Chapter Thirty-Three: The Request (II)
" Aunt Hui, I'm here!"
In the evening, at the entrance of Akimichi Rōu's house, Ryūya pushed open the door and walked inside.
Woof! Woof!
The moment the door opened, a huge black shadow lunged straight at Ryūya.
Immediately afterward, he felt a tongue constantly licking his face.
"Brownmaru!"
Struggling to push away the overly excited Brownmaru, Ryūya stood up with a darkened expression.
He was a dignified Konoha chūnin now, yet every time they met, he still got knocked down by his own ninja dog. It was seriously embarrassing.
With the abundant food provided by Kyōko, Brownmaru had not only grown to the size of a fully mature ninja dog, but his strength had also increased rapidly.
In such a confined space, Ryūya simply had no time to dodge its pounce.
Perhaps as revenge for being left in Kyōko's care and ignored for so long, knocking Ryūya down had become Brownmaru's standard greeting every time they met.
And Kyōko spoiled Brownmaru immensely, treating it more like a pet than a ninja beast, never restraining its behavior in the slightest.
"Ryūya-san…"
Behind the door, Kyōko walked out with a flushed face, greeting him as she led Brownmaru away.
"Ryūya's here? Come in and have a seat."
From the kitchen doorway inside, Takahashi Hui poked her head out. After smiling at the scene for a moment, she called out warmly, then turned back to her work.
"Uncle Rōu."
Entering the living room, Ryūya found that Akimichi Rōu was also at home.
"Hm. You passed the chūnin exam?"
Akimichi Rōu glanced Ryūya over and asked.
"Yes, I passed."
Ryūya nodded in response.
He wasn't surprised that Akimichi Rōu already knew about his participation in the village's special chūnin assessment.
Most likely, the clan's upper ranks had already been informed before the village decided to conduct a separate evaluation for him.
"Good.
At least you didn't embarrass your father. When news of you came in yesterday, the clan elders were all quite pleased."
A smile appeared on Akimichi Rōu's face.
"That's also thanks to Uncle Rōu's guidance," Ryūya said with a grin as he sat down beside him.
"What I taught you before was only the basics. It hardly counts as real help."
Akimichi Rōu waved his hand, refusing to take credit for Ryūya's growth.
After smiling, his expression turned serious. He looked directly at Ryūya and asked:
"What's the deal with that ninja snake?"
"Uncle Rōu, I subdued that ninja snake over half a year ago. At the time, it was just an ordinary snake. During that period, I was busy improving my strength and going out on missions, so I didn't have time to manage it. I quietly released it into the Forest of Death, but I never expected it to grow to this extent in such a short time.
If I hadn't happened to be training near the Forest of Death yesterday, it probably would have already been captured by the Hokage and the others."
Ryūya shrugged, indicating that he himself didn't fully understand the situation.
Hearing this, Akimichi Rōu neither confirmed nor denied it. He stared at Ryūya and said:
"Is that so? Brownmaru was also a ninja beast you raised before, wasn't it?"
Scratching his head, Ryūya gave an honest smile.
"Maybe Kyōko just feeds him really well."
"Heh, maybe. Either way, having such a powerful summoning beast is a huge help to both you and Kyōko."
After staring at Ryūya for several seconds, Akimichi Rōu nodded.
From the look on his face, it was clear that he didn't truly believe Ryūya's explanation.
During Ryūya's absence, Chamaru had always been under Kyōko's care, so Akimichi Rōu and his wife were naturally familiar with it.
In just half a year, Brownmaru's growth speed was far beyond that of an ordinary ninja dog. While it couldn't compare to the green snake's absurd growth, it still surpassed the vast majority of ninja beasts.
Because of this, Akimichi Rōu's close friend, Inuzuka Ichirō, had repeatedly asked the clan to let him purchase Chamaru—but Akimichi Rōu had rejected every request outright.
Both of Ryūya's summoning beasts had displayed astonishing growth rates. This was no coincidence—there was definitely some kind of secret involved.
However, Akimichi Rōu had no intention of pressing the matter further.
He and his wife had always treated Ryūya like a nephew. Seeing his growth filled them with nothing but relief and pride.
While Ryūya and Akimichi Rōu were talking, Kyōko sat quietly beside Ryūya in a kneeling position, her head lowered and face flushed, remaining silent like a shy young wife.
"Uncle Rōu, now that I've become a chūnin, is there any chance I could enter the clan's archive to do some research?"
Seeing that Akimichi Rōu didn't continue questioning him, Ryūya secretly let out a sigh of relief and asked with a grin.
"You're still setting your sights on that place?"
Akimichi Rōu looked surprised.
He couldn't understand why Ryūya was so persistent about this matter.
"Yes, Uncle Rōu. Over the past half year, my strength has reached a bottleneck. Further improvement will take a long time. I want to enter the archive and study the cultivation experiences of our clan's predecessors to see if I can find a suitable solution.
Also, I want to find out why Kyōko has undergone such drastic changes in the past six months. If we can uncover a reliable method, it would be a good thing for our clan as a whole."
Ryūya put away his smile and looked at Akimichi Rōu seriously.
Ryūya had long desired to incorporate the Akimichi clan's collected knowledge into his bio-chip's database.
Hearing this, Akimichi Rōu fell silent.
For a moment, the living room was enveloped in a brief quiet.
After some time, Akimichi Rōu finally spoke:
"Alright. I'll bring this up to the clan tomorrow. Whether it's approved will depend on what the clan head decides."
Ryūya's request involved the Akimichi clan's core secret techniques, so Akimichi Rōu naturally couldn't agree to it outright.
However, considering the changes Ryūya and Kyōko had undergone over the past six months, he decided to give it a try.
Moreover, Ryūya's final words had truly struck a chord with him.
If Ryūya really managed to find a method that could replicate Kyōko's transformation, it would be a massive breakthrough for the entire Akimichi clan.
Maintaining rapid growth in strength while gradually returning to a normal body size had always been the dream of the younger generation of the Akimichi clan.
Appearance, after all, held enormous appeal for young people.
Within the Akimichi clan, not everyone liked maintaining a gigantic physique for long periods of time.
Seeing Akimichi Rōu agree so readily, a smile appeared on Ryūya's face. He cheerfully changed the subject and began chatting about everyday matters.
Takahashi Hui prepared a table full of delicious dishes to entertain Ryūya and Kyōko. Dinner continued in a joyful atmosphere until nine in the evening, after which the two bade farewell to Akimichi Rōu and Takahashi Hui and returned home.