For the following week, Lin Qing temporarily stayed in Snowfall Village as a barefoot doctor.
Snowfall Village was battered by wind and snow all year round. To some degree, all the local residents carried a chill in their bodies, and aching joints in their legs, waists, hands, and feet were a part of daily life.
While treating Haku's Mother, Lin Qing discovered that as the Ripple contended with different kinds of chill, it condensed and grew at a faster rate than usual.
The chill in the other villagers was much weaker than Haku's Mother's. It also lacked that indescribable sense of power, but there were many of them, and their supply was endless.
Lin Qing couldn't keep practicing on Haku's Mother all the time, after all...
She was still married.
With the villagers' help, Lin Qing's Ripple, which hadn't improved in a long time, finally broke through its bottleneck.
"At the first stage of Ripple training, you can heal flesh wounds and increase your physical abilities two or three times over.
Later, through one bounty mission after another, I figured out that the Ripple could be infused into weapons and transformed into Silver Ripple, crudely enhancing a weapon's power.
That was the second stage: Ripple Transformation.
Back then, though, Ripple Transformation was still crude. Only a small portion of its power could be transformed.
But now..."
A cyan-green Ripple appeared at Lin Qing's fingertips.
He touched the tea in his cup, and it instantly hardened like steel, resisting his finger.
If he were in a river and concentrated the cyan-green Ripple in his feet, Lin Qing could walk across the surface of the water.
That wasn't all. Lin Qing crooked a finger, drawing the tea out of the cup. With a casual sweep of his hand, it became an incredibly hard shield.
The next second, the Ripple turned crimson, radiating a heat more intense than before. The tea became steam, and Lin Qing punched into it—
Boom!
An explosion rang out.
The steam exploded.
Lin Qing's hair flew wildly.
The move's power was even greater than he'd imagined.
"The first stage is projecting the Ripple outward. The second stage uses adjustments to your breathing rhythm to change the Ripple's properties, letting you adapt to different combat situations."
Crimson Ripple, which produced extremely high temperatures.
Cyan Ripple, which let you manipulate water.
Silver Ripple, which enhanced metal, greatly increasing its hardness, sharpness, and elasticity.
And the strongest of all—
Lin Qing opened his palm again. A flash of golden electricity flickered across it.
In the past, when he released the Ripple, it had appeared as golden radiance.
Now, the golden current was more concentrated than before, and its power was much greater.
"Sunlight Yellow Ripple."
It was the Ripple with the strongest frontal assault power. Lin Qing sensed that it had further nuances, but he'd only just broken through his bottleneck and needed time to explore them.
Lin Qing clenched his fist again and summoned Star Platinum, Aero Smith, and Hermit Purple.
A Stand was the manifestation of its user's will. As Lin Qing's body and spirit grew stronger, all the Stands under his control had grown stronger too.
"If mastering it didn't require time and gradual breakthroughs, the Ripple Breathing Method would absolutely be a five-star technique. No—a technique on par with a six-star Stand.
Once I've fully mastered the Sunlight Yellow Ripple Overdrive and its changes in properties, the power of a single punch... Even if it doesn't match a first-level Star Platinum, it shouldn't be far off."
Lin Qing could already picture his future enemies. They'd think they'd figured out the secret of his Stands and bypass Star Platinum to attack his 'frail' real body—only to be blown away by a single punch.
Coming to Snowfall Village had paid off.
Otherwise, if he'd just kept training on his own, who knew how long it would have taken to reach the Ripple's second stage?
"No wonder the monks who train in Tibet are always traveling around and treating people. Besides their compassion, they do it to train, too."
Lin Qing slowly exhaled and put away his Ripple power.
Knock, knock—
There was another knock at the door.
Before Sasuke could answer it, a woman in her thirties, still full of charm, pushed the door open and strode inside.
As she walked, she took off her padded coat. Underneath, she wore only a loosely wrapped chest binder, revealing a broad expanse of pale skin.
"Doctor Lin, could you feel me up again... I mean, treat me? My shoulder still hurts a little—ow! Why are you pulling me?!"
Before the woman could finish, another short-haired woman grabbed her and started tugging her away.
"Wait your turn! I was here first! If Doctor Lin's going to feel anyone up, he should start with me!"
"I was here first!"
"Me!"
Women arguing outside the temporary clinic clamored to be treated by Lin Qing first.
It was rare for the village to get a doctor, and the moment Lin Qing laid a hand on them, their whole bodies tingled.
On top of that, he had the Uchiha Clan's trademark handsome model face, and word had gotten around that Lin Qing wasn't married yet. Naturally, plenty of young women and married women came flocking, including widows from other villages who had heard about him.
"Brother Qing, women... are scary..."
Sasuke muttered under his breath.
"Scary, huh?"
Lin Qing smiled. "Then make sure you don't get captured."
"Huh?"
Sasuke froze. "What do women have to do with getting captured?"
"What do you think would happen if another organization or a shinobi village captured you?"
"Torture me? Force me to reveal the breathing method and ninjutsu? Then... take out my Sharingan."
That was the most terrifying outcome Sasuke could imagine.
Lin Qing shook his head slightly. "No, you wouldn't die."
"I wouldn't?"
"Not only would you survive, you'd be treated like royalty and fed the best of everything. Twenty sheep's kidneys a day, thirty bull testicles, all the oysters you could eat, and then..."
Lin Qing's lips curled into a smile.
"They'd use you for breeding."
"F-for breeding?!"
It wasn't Sasuke who spoke. Xiaotao, the little girl sitting in the corner reading, had heard that Sasuke would be captured and used for breeding. Her eyes went wide as she cried out in shock.
"That's right," Lin Qing said. "Kill you and take your eyes, and it's like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
"Keep you alive and have you father new Uchiha children over and over—that's the optimal solution. In just over a decade, they could produce an army of Sharingan users."
Sasuke rubbed his chin, recalling Hayato Kamihara's tastes. "But for a man... that doesn't sound so hard to accept?"
"Heh..."
Lin Qing chuckled.
"Do you think they'd send beautiful women to breed with you? To produce strong offspring, they'd send over women with bulging muscles and sturdy builds."
The thought of a different Sister Yujie of the Northeast climbing into his bed every day was terrifying.
Sasuke shuddered at that.
Seeing him like that, Lin Qing couldn't help laughing. Xiaotao beside him also covered her mouth and smiled faintly for the first time in a while.
"Lin Qing! Come over for the test!"
Blade Master called from outside.
"Coming."
Lin Qing answered and walked out.
At the same time.
At the County Magistrate's Mansion.
County Magistrate Morimura sat in a chair with a cup in his hand. Beside him, a dark-skinned maid from the Land of Lightning poured him a drink.
Up close, it was clear there was no smell of alcohol in the cup.
He was drinking water.
County Magistrate Morimura was in his forties, with thinning hair, a height just over five feet, an unremarkable face, and a slightly plump build.
No one would have guessed that such a plain-looking man was a county magistrate ruling over the region.
Morimura never drank alcohol. It slowed his mind and made him muddled, and being muddled meant making mistakes.
He didn't like making mistakes.
Morimura had risen from being a commoner to running a business, building connections, buying his official post, and becoming the local lord. He had done it all by relying on his brains.
He was simply enjoying the process of being served by a beauty.
Before him, the accountant reported the county magistrate's revenues and expenditures for the past month, item by item.
"Wait... Snowfall Village didn't pay its heating tax this month?"
"They didn't," the accountant reminded him. "The two samurai sent to collect it had their legs broken and were driven back."
County Magistrate Morimura vaguely remembered his subordinates mentioning it.
But he didn't care whether they lived or died, so he hadn't given it another thought.
Foolish peasants occasionally acted up.
Breaking the samurai's legs?
It didn't matter.
But cutting off his source of income was unacceptable.
"Bring me the two samurai who went to collect the tax."
Before long, two samurai, one tall and one short, limped over.
They'd had their eyes on Xiaotao, and Sasuke had been ruthless. They'd probably have to use crutches for the rest of their lives.
When they saw County Magistrate Morimura, the two samurai dropped to their knees in a formal dogeza, bowing low as they cried:
"Sir! You have to give us justice!"
After County Magistrate Morimura asked about the details and heard the whole story, he asked, "Your opponents were strong?"
"Very strong!"
The two samurai gestured wildly as they exaggerated their tale. Lin Qing and Sasuke sounded like two ravenous demons. They'd fought with all their might and still couldn't beat them, so they could only flee and bring word back to the county magistrate.
"Very strong, you say... Understood. You may leave."
The two samurai exchanged confused glances, unsure what the county magistrate meant. They bowed and hobbled away on their crutches, filled with questions.
County Magistrate Morimura rubbed his chin and thought for a full five minutes.
"Go to the accountant and get a box of gold and silver jewelry and two bolts of cloth. Then bring two beauties and have the Dire Wolf Squad make a trip to Snowfall Village. Go and give that strongman..."
"A gift."
Before you continue