Chapter 16: I'm Not Interested in Money!

The next day, in the medical team's office.

Kitaishi was carrying a book and thought she'd be the first one to arrive. However, upon arriving, she found the light in the boys' changing room was on, and faint wisps of mist were seeping out from underneath the door.

And the mist had a peculiar odor.

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to open the door to check the situation.

Good grief!

As soon as she opened the door, a strong medicinal smell assaulted her nostrils, making her cough repeatedly. It took quite a while to get used to the pungent aroma, and the dense mist made it nearly impossible to see inside.

After confirming that the mist wasn't toxic, she cautiously ventured in.

"Who's here?"

"Is anyone there?"

Kitaishi carefully made her way through the room and reached the bathing area in the changing room. There, she finally found the source of the mist—

In the bathtub, a strikingly handsome young boy was lying with his whole body submerged in blackened water, presumably tainted with some sort of medicinal substance.

"Kai, you... Oh no!"

Thinking that Kai had fainted, she hurried over, only to trip over a small pile of something and lose her balance, tumbling into the bathtub.

Although Kitaishi was a Special Jonin, her medical training had left her out of practice in combat and physical training, making her unable to adjust in time.

Splash!

With a loud splash, she fell into the water with a yelp.

"Who's that?"

Luckily, the impact was on her abdomen, not lower down; otherwise, the barely recovering Kai would have been seriously hurt.

Kai, clutching his stomach, climbed out of the bathtub.

Next moment.

Splash~

"Pffft! Pffft!"

Kitaishi's head popped out of the water as she spat out the bitter-tasting liquid. Having accidentally swallowed some of the water, her throat was now filled with a sour, bitter taste. After a few coughs, she gasped for breath, her wet clothes clinging to her body, accentuating her curves.

Thankfully, the dense mist obscured everything.

"What... what are you doing? I thought you had fainted!"

Kitaishi was quite annoyed.

She had been so worried earlier that she hadn't been paying attention to her footing, and now this kid seemed perfectly fine, full of energy, while she…

Her face turned red with embarrassment.

"Teacher, I'm conducting an experiment," Kai said, noticing the awkwardness and quickly pulling a towel to cover himself. "Could you please step outside for a moment?"

"…"

Kitaishi took one last glance before silently turning and leaving the room.

Good grief!

A bath, really.

She sat outside and turned on the ventilation fan, causing the mist inside to gradually thin out.

However, when she looked down, she saw Kai's awkward attempt to exit the room, so she quickly retreated. As she opened the door, she saw Kusao standing in the hallway, staring at her in a daze.

"Kitaishi-senpai?"

"Kai is doing an experiment, so I… Anyway, you'll see for yourself."

Kitaishi hurried back into the changing room.

Kusao hesitated for a moment, then walked into the changing room. As soon as he opened the door, he was assaulted by a mix of odors. Despite being a seasoned medical ninja, the smell was overwhelming, and he quickly closed the door.

A few minutes later, Kai emerged from the room, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"There's no continuous hot water supply at home, so I decided to use this place for my experiment," he explained.

"You spent the whole night on this experiment?" Kitaishi was shocked and then became annoyed. "Are you out of your mind? And who conducts experiments like that, using themselves as the test subject? What if something went wrong?"

"It's fine. I had already confirmed the safety of the first version. It's generally harmless to the body; the changes I made yesterday only affected the medicine's efficacy, not to the point of becoming poisonous."

Kai explained.

Kitaishi wasn't keen on hearing it. She knew that every medicine required numerous trials to perfect, but it was one thing to not test on others and quite another to use oneself.

"Teacher, I know I made a mistake."

"You know you made a mistake?"

Kitaishi was exasperated.

This wasn't the first time Kai had acted recklessly. Previously, it was with the soldier pills; he'd completed the experiment privately before letting her know.

"Yes, I know I was wrong. I'll definitely change my ways next time!"

"Change your ways? You dare?"

Kitaishi took a deep breath, trying to calm her frustration.

As for the embarrassing incident earlier, she wasn't too concerned anymore.

After a brief silence in the office.

"Alright, I know you're a genius, but even geniuses can't act so recklessly. What if you got poisoned? Who would rescue you at night?"

Kitaishi spoke slowly.

Kai nodded repeatedly, not arguing.

With her anger finally subsiding, her breathing returned to normal.

"Okay, we'll let this one slide. What kind of experiment were you doing?"

Kitaishi asked out of curiosity.

This kid had great talent. As long as it wasn't S-rank jutsu, he could learn even the most difficult techniques and was incredibly creative. Her scolding was out of concern for Kai's safety.

For someone else, she would have kicked them out long ago.

"A medicinal bath."

"A medicinal bath?"

Kitaishi was puzzled.

What was that?

"Simply put, it's a method to rapidly reduce muscle fatigue and accelerate the body's absorption of nutrients, using a medicinal bath."

Kai explained.

Though Kitaishi was a medical ninja, she had trained hard in the past. After hearing Kai's explanation, she understood the benefits of a medicinal bath.

Physical energy could be replenished with soldier pills.

However, relieving muscle and body fatigue was previously difficult to achieve with medicine.

If Kai's medicine truly worked, many people would definitely be willing to buy it every day. Moreover, the added benefit of faster absorption meant quicker digestion and energy extraction.

A special medicine for training!

"How are the materials?"

Kitaishi asked.

Kai explained that he had tested five versions.

Versions one and two were the most effective, but two of the ingredients were hard to find, making them low in yield.

Versions three and four were less effective but used more common ingredients, making them more viable alternatives.

The final version was slightly better than versions three and four but cost twice as much.

So, it wasn't considered a finished product yet.

Kitaishi pondered and said, "Let's try some test promotions. If you don't mind sharing a bit of the profits, the medical team can help with these tests."

"No problem."

Kai agreed without hesitation.

"Are you sure? Don't be fooled by the cheap materials and the small share of the profits. This product is a consumable. Eventually, everyone might end up buying it, and the cumulative earnings will be substantial."

Kitaishi made it clear.

Kai nodded. "As long as I have enough money, I'm not interested in profits. Besides, I'll need to keep making improvements. If I do everything myself, I won't have time to train and learn. With that time, I could create a new jutsu."

"…"

Damn, although you're speaking the truth, it still makes me want to give you a good beating.

Kitaishi thought to herself.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally said, "Submit the general outline by tomorrow. I'll have Kusao and the others conduct the tests. For now, the most important thing for you is to go get some rest and recuperate!"

"Understood!"

Kai left the office, and as he closed the door, he heard the sound of a book slamming on a desk coming from inside.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to read 20 chapters ahead, join my patreon : patreon.com/Adwitiyah_Daivik