"Can you replicate that kind of laser?" Shinju looked at Katetsu and asked.
Katetsu shook his head honestly.
"It might be a bit difficult right now. If we could just get the one in the prison to—"
Shinju raised his hand, stopping what Katetsu was about to say.
"Alright, I get it. You can go for now."
Orochimaru really could push Konoha's technology to the next level, but Shinju personally just found him annoying to look at.
Time quickly slipped to noon.
At Ino's invitation, Shinju had some barbecue. The meat wasn't even done yet when Shikamaru called him back to the Hokage's office, saying the Mizukage had called...
On the phone, Mizukage Mei Terumi apologized for the impact of the Ao incident on Konoha.
"Shinju, after losing his body function, Ao's mind twisted a bit. He might have been manipulated later, which led to this… I want to extradite him back to Kirigakure. After all, he was a war hero in the Fourth Great Ninja War."
After listening, Shinju glanced at Shikamaru beside him and replied gently,
"Lady Mizukage, unfortunately, Ao died some time ago in Konoha's prison…"
Hearing that, Mei Terumi's tone shifted. "I heard your Rinne Rebirth…"
Shinju shook his head. "No. Self-detonation is a standard tactic of Kara. It's specifically to stop me from using Rinne Rebirth to extract information from their minds…"
On the other end, Mei Terumi's voice gradually turned hoarse.
"Alright. I'm very sorry for the trouble Ao caused Konoha. Kirigakure will compensate Konoha."
Soon, Mei Terumi hung up.
Shikamaru said, "Will they think Konoha intentionally hid Ao…"
Shinju spread his hands. "I told the truth. Let them think whatever they want. ¯\(ツ)/¯"
...
Mizukage's office.
The advisors' faces darkened after she hung up the call.
"Ao's in Konoha's hands right now. Whether he's dead or alive is completely whatever they say!"
"Exactly—and Ao already had bad blood with Konoha. That Byakugan of his was from the Hyuga clan, and the Hyuga are a major clan in Konoha…"
"Lately, because of border issues, the Land of Waves and our Land of Water have been clashing constantly…"
"The Land of Waves is a tiny country. It never used to have this confidence. The Land of Fire is definitely backing them!"
"That's right—Konoha is clearly throwing its weight around. Do they really think Kirigakure is afraid of them?"
"If this were back when Yagura was in power, Kirigakure might've already gone to war with Konoha… Kirigakure back then really had some bite!"
Mei Terumi realized the advisors were getting more and more out of line.
"Bang!" Her palm slammed onto the desk, silencing everyone.
"At a time like this you're still bringing up the Fourth Mizukage? It was exactly that kind of iron-fisted rule that crippled Kirigakure for so many years!"
"You miss those days, huh? Then why don't you advisors do a little selection yourselves?"
"We'll lock all of you in an octagon cage, and only one of you gets to walk out alive! (눈益눈)"
The higher-ups shrank their necks and stopped talking.
This crazy woman had been especially irritable these days—early menopause, probably. Couldn't provoke her!
"Nobody is allowed to bring up Ao anymore, and you definitely aren't to gossip about Konoha in private and mess with our diplomacy…"
"Alright, that's it. Meeting adjourned!"
Soon, everyone left the office—only Mei Terumi and Chōjūrō remained.
"What do you think about this whole situation?" Mei Terumi asked.
Chōjūrō stayed silent for a while before answering.
"It's only been a year since the Fourth Great Ninja War. Konoha's Sixth Hokage is the hero who saved the world, and Ao was the one at fault first… At a time like this, Kirigakure can only choose to trust Konoha."
Mei Terumi nodded, her eyes softening.
"Looks like I didn't misjudge you. You've grown quite a bit these past six months~ (o´Д`o)ノ"
Thin-skinned Chōjūrō blushed instantly.
"It's all thanks to your guidance, Lady Mizukage."
...
Konoha.
After finishing a day of work, Shinju was studying his eyes.
The Reversion Eye had fused his Rinnegan, Tenseigan, and Urashiki's golden Rinnegan. Its ocular power was terrifying, and many visual techniques were still unopened!
For instance, Shinju was currently trying to use the Tenseigan power within the Reversion Eye to construct a spatial passage!
Back when he went to the moon to find Toneri, Shinju had discovered a warped space outside Konoha. Passing through that warped space let you travel straight from the shinobi world to the moon… That was the space channel created by the Tenseigan!
What Shinju was thinking now was whether he could shorten the distance of that space passage, achieving instant opening and instant closing...
Meanwhile, at the night market.
"So good—this is just too good! Give me three more!"
Naruto grimaced. "Neji, you've already had eight or nine portions. No matter how good it is, you can't treat it like a full meal… and once you eat too much it's just average… Don't—"
...
After closing up the stall, Naruto and Sasuke pushed the food cart home.
On the way, Naruto wet his finger and carefully started counting the money…
"This business really pays, huh? Just a short while and we made six or seven hundred. After costs, that's four hundred in pure profit!"
"As expected of Shinju—his head works way better than most people's."
Walking and chatting, the two arrived at the door.
Naruto had just pushed it open when he yelled excitedly for Shinju.
"Shinju, get down here and look how much we made today!"
"With this craft, even if the company goes under someday, we can still make a living!"
Shinju slowly walked down from upstairs.
"Quit jinxing it. The company's doing great—why would it go bankrupt! (′д｀σ)σ"
Naruto nodded and reached for his pouch.
"Let me show you how much we made… Wait… the money! (°Д°≡°Д°)"
"I definitely put it in my pocket!"
"Did it fall out on the way back?!"
As he spoke, the anxious Naruto was about to rush out to search, but Shinju stopped him in time. "Hold on."
Then Shinju opened his palm—a crumpled pile of bills lay there in his hand.
Naruto stared in confusion. "How'd you do that? Did you use Flying Thunder God to steal my money?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
Shinju: "…"
"If I'd used Flying Thunder God, you would've sensed it for sure. This is my newest ocular technique. ❛‿˂̵✧"
As he spoke, Shinju opened his Reversion Eye. A small ripple of space appeared in front of him!
Shinju reached his hand into the spatial ripple, and in the next second, another hand quietly stretched out from behind Naruto, grabbing the back of his collar!
Naruto: "∑(°Д°)"
Sasuke: "A miniature space door?"
Shinju nodded. "That's basically it."
"Can a person go through it?" Sasuke asked again.
Shinju expanded the range of the spatial ripple and spread his hands. "Easy."
Sasuke: "Any range limits?"
Shinju nodded. "This space door is only fully controllable within my line of sight. Once it's outside my sight, I can only open it by feel…"
Sasuke: "Rinnegan ability? Can I learn it?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
Shinju grinned. "Tenseigan."
Sasuke: (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
Naruto asked, "What's it called?"
Shinju: "Anywhere Door!"
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