As Madara Uchiha stared at Hirofumi Ito, his mind raced with possibilities.
If this kid had enough cash, could he really summon Hashirama Senju, that big goof, back to life?!
But right now, the kid was broke!
And Madara wasn't even sure if Hirofumi was pulling his leg. If he was lying and Madara went out to help him get money, wouldn't that make him a chump working for free?!
"Madara… what're you thinking about? Missing Hashirama?" Hirofumi suddenly asked.
"How'd you—?! Pfft, as if! Me, miss that goof?! That's a joke! A huge joke! Who'd miss that idiot?!" Madara sputtered.
But seeing the weird smirk on Hirofumi's face, Madara's old cheeks flushed. He was just thinking about Hashirama, wasn't he?!
Hirofumi's expression shifted to a fawning grin, his hands rubbing together like a scheming fly. "Madara, how about we make a deal?"
Madara shot him a sideways glance. This kid's thoughts were written all over his face—no subtlety at all!
"Hmph. What kinda deal?"
"You help me get some cash, and I'll summon Hashirama for you! Win-win, right? Let's team up!"
"Heh. Why should I help you get money? And how do I know you're not just scamming me?"
"Scam you? For what? You're not some blushing maiden! What's there to scam you for?"
"Tch! I'm the freaking Shura of the Ninja World! You saying I'm not worth scamming?!"
"Come on! Who's gonna scam a cranky old man like you? I'd rather go after a couple of cute girls!"
"Kid… you swear you're not messing with me?"
"Swear on it! Fine, whatever…" Hirofumi waved a hand dismissively. "If you don't believe me, I'm about to borrow some money from Sasuke Uchiha. Once I've got the cash, I'll show you my summoning jutsu. Then you'll see I'm for real, and we can talk about working together."
With that, Hirofumi didn't stick around. His chakra faded from the summoning space, leaving Madara alone in the villa.
Madara's face grew serious.
This kid seemed way too confident, like he had everything under control.
Could it really be true, like he said, that summoning the dead required money?
That sounded like total nonsense…
But if it was true…
His little brother, and even Hashirama, could come back…
His brother, though, might be tricky for now. Hirofumi had mentioned his system was tied to Konoha's dead, and his brother died before the village was founded. Did that still count as a Konoha spirit?
Then again, Madara had buried his brother in what became Konoha…
If you looked at it that way, maybe his brother did count as a Konoha spirit!
Ugh, thinking about this was pointless!
He needed to see if this kid was telling the truth. If he was, Madara wasn't above helping out. Getting money? Easy. Just go rob a few places!
Meanwhile, Hirofumi was multitasking. While chatting with Madara in the summoning space, he was also hanging out with the Konoha 12 in the real world.
Ino Yamanaka kept piling food onto his plate…
By now, everyone was mostly done eating, and the sky was getting dark.
"Hinata, it's getting late. We should head home," Neji said.
Hinata nodded. "Okay, Brother…"
Seeing Neji leave, Tenten and Lee said their goodbyes too.
The others realized it was time to go as well.
Ino looked at Hirofumi. "Hirofumi, you coming with us?"
"Nah, you guys go ahead. I'm not in a rush."
In the end, only Hirofumi and Naruto stayed behind at Sasuke's place.
Naruto wasn't in a hurry either. Going home just meant being alone anyway…
Everyone had cleaned up most of the mess before leaving, so now Sasuke, Naruto, and Hirofumi sat side by side in Sasuke's courtyard, gazing at the night sky.
For the first time since the night his clan was wiped out, Sasuke felt a sense of peace. Having Hirofumi and Naruto there, bickering with Naruto especially, made his heart feel strangely calm.
"Hirofumi… you've got something you want to say, don't you?" Sasuke asked.
Hirofumi glanced at him, surprised. This guy's sharper than I thought!
"Yeah, there's something."
"Just spit it out. Beating around the bush isn't like you."
Hirofumi scratched his head. Asking for money was tougher than he expected!
"Well… I was hoping to borrow some money from you. And, uh, it's not a small amount."
Sasuke blinked, caught off guard. "You're short on cash?"
He was confused. Hirofumi was never broke at the academy—always spending like it was nothing. Why was he asking for a loan now, and a big one at that? Was something wrong?
Naruto, overhearing, didn't hesitate. He yanked out his little frog wallet. "Hirofumi, how much do you need? I've got some saved up—maybe a few hundred ryo. Take it if you need it!"
Seeing Naruto open his wallet and pull out a handful of loose change, Hirofumi was genuinely touched. "Thanks, Naruto, but I need a bit more than that…"
Sasuke's suspicion grew. Hirofumi wouldn't ask for money unless something serious was up. "How much? And what's going on?"
"Oh, you know, the more the better! One or two billion? Not too little. Five or eight billion? Not too much!"
Hirofumi's casual mention of billions made Naruto leap to his feet in shock. "Hirofumi?! What're you planning?! Billions?! What's going on?!"