It took quite a while, but he finally managed to calm down the crying Terumi Mei.
Sure, she would be the Fifth Mizukage in the future, but right now, she was just a little girl.
The apple she'd been chewing on was taken away and set aside. Eyes still red from crying, she glared at Kiyosuke and snapped, "You bastard!"
"Yes, yes! I'm a bastard! I'm the bad guy!"
At this point, whatever she said was right. He wasn't going to go through another round of coaxing. Come to think of it… why didn't I just knock her out earlier?
"..."
God, I'm such an idiot!
Kiyosuke actually felt like slapping himself. But now that he'd gone through all the trouble of consoling her, there was no turning back.
He asked, "Lady Mei, how did you find me today?"
"Hmph!"
Terumi Mei turned away, refusing to look at him or answer.
" Tch."
A small snake slithered out from his sleeve. Kiyosuke said lightly,
"Well? Are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, this little snake will crawl right into your mouth, down into your stomach, and once it's in there, it'll start wriggling around. Just so you know, she's female. Spring just ended… what do you think'll happen?"
Terumi Mei's face turned pale in an instant.
"You twisted freak! If you dare do that, I swear I'll kill you the first chance I get!"
"Just tell me, and we can stay friends."
"Peh! Who the hell wants to be friends with a pervert like you?!"
Kiyosuke turned his head away in a dejected slump, eyes full of pain.
"I really thought we were friends… I thought I'd finally made a friend…"
He looked just like a puppy abandoned in the snow—so pitiful it tugged at the heartstrings.
Terumi Mei couldn't help but soften a little.
"We… we are friends, okay?! Your body temperature's higher than normal. I could feel it when you got close!"
"Oh, so that's how…"
He honestly hadn't noticed. Orochimaru had mentioned it in passing before, but he never paid it much attention. Could this really be affecting his Transformation Jutsu?
Did she really sense him just from passing by this morning?
And why the hell is she so good at this?
"How are you this sharp? Just how long have you been watching me?" Kiyosuke's eyes widened as he took a few steps back. He hadn't expected this girl to be so observant.
Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying!
Terumi Mei's face flushed as she stammered to explain,
"No—it's not like that! Don't get the wrong idea! It's just… back at the hospital, when you changed my bandages…"
She had planned to explain to avoid being mistaken for some flirty girl, but the moment she recalled the hospital incident, her anger flared again.
"Oh, that… Your room's interior design was actually pretty nice. Not like my place. It's just average."
Kiyosuke quickly changed the subject.
But even tied up, Terumi Mei wasn't helpless—she exploded with sudden strength and slammed her legs into his body.
"Uwah!"
Catching her in his arms, Kiyosuke grinned. "Wow, never had a girl throw herself at me before. That's not very ladylike, you know."
Then, he delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck.
Time for her to take a nap.
He called back the snakes that had restrained her, gently carried her to the bed, and tucked her in. Then he disguised himself as Terumi Mei and slipped out of the room.
In the cover of night, he crept into the kitchen in search of snacks. This really was a rich family—the pastries here were amazing!
After eating to his heart's content, he patted his belly and returned to Mei's room.
Not a bad spot. At least it was safe until she woke up.
He sat cross-legged on the floor and began to think about how to lower his body temperature.
Due to his unique abilities, his natural body temperature was higher than average. Normally, it wasn't an issue, but whenever he used chakra, it would spike even more.
Like now—just using the Transformation Jutsu had raised his temperature.
"No good. I can't keep unconsciously drawing on fire-nature chakra. I need to use wind-nature chakra instead."
Most people used natureless chakra for basic jutsu like the Transformation Jutsu. But because of Kiyosuke's unique constitution, he instinctively drew on fire chakra, even for techniques that didn't need it.
It was an unconscious habit.
That needed to change—otherwise, one day, it would get him killed.
He started adjusting his chakra flow.
Chakra, in its raw form, had no elemental nature. As shinobi honed their techniques, their chakra began to take on specific elemental affinities. When one first became a ninja, their chakra was still raw and unrefined, but over time, elemental properties would emerge through repeated use.
Kiyosuke already possessed fire and wind chakra. Recently, he'd also developed a bit of water chakra, though it wasn't nearly as strong.
A ninja's mental and physical stamina was limited. Even most elite jōnin could only master two or three nature transformations. Not everyone was like Sarutobi Hiruzen—the so-called "Professor of Ninjutsu"—who could freely switch between all five.
Kiyosuke focused on converting his fire chakra into neutral chakra. Slowly, his body temperature returned to normal.
It wasn't particularly difficult once he got the hang of it.
Once stabilized, he grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a few words on it.
Then he quietly slipped out of her house.
...
When morning came, Terumi Mei woke up with a painful ache in her neck. The moment she remembered that Kiyosuke had been in her room, she shot upright and checked her clothes.
Everything was still in place. No signs of anything weird.
Relieved, she glanced at the bedside table and noticed a note he'd left behind.
"I'm gone. Goodbye."
"Who the hell wants to say goodbye to a bastard like you?!"
Furious, she tore the paper to shreds.
What a terrible way to start the morning...
...
Once again, Kiyosuke arrived at the Kirigakure hospital.
The place had resumed normal operations. Despite the chaos from before, the hospital couldn't afford to shut down.
Orochimaru's mission for him still wasn't complete. He'd already secured the Hōzuki clan's Kekkei Genkai, but the ones from the Yuki and Kaguya clans were still missing.
As for Terumi Mei's clan? Forget it. The only truly unique case in that entire bloodline was Terumi Mei herself—someone who could wield two completely different Kekkei Genkai.
She was the future Fifth Mizukage. He had no intention of harming her, not yet.
If anything happened to her, the entire Terumi clan might go insane, and Kirigakure could end up going to war with Konohagakure. Worse yet, other villages might see it as a sign of weakness and strike.
Kekkei Genkai were incredibly valuable resources for a village.
Why did Konoha steal them?
No one wanted to see something like that happen.
Stealing one or two? Fine. But steal too many, and it would definitely cause a disaster.
Orochimaru was just too greedy. There was nothing he wouldn't do in the name of research.
All Kiyosuke could do was grit his teeth and go along with it. He was hoping to stall long enough for a war to break out between Kirigakure and Konoha—if that happened, maybe his mission would be called off.
Still, he'd come to the hospital today to scout the place. Just in case the war didn't happen… he'd have to finish the job himself.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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