"Alright then."
"You three keep chatting."
"I'm heading home to… find something to do."
"Eh? Already?"
Nagashi tugged on Qingqing the snake, planning to convince Kaito to stay.
But Qingqing, the face-obsessed little serpent, had a very different interpretation—
In her mind, Nagashi's mediocre looks must have scared away her handsome idol.
With a stinging smack-smack, Qingqing's tail whipped across Nagashi's bewildered face.
Then, landing gracefully, she slithered away in an elegant S-curve, hissing twice like a refined lady.
Kaito: "…"
"Sorry, I don't speak snake.
Can you, uh… say that again in human language?"
He really wanted to roll his eyes,
but instead showed a warm, handsome smile.
That single clean, radiant smile—
Qingqing's eyes transformed into heart-shapes.
Behind her, Nagashi reached out with teary eyes:
"Qingqing—don't abandon me…"
But Qingqing spun around with a sudden 180° mood shift:
"DON'T TALK TO ME, YOU USELESS BUM!!"
"Wooo…"
Nagashi sank to the ground, hands together like a man praying to the gods.
That sweet feminine voice instantly triggered his "big sister caring for me" reflex.
Kaito blinked.
Wrong place. Wrong scene. I need to leave—NOW.
Escaping the Face-Loving Snake
After parting with Nagashi and Might Duy—and successfully shaking off the overly flirtatious contract beast—
Kaito returned home.
He pulled out a new light novel from Konoha's bookstore,
flopped onto his bed,
and enjoyed a rare day off.
Evening came.
Kaito grabbed some take-out from the shopping district, ate, and continued reading lazily on his bed.
Outside the open window, ANBU and patrol ninja occasionally flickered across rooftops.
Some caught glimpses of Kaito relaxing and felt genuinely proud—
"Another peaceful day protecting the village."
Then they went right back to working their overburdened schedules.
When it was finally bedtime, Kaito closed the curtains, shut off the lights, and sat cross-legged on his bed.
Eyes closed.
In pitch blackness, he calmed his breathing,
searching for any sense of being watched.
"…Safe."
His eyes opened.
His lips moved.
"ROOM."
A pale blue sphere expanded around him—
a perfectly controlled operating theater.
Inside this space, Kaito was nearly omnipotent.
Tonight was the second phase of his post-mission self-modification experiment.
"Heart…"
"Brain…"
"Organs…"
"Meridians…"
He checked his entire internal structure.
His previous half-year of study had been correct.
His previous experiment held no mistakes.
With a Saiyan's physique and the Ope Ope no Mi,
he truly could reach biological immortality.
But every technique has flaws.
"Resetting my organs, cells, bones, and meridians back to a youthful state… slows down my growth rate."
"A shame."
"But not a dealbreaker."
"Thankfully, I have a Saiyan's limitless potential.
Though still nowhere near Saitama-level ridiculousness."
He exhaled softly.
Then began altering his internal values one by one.
"As long as I restore everything to the state I had three months ago—
I can remain eighteen forever."
His birthday was May 16th.
Resetting four and a half months backward still kept him technically eighteen.
But the drawback was obvious.
If a Byakugan user were here, they'd see that Kaito's internal organs, bones, and meridians had subtly shifted from before.
If someone had a Rinnegan or ultra-high sensing ability,
they'd notice his chakra reserves had decreased slightly.
Time passed.
Three hours later—past midnight—
Kaito finally stopped.
"So this time I lost about 50% of the progress from the last six weeks…"
"Better than the 70% I lost last time."
"Not bad."
"It seems the stronger I grow, the harder it is to rewind."
"Maybe reducing the rollback time next time will cut the loss."
Kaito opened his eyes, exhaled, and stretched his weakened muscles.
When he placed his feet on the ground to stand—
His entire body sagged.
He was completely drained.
"What a great technique…"
Too exhausted to walk to the bathroom, he collapsed back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Compared to Orochimaru, Ameyuri, Kakuzu's forbidden arts…"
"This—THIS—is the real immortality technique."
"Perpetual youth."
"Only downside is… unlike them, I can still die."
"If this were Shippuden-era…
I'd be old enough to sit beside Tsunade."
"Sigh… my cheat isn't broken enough."
He muttered to himself.
"The Saiyan near-death power boost? I wanna try it.
But this is the Shinobi World—
if I ACTUALLY die, there's no dragon to revive me."
He lay still for a long moment.
Seven years in this world.
Last year, he had to reveal some talent as a team leader to avoid suspicion.
Then came the Land of Whirlpools crisis.
At least he'd held back—
he didn't instantly kill that chūnin,
he actually fought him normally…
Meaning—
From here on out,
he needed to behave like a perfectly average genin.
"Alright!"
"First—bath—"
THUD.
Kaito ate floor.
"…Dammit."
"Should've gone to the toilet before doing this stupid experiment."
Last time, he tried to stand up to check the mirror and immediately fell.
This was attempt number two.
Next Morning — Mission Assignment Hell
At the mission desk, Kaito rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
D-rank Mission:
Assist Uzumaki district construction by carrying materials.
He skipped it instantly.
He'd done it once.
It was hell.
Hard labor, low pay, long hours—and the Uzumaki were saving funds for Flame-Whirlpool City, so everything was on a budget.
"Hey, isn't that Kaito?!"
"I heard you completed an S-rank mission recently! We're so jealous!"
Kaito, Nagashi, and Duy turned their heads—
The new Ino–Shika–Chō trio from Shinzō-sensei's group were waving at them.
The three immediately turned back to the mission board and sighed in unison.
Akimichi Yumi: "…"
She sulked into a corner drawing circles.
Nara Yu comforted her.
Yamanaka Futoru clenched his fists angrily.
Behind the counter, Nara Yōsuke massaged his temples.
"Kaito.
You've been staring at the board for an hour."
"If you really can't decide, I can offer you a C-ra—"
"Alright! No missions today!
Let's go train instead!"
"Yeah!!" ×2
Nara Yōsuke: "…"
Really?
A team that has completed 99.99% of their assignments…
and a genius genin famous across the village…
Terrified…
of a C-rank mission?
"Kaito…"
Nara Yōsuke floated like a resentful spirit behind him.
"You haven't taken a mission in half a month."
"Are you SURE you don't want to reconsider?"
Kaito scratched his cheek awkwardly.
If not for those three clans hogging ALL the good D-ranks every morning,
leaving behind only the miserable hard-labor jobs,
he wouldn't be stuck in this cycle.
—The Third Hokage had allowed two months of assignment freedom so the three clans could adjust to village life.
Normally this many D-rank monopolies were not allowed.
And they were snatching up C-ranks too.
"…Fine.
Tell me about the mission first."
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