A special thank you to all my patrons.
The List of My "Wandering Reader":
-[ ]
-Cain
-Goha21
-Jacob Mooe
-Mp Gaming
-Paul Panzer
-Austin Levy
-Aziz Makda
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - p@treon.com/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Midorima had been unconscious for an entire day. By the time he woke up, it was already evening the next day.
Shizune, who had been keeping watch by his bedside, heard the faint rustling and looked up to see Midorima's eyes open. With a startled cry, she immediately rushed out the door.
Footsteps came from the next room, and soon after, Tsunade pushed the door open. "How are you feeling?"
"Alive…" Midorima tried to sit up, and Shizune hurried over to support his arm.
Not like I'm that weak… but whatever, she's already helping me up…
Leaning against the wall, Midorima smiled at Tsunade. "I know you have a lot of questions, but right now, I just want to eat."
Having used [Overload], Midorima's chakra reserves had been completely drained. It would take days of rest to fully recover—but food was the most essential source of energy.
Midorima devoured four bowls of ramen before he felt somewhat restored. As he ate, he reflected on the gains and losses from the recent battle.
The biggest takeaway was the improvement in combat experience.
Every member of the Akatsuki was practically at the level of an S-rank criminal. The life-or-death tension of fighting them was incomparable to battling ordinary shinobi.
Additionally, during his fight with Ugo, he had learned two Fire Release techniques—"Dragon Fire Technique" and "Fire Dragon Flame Bullet"—which, to some extent, made up for his previous shortcomings in Fire Release.
His match with Kakuzu, however, had been less fruitful.
Kakuzu's "Earth Grudge Fear" was a secret technique, making it extremely difficult to decipher. Even if he had managed to crack it, he wouldn't have been able to use it himself.
So, fighting Kakuzu had been a losing battle.
If there was any other gain, it was that he had forced the Akatsuki into the open.
Since the Akatsuki was targeting him so aggressively, wouldn't it be a shame if he didn't retaliate?
After finishing four bowls of ramen, Midorima was only slightly full and asked Shizune to bring him some pastries.
Shizune's eyes widened as she stared at the four empty bowls on the table, then glanced at Midorima's stomach. Where did all that food go?
"Bring a bottle of sake while you're at it," Tsunade called out just as Shizune turned to leave.
"Cough… Sis, now's not the time for drinking, is it?" Midorima broke out in a cold sweat.
"Then get a roasted chicken instead."
"Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Tsunade looked at him, puzzled.
"Uh… nothing. Just didn't expect you to like chicken," Midorima replied quickly.
"Of course. Tender chicken and strong liquor are a perfect match."
Midorima scratched his head. 'Huh… never heard of that before.'
"Alright, I didn't help you for free. I expect something in return," Tsunade said after Shizune left.
Midorima's eyes widened as he patted his thin clothes. "Sis, don't look at me like that. I may have a high bounty, but I'm broke… Besides, even if I gave you everything, it wouldn't cover your gambling debts."
"It's not about money."
"That's a relief." Midorima exhaled.
He only had about two or three million ryō on him—nowhere near enough to last Tsunade half a day.
"It's about Kirigakure. I heard from Kakashi that you two worked together in the Land of Snow, and he speaks highly of you. Logically, you should be Kirigakure's rising star. So why would they accuse you of colluding with foreign shinobi?" Tsunade asked.
Hah… Kirigakure's future?
Midorima didn't want to badmouth his village, but the phrase sounded almost comical to him.
Out of the five great shinobi villages, Kirigakure was probably the one with the least promising future.
"Where's Kakashi now?" Midorima asked.
"He returned to Konoha. He still has some business to take care of."
"What does he think about my bounty?" Midorima asked curiously.
"He said there must be some misunderstanding between you and Kirigakure."
"Misunderstanding?" Midorima laughed. "Can you imagine a medical ninja like me having a 25 million ryō bounty? Does that sound like a misunderstanding? They're clearly willing to pay any price to kill me… You must've looked into my so-called 'betrayal' while I was unconscious, right? Didn't you notice? They claim I conspired with foreign shinobi, but why is only me being hunted? Why not the foreign shinobi? I'm just a small-time medic—I couldn't even meet the Mizukage whenever I wanted. How could I possibly be the mastermind behind something this big?"
"So you're saying you were framed?" Tsunade asked.
Midorima didn't answer directly. "After escaping Kirigakure, I've been gathering intel on the whole incident and the people behind it. If you're interested, I can tell you. But I'll warn you—once you know, there's no backing out."
"Does it involve Konoha?" Tsunade pressed.
"These are just the facts I've gathered. Whether they're true or not is up to you to decide. Sis, I trust you'll pick out what's useful to you," Midorima said.
Shizune returned, placing pastries and a steaming roasted chicken on the table. She glanced at Tsunade, who was frowning and biting her thumbnail, then looked questioningly at Midorima as he reached for a pastry.
Midorima shrugged innocently—he hadn't said anything outrageous.
"Shizune," Tsunade called.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade?"
"Stand guard outside. No one enters," Tsunade ordered.
After Midorima's warning, Tsunade immediately realized the situation was far more complicated than it seemed.
As he had pointed out, how could a mere medical ninja be the mastermind behind something as serious as "colluding with foreign shinobi and betraying Kirigakure"?
Moreover, Kirigakure had only placed a bounty on Midorima.
If he had really conspired with another village, which village was it?
Or was there no "foreign village" involved at all?
Of course, these were Kirigakure's internal affairs—she had no right to interfere, just as no other village had stepped in when Kirigakure exterminated the Hōzuki clan.
But something about this didn't sit right with her.
She didn't care about Kirigakure, but she couldn't ignore the potential threat to Konoha.
"Before this whole mess, Kirigakure was selecting its new Seven Swordsmen. I only needed to defeat two more opponents to secure my spot. Betraying the village would've been too costly—it wasn't worth it," Midorima explained, taking a sip of water. He then recounted the events of that night. "The deputy chief of the Anbu was conspiring with an outside organization to control the Mizukage. I happened to witness it. I was the only one who knew the truth, so Igawa decided to silence me—hence the 25 million bounty. That's what happened."
"Igawa Bu? Why would he collude with outsiders? The Mizukage is incredibly strong—how could he be controlled?" Tsunade asked, baffled.
"Why Igawa did it, I don't know," Midorima shrugged. "But as for how the Mizukage was controlled… Sis, are you sure you want to know?"
"My patience is wearing thin," Tsunade said darkly.
Midorima pointed to his eyes. "A dōjutsu."