Chapter 43: Today, I Finally Know Who I Am
"Ahahaha, was I helpful?"
Sakaki Tatsuma clearly hadn't expected this reaction from Hiiro Rinko. He thought his kōhai would have sneered or just ignored him.
"An outsider always sees the game best."
Hiiro Rinko's tone returned to its usual, calm confidence. "Being able to correctly accept others' opinions is a necessary condition for progress. Honestly, it's not just in this. I need to find more assistants for my research, too."
"Ah, I can't help you there~"
A nine-year-old kid—even a shinobi—talking seriously about 'research' was always a bit amusing. But that was only for people who didn't know the truth. Sakaki Tatsuma, who had paid close attention to him, was well aware of his junior's talent.
He couldn't understand it. Not at all. Tatsuma felt the most difficult formula he'd ever calculate was the parabola of a shuriken. The things Rinko wrote were just gibberish to him.
"What am I even doing here? Am I in the right place?"
"Just add extra syrup to my ice cream next time, and you'll be a huge help~"
Rinko clapped Tatsuma on the shoulder, leaving triple the usual tip on the table, and walked out of the shop in high spirits. "When you open your store, I'll be sure to stop by."
"Ahahaha, I'll hold you to that~"
In Rinko's past life, as a Cursed User, both the reason for his awakening and his later circumstances could hardly be called peaceful. He had been a loner, walking a solitary path, and had been brought down by the few classmates he was relatively close to. This was largely due to the twisted personality he had developed during that time.
Although it had eased somewhat after he was found and joined Jujutsu High, he was already at a point of no return.
He didn't have any complaints. Being killed by Gojō Satoru, someone he'd barely considered a friend, was better than his corpse being dissected later. He was always well aware that his mental state was dangerous and that he could, at any moment, cause a disaster worse than a Special Grade Curse.
But deep in his heart, Hiiro Rinko had perhaps always held onto the thought of, 'If things hadn't been that way from the start, would I have lived a different life?'
Perhaps it was because of this lingering, sincere regret that he had awakened in the body of this child, who held a similar regret.
Maybe this, too, was a form of 'balance.'
And now, the family he lacked, he had. The cute childhood friends he lacked, he had. He even had friends he got along with. Most importantly, the overall moral standard of the Shinobi World was so much lower than his previous world's that he could do whatever he wanted.
He felt refreshed!
The knot of frustration that had been stuck in Hiiro Rinko's chest suddenly unraveled. He felt his appetite for lunch returning. Even Sunagakure's dry air... Err, no, that was a step too far. No matter how good his mood was, he couldn't tell such a bare-faced lie.
"Well, whatever. The Chūnin Exams are in three or four months. After the exams, I'll build up my resume and set up a lab. By then, I'll have the people, the equipment, and the money..."
On the way to the Kazekage Tower, the young man's steps were noticeably lighter than they had been in months as he muttered to himself.
He was being completely honest with Sakaki Tatsuma. He wasn't some superhuman whose brain could never make a mistake. Finding assistants would definitely help advance his research.
Besides, even with a dual-core, quad-thread 'artificial' intelligence-brain, Hiiro Rinko only had one body. There was a limit to how many things he could physically do at once.
He'd considered the Shadow Clone Jutsu (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu). It could create solid clones that split the user's Chakra, had some durability, and possessed their own consciousness. When dispelled, their memories and experiences returned to the main body. It was extremely useful for combat and training.
But the problem was those last two points.
First, Rinko's Split-Thinking was, strictly speaking, a physical function and could be inherited by the Shadow Clones.
And he knew his own personality. If the clones had their own consciousness, in a non-combat state, they would be incapable of stopping themselves from researching various projects.
Sounds fine so far?
However, when a Shadow Clone is dispelled, it doesn't just return its experiences. It also returns all its fatigue.
It was terrifying. Hiiro Rinko himself relied on various 'builds' and crutches to maintain his body's equilibrium. To suddenly multiply his energy consumption?
He'd be instantly dead.
So, until he could stably and effortlessly handle his own energy consumption, he would absolutely not use Shadow Clones in a non-combat situation.
This was the tragic part of being a refined egoist. As long as the thoughts are independent, not even the main body and the clone will show consideration for each other.
Hiiro Rinko's steps were light. Before long, he reached his destination: the Kazekage Tower. He was very familiar with this place.
As a Jōnin, Chiyo didn't actually go on missions very frequently.
For one, her commission fee was high, and Sunagakure didn't have that many high-level missions to assign her. For another, as the current strongest Puppet Master, Chiyo also served as an instructor for the Puppet Brigade, periodically teaching them the secrets of the art.
And then there was her main job: working in the medical corps.
Although Suna's high command always grumbled about it, feeling she should focus more on Puppet Techniques, she had pushed back against everyone and stayed with the medical corps.
In Chiyo's words, Suna was already lacking in resources. Researching how to save the most lives was far more important than researching how to kill faster.
She had a point. Besides, Chiyo herself was "practically on the council already." In another ten years, she'd be sitting in the Elder's seat. No one was going to pick a fight with her over this.
Therefore, when in Sunagakure, Chiyo's time was split evenly between researching medicine at the hospital and handling administrative work in the Kazekage Tower.
When Rinko was really too lazy to cook, he would come to the cafeteria here, grab some food, and then go find Chiyo to eat. The food was better than at the hospital cafeteria.
Of course, he wasn't here for the cafeteria today.
After greeting the guards, Hiiro Rinko stood before the door to the Kazekage's Office on the fifth underground level.