A week flew by before anyone even noticed. The scars of war were still fresh, but the village was slowly getting its groove back.
No one dared to draw on the Hokage's stone face, but folks stuffing themselves with ramen and getting into random scuffles in the streets made the village feel alive again.
And of course, the "Konoha Daily" kept things buzzing.
Especially now that they'd started publishing the novel "Solo Leveling." It was like the villagers had just discovered a whole new world. The excitement was unreal.
Today was even crazier than usual because they'd just dropped new artwork of the main character.
When Haruki saw the queue outside the bookstore stretching over ten meters long, all he could picture was piles of gold coins with wings flying straight into his bowl.
Who knew a drought in entertainment could be so profitable?
After a quick thought, he decided not to interrupt Satoshi, who was clearly swamped, and instead headed to the research lab.
He'd split the lab into seven departments, and one of them was the newly formed network team.
It was staffed mostly with civilian tech nerds pulled from the main science division, people who actually knew their way around a computer.
A few of them were ninja, but for the most part, they were just regular folks.
After a long, confusing lecture, Haruki had barely managed to explain the idea of the internet.
Even though half of it probably went over their heads, the team leader, Mari Motohashi, looked so amazed it was like she couldn't keep her legs still.
She could already tell that being able to connect people without chakra was going to shake things up in a big way.
"Hey, Lord Haruki." Mari spotted him while holding two wires. Her face was smudged with soot and grease, giving her a very... patchy look.
"You alright?" Haruki raised an eyebrow.
"I was hooking up a circuit earlier and, well… there was a tiny spark. Nothing serious, I'm used to it." She casually wiped her face like it was just another Tuesday.
Haruki pointed at her. "Uh…"
Mari glanced down, twirled around in her lab coat, and asked, "What? Is something wrong with my outfit? It's fine, isn't it?"
"Even if it got damaged, I've got a spare underneath. I basically live in this thing unless I'm asleep."
"…Right." Haruki sighed. He was used to her chaos, but she still managed to give him a headache now and then.
"No, it's your face." He created a little mirror using chakra and showed it to her.
"Oh, that? Meh. It'll just get dirty again anyway," she shrugged after a glance, completely unfazed.
Haruki couldn't help but wonder, 'Is she really researching networks? If I didn't know better, I'd think she was just some dodgy electrician.'
"You came to check on our progress, didn't you?" Mari suddenly switched to a more serious tone.
"Kinda." Honestly, Haruki was just bored and had wandered over while thinking about their tech progress.
Of course, he was hoping for an update.
But something as complex as a network system wasn't going to be sorted in just a week.
"We've followed your blueprint and hooked up all the computers in the lab with communication lines. It's basically a small local network now, but it'll take a bit more time to get everything running smoothly," Mari explained.
Just as he expected.
"No worries. Take your time. I'll leave you to it. I'm off to find Orochimaru," Haruki said casually.
The moment Mari heard Orochimaru, her whole face lit up.
She was a massive fan.
When the Oshima Chamber of Commerce scouted her from the Land of Fire, she was ready to turn them down until she heard she'd be working alongside Orochimaru. She packed up and moved without a second thought.
But even now, she hadn't seen much of him at all.
Honestly, it made sense. Before people knew the real him, Orochimaru's mysterious vibe and legendary Sannin status made him a bit of a heartthrob. He wasn't exactly unattractive either.
"I'm so jealous," Mari said with a dreamy sigh. "You get to see Lord Orochimaru all the time."
"You can too," Haruki chuckled. "Just go for it, no need to be shy."
"I did try! But he told me not to waste his time with 'pointless nonsense.'" Mari pouted, clearly still salty.
'Yikes. No wonder he's still single,' Haruki thought, shaking his head, though he kept that to himself.
Then again, maybe Orochimaru didn't care. His kid's literally a cyborg, after all.
———
Orochimaru's Lab
The moment Haruki stepped inside, the entire atmosphere turned eerie.
Dim lighting, cold air, felt like walking into a horror film.
His eyes fell on a figure floating naked inside a transparent tank. For a second, Haruki froze.
It was Orochimaru's face. Identical in every way.
No doubt, it was a clone.
"Did it work?" Haruki couldn't help but ask, a flicker of real excitement in his voice. If cloning tech was finally functional, then one of his more ambitious plans could finally move forward.
"Nope." Orochimaru's blunt response popped his bubble fast.
"This body's just a shell, useless. Nowhere near the level of a perfect vessel," he said, voice as cold as the room.
Haruki didn't get too discouraged. Compared to where they'd started, this was still progress.
And with someone like Orochimaru leading the charge, it was only a matter of time before they nailed it and hopefully slashed some of Haruki's funding bills too.
"Want me to help?"
Orochimaru gave him a deadpan stare. "And exactly how would you help?"
"…Fair point." Haruki had nothing to say.
Orochimaru let out a scoff. If it weren't for the cash Haruki was funneling into his lab, he wouldn't waste time talking to him.
"Anything else?"
Haruki's eyebrow twitched. "Would bringing in the Hyuga clan speed things up?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "The Byakugan?"
He paused, thinking it over. "It could definitely speed up the process. But are you sure the Hyugas won't rat us out? Not exactly the kind of people who keep quiet about illegal lab work."
"They won't," Haruki replied, eyes gleaming. "I've got my own methods. How many do you need?"
"Ten," Orochimaru answered without missing a beat.
"Consider it done."
That caught Orochimaru off guard. He knew Haruki had struck a deal with the Hyuga clan, probably using that cursed caged bird seal as leverage but still, human experimentation was a massive breach of village regulations.
'How are those Hokage bootlickers okay with this?' he wondered.
Haruki had no idea what was running through his head. After saying goodbye, he made his way to the Hyuga estate.
The place was massive and strict-looking, almost like the setting of one of those Japanese family dramas he used to binge-watch in his past life.
After announcing himself, he was led in to meet Tsukasa, the clan head.
"Please," Tsukasa said calmly, pouring tea himself and offering it to Haruki.
"You really don't have to go this far, Patriarch," Haruki said with a polite smile, accepting the cup. He took a sip, but couldn't really tell if it was any good or not.
"So, what brings you here today?" Tsukasa asked, still composed and dignified.
Haruki didn't waste time. He set the cup down and gave a soft, almost casual smile.
"Tell me, Patriarch, have you ever heard of the Tenseigan?"
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