Chapter 57: Is Art! I Added Art!
One hundred million ryo sounded absurd on paper, and it was, especially since the ninja world's economy had always felt like a foggy swamp. There was no neat, systematic explanation for it, which meant most of the time you had to deduce the scale yourself.
After arriving in this world, Kenichi discovered something even stranger. The overall economy was inconsistent. A normal S rank mission could pay at least one million ryo, yet a lot of shinobi still did not seem to live comfortably.
The reason was simple. Ninja tools were expensive, learning new jutsu cost money, and even staying battle ready required constant spending.
Kenichi had even heard from his teacher that the village took a cut from mission rewards. That portion became part of the village's finances and got used for everything from infrastructure to procurement.
His teacher had completed more than a hundred S rank missions, which let him stockpile a considerable fortune. Now Kenichi had pulled in that same scale of money from Gato in one go, and it saved him a ridiculous amount of time.
"But where did that thunder dragon I threw go? I hope it does not cause trouble." Kenichi scratched his head, still uneasy.
Normally, lightning in nature could not strike very far, usually only three to five kilometers. But there were rare, abnormal bolts that stretched for more than seven hundred kilometers, a number so exaggerated it sounded like someone made it up to win an argument.
Thinking about it like that only made him feel less confident.
"I hope nothing happens." He was not convincing even to himself.
The Land of Waves lay south of the Land of Fire. It was a small island nation surrounded by the sea, but beyond that sea were other countries. If the thunder dragon had flown off toward one of them, it could easily become someone else's nightmare.
At that same moment, far away in a secluded valley in the Land of Wind, Konan stood with his arms crossed, looking at the man in front of him.
"Sasori of Sunagakure, what do you think of this proposal?"
This was a shinobi with promise. Although he had been defeated during the initial test, his potential was still solid, and he should be able to meet Nagato's standards.
"The Akatsuki?" Sasori stared at Konan, his expression dark.
He had just lost the fight, and even the Third Kazekage puppet he had poured his hopes into had been useless. The failure cut deep, not because of pride, but because weakness disgusted him.
How was he supposed to avenge his parents like this?
Yes, the Third Hokage was already dead, and Konoha's White Fang had committed suicide, but none of that brought Sasori peace.
Because those enemies had not died by his hand. Revenge like that tasted stale, like sand in the mouth.
"...Fine. I will join you." Sasori hesitated, then finally nodded. He was interested in what the Akatsuki claimed to be building.
But before the words had fully settled, a deafening roar rolled through the valley. Sasori's instincts flared. He looked up and saw something flying in from the distance.
Not a beast. Not quite.
It looked more like the product of ninjutsu, something forced into existence.
The next instant, it slammed into the valley ahead with a catastrophic thunderous impact. Red and black currents tore through the air like raging ribbons, and Sasori felt his connection to his puppet stutter for a heartbeat.
He lost control. Just for a moment.
"What is this?" Sasori's hairs stood on end. He was stunned. This had to be a jutsu, but what kind of jutsu produced this sort of effect?
Konan's expression turned serious as well. With noise like this, even an idiot in Sunagakure would notice. They needed to leave immediately.
The Akatsuki was not afraid of Sunagakure, but the organization was still dormant. Only when the timing was right would the whole ninja world understand pain.
"Move. The Sand shinobi will be here soon," Konan said, tossing a ring toward Sasori before turning and disappearing.
Konan was not worried about him. If Sasori, a rogue shinobi from Sunagakure, could not escape this, then it would only prove his strength was not worth the ring in the first place.
Sasori did not leave right away.
He looked once in the direction the thing had flown from. Out toward the sea.
Then he walked to the impact site. A massive crater had been carved into the valley floor.
But it was not filled with sand.
It was filled with glass. Clear, crystalline glass, though it still held impurities. Even so, it painted an obvious picture of what had happened in that instant of impact.
The surrounding sand had vitrified as well, branching outward in jagged streaks like lightning patterns. Some of those glass veins stretched more than a hundred meters before fading.
Under the sunlight, it glittered.
"So beautiful," Sasori murmured, staring at the glass crater as if it were a finished sculpture.
He was suddenly curious. What kind of jutsu could create something this destructive, and still leave behind something that looked like art?
Artists really did think differently.
When Kenichi returned to the laboratory with the money he had "earned" from Gato, he found the place silent.
Orochimaru was not there. The base was too quiet, and even the consumables used for imprisonment were gone.
"What is my teacher doing?" Kenichi scratched his head but did not dwell on it. Orochimaru had always been like that, moving in the shadows and showing only what he wanted others to see.
Kenichi also knew this was only one part of Orochimaru's true network of labs. There were many more rooms and facilities he had never stepped into. He had learned early that if you wanted to survive under a teacher like this, you did not indulge in the wrong kind of curiosity.
Still, his eyes flicked to something near the entrance, and excitement bubbled up before he could stop it.
A small box was hanging by the door. When he opened it, he found a vial of frozen blood inside. A single word was written on it.
Kaguya.
Of course, that did not mean the blood belonged to Kaguya Otsutsuki. It referred to the Shikotsumyaku bloodline, the Corpse Bone Pulse.
"It seems my teacher still remembers." Kenichi scratched his head again. Back in Konoha, he had mentioned wanting to study Shikotsumyaku, and Orochimaru had agreed.
There had been no follow up afterward. Then they defected, everything changed, and the subject got buried under more urgent research.
Yet Orochimaru still remembered.
"Still, this..." Kenichi stared at the vial, conflicted. He was not planning to study the Shikotsumyaku yet, so all he could do was set it aside for now.
Fortunately, the lab had specialized storage cabinets. The sample would not degrade immediately, though it could not be stored forever.
"Fine. While my teacher is away, I will work on the thermobaric explosives."
Kenichi stretched, feeling the familiar comfort of the lab settle over him, like returning home.
Then Kenichi blew up the house.
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