Kaida's days of torture began. For the next 15 days, his body was subjected to a grueling routine: each new organ within him was cut, maimed, and burned, forcing him to heal while enduring immense pain.
This was a level of pain he'd never experienced before. The normal pain of cuts or even broken bones was manageable, but the pain of internal organ damage was something entirely different. His brain wasn't prepared to process it all at once, especially when they reached his heart. Kaida nearly died from a heart attack, and Mitsuru had to leave everything to help him survive. She even suggested skipping the heart and focusing on other parts.
However, Kaida knew that would leave a weakness. He was determined to give it one more try, unlike Chinese novel protagonists who recklessly endanger their lives for a little extra power. His life wasn't technically in danger, so he decided to push through.
With his body now accustomed to the procedure, he was able to endure the second round of heart torture and complete it successfully.
One unexpected benefit of this suffering was an increase in his pain tolerance. In previous fights, Kaida always had the upper hand, so he'd never had to suffer major injuries. This meant he'd never had to fight while in pain. But he knew that wouldn't always be the case, so having high pain tolerance would allow him to think clearly in dire situations.
With this unexpected gain, Kaida's days of torture ended on the last day of the month, marking the completion of his training for this jutsu.
"Finally, it's complete. You're a monster brat. I took 3 months to complete this, even with Lady Tsunade's help," Mitsuru said.
"Then maybe you're better than Lady Tsunade," Kaida replied weakly. No matter how many times the procedure happened, he always felt a mental fatigue afterward.
"I wish," Mitsuru said. "I really think the village should forcefully add Uchiha to the medical division. Having a Sharingan and not using it for medical jutsu should be a crime."
Kaida had used his Sharingan throughout the process. The result was not only his record-breaking healing time but also the precise amount of chakra used to heal each injury. This would be beneficial when using the Mitotic Regeneration jutsu, as there would be no wasted chakra during the healing process.
"Sensei, when will we start the next part?" Kaida asked. Now that the most painful part was over, he was eager to complete the jutsu as soon as possible.
"I'll ask the grandmaster when they're free and schedule an appointment. You can rest at your home until then," Mitsuru said.
"Okay, Sensei," Kaida said, standing up. Before going home, he suddenly bowed to Mitsuru.
"Thank you for helping me so much, Sensei," he said. There was no need for Mitsuru to do this much. Even though she had said she would reward him with a jutsu, what Kaida asked was a bit excessive. It was like asking for an S-rank jutsu for a simple reward.
But Mitsuru didn't back down from her word and actually helped him. Kaida was truly thankful for that.
Seeing Kaida suddenly bowing and thanking her, Mitsuru just smiled and waved her hand, dismissing him.
...
Kaida returned home, but he was alone. Hae was at the bathhouse with Shisui because a big noble from the Fire Capital was visiting today. Yomi had taken Naruto out for ramen. He knew all this because they had left a note in the dining room along with some food.
'I also want to eat some ramen,' Kaida thought and headed to Ichiraku Ramen.
...
"I also want a regular bowl, Ayame," Kaida said, sitting next to Naruto, who was already on his second bowl of ramen. Yomi was also eating her second.
"Both of you are going to get fat if you eat this much," he said. Ayame just chuckled and went inside while Yomi and Naruto looked to the side and continued eating.
"So is it finally over?" Yomi finally started speaking when her bowl was empty.
"Yes, now we only need some help, and I'll finally learn my first S-rank jutsu," Kaida said.
"That's great," Yomi said with a smile.
"Why did you decide to come here all of a sudden then?" Kaida asked as their bowls arrived.
"My Sensei sent a message that we're leaving for a month for border training. I won't be able to eat such things for 1 month," Yomi said, diving into her third bowl.
"So you're going to leave?" Kaida said slowly, then started eating his bowl too.
Naruto had been focusing on his ramen bowl all this time. There was nothing he could add to their conversation, so he just decided to focus on his food.
"Yeah," Yomi said.
"When are you going to go?" Kaida asked.
"A day after tomorrow. It's so sudden, right?" Yomi asked.
"Let's go out tomorrow. I wanted to try something out," Kaida asked Yomi for a date in a very simple and indirect way.
"Oh! Are you asking me for a date?" Yomi asked, not wanting to lose this opportunity.
"Initially, I wasn't, but it's a nice idea. Yomi, do you want to go on a date with me?" Kaida asked, making eye contact with Yomi. Normally, Yomi might have blushed at this point, but she had kind of gone numb to these types of Kaida's antics due to living with him for so long.
"Maybe. I'll tell you after thinking," Yomi said and went back to eating her ramen, but Kaida could see a small amount of blush on her cheek along with a small smile.
"Then I'll be waiting for your reply," Kaida said, and he also focused on his food.
...
Kaida luckily got a message from Mitsuru that they would be completing the jutsu after 3 days. He actually forgot about this when he asked Yomi for the date. It would have been embarrassing to fix a date and then have to say he was busy.
Now, with no surprise, Yomi graciously agreed to go on a date with Kaida the next day. They did some shopping, went on an eating spree, and then went to a park to relax.
"When are you going to come back?" Kaida asked at the end.
"I don't know. Sensei said that we will stay there until the new part of the sensor is replaced. We may have to stay there for a full month before we come back, or we may come back in one week," Yomi said.
"Is the management so bad? How the hell don't they even know when the replacement will come?" Kaida asked frustratingly.
"Oh! Are you already missing me?" Yomi teased Kaida a little.
"Yeah, but that's not the reason I'm saying that. This just shows how mismanaged the whole situation of those outposts is. They're not actually safe at all," Kaida replied.
"There will be 50 plus ninja guarding that outpost along with 5 Jonin. If that outpost is not safe, no place in Fire Country other than Konoha is safe," Yomi said, trying to calm Kaida down.
"Yeah, I'm just being immature," Kaida added.
"And I like that," Yomi said, giving Kaida a shoulder bump.
And that's how their small date came to an end.