One month later at the *Nama River*, our little genius and the Little Iceberg were training separately.
"Puhahaha!"
Shen, practicing his Fire Release techniques, couldn't help but burst into laughter as a memory hit him.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. That was just your imagination."
Faced with Nayou's death glare, Shen chose to back down.
"Puhahaha!"
The death glare struck again.
"Nayou, it's really not my fault. Every time I see you, I just picture 'puhahaha'—you know, that unstoppable laugh!"
Crouching down, clutching his stomach, Shen laughed so hard tears appeared.
"You dare say it again! If you'd just said, 'I'm about to sneeze all over you,' I would've opened it myself!"
"But didn't I clearly tell you before leaving that I—"
"I couldn't hear!"
Shen felt deeply wronged by this logic. But when a girl insists she didn't hear anything… buddy, be my guest. Best of luck with that!
"And why did you personally go deliver the antidote potion to Father?" Nayou always thought his behavior that day had been strange; anyone hovering around you like that would seem weird, right?
"It was nothing. Just showing some concern for your dad, that's all. And hey, he even thanked me nicely afterward, right?"
Of course Shen hadn't gone out of pure kindness to deliver the potion to Meide—how could you expect him to hand over the antidote immediately after spitting in someone's face? Actually, when he saw the man's expression, an idea instantly popped into his mind. His brain had plenty of storage space; one glance was enough to permanently save those images.
That's exactly why he had gone alone that day, facing the Byakugan stares of the entire Hyūga clan. He had "taken photos," as planned. As soon as he realized he'd soon possess the Hyūga clan head's embarrassing secret footage from multiple angles, he became extremely polite, repeatedly apologizing sincerely and making it difficult for the other party to retaliate.
Throughout this past month, every time these multi-angle "exclusive private photos of the Hyūga clan leader" popped into Shen's mind, he would laugh uncontrollably, making Nayou believe it must be because of how ridiculous her father looked that day.
"Father was… whatever. I still don't believe you can keep laughing forever."
After constantly hearing random bursts of laughter recently, Nayou was nearly getting used to them. She wouldn't find it surprising at all if Shen died laughing.
"Okay, seriously, this is the last time."
"You promise?"
"I pro-puhahaha!"
"I'm leaving. I'm going home!"
Watching Shen roll on the ground laughing, Nayou decided maybe letting him laugh until he passed out wasn't such a bad idea.
"Don't go, puhahaha—I swear, this really is the la-hahaha final ha-ha!"
Nayou quickened her pace away.
Only when Nayou's figure disappeared further into the distance did Shen finally stop laughing: "Can you blame me? Every time I think about it, those pictures just pop up automatically in my mind, puhahaha!"
That day, the laughter echoing throughout the entire *Nama River* area only gradually faded at sunset.
After dinner, Shen arrived alone at the underground laboratory beneath the Uchiha Commercial Street.
"Snake Uncle, I've already started production of these appliances at the factory according to Version 3. I'll give you ten percent of the pure profit."
"Ten percent pure profit? That's quite a large sum of money indeed." Orochimaru was somewhat astonished by Shen's generosity.
Remember, this is pure profit after deducting labor costs. He calculated that selling just ten units would fetch the same reward as a B-rank mission. Thinking about working here forever, Orochimaru recalled his teacher, the Third Hokage, and abandoned the idea.
Shen casually pinched his fingers together as if measuring something invisible, then spoke lightly, "These are nothing to the Uchiha. Buying all of Konoha would be a moderate gesture at best."
Orochimaru was stunned by Shen's audacity and felt speechless. We know the Uchiha are rich, but could you please not say it so casually like that? Saying things this way will cost you friends, you know?
"I have no interest in money. Honestly, I haven't even collected my salary until now!" Shen continuously launched mental attacks while using [Acting No Jutsu].
Orochimaru claimed he was exhausted and went back to his personal rest room. He had no desire to keep interacting with someone constantly pretending to be something else. Just these few sentences had already hurt his heart badly.
"Wait, Snake Uncle! I haven't reached the main point yet!"
What greeted Shen was a closed door.
"I haven't even mentioned the preparations for next week's Commercial Street opening."
Indeed, the Uchiha Commercial Street has already been built. Otherwise, why else would Shen come here late at night? Did he really come all the way here just to find Snake Uncle and act fake with him?
Shen insisted he had already become someone detached from lowly tastes and interests. He was merely easing the atmosphere. Orochimaru, an enthusiastic scientist lacking sunshine, needed some jokes anyway.
"(Orochimaru: You think I *wanted* to build my lab underground? Nobody in their right mind would pick such an isolated place without serious security concerns!)"
"Oh right, Snake Uncle mentioned to me before that he'd already worked out the printer..."
After searching through the exhibition room, Shen finally found the printer. However, the thin layer of dust clearly indicated it had been placed there immediately after being made.
"Snake Uncle probably thinks this thing isn't useful enough, so he put it in the corner... Later on, hehehe..."
Plotting mischief, he stuffed the thick stack of freshly printed photos into a folder and headed home, humming a tune he called "Starting Over" while muttering something about Li Bai, a famous Tang poet.
If given another chance, Orochimaru definitely wouldn't have shut that door.
"Kazushi snapped, 'You little rascal, where've you been sneaking around this late?'"
Just out of the living room and unable to sleep at night, Kazushi saw Shen sneaking indoors. Immediately, he knew the other must have returned after doing something bad.
"Hehe, old man, I've got a big surprise for you!" saying which, he pulled out something large from his coat.
"???"
Kazushi stared at the large folder being pulled out with disappointment; he had been expecting something far more impressive.
"Old man, you weren't thinking anything dirty just now, were you?" Immediately, Shen protected his vital areas.
Seeing Shen being playful, Kazushi remained expressionless. "Hurry up then. I need to go rest after this. Tomorrow I still have to negotiate rent issues with many families."
With a sly grin, Shen handed him the folder and said, "Old man, I guarantee you won't get any sleep after looking through this."
Quickly responding upon receiving the folder, Kazushi said, "You brat, this isn't another one of Jiraiya's little 'Poof!' books, ha-ha-ha—this antique, ha-ha-ha!"
"Old man, how is it? Isn't it exciting?"
Hahahahaha, this is pure gold!
Don't I kill it or what?
So good, hahaha!
Dad, don't show this to anyone. I'm scared—haha—I'm scared someone might see it and—haha—kidnap me! Shen couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Just imagining the normally dignified Hyūga Clan Head covered in ink was already enough to make anyone laugh, not to mention there was now a thick stack of photos capturing various expressions and angles.
I know—hahaha—I know!
Father and son locked eyes for a second, then cracked up at the same time: Hahahaha!
That night, laughter from the residence of the Uchiha clan head echoed on and on. However, the Uchiha members all said it was no big deal. Obviously, their regular father-son hangouts every few days had long become something everyone was used to.
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