Life passed by slowly, like a stream, calm and regular.
A few days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Akashi and Anko had grown more and more in sync, their teamwork in both experiments and combat improving tremendously.
In their free time, the two would occasionally go to a shop for glutinous rice dumplings and red bean soup.
"Eating sweets really is a happy thing."
Anko sighed contentedly, her cheeks puffed out with four dumplings stuffed in her mouth. Akashi was treating today, so of course she wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste.
A bright, sunny day paired with delicious food—what could be more relaxing?
Akashi weighed his wallet in his hand again and again, his heart aching. "Could you show my savings a little mercy? How many bowls is that now?"
"I know you've got plenty of money!"
"That's all public funds, invested in buying materials and equipment. You should take on a few missions now and then. That'd be enough to cover your daily expenses."
Anko slurped up the last drop and smiled with satisfaction. "Isn't eating for free with a senior even better?"
Akashi feigned anger and tapped her on the forehead. "You freeload and drink for free, and you still have the nerve to act like you're in the right."
"Cheapskate," Anko muttered, looking toward the street. "By the way, what's Teacher Orochimaru been busy with lately?"
"Seems there's trouble at the border again."
Akashi had heard a little about it.
The Third Hokage had been holding meetings frequently lately, and had let some details slip. Apparently, the fighting at the front had eased, but the border had suffered heavy casualties. The Land of Wind, which had already ceased hostilities, was stirring again and meddling behind the scenes.
It had only been a few years since Sunagakure and Konoha's battle at Mount Kikyo ended. A large-scale conflict probably wouldn't break out.
The shadow of the Third Shinobi World War had yet to fade, and localized skirmishes would become the norm.
These days, there might not be clan wars like in the Warring States period, but battles led by one nation against another were far more destructive.
Fortunately, no one had used Tailed Beast weapons.
For one thing, Tailed Beasts weren't very controllable. Even a Perfect Jinchuriki couldn't be trusted completely. For another, using a Tailed Beast would push conventional warfare past the point of no return. At that point, there might be no stopping the fighting until one side was wiped out.
After careful consideration, the Five Great Nations had tacitly agreed to restrain themselves from using Tailed Beasts.
None of the wars had fundamentally eased the conflicts over resources, land, and population. Instead, they had made the imbalance of national power more pronounced, widening the gap even further.
When productivity couldn't resolve the tensions over population and resources, there would always be either a plague or a war.
The Third Shinobi World War had continued to this day.
Akashi already knew how things would turn out; he just didn't know whether his arrival would affect the situation. He had no way of knowing what kind of butterfly effect might result from the changes he had made.
The street suddenly grew lively.
A commotion gathered, and many people hurried toward the roadside.
Anko sprang to her feet and exclaimed quietly, "Hey, are those... wounded? There are so many!"
"Hm?"
Akashi had his back to the street and was drinking his sweet soup. At Anko's exclamation, he turned around.
A large group of wounded was making its way down the street.
Some had lost an arm or a leg. Others lay motionless, seemingly on the verge of death. Escorted by the troops, they made it back to Konoha safely.
Several shinobi were talking in low voices by the roadside.
"Isn't that Jōnin Fukada Erika?"
"Yeah. She's incredible. Her Taijutsu and Water Release are top-notch. I fought her once and was defeated in less than a minute."
One of them lowered his voice conspiratorially. "She's got a wealth of experience, too. She's worked at Konoha Hospital, the Interrogation Department, and the school; she's been a private tutor, and she's never failed a covert mission."
"I know something else about her, too..." His voice gradually faded.
Akashi looked over and saw a strikingly curvy kunoichi limping along at the front.
The large group slowly made its way toward Konoha Hospital.
It was fortunate that before Tsunade left, she had expanded and reformed the Medical Department, making Konoha's medical capabilities the best among the Five Great Shinobi Villages and giving them room to grow.
The famous theoretical framework for Medical Ninjutsu had also been refined by Tsunade.
It was fair to say that this alone had earned her immense credit.
After Tsunade left, Konoha could hardly find another medical ninja as powerful as her. The jōnin currently in charge of the Medical Department fell far short of Tsunade in both theory and practice.
Medical Ninjutsu was genuinely useful.
Many of Orochimaru's current studies had reached a bottleneck, and the loss of experimental materials was staggering. If he couldn't improve the utilization rate of living subjects, it would become a serious problem.
That was why he'd resorted to the dangerous step of kidnapping shinobi from the village.
Kabuto had earned Orochimaru's favor not only because of his exceptional intelligence-gathering skills, but also because of his outstanding Medical Ninjutsu.
Akashi, however, couldn't learn it.
The reason was simple: he lacked Yang Release chakra.
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, his chakra natures were currently [Yin][Fire][Lightning][Wind][Earth]. He had developed Fire Release the most, with Wind Release coming second. He hadn't yet dabbled in Lightning Release or Earth Release.
Medical Ninjutsu demanded an enormous amount of chakra and exceptional control, and it also required Yang Release.
Those high entry requirements excluded some shinobi. On top of that, Medical Ninjutsu itself was difficult to learn. It took professional training and extensive practice to master even decent techniques, so medical ninja were rare resources in every nation.
They were a force to be reckoned with in wartime. In many cases, there were orders not to kill medical ninja.
Since he couldn't learn it himself, perhaps...
A name came to mind: Hyuga Shingetsu. With the Byakugan, wouldn't she be a natural fit for becoming a medical ninja?
At the thought, he couldn't help smiling.
Passersby made way for the wounded, and some spontaneously applauded, welcoming the heroes home.
The figures gradually disappeared into the distance.
"Just what you'd expect from a jōnin," Akashi suddenly remarked.
"What's that?"
"Didn't you notice? There wasn't a bit of excess fat on her legs."
Anko was exasperated. "What are you even looking at?"
Akashi put on a serious expression. "Science, of course. Do you know which major muscles make up the thigh and calf? Or how many ligaments there are around the knee joint?"
"No! And I don't want to know!"
Anko spat out the words, cursing him as a pervert in her mind.
Just then, Akashi lifted his porcelain bowl and smiled, looking a little excited. Maybe it was because he'd been following Orochimaru around, but now, whenever he saw a body with such beautiful, firm curves, he wanted to study it.
Anko saw Akashi staring off into the distance and wondered whether it was that kind of figure that really attracted him. But... weren't they a little too big?
She gestured in front of her chest and pouted.
She felt a little jealous and indignant.
"Hmph, I need to eat more!" Anko raised her hand. "Boss, four more servings!"
"You're still eating? Aren't you afraid of getting fat?" Akashi asked, slightly surprised.
"Eating more helps you grow faster!" Anko bared her canine teeth, looking as if it was none of his business.
"But you're spending my money..."
Akashi looked at his wallet in dismay and sighed under his breath. "I'll have to dip into the public funds to cover the shortfall again. How can I live with myself, treating you with Konoha's money?"
No matter what, at least he couldn't be the one losing out.
Before you continue