Kairen wiped the sweat from his forehead. Even when facing the Third Hokage, he had never sweated this much.
It was clear that the youthful power of the Might Guy father and son was fully unleashed.
Yakushi Nono looked at the overflowing youthful spirit radiating from the two of them, lowered her head with a small laugh, then turned toward Kairen.
"Do you often train with them?"
She still couldn't imagine someone as valiant and proud as Kairen dressing up in such a ridiculous fashion.
Kairen gave a helpless smile, then snapped his fingers.
A wooden stake shot up from the ground, rapidly transforming into a human figure, clad in a red-and-blue spider-themed skintight suit.
"A kind of unexpected happiness~ something like~"
"Maka♪ Maka♫ Maka♬ Maka♪"
The moment Spider-Kairen appeared, the soundtrack of youth blasted instantly. Green flames erupted behind Guy and Might Duy from excitement as they shouted about the burning fire of youth!
Wrong tune or not — their spirit exceeded Kage-level.
The father and son rediscovered their Youth Anthem, instantly igniting boundless fighting spirit.
"Kairen, come! Burn with youth together with us!"
Kairen shook his head and pointed at his wooden clone.
"Let him keep you company!"
He quickly pulled Yakushi Nono away as if the two burning men were some kind of natural disaster.
Fortunately, his Spider-Kairen wore a mask. If he ran around Konoha like this, he'd lose all social standing and have to flee the Land of Fire by night carrying a train on his back.
Yakushi Nono saw Kairen's desperation and covered her mouth with a laugh. So even Moku Kairen had people he feared in this world.
…
On the way to the orphanage, Kairen quietly observed the bustling streets. Hidden among the crowd were quite a few red-necked people shouting:
"Down with the Third Hokage! Support Princess Tsunade!"
Kairen nodded. The revolutionary atmosphere was excellent — all that remained was to raise troops and rebel.
He glanced at the fruit stalls lining the street. Visiting the children at the orphanage — how could I show up empty-handed?
"Come on, let's buy some fruit!"
He pulled Yakushi Nono to the front of a fruit stall.
"Bro~ how much is this melon per kilogram?"
"100 ryō per kilogram!"
"Is the melon rind made of gold, or… the seeds made of gold?"
100 ryō per kilogram — what kind of melon was this? Though Kairen was rich, he wasn't about to waste money.
Yakushi Nono tugged on him.
"100 ryō per kilogram isn't expensive."
Kairen froze, suddenly remembering the ninja world's currency conversion. At 100 ryō, he had to drop a zero, multiply by sixty percent… around three coins.
Now that summer had passed, selling at this price was reasonable.
Kairen pulled out a thick wad of bills and looked at the stall owner. The man wasn't burly — he looked familiar.
That empty right sleeve, that weathered face… wasn't this Yamashita Shige? They had even been hospital roommates once!
What, not a ninja anymore? Selling melons now?
Shige caught Kairen's stunned look and barked, "You standing there on purpose to pick a fight?"
Kairen's appearance had changed so drastically that even his dead father wouldn't recognize him, let alone Shige.
Kairen quickly reminded him, "It's me! The undying Kairen — the Battlefield Rose."
Shige suddenly understood. He stared at Kairen, eyes widening.
"tnnd, what kind of feed have you been eating?!"
Yakushi Nono let go of Kairen's hand and quietly went to pick out melons while the two men caught up.
Shige walked out from behind the stall, examining Kairen. He remembered a tiny kid who barely reached his chest, yet now the kid was taller than him.
Puberty was one thing — but no amount of growth stimulant would make someone shoot up this fast.
Kairen told him to stop questioning the details and asked:
"You're not on the battlefield anymore? How'd you end up back in the village?"
Shige shook his head.
"I've only got my left hand left. What battle could I fight? After you left, I applied to return. I gave up the ninja profession and opened a fruit stall."
Kairen glanced at the stall again.
"You were a ninja for years — don't tell me you had no savings? Didn't the village give you compensation?"
Shige let out a cold laugh.
"Give me? They swallowed it all. I wanted to raise hell, but the Sarutobi clan handled compensation. I'm just a lowly Chūnin, and now disabled — how the hell could I fight them?"
Kairen clenched his fist. Once again, Konohagakure's upper echelon and its clans disgusted him.
If Tsunade's reforms failed, he would flip the entire table — bury every clan in the grave they dug, and build his own Soviet.
He lowered his gaze to Shige's severed arm. Their bond wasn't deep, but Shige had honored him once at the memorial. Kairen should help him.
He suddenly thought of something. Since his own Creation Rebirth could regenerate organs at high speed… could he accelerate regeneration for others too?
Its principle was simple — converting chakra into cells. If he could mimic another person's cells, theoretically he could reverse-engineer high-speed regeneration.
He lacked an experiment subject — but wasn't one standing right here?
Kairen grabbed Shige's severed arm.
Shige looked confused.
"What are you doing?"
Kairen didn't answer. Chakra surged through his body as he instantly simulated Shige's cellular structure. Wood Release chakra slowly poured into Shige's body.
Shige felt a warm current swirling inside him. His right arm stump began to itch. His heart trembled.
Could this be—
"Reverse Creation Rebirth!"
Yakushi Nono sensed a thick wave of vitality beside her. She stopped picking fruit and turned toward them, her dark-green eyes shrinking.
"This is…"
Under her gaze, Kairen's hand glowed green as—
At Shige's right arm stump, flesh writhed like countless tiny snakes. With a spray of blood, a brand-new arm grew out, forcing itself into existence.
"Done!"
Kairen withdrew his hand, nodding with satisfaction. Regrowing severed limbs — this was the work of immortals!
He was becoming less of a normal ninja and more of a wandering sage. Forget the forehead protector — he might as well put on ancient robes and become a hermit.
He had even thought of a Daoist name: The First Good-Hearted Immortal of the Primordial Age — Daoist Red Cloud.
"My arm—"
Shige's whole body trembled as he stared at his regenerated arm in disbelief.
The fresh skin was as tender as a newborn's, faint blue veins visible beneath, pulsing with life.
He moved it — the fingers flexed according to his nerve impulses.
"It's real! It's real! My arm grew back! Uuuuu…"
People nearby gathered around. Everyone knew Shige — and everyone stared in shock at his new limb.
"Shige's arm… it grew back!!"
"It was that young man — I just saw it! His hand shone green and the arm grew right out! It's unbelievable!"
"A sage! A sage walks among us!"
Shige fell to his knees, clutching Kairen's leg and crying.
"Thank you! Thank you! You don't know what kind of hell I faced without an arm!"
"Moku Kairen, you're my greatest benefactor in this life! Whatever you want, I'll do it!"
Kairen shook his leg to push Shige away.
"No need for that!"