After a morning of studying, Kushina—who had appeared attentive during the lesson—had actually retained very little.
"Well then, that's all for today. Don't forget tomorrow's class," Shuya said, staring pointedly at a certain corner.
"Lord Shuya, I promise I'll definitely be on time!" four-year-old Kushina immediately assured him.
Once the children left the training grounds...
Shuya, well aware of her short-lived enthusiasm, began thinking to himself, "Today we managed with an excuse about the TV, but what am I going to do next time? I can't keep fooling her with new Leaf Village gadgets."
"Lord Clan Leader, there's something strange happening inside Uzugakure!"
A hurried voice interrupted Shuya's thoughts. "What happened?"
The messenger quickly explained, "This morning our border barrier detected unusual activity. From afar we spotted a Black-clothed Ninja, and behind him followed some kind of moving Iron block emitting abnormal chakra. That's when I rushed back to inform you."
Hearing the uncertainty creeping into the report, Shuya grew suspicious. "Uzugakure lies at the edge of the shinobi world continent. These two uninvited guests must have come from the Land of Fire. We should make contact first."
Having made his decision, he barked, "Bring me to them—now! Whatever they're after, they won't be causing trouble in Uzugakure."
Thus, the current Uzumaki clan leader went ahead and planted his own doom flag.
"Two tigers, two tigers, running so fast, running so fast~" Shen, driving while resting his chin lazily on one hand, boredly sang a nursery rhyme. His childish tone sent shivers down the spines of the other three passengers.
Unable to bear it any longer, Nayou sitting in the front passenger seat swiftly extended her little finger and jabbed the throat of the person beside her.
"Waaah! Waaah!" Muted instantly, Shen looked terribly unhappy. Slamming the gas pedal finally lifted his mood a little.
"Boom!"
Staring blankly at the spinning scenery before him, Zetsu rolled across the ground dozens of times before realizing he'd just been run over by a car.
"I'd rather die than be humiliated! What is wrong with you, kid?" Sitting there on the ground, Zetsu finally felt a flicker of rebellion stir inside him.
Shen kicked open the car door forcefully, performed [Kai] to release the sealed pressure point, and climbed out wearing an expression of complete innocence. "Oops, sorry sir. Did you get that wrong? You dare to try scamming the richest family in Konoha—the Uchiha?"
"Scamming?"
"You don't even know what scam artists are? The older generation these days really lacks basic street smarts." With exaggerated seriousness, Shen continued expressing concerns about the future of the shinobi world.
These words caused the three members of Team One preparing to exit the vehicle to stumble mid-step, nearly falling flat together.
Feeling like he was back in shape, Nawaki was the first to step out in protest. "Hey you! Are you messed up in the head? What does that old man have to do with the future of the shinobi world?"
Instantly putting on the appearance of a wise elder, Shen earnestly explained, "You understand nothing! Are elders incapable of having futures too?"
"This uncle can keep running for two days and two nights straight. Do you, a young fellow, think you can handle it?"
"You-you!" Shengshu pointed at Drama King Shen but immediately got tongue-tied.
"What do you mean 'you'?" Shen smiled mysteriously, clearly wanting to kill some time.
After all, people from the Uzumaki Village had been watching them from nearby. This would be the perfect chance to make a move on them.
"I-"
"What do you mean 'I'?"
"You-"
"What do you mean 'you'?"
Nayou and Orochimaru watched expressionlessly, finally understanding that certain drama king's plan.
But this way of doing things made both of them feel rather embarrassed about meeting representatives from the Uzumaki Village who were soon to arrive.
Zetsu helplessly chuckled at the back-and-forth performance consisting only of these few lines. The crash earlier had left him somewhat dazed, but now he was clear-minded enough to understand Shen's intentions.
So that person wanted to lure Uzumaki clan members in to pin him down, huh? Zetsu thought that aside from that certain individual, he hadn't feared anyone else.
He could escape anytime—he was never afraid of the Uzumaki Sealing Technique in the first place.
Nearby but still some distance away from Team One and Zetsu:
"Clan Leader, we're here!"
"Good!"
Shuya arrived with his large entourage, and hadn't even fully reached the scene before hearing several weak-sounding shouts.
"You-"
"What do you mean 'you'?"
"I-"
"What do you mean 'I'?"
Slightly puzzled, Shuya quickly noticed the group of five before him—two adults and three kids.
The half-hearted calls from two children caught his attention particularly.
"The Senju and the Uchiha? And is that little girl from the Hyuga Clan? Why does this combination remind me so much of the trio from Konoha who recently became chunin last year?" Suspicions rising, Shuya coughed twice, trying to draw their attention.
"Who are you, mister?" x2
Two voices hoarse from shouting asked indifferently after all the yelling.
Shuya froze, genuinely not expecting that the people from Konoha would actually dare to ask who he was.
Thinking carefully though, since they looked barely older than Kushina, he quickly calmed down: "Hello, I am Shuya Uzumaki, the current head of the Uzumaki clan."
"Oh." x5
The group of two adults and three kids gave an indifferent response, then promptly ignored him again.
Even the usually airheaded Shengshu quickly caught on after just a few exchanges.
Muscles twitching on his face, Shuya finally figured out who these people were.
The gossip about the Uchiha second young master and the Senju heir being rivals constantly clashing was already all over the village.
"Shuya Uzumaki? Isn't that Grandma's nephew? So Uncle Shuya, you're actually my Nawaki's younger uncle!" It took quite some time, but Shengshu finally figured it out.
"Pfft!" Shuya almost choked on his own saliva due to that rather confusing description.
"Shouldn't that make me your distant cousin rather than your uncle? See! I told you're strong but slow-witted." Shen lectured Shengshu like a disappointed teacher.
"You're the slow one! I just said the wrong thing because I spoke too fast!"
"So you don't even think before speaking?"
"What do you mean 'what do you mean'?"
Nayou and Orochimaru, who had been watching from the sidelines like curious onlookers, quietly took a few steps back. They made it crystal clear they wanted nothing to do with those two. Even Zetsu, lounging on the ground, looked slightly uneasy.
By the way, the White Lab Mouse was still sleeping soundly inside the car. After all, Dora-A Shen had countless ways to keep him knocked out for ages.
Shūya, who'd been quietly watching everything go down, finally figured out why the Third Hokage had been writing him every few days lately, always griping about his endless headaches. Turns out it wasn't just bonding—it was legit stressful.
Orochimaru felt that if he didn't do something soon, Konoha's dignity would be completely lost.
So he quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Ahem, apologies, Lord Shūya. My two students were way out of line."
"Are all the ninjas from your Hidden Leaf Village this energetic?" Shūya struggled to find the right word, then went with something not too offensive.
The two older ones and the younger trio all fell silent. After all, after being brainwashed by that reincarnated guy so many times, they had a *very* different take on what "energetic" really meant.
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