Need More Money

After marking the bandits, Shiraishi Yoshijo followed Mei into the main hall.

Mei took out three Butterfly Seeds and gestured for Shiraishi Yoshijo to take off his shirt.

Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed, recalling the agony he endured when Shiraishi Eizawa passed down the secret technique to him.

He wondered how painful it would be to cultivate three at once.

After a moment of thought, a green light characteristic of medical Ninjutsu lit up on his hand, and he blocked all nerve conduction in his chest.

Mei asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Preventing myself from feeling pain."

"Pain?" Mei blinked at him with a smile. "Do you think I'm the same as your uncle?"

Mei tapped his chest three times with her finger.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was stunned.

The muscles on his chest parted like flowing water, forming three openings, and the three larvae crawled inside at a leisurely pace.

Why did this ability look so familiar?

Jugo's Sage Body?

Shiraishi Yoshijo asked strangely, "Can you use Sage Art?"

"What is Sage Art?"

"Then what is this ability of yours?"

"Manipulating physical changes. Once your Chakra control reaches a certain level, you'll be able to do it too."

After Shiraishi Yoshijo put his clothes back on and restored the nerves in his chest, he didn't feel a shred of pain.

He stared at Mei for a while and asked hesitantly, "Do you know about Natural Energy?"

"I don't."

After Mei replied, she saw Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression remained strange and seemed to realize something.

"You seem to know some things that I don't. Does it have to do with that ability of yours to foresee the future?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo kept his mouth firmly shut.

This woman could use such an ability without knowing about Sage Art; just how monstrous was her Chakra control?

With that level of Chakra control, she shouldn't be unable to sense Natural Energy, yet she claimed she didn't know it.

He thought back to the sensory abilities the Butterfly Seeds had granted him and began to silently calculate this woman's capabilities.

Extremely skilled in Space-Time Ninjutsu, absorbing life force, manipulating physical changes, inhuman Chakra control—she likely possessed sensory abilities as well.

The more he calculated, the colder his heart grew. What kind of existence was this freakish thing?

Mei squinted at him, examining him strangely, and said, "Is it really okay for you to think about these things right in front of me?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "..."

"I don't know what this Sage Art you speak of is. I can probably guess the reason, but I can't tell you."

"You seem to crave Sage Art very much. Once you've helped me with my task, I will certainly be able to help you fulfill your wish."

Hearing this, Shiraishi Yoshijo became increasingly curious about what favor Mei needed from him.

He knew that Mei was definitely hiding some important information.

If he could uncover such intelligence, he would definitely be able to find Mei's weakness—a very fatal one at that.

"I advise you not to have any strange ideas. My temper isn't very good."

Mei's gaze turned cold.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was speechless. This mind-reading ability was simply a bug; she knew everything he thought.

No, it must be the "Shi" inside his body telling her. How was he supposed to play this game?

After dismissing those unrealistic thoughts, he spread his hands in a resigned manner. "No one wants their life held in someone else's hands, especially someone like me."

Mei's expression finally softened. "I have tried my best to let you feel my sincerity. I have no ill intentions toward you; why can't you trust me?"

You threaten to kill me whenever a sentence goes wrong, how do you expect me to trust you?

Shiraishi Yoshijo completely lost his temper. "These Butterfly Seeds have already entered my body. You should be able to use that life-force manipulation ability to ripen them."

"They are physically mature, but their minds are still a blank slate. Forcing growth is not a good thing."

"So, I have to wait a few more years?"

"Five years. By then, I will help you ripen them."

Shiraishi Yoshijo curled his lip; he was completely at Mei's mercy.

"How were those bandits brought here? Can the Summoning Technique bring people into this place?"

"Space-Time Ninjutsu. How could you ask such a stupid question?"

"Fine, your level is just too high."

Shiraishi Yoshijo dropped these words and turned to leave, but Mei's voice rang out from behind him.

"You haven't even begun to spread the Butterfly Seed, can you tell me the reason?"

"I won't do such a thing until I have the ability to protect myself. There is already a sword hanging over my head; I don't want to add several more."

Shiraishi Yoshijo had no intention of hiding anything. After all, his thoughts could not be hidden from the Jo within his body, so they could not be hidden from this woman either.

"Fine, since you say so, I won't force you. Just know that you have at most thirty years."

"What happens if I exceed that deadline?"

Mei did not answer the question, merely giving him a look that told him to figure it out for himself.

Shiraishi Yoshijo immediately understood her meaning, his mouth twitching as he said, "Kill me?"

"That's what you said."

Shiraishi Yoshijo rolled his eyes: "I think there should be more trust between us. Can you stop peeking into my thoughts all the time?"

"That's a good proposal. Do you have any good ideas?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo held out his hand and made a gesture that everyone understood: "I need a raise!"

Mei was stunned for a moment, her expression becoming quite colorful.

"I don't have money!"

"So you're asking me to work for free? I'm still a minor. If this were the old days, I could have you dragged out and shot immediately."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Anything but money is fine."

Shiraishi Yoshijo blinked at her and said, "You seem to be very proficient in Sealing Technique as well. Do you know about Cursed Seal?"

"Cursed Seal?"

"It's similar to Sealing Technique, but completely different. I need a Cursed Seal that can control people."

"Using the Butterfly Seed is enough."

"No, I need a Cursed Seal. It must be highly covert, at least not easily discovered by others, and it must be controlled by my will."

Mei frowned for a moment before nodding: "I understand. It will take time to research."

Research?

Shiraishi Yoshijo gave her a strange look.

"What kind of look is that? Almost all of your clan's secret techniques were developed by me. Without my Space Formula, you would still be carrying butterflies around everywhere right now."

"Come to think of it, I've been working for your clan for free for hundreds of years, and you actually have the nerve to ask me for a raise!"

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "..."

Time to go, time to go. Seeing that Mei was on the verge of getting angry, Shiraishi Yoshijo ran away as fast as he could.

After returning home, Shiraishi Yoshijo wrote down all his plans on paper.

Lightning Body Flicker, physical research, Sealing Technique, Ninjutsu, Digestion Technique, secret techniques, Poison Powder Preparation, Chakra absorption.

Looking at the dozen or so experimental plans on the paper, Shiraishi Yoshijo began to worry.

Time!

Now that he had joined the Anbu, he had to carry out missions, he had to find time for the hospital, and he still needed to earn money to raise more Summoning Butterfly.

Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed, looked up at the sky, and muttered to himself: "Why did things end up like this?"

Thinking back to his days as a slacker, he shook his head.

Ever since his uncle died, he had never known a moment of peace.

In the end, he had turned into the person he hated the most.