of tourists during the leadership transition ceremony."

Upon hearing this, Madara Uchiha nodded in deep agreement.

His name is now a household name, known to everyone.

The low-profile darkness of the ninja world.

The mysterious Nine-Tailed Knight.

Adding the Second Hokage to the mix, with these multiple buffs stacked on top of each other, naturally attracts many curious ordinary people who want to come and see his face.

The Land of Fire is the most populous and prosperous of the five great nations. With the New Year approaching, people have both money and time, so they naturally take this opportunity to visit Konoha.

"These people definitely won't come for nothing. How can they repay Konoha's warm hospitality without spending a fortune?"

As he spoke, Uchiha Tomo's eyes gleamed with a golden light, filled with a thirst for money.

"We'll have the First Hokage call his son and daughter-in-law back then. The title of Princess of the Land of Fire carries considerable appeal. Of course, it would be even better if we could invite the Daimyo to the ceremony as well."

"You've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve, kid. But how are we, the Uchiha clan, going to make money?"

"That's easy. Have the clan produce a batch of merchandise themed around you, including support fans, dolls, figurines, toy ninja tools, limited-edition grains, and so on."

"These things should be easy to copy, right?"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Izuna frowned. These kinds of products would definitely sell like hotcakes, but with the craftsmanship of those guys from the Land of Waves, they could easily copy them in less than three minutes.

"As long as it's named after my uncle, I'm not afraid of others daring to imitate it."

The Naruto character has portrait rights.

"Wealthy, that's a good idea. Izuna, I'll leave this to you. I want to see the clan's dividends double this year."

After a brief moment of thought, Madara Uchiha felt that his nephew's plan was feasible, so he instructed Izuna Uchiha to fully cooperate and strive to ensure that all clan members received large red envelopes and had a good New Year.

"Actually, there's another way to earn even more."

Seeing that his plan had received initial approval, Uchiha Tomoyu breathed a sigh of relief. With a slight shift in his gaze, he spoke again.

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"If the plan we just made had succeeded, our clan would have made a fortune. But our production capacity is limited. We only have so many workshops and so many people, so we are destined not to be able to handle the endless stream of tourists."

"So, according to your opinion?"

"It would be best if we had an extra, massive amount of labor."

After imagining himself building an underground, shady factory, Uchiha Tomoyu shook his head and slowly began to speak.

"If not, then we can only cooperate for mutual benefit."

"You mean..."

Uchiha Izuna's pupils contracted; he couldn't believe that his fifteen-year-old son possessed such a broad perspective.

"That's right, I want to unite with the merchants' associations of the Land of Waves so we can all make money together."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Shaking his head vigorously, Uchiha Izuna exclaimed that it was impossible. He knew better than anyone that those guys from the Land of Waves were extremely difficult to deal with.

When members of the Uchiha clan encounter people from the Land of Waves on the street, the people will deliberately avoid them, as if they greatly dislike the Uchiha.

"How will you know if you don't try? Nobody turns down money."

"You make it sound so nice, then I'll hand over the task of negotiating the cooperation to you, kid."

Looking at his fearless son, Uchiha Izuna stretched out his hand, speechless with anger.

Hmph! I don't believe you can talk those guys from the Land of Waves into submission. When you come back crying and begging for your father's attention, I'll definitely give you a good laugh.

"Izuna! This isn't right. How much wealth is that?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. At his age, I'm already outwitting and outmaneuvering White Hair."

On matters of principle in educating his children, Uchiha Izuna unusually stood firm, refusing to blindly follow his elder brother's advice and resolutely sending Uchiha Fuyu to negotiate cooperation with the Land of Waves.

"No problem, I definitely won't let my father and uncle down!"

With a chance to make a fortune right in front of him, how could Uchiha Fuyu let it slip by? He stepped forward and confidently accepted the task, his eyes filled with determination.

After leaving the clan's territory, Uchiha Yutaka kept his head down, calculating costs and benefits in his notebook. If his plan succeeded, the Uchiha clan would not have to worry about food and drink for at least a few years.

"Phew, it seems I spoke too definitively."

After the initial excitement subsided, Uchiha Tomoyu, having calmed down, suddenly felt a sense of unease.

Uchiha Fuyu had never dealt with the people of the Land of Waves before. If he were to go there now to discuss cooperation, being a complete stranger, the other party would most likely ignore this little brat unless he could find an intermediary.

"Wow~ Isn't this Fu You? You've grown taller in just a few days!"

"Uncle!"

Upon hearing that all-too-familiar voice, Uchiha Yu's muscle memory, formed over many years, began to kick in.

Boom!

"Nephew wishes you a Happy New Year in advance! May your happiness be as boundless as the Eastern Sea, and your longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountain pine. May you live a long and healthy life."

"Stop, stop, stop! We don't need that line!"

Seeing Uchiha Yu perform the practiced bowing, Uchiha Gin nodded with satisfaction and swiftly stopped what felt like a curse.

He scrambled to his feet, dusted himself off, and smilingly accepted the gold brick from Uchiha Gin. His eyes lingered on Gin for a moment, then he suddenly remembered a rumor circulating in the streets…

"Uncle, everyone says you have unconventional connections. Are you familiar with the people of the Land of Waves?" (End of Chapter)