"You're my little apple," Shen muttered—everything went dark.
"The vast horizon is my love," Shen groaned—once again, everything went dark.
"Nope, nope, nope—this is all my fault!" This time, his vision went dark for the third time.
Half an hour later, Shen—who had just entered—was kicked out once more.
"Darn you, Nine-Tails! If I don't get revenge for this, then call me no longer a man—I, Shen Uchiha!"
Roaring with fury, Shen deactivated his Sharingan—which was almost out of ocular power—while the Third and Mito exchanged puzzled glances.
"Granny Mito, don't worry. I'll come every single day from now on. I won't believe this Nine-Tails can last longer than me!" Fuming with rage, Shen stomped off.
The Third Hokage and Mito looked at each other. They both understood—he must've been teased by the Nine-Tails again and failed to renew the seal.
"Grandpa Third, should I go inside with him?" Feeling awkward, Mito made a suggestion. "With my current physical condition, I can suppress the Nine-Tails for most of the day without issues."
Without even thinking, the Third rejected her offer. "No need, Lady Mito. That's just how this boy's personality is. The Nine-Tails really did us a huge favor."
Mito nodded in agreement. "Indeed, this child still needs serious tempering of his character."
Early the next morning, Shen dragged the Third Hokage—who had been hiding in his office—back to Mito's side.
Last night, he'd spent a long time thinking before coming up with yet another new method.
"Nine-Tails, I'm here to negotiate terms!" Back in action in an instant, Shen showed absolutely no sign of discouragement.
Actually, he was even wondering if he could somehow pull off a "resurrection" within the Sealing Space.
Every time he analyzed things more carefully, Shen noticed a slight increase in his ocular power. So on the third day, he came back again.
"Old Man Third, just wait and see—the Nine-Tails will eventually kneel before me!" Mocked by the fox, on the fourth day, he announced those words before stepping back into confront the Nine-Tails again.
On the twentieth day, the kind-hearted Mito couldn't bear it anymore and suggested she enter along with him.
"Don't worry, Granny Mito. The Nine-Tails won't be able to stand me and crack under the pressure anyway!" Shen assured her.
On the thirty-second day, the Third Hokage was the first to give up.
Citing heavy official duties as the Hokage, he skipped personal supervision that day.
On the fifty-first day, Mito began feeling like she herself might develop some signs of mental fatigue.
Now, whenever she saw anything red, she would involuntarily widen her eyes, as if glaring at the Nine-Tails.
But on the sixty-first day, a major event happened that forced Shen to take a day off.
That was when the Land of Lightning officially declared war on the Hot Water Country!
Inside the fully packed Conference Room within the Hokage Tower, after the Third announced this news, arguments immediately broke out one after another.
"We must support the Hot Water Country—they're our ally in the Land of Fire!" Kazushi, representing the pro-war faction, even claimed they could beat Kumogakure until they were running scared and wetting themselves.
"Hmph, we should wait until they've mutually exhausted each other. Then Konoha can appear in the Hot Water Country as their savior," Danzo argued that maximizing benefits meant allies could simply be placated superficially.
After all, this wasn't a declaration of war against the Land of Fire. Many high-ranking officials agreed with his view.
"Shen, you're right about their strategy," Shen said bluntly. "If Hot Water Country falls, the next target will be our land! Do you really want to drag this war into the Land of Fire?"
Danzo, who hadn't seen much battlefield action himself, was momentarily speechless.
He certainly understood the logic, but still refused to give up on maximizing benefits. "Then we'll establish multiple lines of defense at the border between Hot Water Country and the Land of Fire!" Danzo replied.
Shen, who had originally planned to take a short nap, was suddenly wide awake from hearing Danzo's battle deployment.
Setting up defenses at the border? That's basically handing Hot Water Country over to the Land of Lightning!
Once they recovered their strength, wouldn't they surround Konoha's defenses from both front and back? Essentially leaving them as helpless as meat on a chopping board?
"Tsk, a schemer's still a schemer. You can't even claim your actions are self-serving while harming others."
Danzo turned toward the voice and found it was Shen Uchiha, head of the Scientific Combat Division, who'd spoken. His eyes narrowed.
Unfazed, Shen glared right back.
He fired back bluntly, spelling out the real consequences: "So according to you, if I beat someone from the Sarutobi Clan, would this crafty old man only act after I attacked the Shimura Clan?"
The upper-level officials allied with the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans all stood up angrily at Shen's bluntness.
Kazushi and Aiko quickly rose too. "Come on, it's just a child's joke. No need to take it seriously, right?"
"That's exactly why I say children shouldn't participate in this meeting!"
"That's why only Lord Third has the patience to put up with a kid's outrageous behavior!"
Throughout everything, Third Hokage subtly nodded toward Shen, his expression indifferent.
He agreed with one suggestion Shen had previously made before the meeting.
A suggestion that prioritizing internal stability was essential before confronting external threats.
"Ahhahaha!" Shen laughed as he placed both hands on the conference table and slowly stood up. "Interesting. Extremely interesting!"
He raised his index finger and tapped it over his heart. "Do you know what kind of scene a child like me sees? A bunch of spineless cowards!"
"What did you say? Everyone here is decades older than you!"
"You mischievous brat! What do you know about politics?"
"Just mind your own department!"
Some higher-ups were the first to jump out, criticizing him fiercely with sharp words, perhaps because what he'd said touched sensitive nerves.
Shen automatically filtered out all those remarks.
He simply activated his Sharingan and calmly asked, "Is politics about ignoring lives?"
"Hokage-sama, I suggest removing his position!"
"Seconded! Absolutely cannot allow the warmongering Uchiha into the upper ranks!"
Third Hokage observed these officials with faint interest. If Konoha wasn't currently so prosperous, he might have sacrificed Hot Water Country, their ally, for peace this time.
But the current situation was different.
Shen slightly bent forward, staring aggressively across. "Want my seat? Fine, defeat me then!"
Seeing them hesitate on the spot, Shen mocked, "Can't even defeat a thirteen-year-old child? Being older by several decades doesn't seem impressive at all!"
Fight a kid whose taijutsu is faster than logic allows? One who wipes out twenty-seven jonin with just two ninja techniques? And uses genjutsu that drives men to kill themselves?
Even together, they wouldn't survive more than a few moves.
But Shen immediately raised the white flag: "Your remarks have violated the Uchiha clan's right to reputation. I only issued this duel invitation to defend my family's honor!"
Kazushi and Aiko both wanted to applaud their young son right then and there.
This was exactly how a true Uchiha should be—unyielding and dominant!
In the shinobi world, might makes right.
Anyone attempting secret scheming would be forcefully taken to the interrogation room for a 'cup of tea.' Konoha filled with internal factions and diverse ideologies wasn't the perfect Konoha that Shen envisioned.
Unifying all voices within and removing the complacent leaders—that was his real goal.
"Where's that criticizing attitude you had earlier?" Mockery fully activated, Shen tore off their masks: "A bunch of cowardly old men who bully the weak but shrink before strength!"
With no restraint, his words cut through the conference room like a blade straight to the heart.
After stripping away the elders' hypocrisy, what remained was the bloody truth.
That sharing or dividing control wouldn't strengthen Konoha at all—it'd do the exact opposite and blow up in their faces.
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