"Oh dear, Little Amemiya, I just realized I forgot something. Could you take Kakashi back for me?" Amemiya Kenichi watched Uzumaki Kushina's over-the-top acting and took a deep breath.
Why was he regretting his decision more and more?
"Of course, Kushina-a, Sis," Amemiya Kenichi replied helplessly.
He was about to call her "Auntie" when he sensed the killing intent radiating from Kushina and saw Namikaze Minato behind her shaking his head solemnly.
So he quickly settled on "Sis."
Amemiya Kenichi suddenly felt sorry for Namikaze Minato. He wondered what the future Fourth Hokage's standing was in his own family.
"Thank you so much~" Kushina said with her usual眯眯眼 smile, then dragged Minato away. Before leaving, Minato turned back to wink at Amemiya Kenichi and give him a thumbs-up.
"." Amemiya Kenichi didn't want to say anything.
Kushina and Minato's intentions were painfully obvious. They wanted him and Kakashi to get along and become friends.
Kenichi glanced at Kakashi beside him, who remained expressionless. After Namikaze Minato left, Kakashi turned and walked away without even a perfunctory farewell.
*Tch, kids are such a pain.*
Amemiya Kenichi clicked his tongue but still followed Kakashi.
After all, he had promised Uzumaki Kushina, and for his future plans, he needed to take this seriously.
Amemiya Kenichi had no particular designs on Kakashi. Kakashi was a naturally gifted ninja, and Kenichi could find better replacements for anything he possessed. If there was one exception, it would be swordsmanship.
Hatake Kakashi's father was rumored to be even stronger than the Three Great Sages of Konoha, so the Hatake family's ancestral swordsmanship should be quite formidable. However, Kakashi hadn't shown any particular talent in that area later on.
But Amemiya Kenichi knew better than to bite off more than he could chew, especially since he wasn't exactly a prodigy himself.
Apart from having Orochimaru as his teacher, Amemiya Kenichi was arguably the most ordinary Genin in Konoha—the kind destined to be cannon fodder.
[Research Progress: 99.99%]
Amemiya Kenichi's mood brightened. Even though he was currently just cannon fodder, once that progress bar hit 100%, he'd finally get the key to becoming strong.
"Hey Kakashi, I heard you're a Jonin now?" Amemiya Kenichi broke the silence that had hung between them all the way here.
Kakashi heard him, but he didn't turn around, didn't stop, didn't even answer. He just kept walking at his steady pace.
Amemiya Kenichi pursed his lips. This Kakashi was nothing like the future Make-Out Paradise Kakashi. He was more like a corpse—a soulless corpse.
"Do you have nightmares?" Amemiya Kenichi asked with a teasing smirk. Kakashi finally paused, but still didn't turn around, continuing to walk in silence.
Amemiya Kenichi chuckled. After losing Obito and Nohara Rin, Kakashi must be tormented by nightmares. It was practically a psychological disorder—something that would require therapy in his past life. Amemiya Kenichi didn't know much about that, but he knew about Genjutsu.
Why would Amemiya Kenichi, Orochimaru's disciple, want to master Genjutsu?
Naturally, it was for self-preservation.
Although Orochimaru currently had no intention of using Kenichi as a vessel for reincarnation—his research wasn't refined enough yet—Kenichi still worked hard to master some Genjutsu to protect himself from his master.
To Kenichi, Genjutsu was like hypnosis from his past life, but with far more pronounced effects. When applied properly, it could even be a useful tool for psychological therapy.
Unfortunately, Kenichi was still just a Genin, and Kakashi had the Sharingan. Using Genjutsu on him wouldn't be easy.
So Kenichi abandoned his plan to use Genjutsu to manipulate Kakashi into creating embarrassing memories, then blackmail him later when he grew up.
After taking Kakashi home, Kenichi left without saying much.
Kakashi was like a block of wood right now, and Kenichi wasn't in the habit of talking to inanimate objects. He'd just wait for Kakashi to join the Anbu in the future and let time wash away his pain.
After returning home, Amemiya Kenichi lay down on his bed. His house wasn't large—it was a small place Orochimaru had given him.
But though small, it had everything he needed, even a refrigerator.
Who knew why the Ninja World had refrigerators? The science of this world had always been a mystery.
Amemiya Kenichi wasn't in a hurry to sleep. His progress might reach 100% at any moment, and he couldn't rest anyway. So he sat in his chair, fiddling with his collection.
Orochimaru was an excellent leader, as evidenced by the fact that he paid Amemiya Kenichi a generous salary—far better than those bosses who only offered empty promises.
Thanks to his own special ability, Amemiya Kenichi had started collecting strange things. Once he finished analyzing the First Hokage's cells, he could use them to analyze other items.
"This piece of amber is quite interesting," Amemiya Kenichi mused, turning it over in his hand.
Inside the amber was an insect he'd never seen before. He'd even consulted the Aburame Clan, Konoha's insect experts, but they couldn't identify it either.
This piqued Amemiya Kenichi's interest, and he promptly bought it for his collection.
However, his most prized possession was something else entirely.
"I wonder how long these will last," Amemiya Kenichi muttered as he opened the refrigerator, his eyes gleaming at the rows of test tubes inside.
These were samples he had asked his teacher to collect: blood from the toads of Mount Myōboku, blood from Manda of Ryūchi Cave, and secretions from the Slug.
While these samples were important to Amemiya Kenichi, Orochimaru hadn't thought much of them. He had studied them extensively but found nothing of interest, so he readily handed them over.
After receiving them, Amemiya Kenichi pretended to study them for a while before giving up, but he kept the three samples.
He wanted to understand the power of the Sages from the Three Great Sage Lands, but unfortunately, Orochimaru couldn't obtain bodily tissues from the other two Sages besides the Slug Sage.
[Current research progress complete.]
[You have obtained Senju Hashirama's Sage Body Constitution.]