Shinobu Kocho extended her invitation on the third day after Sasuke returned to the Butterfly Mansion.
"Lord Thunder Hashira, to ensure that using such a world-shattering technique has left no hidden problems in your body, please allow me to give you the most thorough examination possible."
Her face still wore that signature warm, gentle smile.
Her tone, too, was impeccable.
Sasuke glanced at her and did not refuse.
He also wanted to know exactly how much strain Kirin had placed on this body.
The Butterfly Mansion's dispensary was less a dispensary than a precision laboratory blending Eastern and Western styles.
The air held a strange, clean scent, a mixture of medicinal herbs and chemical reagents.
Sasuke sat in a chair, watching Shinobu Kocho deftly prepare an assortment of glassware whose purposes he could not understand.
"Please hold out your hand."
Shinobu Kocho picked up an extremely fine silver needle and spoke with a smile.
Sasuke did as she asked.
A bead of blood seeped from his fingertip, and Shinobu Kocho carefully collected a drop on a glass slide.
"There. Thank you for your cooperation."
Holding the bloodstained slide, Shinobu Kocho walked toward the brass microscope in the corner of the room, a device that seemed out of place in this era.
Sasuke closed his eyes, sensing the flow of chakra within him.
Kirin's consumption had indeed been enormous, but his recovery was also far faster than he had expected. The total amount of chakra granted by the Shippuden template made his body like an even deeper sea of energy.
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
The only sound in the room was the faint mechanical noise of Shinobu Kocho adjusting the focus.
Suddenly.
All sound vanished.
Sasuke opened his eyes.
He saw Shinobu Kocho still bent over the