The Raikage's Nightmare
The Fourth Raikage, A, watched Enel and his companion leave his office as they followed the woman who had been ordered to extend payment for the products. When the door closed, he quickly reached out and closely examined the vial in which the eyes were floating.
"No matter how I look at it, they appear genuine and not artificially produced," he commented with a furrowed brow. "Take them to the laboratory, and if no issues are detected, find two volunteers to test them immediately," he ordered. "If they prove to be as good as the originals, we can order more and attempt to produce our own secretly."
"Yes, Raikage-sama," nodded Mabui as she jotted something down on the tablet in her hands. "What should we do with the other two items?"
"Hmm," A contemplated the strange stained fruit. "Take a sample for the laboratory and select an older ninja with genin-level strength whose potential is depleted and offer them this opportunity. Let's see how effective this thing is," he reread the information and shook his head, somewhat skeptical. "The random factor is a questionable point," he sighed.
"And the strange chair?" Mabui asked after noting the Raikage's orders.
"Have it examined, and if it checks out, have someone try it to see if it really works," he waved his hand with little interest.
The only reason he was mildly interested in this piece of furniture was that it fit with his village, and according to the information he had read, it could effectively calm and help relax nerves. In a way, it was almost a medical tool for stress relief, and he was well aware of how important it was to have ways to manage that emotion in his line of work. Even with the ninja's taboos in place, the number of personnel who found solace in alcohol, the red-light district, or other vices was quite high after completing the most demanding missions.
He got up from the sofa and walked to his work desk, observing the papers and documents with frustration.
...Kumogakure Laboratory...
"Are you kidding me?!" the laboratory chief shouted, nearly throwing a microscope at the ninja who brought the Raikage's order. "We've been researching the Byakugan for years with little to no results, and now you're telling me another village has effortlessly created artificial versions? Not only that, but they want to sell them in quantities like it's cabbage!"
"Just make sure they don't have anything harmful," the man responded, accustomed to the woman's eccentricity. "You have one day."
"Do you think one day is enough to analyze this?" the chief narrowed her eyes.
"Raikage-sama isn't asking you to replicate it; just make sure that putting it on someone won't kill them or something," the man knew that the woman wanted time to decipher this achievement that had eluded them for years, but the orders were clear.
"Fine!" the laboratory chief conceded when she couldn't find any loopholes to exploit, and she angrily noticed that the ninja was still not leaving. "Why are you still here?"
"Raikage-sama wants you to thoroughly analyze these samples as well," the ninja said as he pulled out a piece of SMILE fruit and the cloud-shaped chair, which, for some reason, they couldn't cut a fragment from.
The ninja had to run for his life when the woman thought he was joking and tried to throw a centrifuge at his head.
"I don't understand why Raikage-sama puts up with that woman," the ninja shook his head as he returned to his post, relieved to be away from this place. "She may be our best researcher, but her personality is that of an arrogant bitch," he complained irritably.
...The Next Day...
The ninja returned to the laboratory and took several deep breaths before opening the door.
"Are the reports for Raikage-sama ready regarding what...?" determined not to stay longer than strictly necessary after what happened yesterday, he went straight to the point, hoping to leave as quickly as he had arrived.
What he didn't expect was the state in which he found the laboratory. Vials shattered as if something had exploded from within, bloodstains on the floor, crumpled papers, and scratches on the chalkboards filled with data.
Even the walls were covered in numbers and compound chains!
"Enemy attack?" he narrowed his eyes and deftly pulled a kunai from his tool pouch, positioning himself to react quickly to any form of attack.
He almost leaped to attack when the side door creaked open, and from inside emerged a haggard figure with large dark bags under her eyes and disheveled hair.
It took him a few seconds to realize that it was the same laboratory chief who had almost turned him into pulp the day before.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, relaxing as he realized it wasn't an enemy attack but one of the rare episodes of scientific hysteria that his friends had told him this madwoman could have.
It had only happened three times so far, and it was never good news.
"THIS is what happened," the laboratory chief pulled out a thick folder full of papers and dropped it on the table, which groaned under the weight of the document, much to the ninja's surprise. "I don't know where you got those Byakugan, but if their medical technology is even a tenth of what I suspect, you better not put the village on their bad side."
"All these documents are for the samples?" he asked, swallowing unconsciously at the thought of the paperwork the Raikage would have to go through and imagining the death stare he would undoubtedly receive for being the bearer of his nightmare.
"No, this is the report on the Byakugan you brought me," she pointed with her finger at the folder that was bowing the table downward. "And this is the report on the fruit," she went into the room from which she had emerged and returned with an even larger folder, which she had to hold from below with her hands at the waist to prevent it from breaking due to its weight.
The ninja gulped when he saw all the papers that the Raikage would have to review and imagined the death glare that awaited him.
"And the last...?" he almost dreaded asking.
"I couldn't even analyze it," the woman rubbed her eyes, which had barely closed since yesterday when she started working, not having slept the entire night due to the excitement and shock of the results she had obtained. "But I can confirm it's just that, a terribly comfortable chair."
"Alright," he really didn't want to delve into it; he just had to remember to call someone later to sort out this mess. "Go back and rest for two days; I think you really need it."
"Give me four," the woman demanded, even in her current state with bloodshot eyes. "And if the village manages to get more of these products, I want half a dozen to study."
"Take the four days, as for the rest, discuss it with Raikage-sama when you return in better condition," the ninja stored all the documents in a storage scroll to avoid straining his back and went up to the Raikage's office to deliver the scroll. After leaving it on the desk, he quickly left, making sure he was already out of the office when his superior pulled the documents out of it.
It is said that on that same day, a cry of lament was heard throughout the village.
Enel and Pakura exchanged glances upon hearing the scream, but a second later, they smiled and ignored it as they continued their picnic on the mountainside, their hands intertwined in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company.