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Looking at Hirofumi Ito standing before him, Madara Uchiha’s mind suddenly filled with a great many thoughts.
If this kid had enough money, could he actually summon that blockhead Hashirama Senju?!
But the kid had no money right now!
And there was no way to be certain he wasn’t trying to run a con.
If the kid was lying, and he stupidly went off to help scrape together the funds, wouldn’t that make him a free laborer in the end?!
“Madara… what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about Hashirama Senju?!” Hirofumi suddenly spoke up.
“How did you know?! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey — would I think about him?! Ridiculous! What an absolute joke! Who would ever think about that blockhead?!”
Seeing the odd smile tugging at the corner of Hirofumi’s mouth, Madara Uchiha’s old face went red.
Because yes, he had absolutely just been thinking about Hashirama Senju, that blockhead.
Hirofumi, for his part, immediately plastered on the most shameless flattering smile imaginable.
His hands started rubbing together in front of him like a housefly’s.
“Madara, can we work something out?!”
Madara Uchiha glanced at him.
Everything this little brat was thinking was written plainly across his face.
Not a drop of guile in him.
“Hmm? What is it?!”
“You go help me get money, and I’ll summon Hashirama Senju for you! How about it?! A partnership! We both win!”
“Heh heh… and why exactly would I help you get money? How would I even know you’re not deceiving me?!”
“Why would I deceive you?! It’s not like you’re some young maiden! What do you even have that’s worth deceiving you for?!”
“Damn! I am the great Madara Uchiha, Demon of the Shinobi World! Am I really not worth deceiving?!”
“Heh! Who would bother deceiving a decrepit old man like you?! Wouldn’t I be better off going to deceive a couple of cute young ladies?!”
“Kid… you’re really not deceiving me?!”
“Really not. Forget it, forget it…” Hirofumi waved a hand dismissively.
“If you don’t believe me, just drop it. Anyway, I’m planning to borrow some money from Sasuke Uchiha shortly. Once I have it, I’ll perform the Summoning Technique and you’ll see for yourself. After you believe me, we can talk about working together.”
With that, Hirofumi didn’t linger.
The concentrated Chakra dissolved inside the Summoning Space in an instant, leaving Madara Uchiha alone inside the villa.
But Madara Uchiha’s expression had turned deeply grave.
The kid had looked completely at ease, like he had everything right in the palm of his hand.
Could it really be as the kid said, that summoning a spirit required spending money?!
He had never heard of a Summoning Technique that worked that way.
But if it were true…
His little brother, and that blockhead Hashirama Senju, could both be revived.
Though his little brother probably wasn’t possible in the short term.
The kid had mentioned being bound to the spirits of the Hidden Leaf Village, and his brother had died before the village was even founded, who knew whether that counted or not.
Though after his brother died, he had buried him in the Hidden Leaf Village with his own hands.
Thinking about it that way, his brother might actually qualify after all.
Alas.
There was no point running through all of this now.
Better to wait and see whether what the kid said was true.
If it was, helping him out a little wasn’t out of the question.
Getting money wasn’t hard, go outside and grab some, simple as that.
All the while, Hirofumi had been holding two conversations at once, talking with Madara Uchiha inside the Summoning Space while keeping up with the Konoha 11 in the outside world.
And through all of it, Ino Yamanaka had been steadily feeding him food.
Eventually everyone had more or less eaten their fill, and the sky was gradually darkening.
“Hinata, it’s getting late! We should head home!”
Hearing Neji Hyūga’s words, Hinata nodded.
“I know, big brother…”
Seeing Neji about to leave, Tenten and Rock Lee said their goodbyes as well.
The others all recognized the hour and made their own exits.
Ino Yamanaka looked over at Hirofumi.
“Hirofumi, are you coming with us?”
“No, you all go ahead. I’m not in a rush…”
And so in the end, only Hirofumi Ito and Naruto Uzumaki remained at Sasuke’s house.
Naruto wasn’t in any hurry.
Even if he went home, there would only be himself waiting there.
Everyone had already cleaned up most of the mess before leaving, so now the three of them, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Hirofumi Ito, sat side by side in the courtyard of Sasuke’s home, gazing up at the night sky.
For Sasuke, this was the first time since the night of the clan massacre that he had felt anything close to ease.
Especially with Hirofumi and Naruto beside him. Find the original chapter at g.com.
He couldn’t explain it, but his heart felt strangely, utterly calm.
Especially when he was bickering with Naruto.
“Hirofumi… is there something you want to say to me?”
Hirofumi glanced at Sasuke in mild surprise.
He hadn’t pegged this guy as perceptive.
“There actually is.”
“Then just say it. Hemming and hawing isn’t your style…”
Hirofumi scratched his head.
Asking to borrow money really was hard to bring up.
“It’s just… it’s just… I want to borrow some money from you. And it’s not a small amount.”
Sasuke froze for a moment.
“Are you that short on money?”
Genuinely puzzled.
Hirofumi was never strapped for cash, back at the Ninja Academy the guy had always spent freely without a second thought.
So why was he coming to borrow money now, and saying it wasn’t a small amount on top of that?
Had he run into some kind of trouble?
Naruto, sitting nearby, didn’t hesitate for a single second.
The moment he heard Hirofumi needed money, he pulled out his little frog wallet.
“Hirofumi, how much do you need?! I’ve got some here — it’s what I’ve saved up little by little, probably a few hundred ryo. If you need it, just take it!”
Watching Naruto flip open the frog wallet and fish out every last scattered coin inside, Hirofumi would have been lying if he said he wasn’t moved.
“Thank you, Naruto. But the amount I need is a bit… larger than that.”
That was all Sasuke needed to hear.
Hirofumi had definitely run into something.
This guy would never open his mouth to borrow money otherwise.
“How much? Can you tell me what happened?”
“More is always better, obviously. A hundred million, two hundred million — not too little. Five hundred million, eight hundred million, not too much.”
Hirofumi tossed those figures out like they were nothing, and Naruto Uzumaki shot straight to his feet like he’d been launched.
“Hirofumi?! What are you trying to do?! Hundreds of millions?! What on earth happened!”
➤ Next: The Three Kids’ Secret Talk