Things had come to this; better to just let nature take its course.
"Excuse me." Makiya took off his shoes and followed Tsunade into the guest room. A moment later, Shizune brought two cups of fragrant tea and placed them on the low table in front of them.
Tsunade picked up the cup, blew off the steam, and downed it in one go despite the heat. "Ah... that hits the spot. Shizune, another cup."
"Lady Tsunade, that's not how you're supposed to drink tea..." Shizune whispered under her breath. But, intimidated by Tsunade's overwhelming presence and fearing the tomboyish woman might slap her on the back again, she quickly brewed another cup and handed it over.
"What does it matter? It all goes to the same stomach anyway..." Tsunade finished half the cup in one breath and set it down on the table with a heavy thud.
She had just finished drinking her sorrows away alone before returning, so it was natural to feel thirsty.
Makiya took a sip of his tea and found it was indeed excellent. The fragrance lingered in his mouth, and the fresh taste was refreshing. "Good tea."
"Of course it is." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "I snatched—picked... cough, the Daimyo specifically gave this to me. It's very expensive!"
Makiya: "..." 'You definitely said snatched just now.'
"...Don't sweat the details." Tsunade waved her hand dismissively with a thick-skinned expression before turning serious. "The last time we met, there wasn't enough time to talk properly. You might not know why I'm so focused on Wood Style. Actually... the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was my grandfather."
Having said that, Tsunade fixed her beautiful eyes on Makiya, waiting for a look of surprise to appear on his face.
However, she was destined to be disappointed. Makiya's expression remained unchanged as he nodded calmly. "And then?"
*Laughable. Is that it? I know plenty. I'm a transmigrator—did I brag about it?*
"So..." Tsunade took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Regarding Grandfather's Wood Style and the specially cultivated cells transplanted into Obito—I will pursue this matter to the end no matter what. I beg of you, please tell me everything about the mysterious man from the Land of Grass. I will pay you a reward that satisfies you. Please."
After saying that, Tsunade bowed deeply to Makiya. Her massive cleavage pressed firmly against the low table, creating a deep valley.
The bow was standard, the attitude sincere, and the intent genuine.
Makiya was the type who responded better to kindness than force. If Tsunade had tried to pressure him using her status as one of the Sannin or the Hokage's disciple, Makiya would have left without a second word.
But Tsunade didn't resort to moral kidnapping or power plays; she humbled herself and even offered a reward. Makiya thought for a moment and decided he could reveal some information.
"The situation that day was like this..." Makiya took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and began recounting everything in detail from the moment he met up with Minato and the others. Tsunade listened intently, pulling out a scroll and a brush from her front to record important information from time to time.
Seeing that the two were discussing important matters, Shizune left a pot of tea and discreetly closed the door as she exited the guest room.
"...The person sounded like an old man. He was covered in a white shell of unknown material, and his eyes were Three-Tomoe Sharingan..."
"Wait," Tsunade suddenly interrupted. "Were his eyes Sharingan from the start, or did he activate them during the fight?"
Makiya was taken aback, internally surprised by Tsunade's attentiveness and her knowledge of the Uchiha.
Tsunade asked this question because she wanted to determine if the person was a member of the Uchiha clan. If the person hadn't activated the Sharingan at the start but chose to do so mid-battle to increase combat power, then he was definitely an Uchiha whose identity range would narrow significantly.
Because someone without Uchiha blood, even if they had a transplanted Sharingan, could not deactivate it at will. They would have to endure the massive drain of the Sharingan at all times, eventually breaking down their body.
In the original story, Kakashi was dragged down by the Mangekyo Sharingan given by Obito, turning him into a chronically exhausted man. The Sharingan drained Kakashi's chakra every second. A perfectly good Kage-level ninja was forced into the role of a 'Copy Ninja,' earning a reputation for being able to fight anyone to a draw but wasting his natural talent.
It got to the point where after a fight with the Hidden Mist rogue and wielder of the Executioner's Blade, Zabuza Momochi the Demon, Kakashi would collapse from chakra exhaustion after using only a few jutsu, shamefully becoming the unit of measurement for chakra capacity.
"It was Three-Tomoe from the start. Of course, Minato and I had already been discovered by then, so I can't rule out the possibility that he activated the Sharingan before charging out upon sensing enemies." Makiya answered precisely. "His Wood Style was very proficient. He sequentially released jutsu to summon a sea of trees, a wood dragon, and a massive wood golem..."
"He even used the Wood Dragon and Wood Golem jutsu!" Waves of shock crashed through Tsunade's heart. Information regarding the Wood Style user from the Land of Grass was classified as top secret and strictly blockaded by the higher-ups of various ninja villages.
Under Danzo's influence, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not given the complete intelligence report to Tsunade. Therefore, she didn't know the battle had been that intense; she had assumed he only used techniques like Deep Forest Emergence.
'To be able to defeat a mysterious man using the Wood Golem and Wood Dragon techniques... has he already reached this level? Has Makiya Uchiha already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan?!' Tsunade was internally shaken, suddenly feeling a surge of lingering fear.
She heard from her Granduncle that Uchiha who could open the Mangekyo were all extremely sensitive paranoiacs with unstable emotions. Her previous action of dragging him away by the hand was too reckless. She had lost her cool because of the Wood Style news. Luckily, Makiya wasn't that kind of neurotic person.
Makiya finished the whole story in one go, his mouth feeling dry. He picked up his cup to drink water and then refilled it from the teapot.
Tsunade bowed her head to record, her brow furrowing as she looked at the key information written on the scroll. After a moment, she slowly looked up. "Who do you think the mysterious man could be?"
"I actually have some thoughts on that." Makiya grew interested, putting down his cup and counting off points on his fingers. "Look, first, the mysterious man is very familiar with Wood Style. Second, he repeatedly attacked Uchiha clan members, indicating he hates—or at least is hostile toward—the Uchiha. Third, his voice and posture are aged, like someone from the grandfather generation. And he could perform surgery on Obito, showing he has expertise in human tissue and medical ninjutsu..."
As the pieces of information were laid out, Tsunade felt that Makiya's reasoning made sense and nodded instinctively. "So?"
"So, the answer is obvious." Makiya clapped his hands. "The mysterious man is... Tobirama Senju!"
Madara: "..."
Tsunade: "Eh?"
The unexpected answer left Tsunade stunned.
But thinking back carefully, it actually seemed quite reasonable. The official story was that Granduncle died at the hands of the rebel force led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku. But as the inventor of the Flying Raijin, if Tobirama Senju wanted to leave, no one could stop him.
Had Granduncle really faked his death and escaped, hiding throughout the ninja world for years, secretly plotting something?
"No!" Tsunade suddenly snapped back to reality and glared at Makiya. "Don't just make wild guesses. If it were Granduncle, he definitely wouldn't do anything to harm Konoha, and he wouldn't use Grandfather's cells for experiments."
*Wait, they say big breasts mean no brains, but how are you so sharp, girl? This isn't scientific!*
"I'm just speaking my mind." Makiya spread his hands. "Then who else from Tobirama Senju's era is a powerhouse who is unaccounted for, knows the Uchiha, and knows Wood Style?"
Tsunade put down the scroll and brush, rubbed her aching shoulders, and leaned back with her arms crossed. "Why don't you say it's Madara Uchiha then?"
She only intended to bicker with Makiya, but to her surprise, Makiya actually lowered his head in serious thought, his expression growing more solemn. "Don't say that, you really shouldn't say that... it actually could be Madara Uchiha."
Tsunade pursed her lips. "How can you take that seriously? Grandfather personally said Madara Uchiha was dead, and where would he even get Grandfather's cells..."
As she spoke, Tsunade suddenly stopped. She remembered her grandfather once mentioning in passing that Madara had bitten off a piece of flesh from his chest. That matched!
"But Madara is definitely dead." Tsunade massaged her forehead.
"Maybe the First Hokage let him off." Makiya spoke with certainty. "The two of them were so close, how could the First Hokage have the heart to deal a fatal blow?"
Tsunade looked up in surprise. "How do you know Grandfather and Madara were so close?"
The Ninja Academy textbooks didn't mention this part.
Besides, their relationship couldn't be summarized by the simple word 'close.' In short, it was extremely complicated.
"Rin Nohara told me."
"Who?"
"Oh, Obito's teammate, a young girl. She said she saw it in a book at the Konoha bookstore." Makiya looked up at the void, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I think the title was: 'Uke Madara Reborn in the Warring States Period, Lord Hashirama Love Me One More Time'."
Tsunade: "...Go to hell!"
Bang!
After kicking Makiya down, Tsunade fell back into deep thought.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt there was a high possibility the mysterious man was Madara Uchiha. As for why Madara didn't die back then, there were plenty of strange secret techniques in the ninja world; ninjas couldn't be judged by common sense.
As for Tobirama Senju, the answer Makiya gave was too unreliable and was directly dismissed by her.
People always deeply believe in the conclusions they reach themselves and constantly find reasons to refine that conclusion. Tsunade was no exception.
While Makiya and Tsunade were talking, at Hiruzen Sarutobi's house:
"I understand. You may leave." Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe and took a deep drag.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The Anbu kneeling on one knee in the hallway immediately withdrew.
Once the figure was far away, a scroll fell from the ceiling and hit Hiruzen on the head.
Crack!
"No smoking in the house! You've already corrupted Asuma!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife, Biwako Sarutobi, said with a glare.
"Oh, right. I forgot, hehehe." Hiruzen hurriedly tapped out his pipe, his face full of apologetic smiles.
Biwako Sarutobi finally smiled with satisfaction and sat down next to Hiruzen with her legs tucked. "Has that child Tsunade finally seen the light?"
"Not quite." Hiruzen saw through it clearly. "Tsunade is purely interested in news about Wood Style. However, since she was willing to bring Makiya home, it means she doesn't dislike him. You have to realize that after all these years, Jiraiya hasn't been able to set foot in Tsunade's house once."
"That's what Jiraiya deserves!" Biwako Sarutobi cursed softly. "What girl would like a man who peeks at people all day? He was caught red-handed by Tsunade back then and beaten half to death."
As a woman, Biwako had a very poor impression of Jiraiya and was always worried he would pass his bad habits to his disciple, Minato Namikaze.
Fortunately, Minato emerged from the mud untainted and was not contaminated by Jiraiya. Biwako felt greatly relieved.
"Should I go talk to her?" Biwako looked at Hiruzen. "Tsunade is a young girl who doesn't understand anything, and the elders of her clan are gone. Someone has to teach her."
Hiruzen fell silent for a moment and then nodded in agreement. However, he had another goal in mind: it was time to wrap Makiya Uchiha in the bonds of the village.
All the intelligence from the front lines had gathered in the Hokage's hands. Hiruzen was very clear about Makiya's current strength. The young Uchiha was no longer someone the village could manipulate at will. He could only use a soft approach; otherwise, once a fight broke out, the resulting mutually destructive situation was not something Hiruzen wanted to see. The Kage of other villages would literally die laughing.
At Root:
After receiving the intelligence, Danzo remained silent for a long time.
He slowly removed the bandages wrapped around his right hand, revealing a mangled and ugly arm studded with Sharingan.
His arm and palm were all transplanted with Three-Tomoe Sharingan, eleven in total.
Recently, as Orochimaru's research into Hashirama's cells deepened, his right arm's functionality gradually increased. He had even mastered the secret forbidden technique of the Uchiha clan: Izanagi!
Commonly known as invincibility time.
"Makiya, I originally wanted to let you live, but now I have no choice but to eliminate you. Who told you to go out of your way to find death?"
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