GSiN: Ch. 201

"See you later. Take care."

Ryouma watched Shiori leave. The smile on his face vanished in an instant. It wasn't a mood swing, he was just getting serious.

Even the strongest hunter uses their full strength to catch prey. Shiori's battle instincts were anything but ordinary. The chances were small, but if he somehow screwed up and lost... wouldn't that be embarrassing?

He activated the Rikugan. He really did need to monitor Shiori now. Of course, don't get the wrong idea, he just planned to secretly observe her regular training a bit.

He turned around and strolled toward the Senju compound in the opposite direction.

As for the work of formulating the medicines, he could leave that to Kura without worry. But speaking of which, he hadn't seen Orochimaru since getting back. Normally, that guy would be holed up in the lab all day long. Let's hope he didn't go off to abduct kids from some other village again...

---

Back home, unexpectedly, Tsunade wasn't at the Konoha Hospital. Instead, she was buried in a mountain of documents together with her two personal disciples.

Whoosh.

The door slid open, and a gust of wind roared in. Shizune scrambled to hold down the sheets that were blown all over the place.

"How many times have I told you? It's windy lately, open the door gently!"

Tsunade shot Ryouma a glare, her pen dragging a streak of ink across the paper.

Rin hadn't seen Ryouma in days. Her face lit up with joy as she stood and said, "You're finally back. Did the negotiations go well? Did anyone give you trouble?"

Ryouma closed the door, answering lightly, "Of course it went well. The channels with the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth are all set, we just need to prepare the goods and send them over. What about you guys? Why aren't you at the hospital today?"

"It's not like the hospital has critical patients every single day."

After a simple explanation, Tsunade stared at him, then her eyes brightened. She tapped a pen against the pile of papers stacked.

"See this? We're writing the textbooks for the Medical Academy. This project is really meaningful. If you help us, I'll even add your name in the authors' column."

Ryouma noticed there were ink spots on her hair tips, and a large patch of her sleeve was stained with tea. She really did look busy.

"All right then."

He pulled a chair over next to Rin and sat down. He pushed the teacup farther from the documents and asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Let me think... You can do the checking. See if there are any mistakes."

As she spoke, Tsunade tossed him a completed lesson plan.

"This is the first book for year-one beginners. The three of us stayed up several nights to finish it, and we really need someone who hasn't seen it before to evaluate it."

"So basically a review, huh. When did you start using the Third Hokage's tricks?"

Ryouma still remembered, back when he was in the Academy, every time Hiruzen came to give a Will of Fire speech, he'd make them write a reflection afterward. Not that he ever wrote one himself. Rin and Kakashi usually did it for him.

Setting those memories aside, he opened the first page of the clipped stack of papers under the three expectant gazes, only to find that the textbook didn't even have a table of contents.

Even Icha Icha had a table of contents, for crying out loud.

He sighed. Everyone has their shortcomings. Textbooks... well, no table of contents is no big deal. You have to learn everything inside anyway.

He then skimmed through it page by page at high speed. Soon enough, he had finished the thin stack of papers.

Tsunade looked proud. "Well? Not bad, right?"

Ryouma twitched the corner of his mouth. "Uh... can I ask, how many years is this school you're starting supposed to run?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? It's on the same level as the Ninja Academy, so of course it's a six-year program." Tsunade answered as if it were obvious.

"But then... why is the last chapter of the first-grade textbook on Mystical Palm Technique? As far as I know, there are still plenty of medical-nin at the Konoha Hospital who haven't mastered that jutsu yet." Ryouma pointed out.

"Huh?"

Shizune turned toward Tsunade in surprise. "Didn't we say last night that first graders only need to complete basic chakra control training?"

"Well... education should start early. Give the kids a lofty goal first, that'll motivate them." Tsunade explained, sounding a bit guilty.

Ryouma grumbled inwardly. So the "selling dreams" trend had finally invaded the education system. The Mystical Palm Technique was one of the harder A-rank jutsu, definitely not something you learn just because you're "motivated."

Suppressing his thoughts, he continued, "And here, although the illustration is well drawn, why does chapter two already go into detailed anatomy?"

He tapped a finger on the page. The illustration showed a bandaged severed limb, dissected, with blood beading out. It was rather creepy.

"Most students learning medical ninjutsu will be civilians. A six-year-old civilian kid sees something like this and they'll be waking up crying from nightmares. Their parents' complaint letters could pile up to the roof of the Hokage building."

Tsunade smacked the table and argued, "Real combat training has to be realistic! Back when Orochimaru and I were seven, we dissected a mountain hare. These are just pictures, what's the big deal?"

"You said it yourself, seven. How about this, replace this section with a lesson on identifying medicinal herbs? First graders would be way more interested in that."

---

A few days later, winter winds swept through the village, snow fluttering down from the sky, quietly dressing peaceful Konoha in a veil of silver.

Ryouma sat by the kotatsu, fingers wrapped around a steaming cup of black tea as he leisurely enjoyed the snowy scene in the courtyard.

"Perfect."

The village had been quiet lately, no major incidents. Minato handled administrative work with ease, so he barely needed to step in.

During this period, Kura had shown astonishing potential, working tirelessly at a near-24/7 pace. The first batch of Revita-Inject promised to Iwa and Kumo was fully prepared.

As promised, Ryouma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to deliver the goods quickly. Both sides were very satisfied with the transaction. That wave of final payments refilled the wallet Tsunade had previously drained. With this medical company, as long as he stayed away from gambling, he had basically achieved financial freedom in the shinobi world. The laid-back life he had always dreamed of had finally arrived.

He gently stroked Shukaku nestled in his arms. Just then, a sudden knocking came from outside.

Knock, knock, knock!

Hearing the sound, Shukaku opened its eyes, hopped onto the tabletop of the kotatsu, and stared solemnly toward the door.

"I've got a feeling... the moment we open that door, trouble's gonna stick to us again."

"Mm, I feel the same." Ryouma nodded slowly.

Kurama, lazily lying on the sofa, glanced at the two. "Hey, just say it, you two are simply too lazy to go answer the door."

"I'm so glad you understand. I'll leave it to you then, Kurama."

With a bright smile, Ryouma waved at the Nine-Tails.

"But don't ask again next time."

---

Kura followed Kurama to the open-air corridor outside the courtyard. He raised a hand to brush off the snowflakes on his shoulder and walked indoors.

Ryouma thoughtfully poured him a cup of hot tea. Steam curled into the air, and the aroma instantly filled the room.

"Yo, morning, Kura. You've really been working hard lately. Didn't I give you half a month off? What made you suddenly come looking for me?"

Kura accepted the cup with both hands and bowed respectfully. "Good morning, Ryouma-sama. I just received intel from Orochimaru-sama. He asked me to deliver this letter to you."

Mentally complaining that this was obviously a scroll, Ryouma reached out to take it and slowly unrolled it.

The scroll didn't contain anything urgent. Orochimaru had heard that Takumi Village recently released a new batch of experimental equipment. Since he was flush with cash lately, he secretly slipped out of the village and headed there.

Up to that point, the matter had nothing to do with Ryouma. But afterward, Orochimaru used his connections to get in touch with a local master blacksmith. The smith claimed he was confident he could repair the broken Lostvayne. Remembering that the blade held sentimental value for Ryouma, Orochimaru thought he should personally witness its reforging.

After reading, Ryouma set the scroll aside.

Seeing this, Kura spoke up at the right moment. "Orochimaru-sama brought one of your special kunai when he left the village. If you plan to go, you can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach him right now."

"Oh? How considerate."

Ryouma raised his eyebrows. He had originally planned to ask Obito to take him there. He didn't expect Orochimaru to be this thorough. Were all researchers so meticulous?

"Oh! Oh! We can go out and play again?!"

Shukaku's tail wagged wildly with excitement. With a strong kick off the table, it bounced into Ryouma's arms.

Laughing, Ryouma steadied it and placed it on his shoulder. Then he turned to Kurama and instructed seriously, "Watch the house."

Suddenly remembering something, he turned to Kura as well. "Oh right, since you're already here, once the snow stops, help me sweep the yard, yeah? Thanks."

Then he closed his eyes slightly, focusing on the Flying Thunder God mark thousands of kilometers away. The next second, space rippled, and Ryouma and Shukaku vanished.