I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

He ignored Uchiha Shingen and walked away on his own.

At that moment, it seemed that nothing else mattered to him.

Uchiha Shingen looked around at the empty surroundings. He wanted to convince himself to think like a Hokage about the impact of Amegakure's disappearance on the ninja world and Konoha's next move, but he couldn't.

Chapter 140 Konoha Shura Wasn't Actually Completely Destitute

He said he would lead the way, but Uchiha Madara gradually walked faster than Uchiha Shingen.

No matter where he was on the continent, no one knew the way back to Konoha better than him.

This vast forest was where he often played as a child; it was where he grew up and fought.

Nowadays, people refer to the continuous primeval forest within the Land of Fire's territory, which is under the jurisdiction of Konohagakure, as the Konoha Great Forest.

However, this largest forest area on the Naruto continent covers most of the territory of the Land of Fire today, extending all the way to the three countries of Kusanagi, Ame, and Kawaki.

During the Warring States period, more than half of the ninja clans on the continent gathered here.

During the time Madara Uchiha was away from Konoha to develop his skills, he also hid in this primeval forest, watching as the war between the various factions reignited, and people fought each other to the point of exhaustion.

At that time, even though Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju were no longer alive, Madara Uchiha never thought of going back. With his vision focused on the country and the ninja village, he didn't think Konoha was any different from other villages.

At most, they would find it laughable that a village jointly established by the Uchiha and Senju clans could be declared war on by a group like Amegakure.

Seeing how Konoha later struggled with Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure, and even had to reluctantly recruit Amegakure and Kusagakure, I felt that the later generations were incompetent.

Without the inspiration of a nemesis like the Senju of the Forest, the Uchiha, known for their fighting prowess, became weak and incompetent.

Anyway, that's exactly what he thought before he died.

Now, as he walks back, he feels as if he has missed out on a lot.

Perhaps? Hashirama was right?

Perhaps? He should be more lenient with Tobirama? Anyway, Tobirama always gets angrier, so if you think about it carefully, he has every reason to be the one who's happy.

Or perhaps, he should also... Oh no, that won't do, cross that out!

Madara Uchiha stepped over a fallen, dead tree.

The forests here are all true virgin forests, not secondary forests. The ground is messy and disorderly, with dead trees everywhere. Over time, these trees will transform into nutrients for the entire forest, maintaining its vitality.

In the past, Madara Uchiha wouldn't even bother to glance at it, unless it was to secretly make a mark.

But now, he finds it easy to be reminded of himself when he looks at these dead trees on the ground.

Uchiha Shingen walked up behind him and, seeing his ever-changing expression, knew that this guy was overthinking things.

Although Madara Uchiha and Tobirama Senju disliked each other, they were indeed the same kind of people with extremely complex inner feelings and outrageously dramatic personalities.

“Clan Chief Madara, we’re not in a hurry,” Uchiha Shingen said to him with a smile.

Standing at this level, he finally understood why Hashirama Senju became so unreliable later on, even though he wasn't like that at the beginning.

The personalities of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju were almost interchangeable during their adolescence and adulthood.

The more cunning someone is, the more idiotic they become.

He used to be a generous person, but now he's becoming increasingly sullen.

It was only because Hashirama Senju became too strong that everything that was originally troublesome became easy. The God of Shinobi no longer needed to consider those trivial matters, and naturally became more magnanimous.

In contrast, Tobirama Senju realized his own limitations, positioned himself as his brother's assistant, and then got angry every day.

Being a hands-off manager is truly appealing; it's euphemistically called "setting the big picture."

Uchiha Shingen is now realizing that whether he works that hard or not makes no difference; it's just that he's not as thick-skinned as Senju Hashirama, and he was too embarrassed to do so when he was in the village.

Because if he showed even the slightest sign of anything, Minato Namikaze would block him and watch him without saying a word.

Is it easy to slack off if the Naruto can use the Flying Thunder God Technique? Uchiha Shingen had thought about this question before, and now he has the answer—if your ex can also use it and is serving as your assistant and is also a seasoned pro at slacking off, then it's really not easy to slack off.

But don't worry, he already has a solution.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Shingen's gaze towards Uchiha Madara also became intense.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Madara Uchiha didn't like that look, so he glared back at him in a cool and domineering manner.

Compared to before, the flavor is a bit bland.

“Oh, Clan Chief Madara, I forgot to tell you,” said Uchiha Shingen, “Your salary in Konoha hasn’t been touched for so many years, decades now. Go back and collect it this time. I’ll open an investment account for you.”

"What salary?" Madara Uchiha was taken aback.

He felt that Uchiha Shingen was mocking him.

Who is he? He is the man who originally decided to destroy the entire ninja world, including Konoha.

Now, tell him he still gets a salary in Konoha?

"You forgot? This is a rule set by the First Hokage. You have to see the person alive or dead, otherwise you can't cancel the account. You're missing, so of course your salary will still be recorded." Uchiha Shingen said with a matter-of-fact expression.

He was also self-righteous.

As the saying goes, old sayings are not repeated twice, but Uchiha Shingen still wants to say it again—in the official records and external propaganda of Konoha Village, Konoha Shura never betrayed the village, he simply disappeared.

Madara Uchiha's identity has always been that of a Konoha ninja.

Since he was considered a missing person, his salary had actually been accumulating. This was a rule established in Konoha: if death was not confirmed, the salary had to be paid to the family. If there was no family to receive it, it would be recorded in the books. This was to prevent the situation where a ninja who went missing during a mission was treated as a combat death by the relevant departments in order to avoid the messy situation of the relevant departments treating him as a combat death in order to be lazy.

This move does not affect Konoha's cash flow and embodies the Will of Fire.

Madara Uchiha was the only exception, because his salary was initially determined by Hashirama Senju based on his own abilities. After all, he was one of the founders, and no one else had any objections to that.

But no one expected that the account holder, Uchiha Madara, would remain "missing" and be all alone. As a result, no one could access the money, and it had to be recorded in the account every year. The Hokage Building could not, in name, use it.

The salaries in Konoha Village are adjusted according to changes in the purchasing power of the currency. The most recent adjustment was during the Fourth Hokage's era. The current Hokage's annual salary is ten million ryo, thanks to the epic increase in Konoha's financial strength. A group of people forced the Hokage to take the lead in raising his salary so that they could also get a raise legitimately.

Regardless, over the years, Madara Uchiha's savings were actually quite staggering.

Recalling the early days of the Fourth Hokage's reign, Shimura Danzo, who was known as the "Dark One of the Ninjas," was a major figure in the ninja world. Yet, for a mere two billion ryo in war reparations, he didn't hesitate to use the spies who had been lying in wait in the Mizu Daimyo's mansion for many years. It was truly a past event that was too painful to recall.

However, Madara Uchiha clearly found the idea of ​​Konoha paying him a salary for decades ridiculous. He simply replied with "Nonsense" and refused to continue the conversation.

Uchiha Shingen didn't mind and changed the subject to continue the conversation. Perhaps because he had lost his original target, Uchiha Madara seemed quite indifferent to the world, letting Uchiha Shingen bother him without much impatience.

However, the two of them were moving faster and faster. Sometimes they would climb high mountains and look down at the forests below, which stretched out like a green barrier and merged with the blue sky in the distance. The next moment, they would walk back into the vast forest and return to the dark and damp environment.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the familiar dirt road through the forest finally reappeared before them.

Chapter 141 Going Home

Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village), West Gate.

A group of Konoha's high-ranking officials had already been standing here for a long time.

The reason is simple: the fifth generation leader, who had run off to have fun, has finally decided to return to the village.

There were quite a few people present. Minato Namikaze, who had been brought back by the Fifth Hokage to serve as Hokage's assistant, was not to be mentioned. Kushina Uzumaki, the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was also there, along with the heads of all the departments in the Hokage Building.

In addition, the heads of the existing major ninja clans are also present.

Actually, the clan leaders didn't have any objections to the Fifth Hokage's frequent attempts to sneak out of the village. After all, this former Konoha White Demon had already proven that he was a restless person. What they were concerned about was something else entirely.

Minato Namikaze was a big mouth. Since the Anbu only reported to the Hokage's assistant when the Hokage was away, this big mouth found out in advance that the Fifth Hokage had brought back the runaway Konoha Shura.

Naturally, everyone of standing in Konoha knew about it.

Aside from the God of Shinobi, no one could suppress the Leaf Village's Shura. This was true of the Leaf Village decades ago, and it remains true of the Leaf Village today. Perhaps the Fifth Hokage could, but considering that both of them share the surname Uchiha, and the Uchiha clan particularly reveres this former clan head who liked to walk sideways, no one thinks that the Fifth Hokage would deliberately try to suppress his own predecessor.

Moreover, although the Fifth Hokage did not show this, since the Second Hokage of Konoha took office, every Hokage has made some small moves against the ninja clans in the village. This has nothing to do with one's background. The Third Hokage, who was the most ruthless in making moves, was also from a great ninja clan.

As the only surviving ninja clans still able to live in this ninja world as ninja clans, the clan leaders all know that this Konoha Shura is not only arrogant outside, but also very arrogant at home. At the same time, out of the unspoken etiquette among ninja clans, they have no reason not to be present.

Didn't you see a huge group of Uchiha people coming? The Uchiha are notoriously petty.

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, two striking figures finally appeared.

Leading the way was none other than the Fifth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who had slipped away unnoticed.

The other one, clad in blood-red armor, with long hair flowing freely, and whose face practically screamed "Don't touch me," was none other than the infamous Konoha Asura.

Then, everyone heard the Fifth Hokage speak to Konoha Shura.

"Chief Ban, look how much everyone is looking forward to your return home."

Everyone: "..."

Those who were not from the Uchiha clan suddenly realized that the ninjas' exceptional hearing was not actually a good thing.

Those present were all Jonin, so pretending not to hear wouldn't be convincing.

On the contrary, the Uchiha clan had already begun to excitedly display banners.

So, regardless of their feelings, everyone present looked happy and honored.

Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Madara then walked up to the group.

"Everyone's got so much free time today?" Uchiha Shingen looked at Namikaze Minato in surprise. "I say, Fourth Hokage, this is nothing like you."

Minato Namikaze gave an awkward but polite smile.

He said that he never imagined that the Flying Thunder God Technique, which he had practiced for many years, would one day be mainly used to capture the Hokage.

Moreover, since the opponent also has the Flying Thunder God Technique, we really can't let our guard down at all.

"You've been gone for far too long," he could only complain. "There are so many documents to sign."

“Didn’t I already authorize it?” Uchiha Shingen said matter-of-factly. “You just need to sign it.”

Minato Namikaze was the first Hokage in Konoha's history to create a signature stamp.

Uchiha Shingen, of course, couldn't lag behind, so he was the first Hokage to create a power of attorney for his assistant to sign on his behalf, and the power of attorney specifically stipulated that sub-delegation was not allowed.

All routine matters, including non-military agreements between Konoha and other organizations, were handled by the assistant.

There's nothing else to it, it's just that Uchiha Shingen felt that the Hokage, such a prestigious position, should be given more responsibilities.

At the same time, Uchiha Shingen learned a lesson from the loss of his early retirement quota and stipulated that this was outside the scope of the authorization and could only be signed by himself.

"Alright, alright, stop making that face." Uchiha Shingen patted Namikaze Minato on the shoulder in a very good mood. "Clan Chief Madara is back. He's the real protagonist."

"Lord Madara, it's been a long time," Minato Namikaze greeted Madara Uchiha.