Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as Shen Uchiha's expression continued to darken and realized that the boy hadn't found a single department in Konoha satisfactory.
"Kid, not a single one caught your eye?"
"Listen, old man," Shen shot back. "Why don't you retire early and take a look at these departments yourself?" As he spoke, he pulled out a large blackboard from his pendant and began writing on it. "First up—Anbu."
He logically analyzed each department's strengths and weaknesses in detail.
To put it simply—Shen Uchiha wanted nothing to do with any of them!
Look at how poorly you're running this Hokage business," he concluded. "Even a twelve-year-old pipsqueak like me isn't interested in any of them. How about you just quit already?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been Hokage for over a decade, was actually being scolded by a child!
Yet there was no sign of anger from the Third Hokage. In fact, a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The truth was, the analysis on that blackboard hit the nail right on the head. With Shen's multidimensional talents, joining any existing department would indeed be a waste of his potential.
"What if we create a new department?" The Third suddenly had an inspired idea.
"A new department?" Shen thought about it carefully and found the concept intriguing. "How about one that merges high-tech with traditional ninja techniques—combining physical prowess and illusions?"
In simple terms, this would be a completely new kind of warfare unit, separate from conventional ninja methods, with immense significance for future conflicts.
Within half a minute, the Third Hokage had already decided that Konoha absolutely needed to establish such a department.
However, he also understood another important point—anything even slightly related to advanced technology burned through money like wildfire!
"That can be arranged." After a slight nod, he quickly revealed his true penny-pinching nature. "I believe you'd make the perfect commander for this division, but… well, the village doesn't have any spare cash lying around for this. How about you sponsor it, just a little?"
Shen knew this was coming. "You cheap old coot! You've got no shame asking a kid for money?!"
"Nonsense!" the Hokage countered with a completely straight face. "I'm only saying this because the economy's been tough lately. You, being the son of our wealthiest family, won't even chip in a bit?" He looked exactly like the sculpture at Sunagakure's east gate—completely poker-faced.
After nearly half the morning of haggling back and forth, the two finally reached an agreement.
The "Scientific Combat Division" would be personally funded by Shen Uchiha. Its members must be personally selected by him alone, without interference from any faction within Konoha.
In return, this division would directly report to the Hokage, ranking just below Anbu. Except during wartime, the Scientific Combat Division would have no privileges at all.
Konoha could assign wartime missions to them, but only Shen would know and be responsible for the actual tactical details.
Even the Hokage could only offer strategic suggestions—the actual battlefield decisions would be made solely by the division personnel themselves.
Put simply, during wartime, this division would take precedence over all other departments in Konoha. Not even meddling officials or the Hokage himself could interfere during those times.
"Pleasure doing business, Shen Uchiha."
"Pleasure doing business, Hokage-san."
"Hahahaha!" The two exchanged glances before bursting into laughter together.
The following afternoon, they were back at Uchiha Café.
Shen took a sip of coffee, then silently placed two documents in front of Nayou and Nawaki.
"Scientific Combat Division? Since when did you become the head of that department?"
Putting down his cup, Shen replied casually, "Yesterday."
In an instant, Nawaki's face twisted with unwillingness, anger, and jealous resentment.
He—the eldest son of the prestigious Senju family, who had always dreamed of becoming Hokage—now had to work under his longtime rival?
"No way!"
Shen barely showed surprise before his tone turned temptingly persuasive, "The pay is really good, you know."
"Fine, since you're sincerely inviting me, I guess I'll reluctantly accept." The so-called "strong-willed" Nawaki immediately caved upon seeing the base salary.
Still grumbling about how broke he was, he muttered that his dear sister was basically a monster for stealing all his rewards from the Mission Center under his name.
"Uh, there's someone behind you," Shen noticed Tsunade walking into the café where they were seated.
"You think I'm that dumb?" Nawaki, getting more worked up by the second, completely ignored the warning.
He kept ranting about his own sister, "Who treats their younger brother like this? She should be tied to the gate of Konoha Village until she learns what she did was wrong!"
Tsunade, who had originally intended to greet him, immediately clenched her fists so tightly they cracked, with several bulging veins appearing on her forehead.
"It's true, you really should stop talking," Nayou saw her approaching and quickly warned Nawaki across the table to tone down his arrogance.
"Nayou, you're getting corrupted by this guy." Nawaki sneered, pointing at Shen. "At least this guy isn't too bad—he wouldn't steal my money."
"Steal?" Standing behind him, Tsunade spoke without any trace of anger in her voice, which was actually quite gentle.
Completely unaware, Nawaki continued listing all her offenses, complaining how he'd never been able to hold onto his pocket money since childhood.
Shen and Nayou exchanged glances, silently announcing Nawaki's death sentence in their hearts.
"My dear little Nawaki," Tsunade gently placed her hand on his shoulder, still speaking in that sweet tone, "it's not stealing, dear—it's just temporary safekeeping."
A strong chill spread from the shoulder Tsunade had touched.
The next moment, Nawaki was dragged stumbling toward the café entrance by his ear.
That tiny ear, which had turned bright red from just a little squeeze, made Shen and Nayou visibly flinch.
They both feared it might get torn off in the next second, splattering blood all over them.
"It's over now, we're safe." Seeing the siblings exit the café, Shen reached up and patted his chest, trying to soothe his wildly beating heart.
Nayou mimicked him, patting his chest and saying, "Yeah, you can slow down now."
Despite his unchanged expression, Shen silently pondered why his best friend had changed so much recently.
Lately, Nayou hadn't just been more mischievous than usual—she'd also been giving Shen these odd looks and teasing him constantly.
"Could it be…" Shen immediately figured it out.
Trying to stay calm, he slightly turned his head and managed a weak smile. "Ahem… Nayou, could it be that those two broken ribs of mine were actually your doing—"
Well, what came next was obvious without needing to say it aloud, right?
Two ribs had mysteriously broken, and lately her behavior had indeed seemed off.
Shen, now acting as a detective, had cracked the case—the reason behind Nayou's recent change in behavior was actually guilt!
What else could it possibly be?
"Hehehe…" Narrowing her eyes slightly, Nayou smirked coldly. "Yep, I'm the one who broke your two ribs."
At this moment, Shen's hair practically stood on end—he seriously regretted blurting out the truth.
The "criminal" had directly admitted responsibility. Could there still be any hope for the "victim" to "survive"?
Inwardly, Shen lamented—he had watched every single episode of *Death Note Elementary School* up until the day he got reincarnated. He thought of himself as basically a deduction genius!
"At the very least, I'm probably gonna get beaten up..."
Seeing how he bowed his head like a scared puppy, Nayou's soft pink lips curled up ever so slightly.
"Hmph, Shen really is a total idiot," she muttered—surprisingly spot-on.
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