No one could defeat the formidable Hashirama.
After hesitating for a moment, Madara decided to stay and wait for Hashirama.
As for Madara's suggestion to use illusions to control the daimyo and nobles, it was flatly rejected by Hashirama.
Not to mention how exhausting and noisy it would be to manipulate a large group of people 365 days a year.
When Madara goes to the other world and the chakra connection is severed, wouldn't he have to return and create another illusion?
That would be extremely troublesome!
Of course, the fundamental reason is that Hashirama disagrees with such puppet-like control methods.
Madara is too lazy to argue and lets Hashirama play house alone.
If one day Hashirama is stabbed in the back by these idiots, he will understand.
If one day Madara replaces the Second Hokage, he will make sure to be the first to kill these parasites.
And now, Madara just wants to thoroughly study the power of the Rinnegan as soon as possible and revive Izuna!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Hashirama and his companions stayed in the Daimyo's Prefecture for three days.
During these three days, he basically helped the current Daimyo rebuild the Daimyo's Palace.
Of course, it was clearly not as grand as the original. The two Bijudama nearly wiped out all the people's money collected by the entire Daimyo's Palace over hundreds of years.
The loss was not small.
As for the Daimyo himself, it was good enough that he managed to survive.
No matter how much wealth he had, none of it was more important than his own life!
The Daimyo even kept pleading with Hashirama to stay at the Daimyo's residence to protect him and the safety of the Land of Fire.
Of course, Hashirama would not agree. He is the Hokage, not the Daimyo's bodyguard.
It would be good enough if we could send a few ninjas to guard him.
Even 2 billion a year cannot buy Hashirama's precious time.
Of course, to comfort the Daimyo, Hashirama also asked Tobirama to demonstrate the effects of the Flying Thunder God.
He also left a Konoha forehead protector with the Flying Thunder God mark, claiming that if Konoha were in danger of being attacked by Bijudama again, they would be able to quickly support the Daimyo's Palace.
After this consolation, the Daimyo and the others slowly calmed down.
Over the past few days, a group of nobles, including the Daimyo, had been working hard to raise funds.
The 3 billion commission to suppress the bandits could not be reduced by a single penny!
After witnessing the horror of the Bijuu, the nobles who survived by sheer luck were all momentarily terrified and dared not do anything.
Tobirama did not need to urge them; they were very proactive and self-aware.
However, what Konoha needed was physical silver, not the Land of Fire's paper money, which was too hard to use even for cleaning one's butt.
This was a large commission fee.
On the third day, the Daimyo and the nobles had only managed to raise 2 billion, and the remaining 1 billion would take a few more days.
Tobirama did not demand too much from them, as these scoundrels would not dare to violate the contract.
If they really had the guts to cancel the contract, the escaped Bijuu might come to the Daimyo's Palace for another "visit."
At that time, 2 billion would not be enough to solve the problem.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
And so it happened on the afternoon of the third day.
Hashirama bid farewell to the Daimyo and the others, and led Tobirama and the rest to leave the Daimyo's Palace.
Next, they prepared to act separately.
Hashirama and Madara hurried to the Land of Whirlpools to discuss research matters with the Uzumaki clan leader.
Tobirama led several elite Konoha soldiers and prepared to escort the large sum of 2 billion back to Konoha first.
Far outside the city.
Behind Tobirama, there were hundreds of silver-laden carts, forming a long line.
Scrolls could hold some items, but the space was very limited. It would be better if they could hold half the silver, let alone more than a hundred carts.
Besides, they did not have many suitable special scrolls.
What about the Flying Thunder God? Teleport back completely?
Tobirama was also exhausted.
So he still had to rely on the original mode of transportation.
This was also the reason why Tobirama chose to escort it personally. Who wouldn't be envious of such a large amount of silver?
Again, the same words:
Although the probability is very small, what if the money is really robbed? Tobirama might be so angry that he could directly provoke the First Ninja World War!
As the Konoha convoy moved along the road, Hashirama clearly sensed something unusual.
"Tobirama, why do I feel like everyone is looking at us in an unfriendly way?"
His perception was so sharp that he noticed the unusual gazes from the people around him early on, even though most people were very reserved and even dared to hide behind windows, door cracks, or in the dark to spy on them.
However, the fear and hatred mixed in those gazes were very clear.
The thorns in those gazes made him and the others feel uncomfortable.
Just three days ago, Hashirama drove away the Bijuu and saved the entire Daimyo's Palace, and millions of people in the city cheered and sang for him!
Why did everything change so suddenly?
Could their plan have been exposed?
Did everyone in the city know that the Bijuu and Konoha were colluding?
"Brother, I don't quite understand the reason."
Tobirama shook his head; he didn't know everything.
"Could they all know about your evil plan?"
"Impossible! Apart from the Bijuu, only a few of us know about this, and no one else would leak the secret. Even if someone did, it would be impossible to prove without evidence!"
Tobirama was very confident about this.
"What is going on?"
"Brother, except for Konoha Village, ordinary people in most other places have a natural fear of ninjas. Many rogue ninjas use their power to oppress people, just like they hate samurai."
"But we didn't harm them, did we?"
"Maybe it's because Madara is too brutal, which is why the people in the Daimyo's Prefecture are terrified."
Tobirama glanced at Madara beside him, jokingly blaming the evil Uchiha for everything.
"Hmph! Tobirama, are you looking for trouble again?"
Madara snorted, not even bothering to look at Tobirama.
He had already noticed the strange gazes from the people around him, but he didn't care at all.
"Alright, you two, stop arguing. We will soon leave this city. When I return, I will ask someone, and everything will be clear."
Hashirama didn't think too much about it. He knew he couldn't please everyone, so as long as he had a clear conscience, that was enough.
The convoy quickly moved out of the northern city gate, and Hashirama and Madara prepared to part ways with Tobirama.
They headed east towards the Land of Whirlpools.
Tobirama continued north back to Konoha Village.
However, shortly after leaving the city gate, a small, inconspicuous stone suddenly flew towards Hashirama.
Hashirama raised his hand, unconsciously catching the stone, and looked to the side.
Only then did he realize that the one who threw the object at him was a little girl in tattered clothes not far away.
"Get out! You are not welcome here!" the little girl cursed in a hoarse voice.
*SWOOSH!-
Tobirama drew his katana and stood in front of his brother with a murderous expression, mistakenly thinking there was a real attacker.
"Tobirama, wait a moment!"
Hashirama held Tobirama, signaling him to calm down. Whatever happened, there was no need to fear a little girl.
The person looked to be only five or six years old. What threat could she pose?
And Hashirama was just about to ask why the attitude of the people in the city towards his family had changed so drastically?
"Hello, I am a ninja from Konoha Village. What is your name? Why did you throw a stone at me?"
Hashirama smiled gently and asked the little girl.
The girl was clearly a little scared, but she still gathered her courage to scold:
"You are the killers of my father! Get out of here now!"
Hashirama was stunned, not understanding the reason.
When did he kill someone else's father?
No impression?
Could they be innocent people caught in the Bijuu's attack?
That's impossible!
Except for a small number of caravans and samurai affiliated with nobles, the Kyuubi hardly killed anyone.
And most of them were trampled to death in panic while running for their lives.
Could the girl's father be one of them?