Half a month later.
Shinju was in the Hokage's office handling official duties, while Naruto sat on the sofa beside him chatting.
Naruto: "Didn't expect Kabuto to actually be pretty competent as an orphanage director. Half a month in and nothing seems off."
Shikamaru walked into the office at just that moment with a stack of documents in his arms, smiling as he spoke:
"Shinju arranged for Yakushi Nono to meet him. How could he not give it his all?"
Naruto asked curiously: "Yakushi Nono? That name sounds kind of familiar. (‧_‧?)"
Shikamaru: "She's Yakushi Kabuto's adoptive mother. She used to be the director of the Konoha orphanage, and she was also an outstanding spy within 'Root.'"
"Later, because of Danzō's schemes, mother and son were turned against each other. She was killed by Kabuto himself. After that, Kabuto started going down a dark path…"
Naruto exploded with anger after hearing this: "How many evil things has Danzō done behind the scenes, anyway! ╰_╯"
Shinju: "Even he probably can't count them all himself. ┐(´-｀)┌"
...
Half a day later, Shinju wrapped up his morning work and planned to grab lunch and take a good rest.
On the way, Shikamaru casually mentioned: "I heard the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, is planning to groom that bespectacled kid as the Sixth Mizukage."
Naruto: "Bespectacled kid? You mean Chōjūrō?"
Shikamaru: "Yeah. The wielder of the twin blades Hiramekarei. No idea whether he'll be able to keep Kirigakure under control once he takes over."
Shinju nodded: "Kirigakure used to be known as the Bloody Mist Village. Even though Mei Terumi changed a lot of things, it's not a place just anyone can stabilize."
"…And his succession is still a long way off. Before that, Mei Terumi will probably pave the road for him."
"Oh right—has Mei Terumi gotten married yet?" Shinju suddenly asked.
Shikamaru shook his head: "There's no news about that at all. ┐(´-｀)┌"
...
While chatting, the three of them arrived at the entrance of Konoha's new bank.
Shikamaru keenly noticed something off about Shinju's expression and asked curiously: "What's wrong? (⊙o⊙)"
Shinju shook his head: "Nothing. I was just curious about the bank's security measures. I wonder if it could get robbed. After all, all of Konoha's villagers' savings are in here."
Shikamaru laughed: "You really don't need to worry about that. Rumor has it the new bank's vault can withstand explosions from thousands of explosive tags…"
Shinju: "What if the other side knows chakra blades, Truth-Seeking Orbs, or even has the Rinnegan?"
Shikamaru was speechless: "Are you reporting your own identity right now? ←_←"
"People with strength like yours are extremely rare in the ninja world!"
As he spoke, Shikamaru forcibly dragged Shinju away.
Shinju reluctantly pulled his gaze back from the bank entrance, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his heart.
...
Before long, the three arrived at Konoha's barbecue restaurant.
There, they ran into an old acquaintance—Chōza.
Shinju: "Does Chōza's family live in the barbecue place? Every time we come, we see him."
Shikamaru: "He just really likes eating barbecue."
As he said that, Shikamaru's eyes suddenly widened, staring in disbelief at the person sitting across from Chōza: "Hey, look! Isn't that a girl sitting there?! ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!"
Curious, Naruto stepped forward a couple of paces and saw the dark-skinned beauty sitting opposite Chōza: "Huh… she looks kind of familiar…"
Shinju took a closer look and realized the dark-skinned beauty really was someone he knew.
Killer B's disciple—Karui!
Shinju grabbed Naruto and Shikamaru: "Let's eat somewhere else. Don't disturb their date."
...
Ichiraku Ramen.
As soon as Shikamaru walked in, he saw a Shinju poster hanging on the wall.
In the poster, Shinju was holding chopsticks, as if he'd heard someone calling out to him, his face turned halfway to the side, showing off a flawless profile…
Right next to Shinju's poster was one of Naruto, eating noodles with absolutely zero regard for his image…
Naruto: "Isn't this way too unfair? Why does Shinju's photo look so cool, while mine is so indescribable? ∑(✘Д✘๑)"
Shinju comforted him: "Your photo actually makes people more hungry. I think it's pretty good… Ծ ̮ Ծ"
Naruto: "Stop trying to fool me."
...
Halfway through their ramen, Shinju heard a commotion outside!
"Quick, go take a look! Something happened over at the bank!"
"Someone strapped explosive tags to himself and is trying to rob the bank!"
"That's terrifying! Can he not even afford to eat, to do something like this?! (꒪⌓꒪)"
"Or maybe he's under some other kind of pressure!"
Shikamaru asked: "Go take a look?"
Shinju nodded.
Normally, something like this wouldn't require Shinju to personally step in—the Konoha Police Force would handle it.
But he was the Hokage now. Since he'd heard about it, he naturally had to deal with it.
...
Outside Konoha Bank.
The police force was locked in a standoff with the criminal.
Beyond the cordon, a large crowd had already gathered.
Shinju looked at Shikamaru and said smugly: "See? My worries came true."
Shikamaru: "How about we think about how to resolve this first? (ー_ー)!!"
Inside the bank, a young man whose entire body was wrapped in explosive tags poked his head out and said nervously: "Don't come any closer! Take one more step and I'll blow myself up!"
At that moment, Shinju stepped out from the crowd and stared straight into the young man's eyes:
"Tell me your demands. What do you want so you won't explode?"
When the young man clearly saw Shinju's face, he froze: "S-Sixth-sama!"
Shinju: "It's me. Say what you want, quickly."
That single sentence completely threw the young man off. He stammered for a long time without managing to say anything coherent.
The next instant, Shinju activated his dōjutsu. An Aoki-no-Mikoto clone appeared behind the youth, and with a swift motion—whoosh!—ripped off all the explosive tags bound to his body!
After that, the clone used Flying Thunder God to vanish together with the young man, and the bank robbery was resolved.
...
The onlooking crowd slowly dispersed, chattering among themselves.
"How boring. It ended just like that. I thought he was really going to blow himself up. ¯\(ツ)/¯"
"Yeah, not exciting at all."
"If he was going to explode, he should've done it already. Standing there just wasting everyone's time. ▼_▼"
Hearing these thrill-seeking remarks, Shinju got so angry he punched each of them once.
"Say something like that again, and I'll strap explosive tags onto you! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
After dealing with that, Shinju returned to the office.
...
Inside the office.
The clone held the young man in custody. After taking a sip of tea, Shinju leisurely asked: "Why did you strap explosive tags onto yourself to rob the bank?"
"What happened that made you think this was the only way out? Tell me properly."
Almost every member of Konoha's younger generation idolized Shinju, and this youth was no exception. After hearing Shinju's question, he recounted everything he'd gone through over the past few days, piece by piece.
"I work at a tech company in the village. I'm diligent every day, doing whatever I'm told. But my boss not only makes me work overtime constantly—he also stole my creations. The pressure was too much. I didn't want to live anymore. (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
Shinju nodded: "Alright. I understand the problem. I'll hang your boss on a streetlamp later."
"But I still have one question. If you couldn't take it anymore, shouldn't you have gone and offed yourself—hanging, jumping off a building, something like that? Why strap explosive tags to yourself and rob a bank? (º Д º*)"
The young man pouted: "That's what I thought at first too. But someone told me… that I shouldn't die so sloppily… (/ω＼)"
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