After Tenzo left, Tsunade turned her golden eyes toward Ren. "You said something about an exciting thing back in the council hall," she reminded him, arms folding lazily under her chest. "So, what is it?"

Ren's face lit up instantly, like a kid about to show off a secret stash of candy. He had originally planned on keeping the truth about the compound being a golem under wraps.

But then again, this was Tsunade, the Senju Clan Head herself. Even if she found out, she wouldn't take it away. It wasn't like it belonged to him personally; it was her clan's legacy. And on the off chance she already knew about it, him "revealing" it would at least score him some credit. Maybe even get him a few lessons out of her.

After all, didn't she still hold one card nobody else has in the world? His eyes drifted almost unconsciously to the diamond seal on her forehead, the Byakugo Seal.

He grinned, bouncing a little on his heels. "Follow me."

Without waiting for an answer, Ren flickered away, perching on the thick branch of a tall tree that overlooked the entire Senju compound. Tsunade and Shizune followed, though at a much calmer pace. By the time they caught up, Ren was already pulling a scroll out of his pocket with dramatic flair. He unrolled it in front of them, tapping a finger at the diagrams.

"The whole Senju clan compound," he said with a wide smile, "isn't just a compound. It's actually a massive golem, sealed and structured through Fuinjutsu. When activated, it's insanely powerful."

He was just about to dive into the details, enthusiasm bubbling out of him, when Tsunade cut him off with a scoff.

"Ah, so you found it."

Ren blinked, his grin faltering. He turned his head, half expecting some kind of awe, but instead she looked… bored. Her tone was flat, almost dismissive, like she was commenting on the weather.

"I don't know why you're so excited," she went on, exhaling a long sigh. "Setting aside the cost of activation, even if it did get up and start moving, so what? It's just a big, fat target. Nothing more."

Ren looked absolutely betrayed. "But this is a huge golem! You can ride it! You can flatten entire battlefields with it!" His hands waved dramatically toward the compound as if she wasn't understanding the obvious appeal.

Tsunade only gave him a sideways glance and an unimpressed scoff. "Yet if it stays active for too long, the energy source, that yang tree Grandpa made will run dry. What will you do then?"

Ren froze. Clearly, he hadn't thought that far ahead. His expression crumpled for a moment under her logic, but he quickly puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms, sulking like a stubborn child.

"So what? I'll figure something out," he said firmly. "I'm not giving up my chance to pilot this thing. Ever."

He gave a sharp little Hmph for emphasis.

Tsunade stared at him for a beat, then shook her head, lips twitching in amusement despite herself. She reached over and ruffled his hair roughly with her large hand.

"Well, you do you, brat," she muttered. "But remember, if you ever drag me into this nonsense, I'll flatten both you and the golem in one punch."

Ren snorted and swatted at her hand. "Like you could do that."

Her face darkened immediately, and Ren's face faltered just long enough for him to bolt. He flickered off the branch and down the path, laughing as Tsunade cursed loudly and stormed after him, shouting promises of violence.

Left behind on the branch, Shizune pressed a palm to her face. She let out the deepest sigh she had managed all week.

"I want to go back to traveling," she muttered under her breath. "At least out there, I only had to look after Tsunade-sama. Here, I might have to keep the entire village from collapsing because of these two."

It wasn't even exaggeration. If it were just Tsunade, Shizune had years of experience reining her in, gambling, drinking, sudden bursts of anger, all of it was familiar. She could handle that.

But Ren… Ren was something else entirely. A menace through and through, with an uncanny ability to press every single one of Tsunade's buttons until she exploded. And an angry Tsunade was something no sane person wanted to be within ten miles of.

With yet another resigned sigh, Shizune began following after them. Her mind was already turning, frantically trying to figure out ways to keep the chaos under control before the entire Village ended up flattened, by Tsunade, Ren or both.

~~~

It took quite a while before Shizune was able to wrangle Tsunade and Ren again. Honestly, the way the two of them kept going at each other was ridiculous. She wasn't even alone in the effort this time because at some point Utakata had quietly joined her, and, after waving a fat stack of money in front of them, he somehow managed to convince both to move back toward the clan compound swiftly.

By the time they reached the clan grounds, it was already late. They all filed into the clan head's office, and unlike last time, Tsunade immediately took the leading seat. After all, this was her place, her authority.

Ren, on the other hand, couldn't care less. He was stretched out lazily on a sofa in the corner like a cat who had already claimed the most comfortable spot. Shizune positioned herself quietly behind Tsunade, looking like she had been through a war just to get these two here in one piece, while Utakata settled in a seat across from the desk.

The silence stretched for a moment before Ren spoke up, his tone lazy and teasing as he flicked his gaze over from the sofa.

"Sensei, when do you plan to give us our hard-earned money back?"

Everyone knew exactly what he meant. The twenty-four million he and Tsunade had wrung out of the council members just to let them glimpse the deed. At that time, Ren and Tsunade hadn't pressed the matter because Utakata might've actually burned the money right there in the council chambers if anyone dared to demand it and fight over distribution. But now, the opportunity had come back around.

Utakata, as usual, was flat and calm when he replied. "You can have your half now. But you," he turned toward Tsunade, voice never rising, "you can only have yours after you leave the village again."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "You've grown bolder, Utakata."

Utakata responded as calm as always. "Mito-Sama asked me and Sayaka to manage your finances as long as you were in the village. Since Sayaka is not here, I'll continue that order. Once you're out, you won't be my responsibility anymore, and you can squander it as you see fit."

The words landed like stone. Tsunade gave a sharp huff through her nose, a little humph of irritation, but didn't argue further. She wasn't stupid. If her grandmother had trusted even Utakata, someone much weaker than her, someone she could crush without breaking a sweat, with handling her money, then Mito must have left him something to keep her impulses in check. And if that was the case, Tsunade had to stay cautious.

Especially now, with Ren lounging around. She shot him a sidelong glance and thought grimly, 'Whatever that brat might get his hands on, it can't be whatever Utakata has. If Ren finds it… it'll make it even harder for me not to kill him.'

Meanwhile, Ren had stuck his pinky in his ear, scratched idly, and flicked whatever came out onto the floor. 'Hm. Someone must be praising me right now.' he thought to himself.

Utakata ignored the both of them. "Have you thought about what to do about the rents?" he asked simply.

Ren, still sprawled out like he hadn't a care in the world, spoke up without hesitation. "Yeah. Whatever the rent was eleven years ago, just increase it by fifty percent for the regular shops. For the clans that were handling Senju shops, the ownership stays in our name but handling rights go to them. And their rent will be double the normal rate of the others."

He shifted, tossing one arm behind his head casually as if reading from a script only he had written. "If anyone wants to negotiate, the lowest we'll go is a forty percent increase. Not more than that. If they push further, then fine, they can skip the rent and instead give us a percentage of the shop profits. That way, they can't play the victim, and we can actually make more long-term."

He paused a beat, then continued, "We'll give some sanctions to the minor clans to keep them happy. They'll be thankful, and we won't be overcharging anyone as there's no need to make enemies over pocket change. But if any clan tries skipping rent entirely, we'll just seal down their shops with Fuinjutsu until they cough it up, plus penalties."

The way he said it was casual, almost bored, but his words were sharp enough to cut through the silence of the office. Then, as if it was just another afterthought, he added, "Oh, and we're taking back the medical department. The Nara clan can be exempt from rent since they'll provide us with the same value in medicines for the hospital."

Ren finally sat up a little, gesturing lazily as he talked. "Also, the hospital shouldn't be wasting time on small stuff like colds or kids scraping their knees. That only makes more patients for the doctors and inflates salaries. Instead, we open chemist shops all over the village. Sell the medicine directly for the small stuff. That way, the hospital is focused only on serious cases, while the chemist shops bring us a steady income. Double win."

He grinned faintly. "And those chemist shops? Let the Yamanaka clan handle them. They're way better information hubs than flower shops ever were."

The room had gone so silent you could hear the faint creak of the sofa under Ren's weight. He turned his head slowly, three pairs of eyes were locked on him, all gawking, not blinking. He raised a brow.

"What?"

Tsunade was the first to snap out of it. She slapped the armrest of her chair hard enough to echo in the room. "What the hell, brat?! Since when were you planning all this?"

Ren tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. "Since yesterday. After Boss-man told me the clan's situation."

Her eyes widened like he'd just slapped her with a fish. She leaned forward and barked out a laugh, half jealous, half impressed. "Hah! You'd make a better businessman than a shinobi. Drop this ninja thing and just open a business, you brat. You'd be rolling in money."

Ren rolled his eyes and looked past her, toward Utakata. The man was deep in thought, and after a long moment he finally spoke. "Your idea is good. But it'll take time. Chemist shops won't fill themselves overnight. Production processes for medicine are long. It might take months before we have enough supply, not to mention people to make it, distribute it."

Ren waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry. We've got the lifeline of rent over all the clans. We'll squeeze them properly, and things will move faster than you think."

And with that, he just kept going. Outlining plan after plan, casually explaining how he'd build an entire business empire under the nose of the village, using Fuinjutsu, clan politics, and his own twisted logic to keep everything running.

The three of them just sat there, Tsunade half impressed, half worried he might actually succeed, Utakata scribbling mental notes with a frown, and Shizune silently regretting every life choice that had led her to this exact office because she knew that most of the work would fall on her shoulders.

~~~~~

{We're finally finishing the whole Senju clan thing finally so you guys can rest easy now.}

{If you want, you can support me on pat-reon}

{h t t p s : / / k o - f i . c o m / z e e n o n}

{You know what else}

{280 Stones = Extra chapter}

{STONES!!!!}