"Konan?"
Mukai struggled to sit up,
only then realizing that his right hand had been wrapped in layers of bandages.
The pain had eased considerably.
Konan had yet to develop the cold demeanor of the future Angel of Akatsuki.
Seeing Mukai wake up, she smiled faintly, and Chakra turned into a sheet of paper,
which she swiftly folded into an exquisite paper crane.
"This is for you. I hope you get well soon."
Mukai smiled, nodded his thanks, then leaned close to Konan's ear and whispered something.
Konan's cheeks turned slightly red, but she still used Chakra to make a very thin, very long sheet of white paper.
Mukai took the special sheet of white paper and carefully examined the paper crane in his hand.
The paper's material was very unusual, and unlike ordinary Chakra release techniques, it did not quickly dissipate.
Konan's future Dance of the Shikigami had started with this paper crane!
Hearing Mukai get up, Sasori, who had been dozing nearby, jumped to his feet.
He wanted to come over and check on Mukai, but his habitual tsundere behavior made him stop where he was.
He really was a problem child!
Mukai tucked the crane Konan had given him into his clothes and took the initiative to greet Sasori:
"Hey, Sasori! Thanks for saving my arm.
Where are we now?
Did we get back to the village?"
A tired woman's voice came from nearby:
"Handsome little ninja, you're pretty resilient.
You're awake already?
Konan was the one who took careful care of you the whole time, but you can't forget about other people!
We're still in Amegakure. It was my Medical Ninjutsu that saved you!
Aren't you going to thank me?"
Mukai looked toward the voice and saw a woman in a nun's habit wearing round glasses.
"Yakushi Nonō?
You're Yakushi Nonō?
What are you doing in the Land of Rain?
Meeting you here, I must be pretty lucky."
Yakushi Nonō had not expected this little Sand ninja to know her.
But she paid it no mind.
The Wandering Miko was already preparing to leave Root.
From then on, she would devote herself to running the orphanage.
She would let that name become a thing of the past!
Yakushi Nonō was busy stopping a child's bleeding. She said calmly:
"Since the treatment is over, could you two ninja
settle the medical bill?"
Konan was about to speak up for Mukai, but he got to his feet and raised a hand to stop her.
"Of course. Doctor Nonō, your medical skills are excellent.
Thanks to you, my arm was saved.
Sasori, how about lending me some money?"
As a Chunin with considerable talent in the Puppet Technique, Sasori already earned substantial mission bonuses.
Besides, he was Granny Chiyo's own grandson!
He was no ordinary Chunin.
He was a golden thigh to cling to!
Hearing Mukai's words, Sasori naturally took out his wallet.
"You were injured this time because of me. I'll pay for the treatment."
Mukai did not stand on ceremony. He took Sasori's wallet
and pulled out five ten-thousand-ryō notes.
"I'll count it as a loan from you. I'll leave the fifty thousand ryō treatment fee right here.
Doctor Nonō, your medical skills are amazing. Thank you so much!
Also, I owe you a favor.
If you run into trouble in the future, you can come find me in Sunagakure.
My name is Mukai. I'm still a nameless Genin for now,
but I believe I'll soon be famous throughout the Shinobi World!
Until we meet again!"
At Konoha Hospital, Nonō usually charged five thousand ryō to treat an external injury like Mukai's.
The Mystical Palm Technique she was using quickly healed the wound on the child's leg.
She smiled gently and wiped her hands before saying,
"My, little ninja, you're quite ambitious!
You're giving me this much?
Are you someone important in Sunagakure?
And a rich one at that?"
Mukai jumped down from the makeshift bed and moved his arm around.
In the real world, an arm injured that badly would have needed at least several months of bed rest.
It had been such a short time, and it was already as good as new.
Feeling that his arm could move freely, he said,
"Not really. I just think you need this money more, Nonō.
I don't have much money myself right now. I borrowed this from Sasori.
But I'll soon become a ninja who's both rich and powerful.
I firmly believe that.
I just have one question.
Nonō, have you ever considered
how many people you can save by working yourself to exhaustion alone?
So many separations and deaths caused by the great wars of the Shinobi World,
so many pitiful war orphans and civilians-
is there a way to solve it all once and for all?"
Mukai was not speaking to Nonō alone.
His words were also meant for Konan and her two companions, as well as Sasori, whose worldview had yet to solidify.
Hearing Mukai's question, Yahiko jumped up,
ready to voice his idea of bringing about peace through communication and negotiation.
Nonviolent change?
Ha!
Sorry, Yahiko, but that idea of yours was a little too much like a white liberal's!
In a Shinobi World where strength reigned supreme, it just wasn't reliable!
He did not directly refute Yahiko's views.
Right now, he was only an unknown Genin who had transmigrated into the weak Sunagakure.
Being weak was an original sin in the Shinobi World too, kid!
Yahiko was passionately holding forth,
while Mukai, who had raised the question, was looking down, busy working on a small piece of gray Chakra Metal in his hands.
It was a small piece he had asked Sasori for, and the material seemed somewhat familiar to Mukai.
But he had no time now to test how this material differed from what he knew in his previous life.
According to Sasori, even with a Chakra conductivity of only twelve percent, it was already astronomically expensive.
Mukai could not bring himself to use up all of something so expensive.
He controlled an electric arc to cut off two thin sheets of metal
and sandwiched the thin paper Konan had made with Chakra between them.
As Yahiko delivered his speech with its rises and falls,
he had already conducted an initial test of his idea.
A simple composite capacitor was gradually taking shape in his hands.
Next, he used lightning to activate this black-tech-like supercapacitor of the Shinobi World,
and threads of electric charge burst from its front terminal.
When he fed wind-natured Chakra into it,
the supercapacitor likewise converted it into stored electric charge.
In this world of ninja, the uses of Chakra really were wondrous!
If something so wondrous existed in the real world,
his dream of a Gundam might have come true!
But even if it could not be realized in the real world, he was now in the wondrous Shinobi World!
He could research Gundams here too!
He waited until Yahiko had finished his long speech, then clapped somewhat perfunctorily and said,
"Very insightful. A good speech.
It must be fate that we met. If you run into trouble in the future, you can come find me in Sunagakure too.
Konan, this little toy is a return gift for you to use for self-defense.
You just press it like this, and Lightning Release that paralyzes enemies will come out the front.
It'll only paralyze the other person and knock them out for a while. It isn't lethal.
But it needs me to control Lightning Release precisely to charge it before it becomes this weaker version.
By my calculations, it can be used at least four times.
If it runs out, contact me and I'll recharge it for you.
Until we meet again, everyone. We're heading back to the village!"
Mukai spoke to Konan as he handed her the little cylinder he had just made.
That composure, so unlike someone his age, gave Konan a very good impression of Mukai.
She did not know how expensive Chakra Metal was, nor how rare this little thing that could store Chakra was.
Taking it simply as a gift between friends, she held the little cylinder and bowed to thank Mukai, a little shyly.
Sasori kept his cool problem-child expression at the side, giving only a slight nod as a farewell.
In his view, of all these people, only the female medical-nin was worth a second look.
The others were merely beginners who had only just learned to accumulate Chakra.
Compared with Mukai borrowing his money and Chakra Metal,
Sasori was actually more interested in Mukai's ability to control Wind Release and Lightning Release precisely.
Shaving off Chakra Metal with such precision was no simple matter.
The old Mukai had been like an inconspicuous little bug, but after this injury, he had instead become much more mature and steady.
Chakra control of this precision would be a very important aid in making his puppets.
The two walked beneath their umbrellas into the curtain of rain in the Land of Rain, heading toward the Land of Wind and gradually disappearing into the distance.
As they walked, Sasori asked his first question:
"Mukai, do you like the blue-haired one?"