{Current Stones - 1170}

{Needed Stones - 1450}

~~~

Everyone who was heading toward the clan leader's office had been inside this house at some point in their lives, so there was no need for directions. Their feet moved with the ease of muscle memory, taking them through corridors and sliding doors until they reached the family wing. Even so, Ren was the first to actually step inside the office.

Even Yoru, who had reached the door first, stopped short before entering, however he seemed slightly stiff which Ren found weird. He, on the other hand, strolled right in without the slightest ceremony and made a beeline for the main seat.

Once there, he plopped down, folded his legs on the chair, and leaned back like a cat claiming its favorite sunspot.

A sudden click made him glance up. Utakata stood a few feet away, holding a camera and lowering it from his face with a perfectly calm expression.

Ren tilted his head, curiosity plain on his face.

"For Juichi," Utakata explained simply. "He'll want to see you like this."

Ren smacked his right palm with his left fist, his expression lighting up in realization. "Oh right, I totally forgot about that old man!" Then he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. He's gonna nag me again. I haven't written to him in ages."

Utakata exhaled in a slow, knowing sigh. "Make that two. I'm about 90% sure he's forgotten to write to you too, judging by how he hasn't mentioned you in any of his letters to me lately."

Ren shrugged, leaning back further. "How are people supposed to remember things when writing and sending letters is such a time-consuming stuff anyway? I'm sure the only reason he still writes to you is because you keep sending letters through the toads. Otherwise, he'd have probably forgotten he even had family in the village."

A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Keke… looks like he's too busy with Aunt Sayo."

Utakata almost agreed, but Yoru's voice cut in like a bucket of cold water.

"If you two are done, we have work to do."

Ren booed dramatically. "Buzzkill."

He even started making exaggerated faces at Yoru, who, being too used to it, ignored him completely. Without a single glance in his direction, Yoru pulled out a large rolled-up map and spread it across the table.

Ren leaned over and saw that it wasn't just any map and saw that it was a detailed layout of the village. Scattered across it were little markings with the Senju clan symbol.

"I won't go deep into the business treaty, you can read the full details later," Yoru began, pointing to different spots with the tip of a pen. "What you need to know is this, there are a total of 550 shops across the village. Of those, about 15%, that's 83 shops belong to the Senju clan."

He tapped the paper again. "When the clan was declared dormant, these shops were distributed between the village and other clans. Your job now is to figure out how to reclaim them and keep them functional. And don't expect the clans to hand them over easily, they've gotten comfortable with that extra income over the years."

Ren's eyes narrowed in interest, but Yoru wasn't finished.

"There's also the matter of the village land deed. It should be with Sarutobi, but I doubt he'll hand it over. If the Senju holds the deed controls, they have the right to claim rent for all these shops. The village is supposed to get 25% of the income under the treaty."

Ren leaned forward, inspecting the map. "Why wouldn't Old Man Third give up the deed if the village still gets 25%? Right now there's no rent being collected, so the village isn't earning anything… right? Or did they change the treaty while the Senju clan was dormant?"

Yoru shook his head. "No change in the treaty. But Sarutobi made a separate deal with the clans, even if the Senju became active again, the village would hold the deed for the next 35 years and about 24 years remain. In exchange, the clans pay the village a cut of their profits. Only clan heads and elders know about this. No one else talks about it unless the matter is brought up first."

Ren sat back in his chair, processing. "So let me get this straight, I'm the landlord of the village,"

"The Senju clan is the landlord of the village," Yoru corrected.

Ren ignored him. "but I can't collect rent from my tenants because the Third has the land deed. And I have shops in my name,"

"The clan's name," Yoru interrupted again.

Ren ignored him once more. "but I can't enjoy any of that wealth because I don't have the manpower to keep them running. Did I get that right?"

Yoru gave a silent nod, ignoring the greedy sparkle in Ren's eyes.

Ren leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Hm… does the village have a treasury?"

Before Yoru could respond, Utakata cut in dryly. "You can't rob the village treasury."

Ren shrugged with feigned innocence. "Relax, sensei. I'm not going to rob it. I just need to know if it exists. Pure curiosity."

Yoru gave a short nod, but said nothing more.

Ren nodded too, though his grin suggested thoughts were already brewing then abruptly said, "I'll be back in a minute."

Before anyone could stop him, he flickered away.

The next moment, Ren was sprinting toward the Hokage building. He scaled the outer wall like a squirrel, zipped up to the top floors, and knocked on the Hokage's office window.

Sliding it open, he leaned halfway inside and saw Hiruzen hunched over paperwork. The old man looked up, mildly surprised by the… unconventional point of entry, but not by Ren's presence.

"Hoho… you've been busy, young Ren," the Third Hokage chuckled.

Ren gave a small nod. "Lord Third, can I have the land deed and the items from the Senju clan treasury back? You know… the ones the village has been guarding all this time?"

Calling it "guarding" was his way of giving the old man some dignity as it was really more like the village had taken it hostage.

Hiruzen paused mid-stroke of his pen. "Please, come in and talk, young Ren."

Ren just stared back at him from the window frame, unmoving.

With a sigh, Hiruzen tried again. "I can't decide anything unless all the clan heads are gathered for a meeting. A decision would need to be made there."

Ren gave him another long, unimpressed look, then shrugged. "Well, I doubt you're ready to face the Senju clan head… so I guess we'll be seeing each other again soon."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving the window gently swaying in the breeze.

Hiruzen stared at the empty frame for a moment, then took a slow puff from his pipe. 'I don't think I'm ready to face Tsuna indeed,' he thought grimly.

~~~

After leaving the Hokage's office, Ren didn't waste a second. He rushed straight back to the Senju estate, his mind already working through the next steps of his plan. The moment he arrived, he created hundreds of low-chakra clones, filling the courtyard and the halls in a flash.

He handed each of them the Fuinjutsu scrolls he was rained down by earlier from the dining hall's side cabinets, ancient parchment detailing the complicated sealing formulas used to lock down everything in the family wing, and in some cases, the entire estate itself.

Their job was simple but tedious, research every single formula, break down the layers of the seals, and memorize the structure. Ren figured that with this many clones working nonstop, they could cover weeks of study in just a few hours. With the way clone memory transfer worked, he'd have the seals mastered in a single day. That's when his real plan would start.

Once the clones were in motion, Ren left them to their work and returned to the clan leader's office. The heavy doors creaked shut behind him as he walked in, heading straight for the oversized chair at the head of the room. The thing was almost bigger than him, but he dropped into it like he owned the place and leaned forward.

"Well," Ren began, voice carrying that casual edge that meant he was about to say something that would make people uncomfortable. "I asked the Third once, nicely, diplomatically, but he refused. So now I'm forced to take some… drastic measures."

The room went still. Everyone present turned to look at him, but no one jumped in to speak. Most of them already knew how Ren's mind worked. If he said he had a plan, then it probably meant something outlandish, unexpected, and possibly dangerous. And if he'd already set his mind to it, trying to stop him would be about as effective as yelling at a thunderstorm.

Still, he was a little disappointed. He had half-expected someone to demand an explanation just so he could deliver it in his usual dramatic fashion. But with everyone keeping their mouths shut, he just shrugged it off and moved on.

"So," Ren said, tapping his fingers on the armrest, "what other things does the Senju clan actually own?"

Yoru answered without hesitation. "The Fuinjutsu and medical departments. If you want, you can take over either of them anytime. There wouldn't be much issue in that regard as you are already one of the best in both fields."

Ren waved a hand with a grin. "Aw, you're gonna make me blush, boss-man. But you're right, of course. I am one of the best, well, except for the level 6 ones, obviously."

Utakata, who had been leaning back quietly until now, decided to speak up. "Even if you are the best below level 6, it's still not a great idea to take charge of those two departments."

Ren's eyebrows raised, but Utakata continued, explaining in his usual calm tone. "For the medical department, it's complicated. The village offers treatment to civilian shinobi at a heavily subsidized rate. They do charge full price to clan shinobi, but most clan shinobi refuse to go to the general hospital anyway because of bloodline secrecy. That means the hospital is barely keeping its head above water in terms of revenue. Right now, the village is footing the bill, covering any shortfall whenever the hospital can't pay its doctors."

He shifted his gaze toward Ren, making sure the point sank in. "If you take over the hospital, it'll no longer be seen as a village problem. Instead, it'll be seen as the Senju clan's failure, your failure, if the hospital can't break even. And if you try to make up for the loss by increasing civilian shinobi treatment prices, you'll cause resentment. People will say the Senju clan is greedy, and that kind of resentment will bite back hard in the future."

Ren sat back, spinning the chair a little, but didn't interrupt.

Utakata went on. "The Fuinjutsu department is a different beast. It can generate a lot of revenue, well right now, it does. But that's because the village itself is the buyer. They purchase directly from Fuinjutsu masters, which keeps the prices down. If you step in and try to buy on behalf of the Senju clan, the sellers will immediately raise their rates. They'll assume the clan has deeper pockets than the village. And when that happens, after paying the higher costs, your actual margin will be tiny. Barely worth the time or effort."

By the end of it, the logic was clear. Ren had wanted a list of options, but it turned out both of them came with their own traps. Still, the look in his eyes didn't change, if anything, he just seemed more amused, as though the challenge only made it more interesting.

Ren leaned forward in his chair. "The village can play around with these departments if they want. But the real estate, now that's the important thing. As long as the land deed is in my hands, I can enjoy year-long wealth without lifting a finger. For that, the deed has to be returned… and the Third won't do that unless he's forced, which is a big challenge. The second option is if Big Sis Tsunade asks him for it."

Utakata looked over. "You're thinking of calling Tsunade-sama back to the village? Will she even come?"

Ren shrugged. "I don't know. But she's probably heard about Danzo by now, so she might be in a good mood. If I ask her now, she might just come."

"But if you do call her," Utakata said slowly, "your prestige will take a hit. People will think you couldn't solve the problem on your own, so you brought in someone with more authority."

Ren slumped forward, resting his cheek on the table. "Does it really matter? The important thing is getting the land deed from the Third. She's the best person to ask. If she asks, he'll have two options, hand it over, or strain his already strained relationship with her even further. And it's not like I won't be doing anything in the meantime, by tomorrow morning, everyone will know that the real owner of this village is back in town."

A giddy grin spread across his face.

Utakata frowned. "What do you plan to do?"

Ren leaned back, smile widening.

"Painting."

~~~~~

{What do you think Ren plans to do when he says painting? I know the answer but can you guess?}

{Also, what do you think, is calling Tsunade is right or wrong?

Tbh, I could've done this without involving Tsunade, but the Senju clan without Tsunade? We couldn't have gone much farther with that. It is necessary that Tsunade also comes into picture, not only because she is the clan head but also because that would make Ren's work easier.

I know some of you might have wanted to see Ren thrashing people with words, which he'd still do, but with Tsunade in the picture I can do 10 chapters worth of content within 2, saving you guys from reading it and me from writing it, so wait for it.}

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

{ h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n }

{You know what else}

{280 Stones = Extra chapter}

{STONES!!!!}