Chapter 90
"It looks like we got ourselves an unexpected bonus," Zixu remarked, pointing at the box in front of his clone. He glanced at his current attire and smirked, realizing that his journey was about to get even more interesting.
"Don't even start. I'm exhausted," the clone groaned. After greeting Zixu, he dragged himself to a chair and collapsed onto it. He had no desire to go through that hell again.
"Good execution. I honestly thought we'd never get this close to Konoha," Zixu said as he opened the box, rifling through the books inside.
"Medical books? A whole lot of them, too..." He paused, connecting the dots. "Let me guess—Tsunade's medical skills are top-tier, and Konoha's medical knowledge is leagues ahead. Looks like you had quite the fortuitous encounter."
Zixu pieced it together from Sarutobi's memories, and sure enough, he was right. He glanced at his clone, who had already dozed off. A satisfied smile crossed his face as he nodded in approval.
His clone had grown. Finally, he was pulling his weight, and for the first time, Zixu felt the pride of an old father watching his kid become useful.
"It's about time I figure out how to remove the Silent Clone from the equation," he muttered to himself. "Maybe that technique the system mentioned—the one that allows Devil Fruits to coexist—has nothing to do with cloning at all. Devil Fruit abilities repel each other by nature, so putting them together just isn't feasible..."
He had pressed the system for answers before, but all it did was play mind games, refusing to give him a straight answer. If he wanted real progress, he'd have to crack the mystery on his own. But one thing was certain—he needed to get rid of the Silent Clone. Its frail body was a liability, especially in combat situations.
"Karin! Karin, get over here!" Zixu called out, his gaze shifting to where she was practicing chakra control in the distance.
"Rest up first," he said, patting his clone, who was basking under the sun. "I'll handle removing the clone once you've recovered. Consider it a reward for not slacking off."
The clone flinched at those words, his expression twitching. If Zixu found out that he not only slacked off but also lost all his money gambling, would he still be so forgiving?