The Research Department, which should have consisted entirely of allies, now had two unexpected faces.
Kin frowned with disdain at the two interlopers.
Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato.
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"We'd like to join the Research Department too."
After discussing it, he and Kushina had decided to apply. With their current missions being sparse and mostly low-ranking (B or C-level), neither found them engaging. Moreover, Kushina's status as a jinchūriki seemed to have been exposed, restricting her from leaving the village.
Effectively, they had no missions to speak of.
So, they set their sights on Kin's Research Department.
After all, idle hands were the devil's workshop.
"You want in, huh?"
Kin studied Minato carefully.
"For Minato, it's not a problem."
Minato was a genius when it came to jutsu research. Kin had already unlocked Minato's knowledge repository, which included developments like the Step Forward Slash, Rasengan, Wind Wall, and Wind Attribute Chakra Internal Energy.
Kin: "???"
When had this happened? He had no idea.
He quickly skimmed through Minato's Wind Attribute Chakra Internal Energy.
It was nothing special—just a simple conversion to wind nature, without any attached techniques. A half-finished product at best.
But even as a prototype, it was on the verge of completion. With a little more research, it could be finalized.
Kin stared at Minato in surprise. He had explained some principles, but those were just theories, not step-by-step guides. He'd assumed Minato would refine them after reaching adulthood.
Yet here he was, already making progress.
How old was he again?
At Minato's current pace, it would only take a year or two to complete. As long as the techniques he developed weren't lackluster, he'd close the gap with Kin in no time.
And Kin himself had hit a bottleneck. Breaking through wouldn't be a matter of a year or two. Even improving the Heavenly Demon Art wouldn't yield significant power boosts at this level—he was already near the pinnacle, second only to the Otsutsuki clan.
Minato was practically guaranteed to catch up.
Was this guy cheating or something?
Kin eyed Minato suspiciously, searching for signs of foul play.
No wonder the original story had written him off. If this guy had lived in Naruto's era, he might've steamrolled the entire shinobi world.
Would even Pain have stood a chance?
Hell, Minato kept improving after death—he'd unlocked Nine-Tails Mode when reanimated.
"What's wrong?" Minato rubbed his cheek, unnerved by Kin's stare.
"Nothing." Kin shook his head.
"What about me?! What about me?!" Kushina bounced on the spot, barely containing her impatience.
"You." Kin gave her a dismissive look and waved her off. "Go play somewhere else."
With Kushina's current skills, she hadn't even mastered sealing techniques yet.
The only role she could play in the Research Department was as a test subject—and tampering with a Nine-Tails jinchūriki's seals would blow the entire village sky-high.
"You jerk! You're just scared I'll surpass you!"
Kushina glared at him, convinced he was terrified of losing his position as department head to the future Hokage, Uzumaki Kushina!
After all, she was going to be the first female Hokage!!
Kin looked her up and down, his disdain plain as day.
"If that's what you think, fine by me."
Arguing with fools was pointless. It'd only drag him down to her level, where she'd beat him with sheer experience.
Seeing his condescending expression, a vein bulged on Kushina's forehead. She raised a fist.
"You bastard!!"
"Let's settle this!!"
A foot suddenly appeared in front of her face. Before she could react, she was sent flying, landing flat on her back in a cloud of dust.
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Kushina felt the familiar imprint of a shoe on her cheek.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
She sprang to her feet, her hair writhing like octopus tentacles.
Kin brushed the dust off his leg.
Picking a fight with him?
Suicidal.
As Kushina prepared to charge, Kin felt a thrill—it'd been a while since he'd put her in her place. But one victim wasn't enough.
His gaze shifted to Minato.
Minato smiled awkwardly and hurriedly restrained Kushina.
"Let it go. We can't beat him."
History repeated itself.
Kushina swore silently that when she became Hokage, she'd make Uchiha Kin clean toilets—all day long.
"Let me show you around."
Since these two wanted to join, Kin didn't mind. The department was full of his people, and keeping secrets from them would be easy.
As for why he didn't recruit them into his faction outright?
Because Kin knew he, Kushina, and Minato were fundamentally different.
The Research Department was primarily Orochimaru and Hizure's domain.
For the Uchiha hardliners, Kin had assigned them a jutsu research task—to separate the true researchers from those better suited as test subjects.
The rest mostly involved physical examinations.
Kin had also stocked the department with materials on jutsu principles. While none were complete, anyone with a shred of research spirit could develop their own techniques from them.
Minato was already engrossed in Kin's archives, showing no signs of surfacing anytime soon.
As for Kushina, Kin gave her a dedicated room to study sealing techniques—the Uzumaki clan's specialty. Most of her time would be spent there anyway.
Kin lounged by the door, sipping tea and snacking. With shadow clones handling the work, why shouldn't he relax?
All he needed was to steadily accumulate chakra. The research could be left to the clones.
As for the Eight Gates Formation, which required his real body to train, Kin figured two gates were enough.
It had nothing to do with laziness.
He nodded in agreement.
Mid-sip, Kin paused and turned toward the open doorway.
A figure stepped inside.
"Welcome, Lady Tsunade. To what do we owe the honor?"
Kin rose with a smile.
She was the true driving force behind the Chakra Internal Energy's progress.
With the Research Department steadily growing, it was time to focus on external affairs.
As its head, Kin was no longer at the mercy of the advisors.
Short of major misconduct, even the Hokage couldn't remove him. His department stood equal to Danzo's Root—and Root had no authority over its operations.
Of course, the petty Danzo had stationed spies outside the department.
But the question remained:
Who did those spies really serve?
Land of Rain.
New City.
Kin stroked his chin as he examined the bound shinobi before him.
Their forehead protectors marked them clearly.
"Since when did Kusagakure dare to cause trouble in the Land of Rain?"
...
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(End of Chapter)