“Uh, this…”
Minato looked at his friend, who was laughing wildly and claiming that he was feeling incredibly excited.
Seeing that Rei had returned with all his limbs intact, Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, his sharp eyes soon noticed something else.
There seemed to be some dark-purple, viscous liquid clinging to the corner of Shiranui Rei’s mouth, resembling the juice of some unknown fruit.
A dark-purple fruit, combined with Rei’s uncontrollable laughter immediately after returning…
Minato subconsciously connected Rei’s behavior with the cases he had heard about where people accidentally ate hallucinogenic or poisonous fruits and subsequently became delirious.
“This is bad! Go get Lady Tsunade!”
Minato had originally thought there was nothing seriously wrong and had already taken off half of his ninja vest.
Now, he hurriedly put it back on, grabbed the door handle, and prepared to rush outside.
“Wait, I’m fine!”
Shiranui Rei coughed lightly and called Minato back after calming himself down.
He wasn’t embarrassed about the laughter just now.
He had successfully pulled off the perfect grab-and-escape.
Wasn’t laughing a little afterward perfectly reasonable?
Seeing Minato looking at him suspiciously, Rei explained, “I just encountered something that made me really happy.”
As he spoke, Shiranui Rei pulled several tissues from the table and wiped the area around his mouth.
Dark-purple stains immediately appeared on the white tissues.
Remembering the taste of the fruit as he had swallowed it moments ago, Rei smacked his lips.
The foul stench of the Yami Yami no Mi still lingered in his mouth.
Seeing that Minato was still examining him as if questioning his mental state, Shiranui Rei gave him an analogy.
“Suppose an Uchiha suddenly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and gained powerful abilities capable of making his ideals a reality. Wouldn’t it be perfectly reasonable for him to laugh wildly?”
For people of their generation, Uchiha Madara and the Mangekyo Sharingan were not some distant legends.
“I heard that the eyes can only be awakened after losing someone precious to you, whether a family member or someone you love. Wouldn’t that make it rather difficult to laugh?”
Minato scratched his blond hair and pointed out the inappropriate part of his friend’s analogy.
However, he had been intrigued by another implication in Rei’s words, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Wait, Rei, did you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?”
Come to think of it, he had never really asked about his friend’s parents.
After all, for the two of them, both orphans, their parents were a painful subject buried deep in their hearts, something neither was willing to bring up with others.
But what if one of Rei’s parents had actually been an Uchiha and passed down some kind of bloodline limit that could turn his eyes bright red?
“No.”
Shiranui Rei gave a short answer.
As a perfectly ordinary civilian-born shinobi, where would he get a bloodline limit from?
“…”
After sitting silently on the sofa for a while, Minato stood up again.
“Maybe we should still get Lady Tsunade to take a look at you.”
“Wait. It’s actually like this…”
Not wanting to waste Konoha’s medical resources, Shiranui Rei organized his thoughts and decided to give Minato a rough account of what had happened.
Five minutes later, Minato finally understood.
“You’re saying that the Flying Thunder God Technique transported you to the middle of the ocean, where you fought over some kind of devil’s fruit with a three-meter-tall, boar-like man with a black beard?
“And you had to constantly worry about a six-meter-tall giant waking up at any moment and killing both of you, leaving you walking on eggshells the entire time?
“But fortunately, you succeeded in the end, and you laughed wildly just now because you were so surprised and happy?”
“That’s basically it.”
Shiranui Rei nodded.
Naturally, he had embellished certain details.
He had preserved the general sequence of events while glossing over the crucial parts.
The fact that the Flying Thunder God Technique could cross between worlds was far too shocking.
Although he trusted Minato, he did not completely trust the village’s higher-ups, so he had no intention of revealing it so easily.
As a result, what Minato heard sounded almost like a mythical tale.
“Oh, so that’s what happened.”
After confirming that he hadn’t misheard anything, Minato decisively stood up and left the sofa.
This time, no matter how Rei tried to explain himself, he couldn’t stop him.
Minato hurried straight out the door.
…
An hour later.
Shiranui Rei was slumped against the sofa in Minato’s house, wearing an expression of utter despair.
Jiraiya and Minato, one tall and one small, stood side by side nearby.
Both wore solemn expressions as they stared at the voluptuous blonde woman standing before them.
The blonde woman had fair skin and looked to be only in her early twenties.
Even her thick clothing could not conceal her ample figure.
She wore a distinctive green haori, with a large character for “gamble” emblazoned across the back.
At this moment, Tsunade’s brows were slightly furrowed as her beautiful eyes carefully examined Shiranui Rei from head to toe.
Eventually, her gaze stopped at his collar, where she noticed some dark-purple stains.
“Minato told me that you ate a dark-purple fruit and then became extremely excited and happy?” Tsunade asked.
Shiranui Rei’s expression stiffened.
“There isn’t anything wrong with that description, but why does it sound so strange?”
He had eaten the Yami Yami no Mi.
Of course he was excited and happy.
Who wouldn’t be?
Was he really in the wrong here?
But when those words came out of Tsunade’s mouth, somehow they sounded completely different.
Tsunade sighed.
“In that case, we can’t rule out the possibility that the fruit you ate has some kind of stimulating effect on the nervous system. Even for me, that’s a rather troublesome area to deal with.”
“Lady Tsunade, can you save Rei?!”
Minato’s eyes reddened.
“Tsunade, can’t you save Rei?”
Jiraiya instinctively took a step forward, his brows tightly knitted.
“Let me finish! You two idiot master and disciple!”
Tsunade’s mouth twitched as she spoke impatiently.
Shiranui Rei’s mouth twitched as well, and he hurriedly said, “I really am not sick!”
After hearing this, Tsunade impatiently waved her hand.
“Most people who accidentally eat hallucinogenic herbs or fruits say they’re perfectly fine. Hmm, though you really don’t seem to have any symptoms…”
Tsunade carefully examined the whites of Rei’s eyes and his lips again.
Their color appeared completely normal.
If Minato hadn’t described Rei’s wild laughter after eating the strange fruit with such absolute certainty, she probably wouldn’t have thought there was anything wrong with him at all.
“It’s already been more than an hour since this kid ate that unknown fruit.
Since he’s still able to talk to us normally, there probably isn’t any serious problem.
“For now, just keep observing him. If any other symptoms appear, come find me.”
After finishing her diagnosis in one breath, Tsunade yawned and prepared to leave.
“Um, Lady Tsunade!”
Shiranui Rei suddenly called out to Tsunade, as though he had just thought of something.
The blonde woman instinctively turned her head, revealing her delicate profile.
Under her questioning gaze, Shiranui Rei slowly asked, “May I ask where the Second Hokage’s grave is?”
“The grave of Great-Uncle Tobirama?”
Tsunade froze.
“I learned the Flying Thunder God Technique left behind by the Second Hokage, so naturally, I should pay my respects at his grave.”
Shiranui Rei meant what he said.
He had said he would offer incense to his ancestor Tobirama, so now that he had the opportunity, he naturally had to visit the old man’s grave.
Tsunade did not answer immediately.
But her charming yet spirited eyes gradually softened.
After thinking for a moment, she finally replied.
“If you’re free one morning in a few days, come find me. I’ll be at home these days anyway. I can also give you a follow-up examination while you’re there.”