White Zetsu, who had been nervously watching from the shadows the entire time, couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth slightly when he saw Team One start messing around.
Inside him, a different kind of emotion seemed to be growing.
"So this is what it feels like to have comrades? But why is it different from what Lord Madara described? If it was one-on-one, these three kids would probably be long dead by now. If only I'd known earlier, I wouldn't have needed to go searching for that item."
Holding a small scroll, White Zetsu gave one final deep look at Shen, who was still talking a mile a minute.
Then, believing there was no longer any danger, he returned to that battered temporary command center.
It had once served as a detention chamber—in fact, that's why he could vanish and later reappear without suspicion.
Currently, White Zetsu seemed to carry just a bit of feeling that defied Madara's orders.
Somewhere in Uzumaki Village, several Anbu from Konoha stood frozen at the scene, looking at the scattered remains of Rain ninja wearing grey flak jackets strewn across the ground.
"Wh-What exactly happened here?"
"These bodies appear to have been blown into pieces by an explosion of tremendous power."
"Even though the Uzumaki Clan has vast chakra reserves, this kind of devastation shouldn't be possible from them alone."
"Obviously, it's a prearranged trap. This time, the Rain ninjas might finally reap what they've sown!"
Wearing her mask, Qing showed no expression, yet her subordinates' conversation reminded her of certain troublemaker's methods.
"This must be Shen Uchiha's work. Never thought that kid could actually help the village significantly," she said tonelessly before stepping forward to check whether any survivors remained among the corpses.
"Shen Uchiha? The biggest troublemaker Konoha has ever seen?"
"Troublemaker? That's DJ Shen we're talking about!"
"Didn't Anbu explicitly ban that type of music?"
"Did we? No—you old man are the one who dragged me into this obsession!"
The tension began to dissipate as the conversation shifted to the troublemaker.
Already casually chatting about the next EDM festival, they remained completely unaware just how dangerous their captain's masked eyes looked.
"Has Shen Uchiha's influence already reached into Anbu? When we return to the village, I definitely need to report this matter to Lord Third." As Qing picked up an arm segment, she made this mental decision.
She had practically branded that troublemaker as a cult leader already.
In the Hokage Tower lounge of Konoha, Third Hokage, who had been watching television, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.
"Ahh-choo!"
After sneezing loudly, he felt completely shaken: "Could something have happened in Uzumaki Village?"
After thinking for a moment, Third Hokage grabbed the remote control and switched off the TV.
He then hurried to his office to check for incoming reports.
In Uzumaki Village, Shūya, sitting idly on some rooftop, nearly fell asleep from sheer boredom.
"Wowie, it's practically dawn already." He glanced at a streak of white light under the night sky, sensing something meaningful.
"Uncle Shūya, you guys are so slow. Our Team One already dealt with those leaders ages ago."
"Watch out!" Shūya turned his head cautiously, but upon recognizing the newcomer, he slumped back into his listless posture. "Oh, it's you, Shen. I was wondering how you managed to plant so many bombs under the village when your Sleeve Dart was already in place."
Hearing the lazy tone in the other's voice, Shen knew his plan hadn't been exposed. "Oh, that? It's just a failsafe. If we can't beat them... at least we'll take 'em with us."
Thinking about the attackers' plan, Shūya immediately sat upright. "Makes sense. The Uzumaki clan will never be slaves!"
"Did you know there's a traitor in our Uzumaki village? Actually, more than one." Then Shen launched into a lengthy account of how brilliantly he had uncovered their schemes.
Listening to this, Shen felt like falling asleep again. "This Uzumaki verbal jutsu really is something else. He's gonna talk me to sleep if I'm not careful."
While these two exchanged roles, Orochimaru noticed the Anbu from Konoha.
"Orochimaru, Hokage-sama has ordered your Team One to return to Konoha."
"Understood. But how did the teacher know we'd already completed our mission? Well then, I suppose your arrival means he already knows the truth about everything?" Orochimaru immediately recognized Qing; they were both students under the Third Hokage, after all.
"Completed the mission? The truth?" Qing coldly tossed out two questions.
Seeing this reaction, Orochimaru realized things weren't going as he had assumed.
He quickly summarized the whole story to Qing.
"I see. Unexpectedly, Team One encountered a Rain ninja with a change of heart during their mission."
Meanwhile, Shen, who had nearly fallen asleep, suddenly remembered his own plan.
"Uncle Shūya, what does the Uzumaki clan plan to do next?"
"What else can we do? We must repair all the damage these people caused to the village as soon as possible. It'll probably take two or three years to fix everything. Those damn attackers!" The more Shūya spoke, the angrier he became.
Shen instantly put on a show of sincerity and concern. "Uncle Shūya, I have a suggestion that could ensure such incidents never happen to the Uzumaki clan again."
"Ah? Go ahead and tell me, Shen. If it's feasible, we'll follow your suggestion." Shūya fell for it immediately.
"You see, even with the Uzumaki clan's powerful Barrier, we couldn't prevent spies from infiltrating. During the reconstruction period of Uzumaki village, the enemy might attack again."
"That's true enough." Shūya nodded in agreement with this hypothesis.
Shen felt it was time to reveal his hand. "So why not have the entire Uzumaki clan relocate to Konoha? Don't worry, Uncle Shūya — after all, our Uchiha clan is the richest in Konoha. Renting some land is nothing more than a drop in the ocean."
Ah, now Shūya finally understood why he'd been beating around the bush for so long before revealing his true intentions.
"Moreover, we defeated all the people from the Five Villages this time. They'll definitely look for opportunities..." Shen didn't finish voicing the rest of his assumptions.
However, Shūya already knew what he meant. After all, would they really come back to Uzumaki village for friendly exchanges after eliminating all their people?
He knew that next time their visitors came, they'd certainly be far more numerous.
"So then, Shen Uchiha, what's the price?"
"Shūya, what you said truly reflects your position as the head of the Uzumaki clan."
Shen, who had previously worn the look of a capitalist, immediately turned solemn: "As the youngest son of the Uchiha clan head, I only seek friendship with the Uzumaki clan. You surely already know about the corruption among Konoha's upper ranks, right?"
Upon hearing this, Shūya's eyes narrowed: "I see, so it's a collaboration between the Uzumaki and Uchiha? Then what can we gain from this?"
"I won't feed you empty promises, but as a shareholder of Uchiha Corporation Limited, I can provide the Uzumaki clan with all sorts of resources—anything money can buy. As for anything beyond that, you'll need to talk directly with my old man—cough cough—my father." Shen almost slipped his tongue during such a serious conversation.
Shūya immediately shot him a suspicious look: "Why do I feel like you're trying to set me up?"
"I, Shen Uchiha, swear on my honor—if I betray the Uzumaki clan!" He then raised three fingers to the heavens, invoking curses like "may lightning strike me down" and "may I suffer a terrible fate."
"Alright, alright, I believe you."
"No way! We haven't even gotten to the part about your next life yet!"
"Enough. I accept your offer."
The fake-good smile master—who was secretly overjoyed inside—skillfully patted the other's shoulder: "Pleasure doing business with you!"
After reaching the agreement, Shūya couldn't shake his nagging feeling that something was off.
At that very moment, he still couldn't begin to picture the Uzumaki clan turning into regular office workers.
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