After reviewing the items related to Gaara, Jokichi took out the two tufts of hair again. The system's prompt sounded in his mind once more.
[Ding! Detected special material "Hair of the Wind", can forge special item "Breath of Wind". Do you wish to forge?]
[Ding! Detected special material "Puppet Threads", can forge special item "Second-Hand Recycling Station". Do you wish to forge?]
"Yes."
Jokichi chanted silently in his mind.
Instantly, three items appeared in his hands.
A large iron fan, about the same size as the one on Temari's back, but forged entirely of an unknown pitch-black metal, gleaming with a metallic luster.
A square, transparent box with an openable top.
"Breath of Wind: An iron fan blessed by the wind. The power of Wind Release used with the help of the iron fan will be greatly enhanced. (Note: The breath of wind brushing past a person's face will leave a scar on their face.)"
"Second-Hand Recycling Station: Just as the name implies, this is a second-hand recycling station. You can exchange unused second-hand items for useful items. (Note: Old refrigerators, old computers, old cellphones, old washing machines, exchanging for basins.)"
Ordinary ninjutsu cannot be used as materials to forge items.
The forging source for the Breath of Wind should be the official title "Strongest Wind Release User" given to Temari, excluding Naruto.
As for its effect, it was hard to test in the dojo. For now, he would consider it a special ninja tool capable of amplifying the power of Wind Release.
And the Second-Hand Recycling Station should be a meme about Kankuro always using puppets discarded by Sasori.
However—
"What can this thing be exchanged for?"
Jokichi was very looking forward to this.
He had many slice-of-life or useless items in his hands. If he could exchange them for items with practical value, even if the value was lower, it would be worth the exchange.
Thinking of this, Jokichi rummaged through the system space and took out Shikamaru's "Elderly Life," a grayish-white heart.
This was an item from the same series as the Kind Heart and Honest Person, capable of changing a person's personality, making them a slacker.
To say this thing was useless wasn't entirely true, but it could only be used for wicked deeds.
Jokichi didn't like doing wicked deeds. Even if it was revenge, he would be direct and straightforward, rather than backstabbing people in secret.
So he prepared to experiment with this thing.
Opening the lid of the Second-Hand Recycling Station, he threw the grayish-white heart in, then closed the lid.
The transparent box lit up with a blinding light, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
The light lasted for three seconds before rapidly disappearing. A porcelain bowl appeared in the transparent box, and a blue-and-white porcelain one at that.
Jokichi took out the porcelain bowl and examined it left and right.
After a long while, he placed the porcelain bowl on the tatami, then grabbed the Second-Hand Recycling Station and threw it straight out the window.
"You really gave me a fucking basin in exchange!"
Jokichi swore loudly in anger.
Although Elderly Life wasn't of much use to him, it at least had the function of changing a person's personality. In terms of rank, it was definitely not low.
But using such a thing only resulted in an ordinary porcelain bowl. What use was this thing?
Even useless items were better off left gathering dust in the warehouse than traded as second-hand goods.
However, when Jokichi calmed down and thought about it carefully, he found that this thing wasn't completely useless.
For example, if there was something he wanted to destroy but couldn't, he could use it to exchange for something with this.
If used purely as a destruction device, it seemed pretty good.
Thinking of this, Jokichi eagerly ran out and picked the box back up.
After he put the box into the system space, there was a knock at the courtyard door.
"Who is it?"
Jokichi looked up at the courtyard door.
"Anbu."
Anbu?
Jokichi frowned slightly, but it quickly smoothed out.
"The door is unlocked, come in yourself."
As the words fell, a dark shadow flashed in front of Jokichi, and an Anbu wearing a bird mask appeared before him.
"Lord Hokage summons you for business."
"Did he say what it's about?"
"No." The Anbu shook his head slightly. "However, Sunagakure's Jonin is also there. It should be related to Sunagakure!"
"Understood." Jokichi nodded. "Then let's go!"
"Mhm!"
...
The Hokage building was only about three kilometers from Jokichi's house. With a ninja's speed, they arrived in a few minutes.
"Go in yourself!"
Arriving at the office door, the Anbu retreated on his own.
Jokichi nodded and pushed the door open to enter.
Inside the office, the Third Hokage sat behind the desk smoking his pipe. In front of the desk stood a Sunagakure ninja wearing an earth-yellow flak jacket, half of his face covered by a hanging cloth.
— Baki.
A Sunagakure Jonin, the captain of the squad consisting of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. His status was equivalent to Kakashi's in Konoha.
He was a powerful person with a long-term vision and an understanding of the big picture.
Seeing Baki, Jokichi instantly understood everything.
It was about beating up Gaara earlier.
Although on the surface he had only kicked Gaara twice and punched him once, he had used full power in every strike.
The injuries Gaara sustained were definitely not light. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought out the Tailed Beast's power.
"This is Sunagakure's Jonin, Baki. He accused you to me, saying you wantonly attempted to murder the Genin who came to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Exams." Hiruzen got straight to the point.
"Jokichi, do you have anything you want to say about this?"
"Huh?" Jokichi looked dumbfounded. "Me, wantonly attempt murder?"
"Don't play dumb." Baki said in a deep voice. "Just an hour ago, my student was attacked by you right after entering Konoha. Now he's still lying in a coma at the inn."
"Is that so?" Hiruzen looked at Jokichi.
"Absolutely not."
Jokichi crossed his arms in front of his chest, denying it resolutely.
Joke, he never had the intention to kill anyone, so how could he admit it?
However, he hadn't expected Sunagakure to complain using this reason.
"My student is still lying in the inn right now. Lord Hokage can send someone to investigate at any time." Baki argued loudly.
"He has a concussion, and his mental state is extremely unstable."
"Hmm?"
Hiruzen looked at Jokichi again.
"I did indeed have a conflict with three Sunagakure Genin earlier, and I gave them a bit of a hard time, but I certainly didn't wantonly attempt murder."
"You did that to Gaara..."
"Enough."
Hiruzen interrupted Baki and said, "Jonin Baki, please go back for now. I will give you an explanation after I investigate this matter clearly."
"I trust Lord Hokage's character, and I imagine Lord Hokage will not disappoint an ally."
Baki deliberately emphasized the word "ally", and after speaking, he stepped back and left.
Only after the sound of footsteps faded did Hiruzen look at Jokichi, asking with deep exasperation, "What exactly did you do to make that Baki test your identity?"
"Identity?"
Jokichi was puzzled.
"For a conflict of this level, that Baki isn't stupid enough to think I would severely punish a ninja of my own village over such a matter. He just wanted to use this incident to test my attitude towards you, thereby seeing clearly your position in the village."