One week later in the morning, the entire Uzumaki clan boarded buses heading toward Konoha.
"This is pure art! I'm a genius, no doubt about it!" Shen gently ran his fingers along the Chakra Channeling Blade—its hilt and sheath fused into one seamless piece.
(Humble author's note: Please, dear readers, stop bashing the weapon's name!)
Still sitting in the back of the prototype vehicle, Nawaki found his behavior highly irresponsible. "Hey, Mr. Pro Driver, how about watching the road ahead?"
Shen carefully sheathed the Chakra Channeling Blade and assured them, "Don't worry—I promise not to fly us into space this time."
"…" x3
All three members of Team 1 refused to believe him.
Deep down, they firmly believed that anything coming out of Shen Uchiha's mouth was pure nonsense.
What could Just Some Guy do now? Naturally, he shifted into car-god mode and pressed harder on the accelerator.
"Vroooom!"
A small flame instantly shot from the exhaust pipe behind the prototype.
The guy had even swapped out the engine for a jet-powered model—now that's the luxury only a rich man could afford.
Unfortunately, it was quite a rough ride for the poor Ninja Hawk tailing them. As soon as it landed on top of the prototype, before it could even deliver the Third Hokage's top-secret message, it nearly slipped off in terror.
If anyone could understand bird speech just then, they'd probably hear it muttering something colorful under its beak.
Nawaki gripped his seatbelt tightly and stole a glance at the dashboard.
That number—420—immediately shocked his already fragile nerves.
"If all optimizations go smoothly, we might hit 500 kilometers per hour. Though that's about all one engine can handle," Orochimaru noted in his little notebook, not a hint of guilt on his face.
"Shen, can you go any faster? This isn't as exciting as the rollercoaster last time," Nayou sourly ordered, still giving someone the cold shoulder after an entire week.
Though Shen didn't know exactly what he'd done to make Nayou ignore him for seven whole days, being a guy who knows how to read the room, he obediently hit the overclock button and began belting out his own off-key version of *Da Xiao Hu* (Catch Shrimp, Let's Go).
"Whoosh!"
The prototype rocketed forward at 550 km/h, leaving only a faint red glow behind. The drivers of fifty buses trailing behind were left feeling utterly defeated.
Inside one of those buses, Shūya seemed to have an epiphany. "So… this is what street racing feels like?"
He turned around and excitedly shouted to everyone else, "Cars... now *that's* a man's true passion!"
That evening, a massive black chunk of metal came barreling headfirst into Konoha.
As soon as the brakes screeched to a halt, the troublemaker jumped out and rushed straight onto the Kage Rock to loudly announce his return. "Ahahaha! I, Shen Uchiha, have returned!"
At the residence of the Uchiha clan head…
"Clang!"
Aiko, washing dishes after dinner, was so startled by the sudden voice that she dropped and shattered a plate.
"Mother, looks like Shen is back," Fugaku immediately got up and headed toward the kitchen. Originally, he'd just wanted to sit back and watch TV to help digest his meal.
Aiko took off her apron and sighed, "Sigh, it's not even half a year yet, and Konoha is about to face another storm."
"Mother, what you said about Lord Third and Father being away these few days..." Fugaku didn't continue.
Everyone already knew what would happen once that troublemaker returned—just ask any passerby on Konoha's streets, and they could give you the exact answer.
"Ahhh, this morning Lord Third and all the clan heads left for Sunagakure. Without them here, who in Konoha can actually stop this kid?" Aiko shook her head with a sigh, clearly indicating she wanted nothing to do with this mess.
"Well then, let's hope the construction ceremony over there wraps up quickly." After saying that, Fugaku casually went back to the living room like nothing had happened and resumed his binge-watching.
Above Konoha's Kage Rock, the troublemaker was listening to reports from his followers about recent events in the village.
"Funny, have all those big shots gone to Sunagakure? If that's the case, hehehe..."
Shen put on his earpiece and immediately began barking orders: "My fellow party people, tonight is the time for us to gather!"
His voice, transmitted through the earpiece into the sound system, instantly echoed across all of Konoha.
"ROAR!!!"
That perfectly synchronized roar showed just how 'popular' the troublemaker's decision truly was.
It even left the three members of Team One staring at each other in shock.
They all knew that if they tried to intervene, they'd probably be mobbed by dozens of wild partygoers.
And so, resignedly, they accepted this fact.
That night, the entire village of Konoha was filled with loud drums and firecrackers; the owner of a fireworks shop on Uchiha Commercial Street had a grin plastered on his face the whole evening.
By the next evening, at the Uchiha Clan Head's residence, the village's most notorious prankster had just woken up.
"Aha! Who knew modern youth could have so much energy? I barely managed to keep up with them!" Shen, who had been DJing until noon, kept grumbling nonstop as he sat down at the dinner table.
Aiko and Fugaku exchanged glances and chose to ignore his comment entirely.
Both mother and son understood that if they followed his routine, he would surely offer excuses like how everyone was too eager and dragged him into it.
"Uh..." Embarrassed on the spot, Shen quietly picked up his bowl and chopsticks and started eating.
"These few days since Father isn't home, I guess I'm free to have fun wherever I want. But Sunagakure..." Hoping to distract everyone with dinner, Shen suddenly found a brand new plan forming in his head.
"Shen, if your father finds out what kind of mischief you've been causing around the village these past few days, you're going to end up in serious trouble," Aiko, always attentive to her younger son's micro-expressions, remarked.
She knew full well the Konoha troublemaker would never let such a golden chance slip away.
But Shen gave her a reassuring look: "Mother, rest assured, I've long since moved beyond such childish distractions."
Aiko and Fugaku both deeply suspected that every word he said was laced with deception.
However, lacking evidence, they could only pretend to believe his ridiculous lie on the surface.
After dinner, the ever-troublesome Konoha mischief maker hurried off to the Uchiha underground lab with a new plan in mind.
"Snake Uncle, wanna try experiencing a little taste of flying?"
"
"Hmm? What are you planning, Shen?"
Seeing that Orochimaru was on high alert, Shen immediately turned on his charm and started his convincing act: "Snake Uncle, look—the propulsion system has already proven feasible. How about we build an airplane next?"
"And then what?" Orochimaru was very familiar with this ploy and insisted he wouldn't fall for such a simple trick again.
Shen gave him a "Jin-style" expression full of temptation and tempted him: "Obviously we'd test it once it's built. That way, Konoha's strength would be greatly enhanced, right? If you won't help me, I'll just build it myself anyway—after all, you're always so busy, Snake Uncle."
Orochimaru thought carefully and realized this might actually make sense.
Couldn't he build it himself even without help? He had seen firsthand how the other could assemble a washing machine without any blueprints at all.
"Fine then, since you put it like that, I'll give you a hand."
Grinning with his plan working, Shen immediately urged: "Then let's get started right away, Snake Uncle!"
In the southern part of the Land of Fire, a certain Ninja Hawk that had been croaking all the way continued flying along its route.
Behind it, a whole convoy of buses drove at full speed, heading in the exact same direction.
Clearly, this journey of The Third's Ninja Hawk would no longer be lonely.
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