After breakfast, Kawaki accompanied Tsunade to the Hokage Building.
As soon as they walked in, Shouta was already hard at work—it definitely proved he was the chosen one when it came to being a workhorse.
"Good morning!"
Kawaki greeted warmly. Tsunade simply walked over and sat at her desk without saying much.
"You're back, Lord Kawaki."
Shouta tried his best to act surprised, though it clearly wasn't genuine.
During Kawaki's absence, Tsunade had been slacking off far less than usual.
Now that Kawaki was back, Shouta could tell at once his workload would skyrocket again.
"Yeah, I just got here this morning."
Kawaki understood exactly what was on Shouta's mind but pretended not to notice.
You can't expect someone to work diligently while also keeping their complaints bottled up.
"How was your trip?"
"Not bad."
...
Their conversation unfolded like a turn-based game—monotonous and half-hearted.
"Ahem~"
Tsunade interrupted the two men's dull exchange after finishing several important documents.
"We have something to discuss with Orochimaru now."
"We'll catch up later."
Kawaki caught Tsunade's hint and immediately excused himself.
"Alright."
Shouta glanced at Tsunade, suspecting Kawaki's words were true enough.
Though he couldn't interfere with Kawaki and Tsunade's plans, honesty still made things feel slightly better.
Kawaki's previous excuses had always been incredibly weak—he once even used "taking Tsunade to see a doctor" as an excuse.
This time around, there was a clear objective and they had just come back from outside the village, so the story seemed highly believable.
Still, despite knowing all this, Shouta felt rather annoyed.
In the end, he could only sigh deeply—carrying everything alone once again.
"You've worked hard."
Tsunade stood up and politely said her thanks, then the shameless pair slowly walked away in front of Shouta's eyes.
"What kind of sins did I commit in my past life?"
Shouta muttered under his breath, though his pen never stopped moving across the paper.
"What interesting materials did you bring back this time?"
"So you insisted I come with you?"
Tsunade hooked arms with Kawaki as they strolled down the long street, no different from any ordinary married couple.
"You'll find out when we get there. I promise it'll amaze you."
Kawaki gave a mischievous grin, intentionally teasing her.
"Now you're acting mysterious."
Tsunade teasingly tightened her grip on Kawaki's arm, leaning most of her weight against him.
The sight of them constantly showering each other with affection left many single people along the way filled with envy.
When they pushed open the laboratory doors, Orochimaru was already conducting some unknown research with Misaki's assistance.
"I already told you not to come barging in when you have nothing important to do."
Without even looking up, Orochimaru shot out a sharp remark.
"Sister, Brother-in-law."
Misaki obediently greeted them, then kept her eyes low and her heart calm, showing remarkable discretion.
"That's *my* territory. Just because I let you use it doesn't mean you own it."
Kawaki strolled up to Orochimaru, peering over to take a look.
He couldn't quite make out what they were slicing up, but it looked complex and intense.
"Name your price for this lab."
"I'm buying this place."
"Hearing Orochimaru's familiar rhetoric, Tsunade rolled her eyes.
She'd long grown tired of the childish banter shtick between those two.
She could already guess exactly what Kawaki would say next.
'Do I care about your stupid money?'
When they both spoke at the same time like a married couple, Misaki finally burst out laughing.
Orochimaru glanced at Misaki, wanting to speak up but held back.
Once again, his dignity as a teacher had taken a hit.
It was all Kawaki Hatake's fault—always dragging his intellect down to the same level.
Luckily today, he hadn't yet been defeated by Kawaki's wealth of experience.
"How old are you, still acting so immature?"
"Just hurry up and show us your good stuff. Don't waste everyone's time."
Tsunade looked at them like they were two immature children, helplessly shaking her head.
"Understood."
"Misaki, go prepare an autopsy room."
Kawaki ordered Misaki around without the slightest sense of guilt.
"All right."
After finishing her current assisting tasks, Misaki stepped inside.
"Did you bring back a piece of a Tailed Beast?"
Orochimaru couldn't imagine anything else worth preparing an entire autopsy room for.
"No, no, no."
"Just a piece of a Tailed Beast? That's nothing special."
Kawaki waved his index finger left and right with a single hand, a smug grin spreading across his face.
"Well then, now you've got my attention."
Orochimaru immediately discarded whatever work he'd been doing, flinging his scalpel onto the table.
The surgical blade clattered against the table before Orochimaru had already headed toward the autopsy room.
Clearly, whatever he'd been researching wasn't that important.
"What a hotheaded guy."
"Let's go."
Kawaki grabbed Tsunade's arm as the two followed closely behind Orochimaru.
"I'm done cleaning."
Though this autopsy room had already been cleaned, Misaki still gave it another check.
"Now bring it out."
Orochimaru slipped on special gloves, his snake-like eyes fixed on Kawaki.
If the item Kawaki presented failed to impress him, there'd be no hesitation in challenging him to a 300-move sparring match.
"Watch carefully. Don't blink."
Kawaki pulled out a weapon scroll, perhaps testing Orochimaru's knowledge reserves.
"You're kidding me?"
Orochimaru's eyes flared slightly—he couldn't recognize what kind of scroll this was?
Were weapons supposed to be dissected? He wasn't a blacksmith.
"Stay calm."
"This thing is related to corpses."
Kawaki removed the seal, and after a puff of smoke, two weapons appeared within the autopsy room.
"What is this?"
Tsunade recognized the objects instantly, her eyes widening in shock.
Weren't these weapons lost long ago?
How did they end up in Kawaki's hands?
"You know it?"
Seeing Tsunade's expression, Orochimaru grew serious too.
Scythe. Fan.
Racking his brain, Orochimaru finally recalled something.
No mistake about it—these were the heirloom weapons passed down through generations of the Uchiha Clan.
But weren't these weapons supposed to have disappeared along with Madara Uchiha?
With that question in mind, Orochimaru made a bold guess.
Even the way he looked at Kawaki had changed multiple times.
"That's right," Kawaki said. "This is Madara Uchiha's weapon."
"I'm definitely going to get Fugaku Uchiha to pay up nicely."
Kawaki had decided from the start—the item was meant to return to its original owner. The Uchiha Clan wasn't an enemy, and Fugaku himself was both a good friend and his junior by rank and age.
"So he didn't die back then?"
Orochimaru's mind worked quickly, while Tsunade froze at his words. It might also be that she simply couldn't bring herself to believe it—after all, Hashirama had been dead for many years now. And yet today, she discovered that her grandfather's longtime rival might have actually been alive all along.
"Congratulations," Kawaki said. "You got it right."
Kawaki snapped his fingers, bringing Tsunade back to reality.
She stared at those two weapons—her current feelings were beyond words.
"Here."
Kawaki took out another scroll and tossed it to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru took the scroll without sparing a glance for the weapons. Although he didn't know that Madara had fused with Hashirama's cells and awakened the Rinnegan, even just Madara's Sharingan alone held immense research value.
Unfortunately for him, his hopes would ultimately come to nothing—Madara's eyes weren't even in his own possession anymore.
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