Honestly, your house is a bit too big."
After glancing around the room Ruri was in, Shiraishi sat down without any reservations.
"It is a bit big, but it's a little lonely every day."
"That's true. Oh, are your parents not home? Should I go say hello?"
Ruri shook her head and said, "No need. They're rarely in the village. Since they don't have the talent to be ninjas, they can only travel as merchants and run small businesses. They only send back a little money each month."
Shiraishi's eyelid twitched.
Small businesses?
He really wanted to ask if Ruri had some misunderstanding about what a small business was.
"By the way, why are you here? Although I have a private training ground at home, it's too flashy and doesn't fit your mysterious style."
Yesterday, Shiraishi had told her he was coming over for something important.
"I want to conduct an experiment here. Do you have any hidden, sturdy, empty rooms?"
An experiment? Ruri frowned, not quite understanding Shiraishi's intention.
Given Shiraishi's skill level, Ruri didn't think he would need much space for his endeavors.
The research funds and living expenses she usually gave him were just a casual allocation, a sound to be heard, without any expectation of repayment.
She had no concept of money since she was little.
"Because I think the commotion will be a bit big, and it's somewhat dangerous. My lab is too small."
Hearing Shiraishi's explanation, Ruri didn't press further. She led Shiraishi through a corridor and into an empty room.
Then, she opened a wooden board in the room, revealing a secret passage leading underground.
Both sides of the passage were electrified, with lights illuminating the way.
At the bottom of the passage was an underground space of about fifty square meters, with hard stone slabs protecting the surroundings and the ground, easily capable of withstanding ninja jutsu impacts.
"Is this okay? If not, there's a slightly larger one next to it, double the size of this one."
"It's enough, even better than I imagined."
Shiraishi was very satisfied with the enclosed space, even exceeding his expectations.
"I'll go up now. Call me if you need anything."
Ruri went up alone.
Shiraishi took out a sealing scroll, spread it on the ground, formed hand seals, and with a bang, white smoke burst from the scroll.
Along with the white smoke, a large amount of research equipment also appeared.
However, these research instruments were all of the smaller type, capable of being stored in a scroll.
Speaking of which, this ninja art of sealing things in scrolls for easy portability was taught to him by Ruri.
After neatly arranging the various research instruments here, Shiraishi began this experiment.
And this experiment was different from usual, accompanied by great danger.
If the experiment succeeded, the rewards would undoubtedly be immensely rich.
◎
Around evening, as the sun set, Shiraishi still hadn't emerged from the basement.
Ruri, in her room, finished her afternoon chakra refinement, had her maid prepare dinner, and seeing that Shiraishi had no intention of coming out, she ate alone first.
After eating, Shiraishi still hadn't come out of the basement.
Ruri still ignored him.
Until the middle of the night, while Ruri was having a good dream, the ground suddenly shook.
Ruri's body also trembled slightly. With her keen senses, she immediately sat up from her futon and scanned her surroundings.
An earthquake?
No, Ruri instantly denied it.
The epicenter was very close to her, and the vibration was likely caused by an explosion of some object.
Although it wasn't very obvious, she felt it.
Thinking of something, Ruri didn't have time to put on her coat. Dressed in black tight-fitting underwear, she slid open the wooden door and quickly walked towards a room down another corridor.
Her destination was the basement of that room.
When Ruri arrived downstairs, she saw a chaotic basement with a huge crater in the middle.
Even the hard floor, which could withstand the impact of ninjutsu, had such a crater blown into it. A strange look appeared in Ruri's eyes.
Then she saw Shiraishi, covered in dust and dirt, seemingly stunned by the explosion, standing to the side.
Inside the explosion crater, there was an extremely strong chakra... or rather, a slightly different feeling, but in any case, a very intense aura lingered there, giving Ruri a sense of oppressive power, like suddenly encountering a fierce beast pouncing.
Besides that, there were only some completely destroyed research instruments, all unusable and utterly ruined.
"Why are you here?"
Shiraishi snapped out of it and asked a very foolish question.
Ruri didn't mind these things, nor did she get angry about Shiraishi making such a mess of her basement.
What she cared about was what experiment Shiraishi was conducting that could blow up the ninjutsu-proof floor like this.
"What experiment are you doing?"
"Drawing in natural energy…"
Shiraishi didn't hide it and answered honestly.
"Sage Art?"
Ruri looked at Shiraishi in surprise.
"Yes, these are the hypotheses and steps of the experiment, but now I can also write down the conclusion."
Shiraishi pulled out his notebook from his ninja tool pouch.
Ruri took it and opened it.
Although she recognized every word, there were too many professional terms that sounded impressive but were incomprehensible, so she couldn't understand what Shiraishi was writing at all.
"The experiment failed?"
Seeing the explosion here, Ruri thought Shiraishi's experiment had failed.
"Well, you could say it failed, or you could say it succeeded. I successfully drew out natural energy and fused it with ordinary chakra, but I don't know the ratio for their pairing, or if other things are needed to promote the fusion. That's what caused this experimental accident. After the natural energy and chakra went out of control, they were even more violent than I expected…"
Shiraishi picked up a corner of a damaged research instrument and stood there deep in thought.
Ruri nodded in agreement.
Ordinary chakra, without being channeled through a jutsu, wouldn't have this level of destructive power.
"What do you need next?"
Ruri, who had never shown much interest in Shiraishi's research, for the first time had the idea of supporting him.
"Money, a lot of money! And a much sturdier space!"
Shiraishi didn't hold back.
In his opinion, Ruri providing funds and a place, and he being responsible for the research, with both of them enjoying the final research results, was fair.
◎
Following Ruri to the room upstairs.
"Live here?"
Shiraishi was a little surprised by Ruri's sudden proposal.
"That's right, running back and forth is too cumbersome. Otherwise, you'd only be able to come on Sundays, and the time spent on natural energy research would be too little, making progress slow."
"Won't that arouse suspicion?"
Shiraishi was worried about this.
"Not all the maids in my house are from the Uchiha clan. I can just formally hire you to work at my house with an employment contract. Besides, who would focus their energy on a ninja academy student? Do you think the Hokage's direct ANBU would handle such trivial matters? Even if there were an investigation, it would be the job of our Uchiha Police Force."
Shiraishi thought there was some truth to this.
After all, the natural energy experiment indeed couldn't be conducted at his home.
His previous experiments were actually very legitimate and not dangerous. Even if accidentally discovered, he could talk his way out of it.
But the natural energy experiment was different.
The things involved here were top secret and had to be kept confidential.
If Ruri hired him with an employment contract to work at her house, it was indeed a good way to cover things up.
The Hokage's direct ANBU wouldn't be idle enough to monitor a ninja academy student, and Shiraishi hadn't shown any hostility towards the village.
He was a genuine successor to the Will of Fire.
Even if something was noticed, it would be the Police Force's job, and Ruri was a genius of the Uchiha clan, so she had backing.
Most importantly, he was very poor.
There was no such thing as child protection laws in Konoha. When Shiraishi was six, he was kicked out of the orphanage to live on his own. It was perfectly reasonable for underage children to work for a living!
Ruri hiring him with an employment contract was also a form of help between friends.
After all, he and Ruri were almost inseparable in their daily lives, and in many people's eyes, they were a very good pair of friends.
Mutual help between friends was normal.
This way, he would have enough time to conduct the natural energy experiment and keep it secret enough.
"Speaking of which, how did you manage to draw out natural energy?"
Ruri asked the question she cared about most.
The Sage Art data she had given Shiraishi before was just superficial information about Sage Art.
Ruri was very curious about how Shiraishi managed to draw out natural energy.
"Didn't you read my previous notes? It's actually quite simple. I don't know how the First Hokage drew out natural energy. I drew it from the root of chakra, using the chakra root system as bait."
"…"
"And speaking of the specific source of chakra, it's actually related to our daily state and diet. Physical strength is inseparable from food intake, supplementing carbohydrates, proteins, fats, glucose, etc. And spiritual energy is not just related to the soul; emotions can also influence a person's mental state, that is, their condition. Physical and spiritual strength ultimately originate from these, reacting with the human body in a chemical-like way, and after fusion and extraction, it becomes chakra. Of course, this also involves a more complex human self-processing system. Different people's physical qualities will have differences, which leads to… uh, did you understand?"
"…"