Cold-Faced but Kind-Hearted Mikawa

Chapter 30: Mikawa, Cold Exterior but Kind Heart

[Inferior Self-Healing Body] was directly upgraded to LV3 by Qingyu, and its recovery speed increased from double to quadruple!

With a quadruple increase in self-healing, the recovery rate became quite considerable.

This meant that injuries that would normally take three days to heal could now be recovered in just over ten hours.

Furthermore, [Inferior Self-Healing Body] could also repair internal injuries to a certain extent, which was very suitable for his upcoming training period and would save a lot of time.

Of course, the price was increased stamina consumption.

However, this could be compensated for by eating a lot. The 100,000 ryo compensation from the Uchiha was enough to support his training for a long time.

He also wanted to try if he could increase the level of his abilities through training, without relying on skill cards.

If so, he could use this method to improve the level of [White Strike], thus saving skill cards for other abilities.

Then, he began to try to accelerate his self-healing ability. After [Inferior Self-Healing Body] was upgraded to LV3, the feeling became much clearer.

He could feel a warm current circulating throughout his body, and the injured areas began to feel tingly and itchy.

But before long, he started to feel hungry. Clearly, the upgraded ability also required more stamina.

This was also largely due to the fact that he hadn't eaten all day.

So, he decisively stopped!

He just wanted to test the effect of the ability, not to reveal any abnormalities that would arouse suspicion.

If he exposed himself and someone suspected he had some connection to the Senju Clan, it would cause a lot of trouble.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed.

It had to be said that although the medical facilities in the Naruto world didn't seem as advanced as Earth's, the existence of medical ninjutsu greatly compensated for this deficiency, and the results were astonishing!

After a week of recuperation, Qingyu, who was about to mold on the hospital bed, was finally allowed to be discharged.

And Mikawa, who was somewhat elusive, appeared before him immediately.

"Come with me, I need to take you somewhere."

Qingyu did not refuse, nor did he have any reason to refuse. If Jonin Mikawa had wanted to harm him, he would have been dead by now.

If there was anyone in Konoha he could temporarily trust, besides Jonin Mikawa, it was Itachi, who had almost caused him to meet the King of Hell after only meeting him twice.

Qingyu had initially thought that Jonin Mikawa was going to take him to a secluded place to give him some instructions.

But to his surprise, Jonin Mikawa took him to the bustling commercial street and directly walked into a barbecue restaurant.

After finding a seat, Qingyu looked at him with a strange expression.

Mikawa felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. As if explaining to someone, he said, "The people at the hospital said you were lacking nutrition. Coincidentally, I just received some payment, so I thought I'd treat myself, and you get to tag along."

Hearing this, Qingyu couldn't help but smile.

If he wanted to treat him to a good meal, he should have just said so. Why go through such a roundabout way?

However, he didn't expose Mikawa's pretense and just accepted it as it was.

The sizzling charcoal fire and fresh beef almost made Qingyu believe he was back on Earth.

"Let's eat."

Mikawa directly covered the grill with slices of meat, and soon a tempting aroma wafted out, making one's mouth water.

Qingyu was indeed craving meat, so he unceremoniously began to feast.

Mikawa ate slowly, ordering a small pot of sake for himself and sipping it slowly. However, he didn't slow down his grilling, and his technique was excellent, grilling the meat to perfection.

Soon, eighty percent of the five-person portion of barbecue was in Qingyu's stomach.

However, Mikawa didn't seem to mind and ordered another five-person portion of barbecue.

As a Special Jonin, even someone from a commoner background like him earned a huge sum of money each year, enough to eat barbecue every day.

Since Qingyu liked to eat, he naturally wouldn't be stingy.

During the meal, he casually said, "To become an excellent ninja, a good physique is essential. The training you undertook yourself a while ago was very good, but you also need to keep up with your nutrition, otherwise, you'll only get worse with more training. I have already applied to the Hokage to give you a monthly subsidy of 5,000 ryo. However, this money is not given for free. Once you graduate and become a Genin, you will need to repay this money by completing missions."

With his mouth full of meat, how could Qingyu refuse such a good thing? He nodded repeatedly, signifying his agreement.

But what he didn't know was that this so-called subsidy was actually entirely out of Jonin Mikawa's own pocket, and had nothing to do with the Hokage or Konoha.

As for repayment, it was simply Jonin Mikawa's way of not wanting to raise a freeloader, giving him some pressure and motivation to strive for more.

For someone unrelated to him, Mikawa had gone to great lengths. Even he himself didn't know what he was aiming for.

After an unknown amount of time, Qingyu had consumed a total of twenty portions of barbecue, while Mikawa slowly finished ten portions and drank his last cup of sake. Only then did the meal end.

"By the way, your job has been handed over to someone else. Although I don't agree with you continuing to work part-time, you have your own ideas, so I won't say more. I just hope you remember one thing: although becoming a ninja is dangerous, you can, to a certain extent, control your own destiny, and it's easier to obtain wealth. So don't abandon the fundamental for the superficial, and don't waste the talent that heaven has bestowed upon you."

Qingyu nodded again and then said earnestly, "I'll remember it all. Thank you."

He had been in the hospital for so long, and time waits for no one. He was mentally prepared.

"I have other matters to attend to, so you can go back by yourself. The compensation from the Uchiha has already been placed at my home. Also, the security situation there has improved a lot recently, but I still think you shouldn't wander around and cause any more trouble. If you do, I'll kick you out of the village!"

Having interacted for so long, Qingyu already knew that Jonin Mikawa had a sharp tongue but a kind heart, and was someone who wasn't good at expressing his true feelings.

So, without realizing it, he had actually developed a sliver of admiration for this unremarkable middle-aged man.

If their positions were reversed, he didn't think he could do any better.

It was just that this damn undercover mission was like a thorn stuck in his throat, leaving him unable to advance or retreat, and unable to open his heart to anyone.

Sometimes he also wondered, if his undercover identity were ever exposed, how would he face Jonin Mikawa.

Just thinking about it made him feel like a large stone was blocking his heart.

So what the hell was this all about!

PS: The Book of Oracle states that Special Jonin Gekko Hayate's total income over 11 years as a ninja was 49.78 million ryo, with an average annual income of about 4.52 million ryo, or 2.88 million RMB, making him a definite rich person. Therefore, Jonin Mikawa's income should be referenced from here; even if it's less, it won't be too much less.

By the way... does anyone still have any recommendation votes they forgot to cast? If not, I'll ask again tomorrow.