Aokawa unfolded the paper Taji had slipped him.
Big bold letters screamed at him.
MEDICAL EXPENSE ITEMIZED BILL
Below it, a polite handwritten note: Please settle the balance before your next check-up.
Because ninjas had a high mortality rate and often operated solo, hospitals in Konoha operated on a "treat first, bill later" policy. It gave broke Genin time to scrape together funds. Defaulting was rare; if you didn't pay, the medics might just let you bleed out next time.
Aokawa scanned the list.
Surgery Fee. Anesthesia. Sterilization. Medical Ninjutsu Chakra Usage Fee...
The list was dizzying. His eyes shot to the total at the bottom.
Total: 80,000 Ryo.
"Gah—?!"
Aokawa's eyes bulged. He looked like he'd seen a Bijuu.
He had risked his life, killed three men, and nearly died, only to loot about 50,000 Ryo from their corpses.
One hospital visit wiped out his entire savings and put him 30,000 Ryo in debt.
The world spun. He felt dizzy.
His grandmother, seeing him sway, pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.
"Little Aokawa? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No... I'm fine, Grandma. Just... financial vertigo." Aokawa waved his hand weakly.
"You look pale. Let's go back and ask the doctor." She tried to pull him back toward the hospital entrance.
Aokawa planted his feet.
"No! Grandma, let's go home. I'm hungry. If we go back in there, they'll charge us for the air conditioning."
Hearing he was hungry, she relented, beaming again.
"Okay, okay. Look at you, you've lost weight. Grandma will make a feast."
Back home, his grandmother banished him from the kitchen, insisting he rest while she cooked up a storm.
Feeling helpless but free, Aokawa sat in his room and decided to sort through his new assets.
He closed his eyes, sinking into the Sea of Consciousness.
[You defeated the strong with the weak. You used wisdom to conquer brute force. You punished evil.]
[Reward: Energy Crystals x 320]
[Skill Scroll: Water Style: Water Wall (Proficient)]
[Skill XP: Throwing Techniques +1]
[Skill Upgraded: Ninja Tool Throwing (Master)]
[Skill Upgraded: Kunai Combat (Master)]
He opened his status panel.
[Status Window]
Race Imprint: Quincy (Common)Fusion Rate: 20.02% [+]Energy Crystals: 320
A huge haul.
He gained a defensive B-Rank jutsu (Water Wall) and a massive stack of crystals.
He didn't hesitate. He dumped all 320 crystals into the fusion rate.
[Fusion Rate: 36.02%]
(Ratio confirmed: 20 Crystals = 1% Fusion).
The sensation was immediate. It wasn't just "learning" new skills; it felt like remembering them. The connection to his own internal energy sharpened. It felt like muscle memory returning after a long atrophy.
It's like recovering from a debuff.
Quincies were beings of absolute energy control. As he became "more Quincy," his ability to manipulate chakra became finer, more precise.
Excited, he ran to the backyard near the water basin.
He formed the hand seals for Water Wall.
Tiger -> Serpent -> Tiger.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
Water erupted from the basin, spinning into a circular barrier around him.
It worked!
He had never used ninjutsu in either life. The thrill was electric. He did it again. And again.
But as he repeated the process, controlling the height of the wall to knee-level to save chakra, he noticed something.
The seals... they feel redundant.
He could feel the chakra moving inside him before his hands even formed the shape.
Hand seals were tools invented by Indra Otsutsuki to help normal humans guide chakra. Indra himself didn't need them. True mastery meant bypassing the manual input.
If my Quincy control is high enough, can I skip the seals?
He tried it.
Water Wall required four internal stages: Guide, Generate, Pressurize, Release.
He focused, using his mind to force the chakra along the pathways without moving his hands.
Water rose from the basin... wobbled... and collapsed.
"The logic holds, but the control isn't there yet."
It was too slow. In combat, a slow wall is a useless wall.
He realized why Jonin still used seals. It wasn't that they couldn't do it without them; it was that seals were shortcuts. They were macros that executed complex commands instantly.
But maybe I can compromise.
He spent the afternoon experimenting.
He couldn't skip seals entirely for B-Rank jutsu like Water Wall. But for C-Rank?
He tried Water Clone Jutsu.
Standard: 3 seals.
One-Handed: ?
He formed the Tiger seal with just his right hand.
Focus.
Water rose up, molding into a shape. It was slower than using two hands, but it worked.
A grin spread across his face.
One-Handed Seals.
It wasn't instant, but it freed up his other hand.
Imagine the enemy's face when he's locked in a blade clash with Aokawa's right hand, only to see Aokawa's left hand forming a seal for a water clone behind his back.
That's dirty. I love it.