“Exposing the upper body is indeed not good for children.”
“Director Gongcun, sorry to trouble you.”
Director Gongcun rubbed the back of his head, which still had hair, and laughed happily.
“It’s no trouble.
Kiyoi Gen mentioned this.”
“I still need to continue testing the new Secret Technique, so I’ll be off first.”
“Feel free to wander around the Research Institute.”
After saying this, Director Gongcun rushed toward the stairs, his mind preoccupied with just how capable the new Secret Technique could be.
“Everyone at the Research Institute is like this, wanting to rush progress every day to complete new technologies as soon as possible.”
Kiyoi Ai explained Director Gongcun’s behavior and then asked.
“Uncle Madara, would you like to take a look around the Research Institute?”
Uchiha Madara asked with some curiosity.
“Is everything here about researching Ninjutsu?”
“Not everything, no.”
Kiyoi Ai led Uchiha Madara out of the empty laboratory, and the two arrived at the first-floor lobby.
“This building is the area managed by Uncle Gongcun.
Aside from the research my brother personally assigns, they generally develop mechanical technology.”
“Recently, they have been researching something called ‘Network’ that my brother proposed.”
“Network?”
Hearing that it wasn’t Ninjutsu, Uchiha Madara felt a bit disappointed.
“Director Meifang, who is Director Gongcun’s wife, is in charge of various biotechnologies, such as medicine.”
“Ninjutsu research only makes up a small part of the Research Institute.”
“Well, it’s more like Ninjutsu research is always initiated by my brother, and then he lets others refine it.”
“So far, thousands of Ninjutsu have been researched and perfected, although most are daily-life D-rank Ninjutsu and ordinary combat C-rank Ninjutsu.”
Kiyoi Ai placed her slender finger against her lips, thinking.
“The Magistrates Office has a library specifically for storing a large number of Ninjutsu, but it probably wouldn’t be useful for a Ninja like Uncle Madara.”
“The Ninjas in our Churi Village only specialize in one direction during their training.”
“Apart from my brother, no one has studied all the Ninjutsu.”
Uchiha Madara shook his head.
He was certainly not interested in ordinary Ninjutsu; since that was the case, there was no point in looking at the Research Institute or the library.
“Then let’s leave here.”
“Okay.”
“Uncle Madara, would you like to just wander around the Village?”
Kiyoi Ai looked at Uchiha Madara with expectant eyes.
“The Village my brother built is very interesting.”
The corners of Uchiha Madara’s mouth curled up slightly.
“Then let’s take a look around.”
When he was in Konoha, he would also stroll down the street with Hashirama.
The two walked down the street, heading toward the commercial district where there were more people.
“Our Churi Village doesn’t accept outsiders right now.”
“Communication with the outside world relies entirely on intelligence brought back by merchant caravans, which is then compiled by the News Department of the Thousand Crafts Pavilion and sold to everyone as newspapers.”
“The port is also very lively, but since it isn’t open to ordinary residents for the time being, it’s not very fun there.”
“The most fun place is the school.”
“Many children my age attend school there, learning a lot of knowledge.”
“Occasionally, I even get to be a little teacher.
Pretty impressive, right!”
“Impressive, impressive.”
Uchiha Madara listened quietly to Kiyoi Ai’s voice.
On the somewhat noisy and bustling commercial street, he actually felt very peaceful.
He hadn’t felt this way in a long time.
It was strange, as he should have been annoyed by someone chattering in his ear.
“And also, and also, Uncle Madara, are you even listening?”
Uchiha Madara revealed a gentle smile.
“Of course, I’ve heard everything.”
“Including the time you made a fool of yourself in front of your brother, I’ve remembered it all.”
“Ah!
You don’t have to specifically remember that!”
Kiyoi Ai puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be angry.
But in reality, she was very happy inside.
She felt that ever since Uchiha Madara agreed to be her uncle, that slight sense of distance had gradually disappeared.
“Octopus balls, delicious octopus balls here~ Meow!”
At this moment, a takoyaki shop caught Kiyoi Ai’s attention.
A gray-patterned Felyne wearing a shop uniform and an ordinary man were calling out in front of the shop, and many residents came to take a look.
“It’s a newly opened shop!”
Kiyoi Ai became interested.
“Do you want to try it?”
For the first time, Uchiha Madara initiated a conversation.
“Yeah!”
The two walked straight over.
“Lady Ai, Lord Madara.
Welcome!
~ Meow!”
Another ordinary man who was also a shop assistant came up, bowed slightly, and greeted them.
Uchiha Madara was stunned.
Could it be that besides the Felyne, the ordinary villagers also knew his identity?
“Uncle Madara, come and queue up.
Cutting in line is not polite.”
Kiyoi Ai tugged on Madara’s sleeve and walked toward the end of the line.
This takoyaki shop had tables and chairs for customers to rest, and the queue was inside the shop and not very long.
“Excuse me, please make way.”
As soon as Kiyoi Ai came over, everyone smiled and made way, and some people even greeted Kiyoi Ai.
Almost everyone addressed her as “Lady Ai,” and some also called her “Princess Ai.”
In short, it seemed that all the residents knew her.
Uchiha Madara squeezed through the crowd and came up behind Kiyoi Ai.
This was his first time doing something like this.
Whether in Konoha or the Uchiha Clan, he would never squeeze together with other people.
Madara scanned the entire shop and discovered two young men eating takoyaki while discussing the content of a newspaper.
“The serialized novel written by Lord Gen has finally been released again!”
The two excitedly flipped to the corner of the newspaper, reading the entertainment novel that Gen had written in his spare time to make money.
And on the back of the newspaper, a familiar face was printed—it was none other than Uchiha Madara’s face.
“Shocking!
‘Asura of the Ninja World’ Uchiha Madara has such a pitiful past!”
“What is this!”
Seeing Uchiha Madara’s mouth twitching, and then seeing today’s Churi Village newspaper, Kiyoi Ai roughly understood the reason.
Ah, she hadn’t seen today’s newspaper yet.
Fortunately, the shop here subscribed to the newspaper and kept it in the lobby for everyone to read.
She pulled out the newspaper with her small hand and flipped directly to today’s headline section, which was the column introducing Uchiha Madara.
It seemed that because Madara came yesterday, today’s news headline was given to him.
Madara also leaned in; he wanted to see what exactly was written about him.
“Uchiha Madara, an existence who stands alongside the God of Shinobi, also serving as a legendary Ninja.”
“He is incomparably powerful, making enemies tremble with fear, which is why he is called the Asura of the Ninja World.”
“However, such a cold-looking tough guy actually has an unknown side.”
It roughly wrote about some of Uchiha Madara’s experiences.
For example, he was the patriarch of the Uchiha Clan and had four brothers, but all of them died in the war.
Because of long-term war, combined with an introverted personality, he was still without a wife in his thirties.
Even the strength he attained through desperate training was all to protect the entire Uchiha Clan.
In short, the story was gripping and vividly described, perfectly portraying Uchiha Madara as a tough guy who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, valued family and friends, and was ruthless to enemies.
Regardless of whether it was written correctly or not, anyone who read this article would probably have a basic good impression of Uchiha Madara.
Kiyoi Ai knew after just one glance that this was written by her brother, Kiyoi Gen.
With it placed as the news headline like this, the whole Village must have read this story!
After the two finished reading the article, it was just their turn in line.
The female shop assistant who was serving them saw the wild hair and the cold expression of Uchiha Madara at a glance.
Subsequently, she showed a sympathetic expression.
“Hey!!!”
“Lady Ai, Lord Madara, today’s special: buy one get one free on large octopus balls.”
Uchiha Madara’s mouth twitched; he hadn’t heard that the previous customers got this discount!
However, the surrounding customers seemed to have no objections.
Madara had a feeling that he had been offended.
Chapter 16: Time Has Come
Near dusk, Kiyoi Ai and Uchiha Madara walked out of the Cats Paw Canteen together.
“Uncle Madara, how was it?
There are a lot of fun things in Churi Village, right!”
Uchiha Madara nodded somewhat stiffly.
Yes, there were quite a lot of fun things.
And many things happened that were beyond his expectations.
Just the fact that he was on the newspaper headline, causing the villagers he met to cast sympathetic gazes at him, made him very unable to stand it.
Why was his name as the Asura of the Ninja World not effective in this Village?
“Hehehe, Uncle Madara, don’t be so glum.”
Kiyoi Ai trotted to the front and spun around in the sparse crowd.