The Eyes That See Chakra (2)

10 Advanced chapters on Patreon: Fiction Haven

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"No, what have you done to Raiga!? Raiga has done nothing wrong. He was just lonely!"

I sighed lightly at the weeping kid in front of me. Raiga had damaged his mind, it seemed. Either way, it didn't matter. I didn't care enough about the kid to correct his mindset. However, it still surprised me how far being at the right time and in the right place could get you. The bond Raiga and Ranmaru had created through a coincidental meeting was enough to make Ranmaru try to revive the beheaded Jōnin.

"You are only going to kill yourself and I can't let you do that," I said as I kicked Raiga's head which was about to reattach itself.

"What have you done!? I was close to reviving Raiga with my Chakra!" Ranmaru hissed hatefully.

"I just did the right thing… for me, at least."

Too tired to deal with a temper tantrum, I hit Ranmaru's neck and sent him to sleep. I burned Raiga's body and put his head in a Storage Seal. I would claim the reward for his head later. Picking Ranmaru up, I walked to the Curry of Life shop. At least, into the direction where it used to be.

"The fight did more damage than I expected."

With a sigh, I decided to look for Karashi, who was not far from where I was. He shot me a curious look as soon as he saw Ranmaru on my shoulder but didn't question me. When I revealed that the shop was destroyed, Sanshō hit me in the thigh with a ladle. I didn't know why she even had that with her.

We decided to look for an inn as a temporary stay. My feat of killing Raiga was already widespread, so the owner of the inn let us stay there for free for as long as we wanted. The villagers also rushed to the inn to meet me. Of course, I kept myself inside. I let Karashi deal with the curious mob.

The commotion only died down when night fell. Ranmaru woke up a few minutes before dinner and joined us at the table. He stared at the food on the table silently. Sanshō tried to engage him in a conversation but was ignored the entire time. It wasn't until we decided to treat him like air that he decided to talk.

"Why?"

A simple question, directed to no one, but I knew he was aiming it at me.

"You could have asked him for those swords if they were the only things you want from him."

"Would he give that to me?"

At my pointed look, Ranmaru shut his mouth.

"I don't get what you want from me," he said after some time. "I am just a penniless orphan who is nothing without Raiga."

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" I remarked. "Eat your curry and I will answer your questions."

The kid did as I said, surprisingly. I don't understand kids sometimes. When the dinner finished, I walked into my room. I was nearing the end of my research on Hiraishin, so I was eager to finish it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, little Ranmaru decided to follow me. I sighed lightly and let him follow me into my room.

"Raiga was lonely," the kid said as soon as he situated himself on my bed. "He was just like me. He had nothing but misery and death to accompany him throughout his whole life." I listened to the talk with crossed arms while leaning on the wall. "His deeds were unacceptable, but he just wanted a better life for everyone. No one would have died if they had listened to him."

"That sort of mentality was what let you suffer that fate," I retorted, gaining a confused look from the kid. "A crazy dude thinking it was okay to kill people with Kekkei Genkai and his 'yes men' supporting him like crazy. Your precious Raiga killed innocent men, depriving women of their husbands and children of their fathers. His subordinates extorted women and raped them constantly. If you ask any of those victims, they would become Raiga if they had the power."

"…"

"Life is shitty, but that doesn't become a reason why you have to be a dipshit. But everyone has choices, so I won't judge. However, if you decide to become a dipshit, you have to be prepared to be treated and die like shit. Such is life."

"That is…"

Taking my back off the wall, I stood before the kid. "One week. I give you one week to observe the life of the villagers and ask them about their prior experience. I guarantee you would have a different view afterward."

That sentence was true in one way or another. The kid would see the world through different eyes sooner or later. Of course, he didn't know what would happen to him in the future. With a solemn look, he nodded his head. I thought he would leave my room afterward, but he didn't.

"I am not comfortable sleeping alone… and I don't think I can sleep with a stranger."

"I am, though."

I didn't need another Inari, but here I am.

…

Teaching Ranmaru about the consequences of Raiga's action was a glorified bullshit. The week I gave him was a deadline I gave myself to master eye transplant surgery. Fortunately, I managed to do it even before the deadline. I didn't immediately perform the procedure, of course, as I still didn't have the muscle memory for what I could recall in my mind.

As such, in the last week, I was practicing eye transplant surgery on animals nearby. Some unlucky monkeys living in the forest had their eyes exchanged with each other. Only two of them became eternally blind. I was glad I didn't immediately test it on myself. With that said, I was ready to do the procedure.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Ranmaru as we walked to the Kurosuki Family's old headquarters.

"I think what Raiga did was unjustified. You are right; pain doesn't make you qualify for hurting others. And if you do, you have to accept the fact that you are bound to be hurt by others as you do them," Ranmaru said contemplatively. "I don't know how it feels to lose your parents, but I know how it feels to be alone. Raiga had made a lot of kids experience that. I guess… he deserved what happened to him."

"Acute observation," I praised.

Hoping Ranmaru to become like other kids was ridiculous given his childhood. However, that didn't mean he couldn't become a decent person. I couldn't tell if he had the skills, but he already had the right mindset to survive this hypocritical world full of psychos. Nevertheless, I didn't care enough.

"Why are we here?" Ranmaru asked as we arrived at the gold mine.

In response to that question, I hit his nape and put him to sleep. I was not joking when I told him I would make him see the world through different eyes. With Tora no longer supervising me and the adequate surgery skills I possessed, I was ready to trade my eyes with Ranmaru's. His eyes would give my combat prowess a huge boost.

I created four shadow clones and gave Ranmaru to one of them. Once we got inside, I sealed the cave with Fūinjutsu. My clone put Ranmaru on one of the two operating tables in the cave and I lay on the other. Quickly making their moves, my clones connected Ranmaru and me to the IV and began the anesthesia procedure.

As my consciousness was slipping, I said, "Don't fuck this up."

"Believe in yourself," was my clone's casual response. I could accept that.

My body became relaxed and I lost consciousness entirely. I hoped to see some dreams while I was out, but I didn't have any. It felt like the best sleep I had ever had. When my consciousness returned, I forced my body to sit up immediately. It felt sluggish and heavy which means the anesthesia was still doing wonders.

I eyed the world blearily. My eyes stunk slightly and the itchiness tempted me to rub them. I knew better, of course. As wonderful as my body was, it still needed time to heal my new eyes.

"How long did it take?" I asked my silent clones.

"Four hours for the procedure and three days for you to wake up," one of them answered.

"… What happened?" I asked, perplexed.

"Our furry friend might help you in that regard."

I frowned as I eyed my clones. Unlike the reflection of myself I saw in the mirror, they still had Minato's pair of blue eyes. They nodded lightly and then dispelled themselves. Memories rushed to my brain. I saw what happened to my body while I was out and what one of my clones told Ranmaru when he woke up. The boy was either gullible or stupidly kind for believing I took his eyes for his sake.

Sighing lightly as I recalled what Ranmaru said about having my eyes, I delved into my subconscious. In an instant, I was face to face with Kurama.