Time flew by, and years passed quickly.
It was the 32nd year of Konoha.
It was early summer, so the weather was quite warm but not too hot.
This day was a special one—
The day the heroes returned!
Of course, the war wasn't completely over.
The returning heroes were only those severely wounded on the front lines, who could no longer survive as ninjas.
On the battlefield, they had become a burden to their comrades and had to be escorted back to Konoha from the front lines, destined to live out the rest of their lives in the village.
Along with the large number of wounded, the bodies of fallen ninjas also returned, forever laid to rest in the earth.
Thus, on this pleasant day, some were silent, some wept, and some might have had tears in their eyes, but certainly not tears of joy.
Despite no official command, the civilians of Konoha and the ninja clans had already spontaneously organized solemn ceremonies to welcome the heroes home.
But while the adults awaiting the heroes remained sorrowful and silent, the usually lively children, unaware of what was happening, dared not speak out, simply standing quietly in the somber atmosphere.
War is never a good thing.
—Inside Shiraishi's home.
Shiraishi wasn't particularly interested in welcoming the so-called heroes.
He had no relatives participating in this war, so welcoming heroes was an optional matter for him.
However, Shiraishi knew that Ruri would go to welcome them. As a member of the Uchiha clan, she had an obligation to welcome her clan members returning from battle.
If it were just Ruri alone, Shiraishi felt he would probably meet up with her and welcome them at the village entrance.
But there would undoubtedly be many other Uchiha clan members around Ruri. If he went along, he felt it would be out of place.
Considering this, Shiraishi decided he should stay home obediently, as he still had many experiments to conduct.
Two years had passed, and Shiraishi had not only self-learned all the medical ninjutsu from the scrolls Ruri gave him but had also mastered them thoroughly.
To put it bluntly, Shiraishi was very confident in his medical ninjutsu skills.
Besides that, his growth in other areas had not lagged either.
According to Ruri's assessment, he now possessed strength equivalent to a Chunin.
A year ago, Ruri had been rigorously evaluated by the clan's Jonin and was deemed to have Chunin-level strength. Since Shiraishi could contend with Ruri on a four-six or five-five basis, he naturally also possessed Chunin-level strength.
However, he had consistently kept his true strength hidden. In others' eyes, he was still just an ordinary student at the Ninja Academy.
He was the kind of person who would be completely unnoticeable in a crowd.
He had also mastered many ninjutsu. Aside from the Three Body Techniques, he had also mastered all the essential medical ninjutsu for an excellent medical ninja, such as Mystical Palm Technique, Healing Technique, Hemostasis Technique, and Chakra Scalpel.
Once he understood their essence, learning them was not difficult for Shiraishi.
Moreover, he possessed a mature soul, far exceeding ordinary people in self-control. The time he dedicated to training was several times more than the average person.
Every day, apart from normal rest and classes, the remaining time was mostly spent in training.
It was through immense hardship that he achieved his current results.
In a partitioned room of the house, this was Shiraishi's specially designated miniature laboratory.
On the table were many distillation flasks, test tubes, vessels, and Bunsen burners flickering with red and blue flames.
There were also some glass bottles containing transparent solutions, with some relatively rare plant specimens soaked in them, as well as some animal trunk specimens, such as eyeballs and livers, important organs.
Shiraishi skillfully used these instruments to mix and match, hoping to achieve his desired results.
He then recorded the data on a computer.
Speaking of which, Shiraishi found it quite surprising. He hadn't expected that the ninja world, which wasn't very industrially developed, already had computers.
Although the current computer processing systems in the ninja world, in Shiraishi's opinion, had not reached a very high level, having them was better than not having them at all.
He was only proficient in fields such as chemistry, biology, and pharmacology. While he had some understanding of mechanical electronics, he wasn't an expert.
Shiraishi simply couldn't produce computers himself; professional matters had to be handled by professionals.
And this computer, whose processing system Shiraishi considered to be of a very low standard, had cost him a considerable amount of money.
Scientific research was like a bottomless pit, constantly devouring Shiraishi's already limited assets over the past two years.
By now, Shiraishi's funds had run out, which would naturally slow down his research progress.
He could collect raw materials himself, but some precise equipment and some relatively precious materials still required financial investment to obtain.
Just as Shiraishi was troubled by these matters, there was a sudden knock at the door.
Shiraishi put down his work and went to open the door.
It was Ruri, as expected.
Now eight years old, she was a little taller than two years ago. Although still childish, her eyes were sharper and colder, giving her an unapproachable feeling.
Though it might sound a bit harsh, Ruri was indeed not a very sociable person.
She didn't know how to accommodate others and wasn't very good at handling interpersonal relationships, but she was very enthusiastic about getting stronger.
Therefore, at heart, she was a passionate and warlike person.
This might be related to the traditional personality of the Uchiha clan; people of this clan are usually very passionate and warlike.
Shiraishi believed that if his true strength hadn't made her see him in a different light, it would probably have been difficult even to exchange a single word with her.
It was precisely because both sides understood some of each other's secrets that Shiraishi considered himself and Ruri to be compatible partners.
"Did the welcoming ceremony end so quickly?"
Shiraishi led Ruri into the house and asked out of curiosity.
According to Shiraishi's estimation, Ruri should have spent the whole day welcoming the returning heroes of the Uchiha clan.
"No, I just left early. But many people in the clan sacrificed their lives, and some can no longer live as ninjas."
Ruri seemed a little down.
"It's war, after all."
Shiraishi sighed.
Death or injury in war was undoubtedly a perfectly normal occurrence.
"Why didn't you go?"
Ruri asked Shiraishi this question.
"I have no relatives returning from this war."
Ruri then remembered that Shiraishi's parents had died in a mission long ago.
"Sorry."
"It's fine, I don't care about such things. It's just freer to be alone."
Shiraishi smiled at Ruri, indicating he didn't mind, and walked towards the partitioned room in the house.
Ruri also followed Shiraishi into the partition—Shiraishi's private laboratory.
Shiraishi hadn't kept his research from Ruri.
After all, what he was doing wasn't some illicit, forbidden experiment that couldn't see the light of day. Even if Ruri knew, she wouldn't blab.
They had developed this unspoken understanding over two years.
Although it hadn't reached the highest level of 'you don't speak, but I already understand,' Ruri wasn't someone who liked to dig for answers.
For example, she knew Shiraishi's true strength but had never had the idea of exposing him.
Shiraishi wouldn't ask Ruri why she didn't expose him, and Ruri wouldn't ask Shiraishi why he hid his strength.
Even so, it wouldn't affect their pure friendship.
This was the best kind of unspoken understanding.