The so-called mastermind's happy time never seems to last very long.
Shen was completely subdued after Nayou playfully punched his chest with a tiny fist.
In a Naruto world where everyone seemed to suffer from chronic bronchitis, he finally understood why his future young nephew had become so humble after passing through his rebellious phase.
Never provoke a taijutsu specialist!
This was the bitter lesson he learned from personal experience.
Jiraiya, who fully understood this sentiment, nodded along knowingly.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
"Deserved!"
Nayou, who was healing Shen, intentionally increased the pressure from her hands.
"Ah!" Everyone in the dining area instinctively inhaled sharply at the same time.
Only Jiraiya cast a sympathetic glance toward the loudly protesting Shen.
"Wait, this kid at least gets medical treatment," he thought immediately afterward, glaring at Shen.
Tsunade, despite her extraordinary medical skills, had never once healed someone after beating them up.
Poor Jiraiya felt such "wonderful" treatment was entirely unsuitable for someone like Konoha's troublemaker—one who would feel uneasy if they didn't stir up some chaos every single day.
Nawaki, who had long since grown used to these things, had fewer complaints.
He secretly hoped Nayou would give Shen even more grief—better yet, permanently cripple his greatest rival.
That way, Nawaki could finally stand tall again.
But there were only two people holding him back from doing just that.
Tsunade, who always acted far older than she looked, immediately began delivering harsh truths while patting Nawaki's head.
Her message was clear: study harder, or you'll spend your whole life stuck in the mountains.
Watching coldly from the sidelines, Orochimaru reaffirmed his anti-marriage beliefs even more strongly.
Marriage? How could it possibly compare to studying the human body?
Now focused on the right path, he wanted to live as long as he could—just to prove that flying solo worked just fine.
Gerissen suddenly felt a twinge of discomfort in his jaw.
Assuming it was from eating too many lemons, he swore that after this battle, he'd return to Sunagakure to find himself a girlfriend.
Being force-fed fake romantic scenes involving Tenten had already seriously upset his weak stomach.
Even Mamba and Angel, who occasionally flaunted their relationship, now felt jealous, insecure, and out of place.
Jealous because they'd been married for years yet were overshadowed by these two kids.
Insecure because relationships nowadays are getting worse—who knew they should have shown off their love more often around Sunagakure when they were younger?
And needless to say, everyone present felt they were completely unnecessary at this moment.
Right before the scheduled meeting with Iwagakure, Shen finally bounced back to full health.
He might have been feeling uneasy, but he wasn't about to stop—he had made up his mind, and that was that.
He was determined to melt the heart of a certain cold-hearted woman!
At exactly 2 PM, a total of one hundred shinobi from Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kusagakure arrived at the borderland between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth.
Jiraiya, barely suppressing his physical discomfort, brought Roshi to the border between the two countries and stopped walking.
Across from them stood exactly one hundred shinobi from Iwagakure, who immediately unsealed multiple sealing scrolls, revealing massive piles of gold and silver coins stacked four to five meters high.
Naturally, the shinobi world didn't share a single currency—it was every village for itself.
Even if Iwagakure obtained the twenty billion ryō, they still couldn't use it within the Land of Fire.
Under the collective witness of all four parties, they began weighing and appraising each item one by one.
The hundred representatives from Iwagakure kept glancing sideways toward Roshi, who had a uniquely eccentric appearance.
Currently, he wore an oversized coat on top and tight pants below.
Combined with his round bald head, he looked surprisingly stylish—hardly like a ninja at all.
Roshi, naturally, didn't care about others' gazes in the slightest.
In the beginning, he'd constantly struggled with inner conflict.
"Just follow your heart," Son Goku had advised, completely clearing Roshi's mental blockages.
He neither gave up on himself, nor did he bow to fate, much less accept the reality of dressing like a woman so often.
Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, wanted to prove to the entire shinobi world that his taste in style was something ordinary people simply couldn't comprehend.
"Clunk!"
One Iwagakure ninja accidentally dropped a gemstone, which sparkled brilliantly under the afternoon sun.
The gem rolled to a stop right in front of Roshi's stylish long boots.
Confident in his fashion sense, Roshi slightly bent down and picked it up.
"Here you go. Be more careful next time."
At this moment, their eyes met, as if sparks flew between them.
Slightly blushing, the ninja muttered, "Er… thank you, Elder Roshi."
"Don't mention it." Roshi placed the gem in the other man's palm and naturally patted his hand. "It's just what we do for each other."
"Swallow hard." The ninja shivered all over.
Feeling somewhat teary-eyed, he sensed a chill creeping down below his waist.
"Why don't you come grab some tea with me sometime?" Roshi said smoothly as he turned around, exuding an indescribable aura of intensity.
"I look forward to it, Elder Roshi." Outwardly polite and respectful, the ninja flashed a smug grin as soon as he turned around.
A smile no one else saw—except Iwagakure.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were left speechless.
One felt shame for sharing the same gender, while the other was astonished that this hidden mastermind's destructive power rivaled even the Konoha Troublemaker.
Orochimaru was now absolutely certain—he had full-blown commitment issues.
Mamba and Angel, the married couple, both silently marveled at how quickly times were changing.
Gerissen reaffirmed in his mind that his next potential date absolutely had to be female.
The nearly two hundred shinobi from various factions all reacted inwardly in different ways.
Some blushed furiously, some felt disgusted, while a few even dropped to their knees then and there, desperate to learn why Roshi had changed so drastically.
Because of this interruption, everyone had to start over, recounting the vast collection of golds and gems.
On a small hill extending about three kilometers along the border line,
the true mastermind behind it all—Hyuga Nayou—remained utterly calm.
Behind her, Shen and Nawaki stood frozen stiff, barely resisting the urge to flee immediately.
"Don't worry, this is just an experiment of mine," Nayou said with an eerie smile over her shoulder. "Believe me, I have no ill intentions toward you."
"Of course!" To show sincerity, Shen immediately made a vow on the spot: "I, Shen Uchiha, have already matured completely. From now on, I will reform entirely and start anew!"
Nawaki, watching in stunned disbelief, couldn't help but think to himself, *Well I'll be damned.*
And just as he suspected, the world really was fair.
In this ninja world, every creature had its natural enemy!
"Mm, I believe you," Nayou said with a satisfied smile before turning her head again to continue monitoring all unusual activity within a three-kilometer radius.
Shen pulled a sour face and shot a glare at Nawaki's expression of contempt, his eyebrows arching high.
As far as facial artistry went, he believed no one in the entire shinobi world could beat him—except maybe one prodigy whose talent had yet to fully bloom.
That legendary master of facial artistry in the shinobi world was none other than the one who could pummel a raging Naruto while pulling off wild expressions.
[Deva Path Pain: Chi! Ha! Kehn! Lee-an! Shen!]
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>