Mikami Yuu didn't know exactly when Kakashi created Chidori, since the original story never said.
But it was certain that it had to be before the Kannabi Bridge incident, so it showing up around now made sense.
A pity he didn't have Lightning affinity, or he could've copied it for himself.
At the intersection near the civilian district, Obito reluctantly said goodbye to Rin and Mikami Yuu, then headed back toward the Uchiha compound.
That afternoon, Mikami Yuu went to see Orochimaru again and, as usual, spent half a day helping with experiments.
Since it wasn't the agreed "payday" yet, Orochimaru didn't give him anything this time. He simply immersed himself in his research, a near-pathological gleam flickering in his eyes.
That evening, Nohara Rin knocked on the Mikami family's door, greeted Mikami Aoi—who welcomed her with a smile—and then went straight to Mikami Yuu's room.
The two of them lay over the desk for an hour or two and still only managed to copy about half of the Mystical Palm scroll.
"Damn, why is there so much writing…"
Mikami Yuu flexed the hand that had gone sore from writing and suggested they continue the next day. Rin happily agreed.
After she packed up the scroll and left, Yuu stretched lazily, chatted a bit with the jutsu girls in the galgame system to keep the affection flowing, then got ready to wash up and rest.
The next day, Mikami Yuu and Rin spent nearly the whole day and finally finished copying the Mystical Palm scroll. They even painstakingly traced the anatomical diagrams as carefully as they could. At one point Yuu considered making a few water clones to help, but worried they might get the scroll wet, so he gave up on the idea.
Yeah… he really did need to learn Shadow Clone.
And right now, thanks to the galgame system, Mikami Yuu had already gained twenty or thirty points of Constitution. His chakra reserves still weren't on the level of monsters like the Uzumaki or Uchiha, but compared to ordinary clan kids, he was already about on par—or even ahead. More than enough to learn Shadow Clone.
When that happened, whether he used it as free labor, a general helper, or a two-times-speed training accelerator, it would be useful in every direction.
That part he could just take directly to Namikaze Minato. As long as he asked clearly, Minato would probably be more than willing to teach it.
After finishing the copy,
Mikami Yuu tried showing the copied scroll to the galgame system.
[Ding! Detectable gift · advanced limited skin (self-made) — Healing Technique: Mystical Palm!]
Good, good, good.
That confirmed it. Scrolls he copied himself could also be recognized as "skins." That was excellent news.
There was no rush to gift it yet. He could do that later. After all, for now, he couldn't openly use the technique anyway.
After that, Rin began carefully studying and digesting the scroll and her notes.
Mikami Yuu, meanwhile, picked up pen and paper again, thought for a while, and started writing up a business plan for Konoha Raw Cola.
Honestly…
Even if he lost the bet with Tsunade, it wouldn't be the end of the world. The wager was only one request, after all. With Tsunade's personality, she wasn't about to demand something shameless or morally outrageous.
But Mikami Yuu still didn't want to lose.
And more importantly, he was doing this for the Mikami family's future.
After all, being a ninja was an expensive profession. Ninja tools alone were a constant major expense, and if he wanted to get into any kind of research later, the money required would be enormous.
Now that Mikami Tajima had retired, the family could still get by in the short term on their past savings and the disability stipend from the village. But if they couldn't quickly find a way to bring in new income and cut costs, then Mikami Aoi's salary from the Konoha library would only barely cover food, clothing, and basic living expenses. Anything beyond that would have to come from Mikami Yuu himself.
Given that the shinobi world's social environment was completely different from modern Earth, whether "Konoha Raw Cola" could really follow the path of a certain real-world soda and become a smash hit in Konoha—or even across the entire shinobi world—was still uncertain.
Still, Mikami Yuu thought the odds were pretty good.
So then and there, he went over everything from formula secrecy measures, to logistics, to advertising and promotion, sorting through all his ideas and recording them one by one.
Of course, because the social environment and tech level were different, a lot of details would have to be adjusted to fit reality once it was actually implemented.
But that part was Mikami Tajima's problem.
After all, the man was a grown adult in his thirties and had been a ninja for over a decade. He had enough life experience and ability to handle things. Yuu had already laid out the key ideas. Even if the final execution differed from the plan, it should still work out, at least within Konoha itself.
A few days later, early in the morning, Mikami Yuu got up as usual, washed, ate, and got ready to head to the training ground for some practice. But the moment he stepped outside, he saw a familiar figure not far away.
"…Kakashi?"
"Yeah."
Kakashi nodded, his voice coming from behind the mask. "Half an hour from now, meet at Training Ground Seven. Go get Rin. I'll notify Obito. Minato-sensei's back, and he's got a new mission to announce."
After saying that, Kakashi didn't explain any further. He used Body Flicker and left at once, heading toward the Uchiha compound.
Mikami Yuu stopped in place, scrapped his original plan, and turned to knock on the Nohara family's door next door.
Soon enough, the four of them arrived at the training ground.
Minato was already there waiting.
Compared to the team dinner two months ago, the "Yellow Flash" didn't look much different on the surface. He still had the same gentle expression, though there was now a trace of long-travel fatigue hidden underneath. When he saw Yuu and the others arrive, he smiled and said softly, "Yuu, Rin, Kakashi, Obito. Long time no see. How have you all been?"
"Minato-sensei! You finally came back!"
Obito shouted excitedly.
Mikami Yuu also put on the sort of excited expression a kid his age was supposed to have.
"Yeah. I just finished a few fairly important missions and only got done handing things over to the other ninja in the village yesterday."
Minato smiled warmly, his gaze sweeping across the four of them. "I already heard the general situation from Kakashi yesterday. All of you have done very well lately. Whether it was training or missions, you've all been excellent. Just what I'd expect from my students."
"Hehe."
Obito rubbed the back of his head and grinned. "Obviously. Minato-sensei, if you'd seen it, you'd know—my Great Fireball is already practically on par with Yuu's. Those bandits outside the village are all terrified the moment they hear my name! Too bad the enemies lately have all been half-baked scrubs. If only I could fight some real ninja!"
"…"
Minato went quiet for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and said in an even tone:
"That chance may already have come."