Chapter 40: Red Wilderness

  "Mr. Tsuki!" A boy with a spiky brown short hairdo came into the infirmary.

  Because my original appearance was really too inconsistent with my low-key creed, so except for occasionally in the room or when I'm out and about, I would change back. Normally, I would transform into an ordinary-looking black-haired boy of around 10-15 years old to help Mr. Kawahara, who didn't say anything or ask any questions. Indeed a wise person.

  Mr. Tsuki is what the kids in the base call me after I transform, and when I'm in my original form, I don't speak to anyone either, even when I was helping Mr. Kawahara with his medical work at first, so all the other kids think "I" am mute except for Shiro, Kunimaru, and Mr. Kawahara.

  "Kouya Akatsuki, how did you get so many injuries again!" Kouya Akatsuki was a boy around the same age as Shiro, and according to Orochimaru's words, he was also a successor of an ancient bloodline. "A very interesting bloodline, with potential that's not bad at all, and has reuse value!"

  But it's been over a year and several months, and there's no sign of awakening. Because he is relatively thin and short, he is often bullied, and during battles, he is often injured. He is one of the few children I am familiar with, aside from Shirabe Akira and Kuma Natsuki, because he often comes to me for treatment, and each treatment takes quite a long time, so we inevitably chat more than other kids.

  It is said that he was seriously injured several times, and it seemed like all of them were caused by Junmaru.

  Kunmaru seems to be not very friendly towards Akane Kojou, but he doesn't treat other kids like that... seriously. I also asked him why, but his response was quite shocking: "We think he will cause danger to adults!" Was it a white lie? So is this something both of them are involved in?

  "Is it because of the Orochimaru? The kids in the base are probably dissatisfied with us three for not showing enough respect to Orochimaru. But has it reached a level where I'll be threatened?"

  They both shook their heads, and I shrugged my shoulders: "Forget it, just don't make me work harder like last time with a bunch of half-dead things. But I'm not saying you can kill people! Da She Wan has complained to me about you two, or maybe you (I pointed at the guy who dared to turn his head), making him waste almost a month's "harvest". So be more careful when taking action!" After all... living under someone else's roof, it's better to respect the host's opinion, especially since this host doesn't charge rent.

  I patted my head to wake myself up and gave Hong Yexiang a complete and correct disinfection and bandaging, saying: "Still the same old way, why don't you see them looking for you to 'accompany practice' and quickly flash away? Otherwise, just find someone else to practice with earlier!" As for who they are, there's no need to ask in detail, anyway, everyone except himself is suspicious.

  "No way, for the sake of Orochimaru-sama, no matter what kind of predicament I'm in, I'll be able to overcome it. This little thing isn't even a problem! Everything is for the sake of Orochimaru-sama!" Akane Kinnara's dignified appearance left me speechless. Is this really a conversation between two people?!

  The Great Snake Maru's brainwashing was a true success, is this also considered a natural talent?

  Akane Tsunemori's loyalty is similar to that of Kimimaro from "Naruto", both are extremely devoted to Orochimaru. Every time I express disrespect towards Orochimaru, Akane gets very angry and scolds me (the first time we fought, after I knocked him out for a week, it was just scolding).

  He said how much respect the Great Snake Pillar had for me, and how specially he treated me, but I didn't take the Great Snake Pillar seriously at all (actually, I still respected him quite a bit after removing some of his personal quirks). And seeing my lazy and careless appearance, Akane Kōji could only swallow his anger, because he couldn't beat me. The children here in the Great Snake Pillar's place learned earliest that "the weak are prey to the strong" and "only the strong survive".

  Of course, I've been trying not to mention anything about Orochimaru in front of these kids. No matter what I say about him, they all have an opinion, and the infirmary is only this one room, so Akahoshi just has to go along with whatever I do.

  Kurenai Shouga is also a simple kid, I don't dislike him, it's just that Orochimaru can't possibly pay more attention to him. The person Orochimaru loves the most is probably himself! Maybe he doesn't even love himself, what he loves is that unattainable dream of his.

  "No muscle strain, no sprain, no fracture... Not bad, there's progress. Don't get the wound wet for two days, it'll be fine in a week, otherwise it's easy to get inflamed." I said calmly.

  "Yes, thank you, Mr. Yu, goodbye." Akane Koshino bowed politely and bid me farewell.

  I waved my hand casually, except for Akatsuki Nagisa who always comes with a strong urge to brainwash me into being loyal to Orochimaru. To be fair, compared to other kids, he's relatively better, at least he doesn't use physical violence. However, I can sense the dissatisfaction in his eyes towards me, but that's not what I care about. After all, almost all the kids are dissatisfied with my lack of respect for Orochimaru, and Akatsuki is no exception.

  It's exhausting, reading books all the time isn't good for my body. Even though I've been training constantly, it's still better to take a break outside the base. I'll just put up a sign saying I'm going for a walk. Anyway, no one has any opinions, and no one dares to have an opinion.

  I wonder if there's a chance to get into the top ten of the newcomer chart~!

  Even if it's just one day, if this week is not possible, then I will start accumulating articles next week and hope to challenge the target again before 150,000 words.

  That's it!