Chapter 55: The Tycoon Returns [2]
The silence on the main thoroughfare of Konoha was absolute.
Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Konoha Military Police and undisputed patriarch of the clan, stood in the middle of the dirt road. Three of his most elite lieutenants stood half a step behind him, their hands twitching instinctively toward their kunai pouches.
They weren’t looking at Ren. They were looking at the giant sitting on the driver’s bench of the lead carriage.
Even stuffed into a custom-tailored, heavy indigo merchant’s kimono, Kakuzu’s sheer physical mass and the suffocating, heavy aura of a veteran S-rank killer could not be disguised. His high, stiff silk collar hid his stitched jaw, leaving only his glowing green eyes visible as they tracked the Uchiha police officers with the cold, mechanical detachment of a butcher surveying livestock.
"Ren," Fugaku repeated, his voice dropping an octave as he fought to regain control of the situation. He pointed a rigid finger toward the carriage. "Who are these people? Why have you brought armed mercenaries to the gates of our district?"
Ren didn’t flinch. He calmly dusted off the sleeve of his midnight-blue overcoat and stepped forward, placing himself effortlessly between his father and the carriage.
"They aren’t mercenaries, Father. They are my senior staff," Ren said smoothly, his tone conversational and entirely devoid of the deference Fugaku was used to hearing from clan youth. "Allow me to introduce them. Sitting on the left is Kakuzu, my head accountant. And the woman next to him is Pakura. She manages my security detail."
Fugaku’s Sharingan flared instinctively. As the head of the Konoha Military Police, he had memorized the bingo books. He looked at the giant holding a thick leather ledger, then at the orange-tipped hair and sand-gold armor of the woman next to him.
An S-rank immortal bounty hunter from Waterfall, and the legendary Scorch Release hero of the Sand Village.
Fugaku felt a cold bead of sweat roll down his neck. "Ren. You have brought notoriously violent, S-rank missing-nin to the gates of our village."
"I brought my accountant to the village," Ren corrected mildly. He glanced up. "Kakuzu, say hello to my father."
Kakuzu looked down at the patriarch of the legendary Uchiha clan. He didn’t blink. He didn’t bow. He simply pulled a heavy silver pocket watch from the folds of his obi, checked the time, and looked back at Ren.
"This idle conversation is costing us daylight and wages, Ren," Kakuzu rumbled.
Fugaku’s jaw tightened in outrage, but before he could bark an order, Ren waved his hand.
"He’s right. We have a lot to unpack," Ren said smoothly. He stepped back into the gold-plated carriage and tapped the roof. "Let’s move."
The convoy rolled forward. Fugaku and his elite police lieutenants were forced to step aside, watching in stunned silence as the massive, rolling monument to wealth bypassed them completely and headed straight into the Uchiha district.
The Uchiha compound was a deeply traditional, insular place. It was a quiet neighborhood of dark wood, sliding paper doors, and strict military discipline.
When Ren’s fifty uniformed guards marched through the district gates in perfect, synchronized step, the entire clan practically ground to a halt.
Aunties dropped their laundry baskets. Off-duty police officers stepped out of their homes, their eyes wide. A group of young Academy students, practicing shuriken throwing in the courtyard, stopped mid-throw to stare at the gleaming gold leaf of the carriages.
The convoy stopped perfectly in front of Ren’s old property—a dusty, long-abandoned teahouse sitting on a prime corner lot.
"Unload," Pakura commanded from the carriage.
The fifty guards moved with terrifying precision. They didn’t just unpack bags; they commenced a massive, high-end renovation of the property.
Within minutes, the heavy wooden shutters of the old teahouse were thrown open. Men in tailored black haoris carried in crates of premium silk, massive iron safes, and plush velvet furniture. The dusty floor mats were ripped out and instantly replaced with thick, imported rugs.
The Uchiha clan members gathered in a massive crowd across the street, whispering furiously behind their hands. They remembered Ren as a quirky, arrogant thirteen-year-old. The man standing on the porch now, casually directing the complete overhaul of the teahouse with a flick of his wrist, was a towering, eighteen-year-old merchant radiating absolute authority.
Fugaku finally pushed his way through the crowd of gawking relatives, his face dark with fury. He marched up the wooden steps of the teahouse, stopping just inches from his son.
"My office. Now," Fugaku ordered, his voice low and dangerous.
Ren didn’t flinch. He handed a manifest clipboard to a passing guard and turned to face his father. "We don’t need to go to your office, Dad. This is my property. We can speak right here."
Fugaku’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "You are making a spectacle of this clan. You bring mercenaries into our compound, parade your wealth in front of the elders, and allow your men to disrespect me. You will send these outsiders to the civilian sector inns immediately."
"No, I don’t think I will," Ren replied gently.
Fugaku stepped forward, his chakra flaring, the air around him growing instantly heavy. "You may have made some money in the Capital, Ren. But you are still an Uchiha, and I am the Patriarch. You will obey the laws of this compound."
Ren didn’t raise his voice. He simply reached into his overcoat, pulled out a heavy, gold-stamped scroll, and pressed it directly into his father’s chest.
Fugaku instinctively caught it. He unrolled the thick parchment.
It was a royal decree, stamped heavily with the personal, undeniable wax seal of the Fire Daimyo.
"That is a sovereign trade writ, Dad," Ren explained, his voice entirely calm. "It officially recognizes my convoy as a vital economic asset to the Fire Court. It grants my men full diplomatic immunity, and it states that any interference with my operations is a direct offense to the Daimyo himself."
Fugaku stared at the royal seal. The anger in his chest was suddenly replaced by a cold, shocking realization.
"If you arrest my accountant," Ren continued smoothly, leaning in just a fraction, "the Daimyo will see it as a direct attack on his supply lines. If you force my guards out of this compound, the Capital nobles will embargo the Uchiha Police force’s weapon imports by morning."
Fugaku looked up from the scroll, meeting his eldest son’s dark, unreadable eyes.
"I’m not a Genin you can order around anymore, Dad," Ren said softly. "I hold the exclusive luxury contracts for the Fire Court. If you touch my men, you are picking a fight with the Daimyo himself. The men stay."
Fugaku Uchiha was a war veteran, a master of the Sharingan, and one of the most feared men in the Leaf Village. But standing on the porch of the renovated teahouse, holding the Daimyo’s writ, he realized the terrifying truth.
He couldn’t give his son orders anymore. Ren had completely outgrown the clan’s jurisdiction.
Fugaku slowly rolled the scroll back up. He handed it back to Ren, his face a completely blank, stoic mask.
"Your mother expects you for dinner at six," Fugaku said stiffly. "Do not be late."
He turned and walked back down the steps, the crowd of Uchiha parting instantly to let their Patriarch through.
Ren watched him go, a highly satisfied smirk playing on his lips. He slipped the royal writ back into his coat.
"Kakuzu," Ren called out over his shoulder.
"Yes?" The towering missing-nin grunted from inside the newly furnished main room.
"Set up the heavy safe," Ren ordered, stepping out of the midday sun and into his new Konoha base of operations. "And put on a fresh kimono. We’re having dinner with my parents."
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