Control Master

Three months later~

Although autumn had just arrived in Konoha, the damn weather was still hot.

But looking at Aburame Shibi in front of him, dressed in a windbreaker, Gu Qi felt even hotter.

"Gu Qi, may I ask what brings you here?"

The other man's tone was perfectly calm, but for some reason, Gu Qi still felt an inexplicable pressure.

Steadying himself, Gu Qi explained his purpose. "I came to discuss a business deal with the Aburame Clan."

"Oh." Aburame Shibi looked slightly surprised, but still spoke in that unruffled tone. "What sort of deal?"

Gu Qi took out a pair of finished slime shoes and set them on the table between them. "This is what I wanted to discuss."

After seeing the shoes on the table, Aburame Shibi silently released the Kikaichū inside his body.

Once the Kikaichū had crawled all over the shoes and returned to Aburame Shibi's body, he spoke again. "I understand. What are your terms, Gu Qi?"

"I'll provide the basic materials and the manufacturing process, and you'll produce them in large quantities. All I want is forty percent of the profits." Gu Qi held up four fingers.

"Agreed." Aburame Shibi thought it over briefly, then accepted.

"That's great." Gu Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"May I ask you something?" Aburame Shibi said suddenly.

Gu Qi was a little puzzled, but still replied, "Go ahead, Shibi-sama."

"What exactly is this creature?" Aburame Shibi asked.

Gu Qi was rather surprised. Shibi was a professional, all right. Unlike Kakashi, he wasn't so easily fooled; he'd spotted the key point at a glance.

"Please forgive me, but this concerns a secret of mine," Gu Qi said apologetically.

Aburame Shibi shook his head. "No, I was out of line. If possible, I'd like to see this creature in its original form someday."

"All right, I promise," Gu Qi assured him.

Gu Qi wasn't particularly surprised by Aburame Shibi's request.

Anyone with a certain level of expertise could see the slime's limitless potential.

Transformation, fusion, division.

Together, these traits offered endless possibilities.

For example, the Aburame Clan might be able to analyze the slime's genes, then implant it in their bodies just like the Kikaichū.

When they encountered an enemy, they could simply manipulate the slime into all kinds of ninja tools or creatures to fight them.

Compared with ordinary insects, slimes would make the Aburame Clan's tactics much more versatile.

Gu Qi hadn't agreed to Aburame Shibi's request just to humor him. He'd already thought of a way to introduce all sorts of strange creatures in the future, giving the public a reason they could accept.

"Then I'm grateful, Gu Qi."

"Think nothing of it."

As Gu Qi left the Aburame Clan's compound, an image suddenly appeared in his mind for some reason: a blob of green slime emerging from Shino Aburame's body to fight an enemy.

At the thought of that scene, Gu Qi couldn't help shivering. "Damn, that's disgusting. No! No! I can't think about it anymore. This is one bizarre image."

He banished the bizarre scene from his mind and ambled home.

Back at his thoroughly renovated home, Gu Qi followed the stairs down to the laboratory in the basement.

Gu Qi hadn't been idle over the past three months.

First, he bought back the shop next door, then tore down both shops and the courtyard and rebuilt them from scratch.

To speed up construction, Gu Qi not only hired Konoha's master carpenter but also posted a Rank C mission to enlist help from Konoha's ninja.

The rebuilt residence had a larger footprint and a completely redesigned layout.

The entire compound was arranged in a square, with a single-story building facing the street. As before, it was used to sell ninja tools.

Behind the Ninja Tool Shop, the center of the compound had been cleared of the old rockery and decorations and converted into a training area.

The two sides of the courtyard were still lined with single-story buildings. One side held rooms for the three Ninja Dogs and Gu Qi, as well as a living room.

The other side housed the kitchen, bathroom, and storeroom.

At the back of the courtyard stood a two-story building.

The first floor was a small workshop Gu Qi had built, along with a warehouse for storing materials.

The workshop was dedicated to making tools, ninja gear, and other things he needed.

The second floor was a fully equipped laboratory.

There was also a hidden basement beneath the building. Inside it was a concealed laboratory.

The building was nothing more than a cover Gu Qi had set up to divert people's attention.

Even the hidden basement was there to throw suspicious visitors off the scent.

Of course, the laboratory and workshop in the building were both fully functional.

For instance, in the basement laboratory, three tanks were being used to grow three enormous amoebas.

After Gu Qi finished renovating the compound, he quickly noticed that at least two groups had been keeping watch on it.

One group left after observing for a while. After Kakashi had a friendly talk with the other, they left soon afterward too.

Whether they had really gone was anyone's guess.

At any rate, Gu Qi had noticed that some of the laboratory notes he'd left on the second floor had been rifled through several times.

Of course, Gu Qi had deliberately left those notes behind.

Still, he was very unhappy about people coming and going as they pleased, especially with three Ninja Dogs at home.

"Hey, did anyone come by today?" Gu Qi asked the three Ninja Dogs casually when he got home.

The three Ninja Dogs all shook their heads at the same time.

"Forget it. I might as well not ask." Gu Qi shook his head and went straight to the laboratory building at the back.

After entering the second floor, Gu Qi went over to a bookshelf. Then he took a display screen off the shelf.

"These three stupid dogs wouldn't even notice if someone carried off everything in the house." Gu Qi looked exasperated.

The screen showed the number "5," which meant at least five people had triggered the mechanism and been recorded.

The mechanism Gu Qi had made was simple: he'd placed highly sensitive wireless devices under random floorboards.

Whenever someone stepped on one of those boards, the device would be triggered and send a wireless signal to the display screen.

As for who the intruders were, Gu Qi could make a pretty good guess without even trying.

There was no need to mention the usual suspects; they were everywhere. Then there were the Anbu and people from the Elders' Council.

Whether the Uchiha and Hyuga had sent anyone was a matter of opinion.

If he hadn't thought about how much it had cost to build the place, Gu Qi would have loved to plant land mines under the floorboards to teach those people a lesson.

"This can't go on. It's time to teach these people a lesson." Staring at the display screen in his hand, Gu Qi fell into thought.