As for Ji's escape from prison, it was actually all an illusion.
All that talk about the interrogation team rushing off to listen to electronic music or stepping straight into a training ground right after leaving—none of that ever happened. Shen used his Sharingan to create a beautiful dream for him.
In reality, Kazushi attacked his mind with the Sharingan almost every day, reducing his brain's resistance to genjutsu down to zero.
His chakra was sealed, and he constantly suffered through half-meals and hunger—it was already impressive he hadn't lost his mind entirely.
After tormenting Ji with illusions for nearly half a year, he finally could no longer tell whether he truly existed in reality or inside the illusion created by the Sharingan.
The biological computer then took advantage of Ji's dazed state, instantly casting a forced hypnotic jutsu and creating a dream indistinguishable from reality.
Releasing this mastermind wasn't because Konoha had caved under pressure from Kumogakure either—the whole thing was due to a top-secret mission.
It involved letting Ji, who believed himself to have discovered the chakra conduction formula, return to Kumogakure Village, where they poured massive amounts of manpower, resources, and money into developing an inferior chakra core.
Only three people within Konoha knew the specifics of this operation—the secrecy level rivaled even that of a jinchuriki's true identity.
If Kumo ever found out several years later that Konoha had intentionally released Ji and set up such a giant trap, they would probably launch a war immediately.
"Third," Shen declared confidently to the Third Hokage, "believe me—within a few years, Kumo's economy will regress back to the Warring States era!"
White-piled things—free handouts—are always full of traps.
In his previous life, this transmigrator once got obsessed over a promotional item worth just a few cents, practically burning through his entire social circle to obtain it.
But later on, he realized he had unknowingly turned himself into a walking advertisement—posting about it across his entire social network—for something worth only a few cents.
"Humans are greedy by nature," Shen responded to Kazushi's confusion. "Even if they clearly know there's a trap, they still can't help but take the bait."
Unaware they've already been scammed, Kumo will soon be running around the shinobi world advertising how great their product is.
At that time, Konoha will suddenly release a superior product at the same price—meaning whatever big profit Kumo dreamed of will likely end up as a loss.
This strategy? It was exactly how Shen's former employer, the so-called 'Blue Giant,' defeated the 'Red Agricultural Enterprise' (a major competitor)!
Though later on, their rival company eventually overtook them, would someone with past-life memories really make the same mistake?
Shen had already begun preliminary research on real electricity, solar power, and nuclear energy. Electricity might even quietly spread throughout Konoha in just a few years.
If Konoha still couldn't crush Kumo beneath merciless domination in this interlinked scheme, Shen would believe either someone had betrayed them from within, or the current Hokage simply wasn't thinking straight!
Near a small cave on the easternmost edge of the Land of Fire, close to the Hot Water Country,
Kazushi and Shen came here for a sparring session between father and son, both wearing pained expressions while dealing with Ji, who now looked like nothing more than a lifeless body.
"Old man, his bones are sticking out! Are you sure this guy can still make it back to Kumogakure?" As soon as Shen finished speaking, Kazushi felt a wave of nausea rising.
Ji lay motionless on the ground, looking eerily calm, as if sleeping peacefully in death. His entire body was covered in various scrapes and countless purplish bruises. The worst injury was his outwardly dislocated elbow—a stark white bone jutted straight through the muscle. The originally connected nerves and blood vessels of varying thicknesses remained partially intact, with about a dozen still unsevered.
"Tch, such a promising ninja, why would he come to Konoha?" Kazushi sighed while shaking his head nervously, then continued emoting: "Well, coming is one thing—but why did he have to kidnap someone?"
What he meant was clear—that Ji's miserable condition was entirely self-inflicted; he himself had only been acting as an agent of justice, not responsible for what happened at all.
"Old man, you really have no shame," Shen remarked, his tiger-like body shuddering slightly from his father's sheer audacity.
The nausea and discomfort vanished instantly as goosebumps spread across his skin. It was a textbook case of fighting fire with fire—the only real miracle medicine there was.
"Brat, cast a genjutsu already!" Kazushi said disdainfully while flipping Ji's eyelid open.
Now that things had gotten this bad, their original plan definitely needed serious revision.
Looking at Ji's upward-rolling whites of eyes, Shen instantly pouted and said, "Old man, you've gotta push his eyeball downward!"
Thus, the poor Uchiha clan head reluctantly extended his finger again and again, flipping Ji's eyeballs down as requested.
And Ji's journey home, however, was destined to be far from short.
In the Hokage office, Third Hokage looked troubled while facing his own son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
"Lord Third, I've already come of age. Please honor my application."
Seeing Shinnosuke act so formally filled him with a profound sense of how quickly time had passed.
He'd held the title of Hokage for over a decade now, and his son had reached adulthood, even requesting to join Anbu.
But this didn't mean everything was fine.
The busy duties of Hokage left him barely any time to care about his son's growth. If not for today, when his son mentioned having come of age, he might not even have realized it.
The responsibilities of being Hokage were so demanding that there was barely enough time left to spend with family.
However, Shinnosuke was quite upright by nature. At the very least, he wouldn't turn out like Naruto and his future son Konohamaru, always pulling pranks just to attract attention.
"Anbu missions are too dangerous," Lord Third, as the boy's father, rejected his son's request.
Still standing perfectly straight, Shinnosuke showed no trace of disappointment on his face.
He addressed not his father, but the Hokage directly, voicing his true thoughts: "Lord Third surely understands that as the Hokage's son, I am fated never to live a peaceful life."
His gaze dimmed briefly before he continued: "Therefore, I, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, have decided to join Anbu—to dedicate my life to protecting Konoha!"
Lord Third understood Shinnosuke's resolve, but a long-forgotten surge of paternal emotion welled up inside him. "Even if it means joining the Anbu, where your identity must remain a secret?"
"Yes."
Shinnosuke's firm and unwavering answer caused his expression to gradually darken with sorrow. "How about the newly established Scientific Combat Division? The department head is Shen Uchiha."
Shinnosuke's body twitched slightly.
After only a moment's hesitation, his gaze steadied again. "Lord Third, there's no need. If everyone moves to the new division, who will be left to carry on the Anbu's work?"
He paused briefly, then his eyes burned with increasing determination. "To remain nameless, carrying out the Hokage's missions in secrecy—somebody has to do it."
"Tsk." The rejection from his son made the Third Hokage, who had always stood tall, now seem stooped with age and sadness.
The Anbu are nothing more than the shadow hands that do the dirty and dangerous work no one else can be seen doing. They have no names, only codenames, and if captured by the enemy, they're expected to take their own lives.
"Shinnosuke, I as Hokage approve your request, but I want you to know—your father does not agree with your choice," the Third Hokage finally said after a long silence.
Between being the Hokage and being a father, Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately chose the former. Perhaps he wasn't a good father, but having devoted his entire life to Konoha, he truly deserved to be called a good Hokage.
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