"Doing an experiment?" The familiar voice startled Amemiya Kenichi, sending a shiver down his spine. Instinctively, he used the Body Flicker Technique to teleport forward, crashing into a table.
Turning around, he found the once-empty laboratory now occupied by his teacher, Orochimaru.
Orochimaru stood with his arms crossed, observing him with a peculiar expression. Kenichi felt a pang of panic; he knew exactly why Orochimaru had suddenly appeared—he must have discovered the destroyed laboratory.
"Teacher, there was a little... incident with the previous lab," Kenichi confessed honestly. "I accidentally blew it up during an experiment." He figured it was better to come clean; Orochimaru would find out eventually anyway.
One lie would only lead to more, and Kenichi decided honesty was the best policy. Otherwise, things might spiral out of control.
"Hmm, I see," Orochimaru replied calmly, showing no anger. Kenichi breathed a sigh of relief.
"There wasn't anything particularly valuable in that lab anyway. What were you writing just now? I saw something about a thermobaric explosive," Orochimaru asked, his eyes twinkling with curiosity.
Orochimaru knew his disciple had a uniquely scientific mind. That's why, when he returned and saw Amemiya Kenichi writing something, he deliberately crept over to take a look. To his surprise, he couldn't understand it at all.
It wasn't the thermobaric explosive itself that baffled him, but the bizarre ideas behind it.
"Yes, Teacher," Amemiya Kenichi said earnestly. "It's something I've been researching myself. I was testing it just now."
My teacher must have taken some kind of stealth training in Gotham City, Kenichi thought. How else could he sneak up on people so silently?
Though, to be fair, Amemiya Kenichi was completely absorbed in his research and hadn't noticed Orochimaru approaching.
I need to be more careful next time, he thought. Otherwise, I'll end up like Uchiha Madara, getting a surprise chest stab from Black Zetsu. That would be ridiculous.
"Tell me about it," Orochimaru said noncommittally.
When Orochimaru first discovered his lab was gone, he'd been ready to explode with anger. But after storming off to find his student, his curiosity about what Kenichi was up to had suppressed his fury.
Orochimaru decided to wait and see. He wanted to observe his disciple's peculiar ideas before deciding whether to lose his temper.
Orochimaru was familiar with explosives. Some mining companies used them for quarrying, but they were too dangerous for ordinary ninjas to carry around casually.
Besides, the firepower was nothing special. Even a mid-tier ninjutsu could easily surpass it. Orochimaru couldn't understand why his disciple was messing with explosives at all.
Seeing Orochimaru's skepticism, Amemiya Kenichi gave a vague explanation. Thermobaric bombs didn't exist in this world, and he didn't know how to describe them properly.
He simply said he'd seen someone use them during a mission and wanted to research whether he could improve explosives and use them for other applications.
"Not a bad idea, I guess," Orochimaru said, unimpressed. "The former owner of Konoha Mining Company did similar research before."
"Studying ninjutsu would be far more worthwhile than explosives," Orochimaru said. "Fire Release techniques can unleash far greater power than any bomb."
However, seeing his disciple's enthusiasm, Orochimaru didn't want to dampen his spirits. Instead, he decided to share his knowledge, hoping to steer Kenichi away from unnecessary detours.
Kenichi listened intently. Finding any historical research on these experiments would be ideal. Past research papers and records could save him a tremendous amount of time.
"Explosives are relatively stable," Orochimaru explained in detail, "but when combined with chakra, they react and completely lose their effectiveness. This only applies to fire-attributed chakra."
Kenichi couldn't help but glance curiously at his teacher. Has Orochimaru actually researched this himself? How else would he know so much about it?
However, Kenichi noticed a discrepancy. What his teacher described didn't match his own experience.
According to Orochimaru, chakra fusion should neutralize explosives, but in Kenichi's experiments, it triggered a violent reaction.
What was causing this discrepancy?
Could it be because he was using a thermobaric explosive? Perhaps its unique properties were the reason for this issue. Amemiya Kenichi thought it was highly likely.
The Naruto World clearly hadn't prioritized research in this area. In the future, Deidara would introduce the "art of explosion" to the Ninja World, relying on his unique abilities.
But honestly, Deidara's explosions weren't easily replicated. Most ninjas couldn't master them, and their power and yield paled in comparison to the weapons from his previous life.
The only real advantages were the Explosive Clay's ease of use and portability.
"Right, now that you're back, how did the fundraising go?" Orochimaru asked, getting down to business. Amemiya Kenichi immediately pulled out all the money he'd taken from Gato.
He wasn't holding back. After all, he'd just blown up a laboratory, and he was lucky his teacher wasn't making him pay for the damages.
If this had happened in his previous life, his entire life savings would have been wiped out.
"Over 120 million tael—not bad. It's a bit short for two people, but I conveniently 'acquired' some extra from a wealthy merchant on my way back," Orochimaru said, nodding and tossing a scroll to Kenichi.
Inside was another 50 million tael. Combined with the previous amount, it was more than enough to complete the Akatsuki mission.
Kenichi remained calm. He knew that ninja villages sometimes tacitly allowed their ninja to rob wealthy individuals in other countries.
As long as it wasn't excessive, most villages turned a blind eye. After all, the robbed merchants would then seek protection from ninja, bringing revenue to the villages. Plus, a portion of the stolen wealth would be turned over to the village coffers.
It was rather like the British Crown commissioning privateers.
Watching Orochimaru seal the money into a scroll, Kenichi had a daring idea. He knew it was risky, but he couldn't resist trying it—all in the name of scientific validation.
He reached out, his hand hovering over his teacher's head.