Tobirama Senju heard every word Uchiha Madara said loud and clear.
And he picked up on some seriously important details!
What did Madara mean by "five chances"?
Could it be that summoning the dead has a limit?!
And it sounds like this summoning thing is kind of a gamble…
From what Madara just said, it seemed he had intended to summon his older brother, but somehow, he ended up being the one revived instead!
As for Madara calling him a "useless fool," Tobirama instinctively brushed it off.
After all, he couldn't exactly beat Madara in a fight—what was he supposed to do?!
Go ahead and call him an "evil Uchiha" again?
And then get crushed into mincemeat by one of Madara's giant meteors?!
Sure, Tobirama Senju might be stubborn as hell, but he wasn't an idiot!
Even if he couldn't take on this evil Uchiha himself, that was fine!
He'd just wait for his big brother to show up and let him take care of Madara!
"So, you're Ito Hirofumi, right?" Tobirama said, his tone skeptical. "To be honest, I'm still a little confused… You just said you spent one billion ryō to summon me?
Are you telling me the only cost for summoning someone like me from the dead is just money?!
And another thing—what Madara said about 'five chances,' what's that about?!"
He almost let slip "that evil Uchiha" again but caught himself when he remembered Madara's terrifying strength.
"About those five chances," Tobirama continued, "I think I get the gist of the other four. You're saying I used up one summoning slot, right?"
Ito Hirofumi nodded, impressed. "Not bad, Second Hokage. You pieced most of it together from just a few words."
"Exactly," Hirofumi explained. "I've got a contract with the spirit world, but summoning the dead still comes at a cost—and that cost is ryō. Since I'm in the Leaf Village, I can only summon spirits tied to the Leaf for now. Summoning spirits from other places? That's something I might be able to do later, but only if I manage to unite the entire shinobi world first.
The amount of ryō depends on the level of the spirit. For powerhouses like you, Second Hokage, or Madara—Kage-level shinobi—it costs a billion ryō. For others, it's cheaper: ten million for an elite jonin, one million for a jonin, a hundred thousand for a chunin, and just ten thousand for a genin.
But honestly, I'm not too interested in those lower-tier shinobi—at least not right now. I managed to scrape together five billion ryō, which means I get five shots at summoning Kage-level shinobi. I've already used one, so I've got four left."
Tobirama nodded as he processed this, but his expression grew serious. He sized up Hirofumi, then glanced at Madara.
"Five billion ryō?!" he exclaimed. "That's no small amount! Even a top-tier clan like the Senju couldn't just pull that kind of money out of nowhere! Where'd you get it?
The Ito clan's just a small family in the Leaf Village, as far as I recall. You didn't do anything to betray the village, did you…?"
As he spoke, Tobirama's eyes kept darting toward Madara. It was clear he suspected the money came from some shady deal with the "evil Uchiha."
Madara caught the look and let out a cold scoff.
"Hmph! Tobirama Senju, don't project your filthy thoughts onto me! Ito's money? He borrowed it!"
"Borrowed?!" Tobirama shot back, incredulous. "From who? No clan in the Leaf could just cough up five billion ryō! Madara, if you're going to lie, at least make it believable!"
Madara smirked. "Just because your Senju clan couldn't manage it doesn't mean the Uchiha can't. That five billion? Ito borrowed it from the Uchiha. Got a problem with that?"
Tobirama's jaw tightened. Madara's words stung, and they brought up a sore spot. The Uchiha clan… gone. According to what Ito had told Madara earlier, it all traced back to Tobirama's policies. If he hadn't suppressed the Uchiha, his disciples probably wouldn't have moved against them.
It's all that evil Tobirama Senju's fault! Madara thought bitterly.
Tobirama let out a dry laugh. "Heh, who would've thought? The Uchiha clan, swimming in cash. Probably from all the shady stuff you've been up to over the years, huh? How else could you pull out that kind of money so easily?"
The moment those words left Tobirama's mouth, Hirofumi's heart sank. Oh no, that's like pouring salt on Madara's wound!
Sure enough, Madara's face darkened, his voice low and dangerous. "Tobirama Senju… are you trying to die?"
"What's wrong?" Tobirama fired back, unfazed. "Did I say something incorrect? If the Uchiha can casually toss out five billion ryō, who knows what kind of schemes you're cooking up!"
Truth be told, Tobirama didn't have any deep grudge against the Uchiha or any desire to wipe them out. His concern was purely about the Leaf Village's stability and peace. Having lived through the Warring States Period, he knew the Uchiha all too well.
That clan was terrifying.
Not only were they warlike and skilled in battle, but they got stronger the more they fought! Those Sharingan eyes of theirs evolved through bloodshed and madness, growing more powerful with every conflict.
Back in the day, the Senju clan had faced immense pressure just to keep up with the Uchiha. If it hadn't been for his brother Hashirama's unmatched strength, the Senju might not have stood a chance.
Tobirama had no idea the Uchiha had already been wiped out. In his mind, a clan that could casually throw around five billion ryō must be insanely powerful—maybe even dangerously so.
Seeing Madara's expression grow darker by the second, Hirofumi quickly tugged at Tobirama's arm, desperate to defuse the situation. He didn't want Madara to lose it and obliterate his billion-ryō investment!
"Lord Second Hokage!" Hirofumi interjected. "There's something you don't know. That money? It was pretty much the Uchiha clan's entire fortune. Because… the Uchiha clan has been wiped out.
Right now, there's only one surviving Uchiha left in the entire Leaf Village."