Chapter 13: The Miracle Store
Sukuna accepted Jiraiya's offer to travel together. He knew it would be much easier to enter the village while accompanying the two renowned shinobi, Well one of them was renowned, the other was infamous.
It took half a day to reach the gates of Konoha where two shinobi were half asleep. One had long, spiky black hair with white bandages around his nose while the other had long hair covering one of his eyes. Both wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit.
Letting Jiraiya and Naruto enter the village first, Sukuna walked over to the two guards looking at the white-haired man and blond teen with wide eyes.
"Huh?! Hey, isn't that...?!
A slight cough turned their attention back to the man standing in front of them.
"Hi there, I'm asking for permission to enter the city."
Sukuna didn't exactly know how Konoha processed immigration but using a little fooling here and there made the process quick and easy.
As Sukuna strolled across the streets of Konoha, a wave of people each wearing similar yet different attires passed by him. Every now and then someone with a peculiar outfit would appear marking them as people Sukuna could easily recognize from the anime.
He took in the sight of the iconic village and basked in the Japanese-styled architecture. He had never been to Japan therefore the style was something he had rarely seen in real life.
The scent of spices and flowers spread across the village. On every corner, a small food shop was busy producing traditional meals, with multiple patches of nature spread around the vicinity.
It was a fascinating mix between human infrastructure and nature. Sukuna enjoyed the mix and looked for a suitable place to open up his shop. He searched for abandoned houses, the state they were in didn't matter. All that mattered was that it didn't belong to anyone.
Using divination to guide him to the perfect spot, Sukuna found himself in front of a three-story tall building. The uppermost floor had caved in due to poor maintenance and the windows and doors were broken down. There were multiple traces of rats and other critters having lived there for quite a while.
"Perfect!" Sukuna clapped his hands, and a wave of power spread from Sukuna. Soon an unnatural breeze blew across the village, the closer it got to Sukuna the stronger the breeze became. Once it reached his position the wind was strong enough to carry the heavy debris from the broken down ceiling. The wind miraculously steered the pieces back to their original place, the broken parts molding back together as if they had never been broken.
In a few seconds, the run-down building returned to its former glory. And yet despite the miracle that happened in front of hundreds of villagers, nobody had noticed it happen.
Having finished renovating his new residence, Dante, or Sukuna as he goes by in the Naruto world, did a little fooling to make the village believe the building had always been his.
The interior had been robbed clean, not even a single shelf or furniture remained but that wasn't a problem to Sukuna. He summoned a variety of luxurious furniture from the void of history decorating the first floor. Two tall shelves stood at each side of the entrance, none had any items displaying yet.
An elegant counter made of white marble appeared on the other side of the room. Behind it was a comfortable black chair for Sukuna to sit in whilst waiting for customers to arrive. Behind the counter was another much larger shelf, in the center of the shelf was a hole with enough space for a door to appear there.
At the left side of the room, a small tree materialized, its branches reaching out for the window. Several unique-looking fruits in various colors decorated with all kinds of patterns bloomed from the branches. Underneath it, a small stream of water flowed around the trunk of the tree.
With a flick of his wrist, thick gray fog oozed out from Sukuna passing and covering the entire inner space of the building. Once the fog receded, the shelves were filled with all kinds of trinkets and items. One of the shelves was filled with books and novels, Sukuna had read in the past.
Another displayed different weapons including Enma, Shusui, Murakumogiri, Hassaikai, and much more.
At the counter laid a small booklet titled: Miracle Shop's Brochure!
It was a booklet containing the various items one could acquire from the Miracle Store as well as services one could pay for. Sukuna used his fooling ability one more time to make the Miracle Store part of Konoha's history. From now on each resident knew, that when the impossible needed to be accomplished, the Miracle Store had the right solution!
...
Sukuna sat on top of his chair behind the counter, his mind had left his puppet and returned back to Sefirah Castle.
'Hmm... It's kinda boring to just sit there and wait for something to happen...' He used the Sefirah Castle's ability to gaze upon the surroundings of his marionette. The range encompassed the entirety of Konoha and allowed him to keep an eye on important plot points.
One such as the one currently developing. Mathis' gaze landed upon the Hokage office where Tsunade had called for Team 7. Sukuna managed to hear the most important part of the conversation.
"The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand has been taken by members of the organization called Akatsuki." The mood dropped considerably as Naruto remembered his Jinchuriki peers and his encounter with Itachi in the past.
Sukuna barely listened to the rest knowing what was to come. Tsunade assigned Team 7 to retrieve the Kazekage. However, unlike in the canon story, Kakashi added to the conversation.
"We should ask Sukuna for assistance, the Akatsuki are a dangerous group. He might have a few items to make the mission safer, besides there is the possibility that Gaara is gravely wounded and should get one of his miracle cures just to be safe." Tsunade agreed with the elite jonin and commanded Team 7 to make preparations to leave as soon as possible.
Sukuna returned his mind back to his marionette waiting patiently for the arrival of Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. He only had to wait for half an hour before the trio entered through his door. A pleasant clinging of metal tubes hitting each other marked their presence.
"Welcome to my humble shop. What can I help you with this time?" The smile never left Sukuna's face while motioning to all the different items his store had to offer.
Kakashi glanced at the famous store owner, a flicker of suspicion passing through his exposed eye.
"Something tells me you already know."
Sukuna chuckled not answering Kakashi's accusations. Instead, he pulled out a stack of paper figurines from underneath the counter. He removed two of them and placed them gently in front of him before putting the rest back in their place.
"Take these in case one of you gets injured. I trust you remember how to use them?"
Seeing Kakashi nod, Sukuna turned around looking through the wide shelf behind him.
"Where did I put it?... Hmm... Oh right!" Sukuna took a couple of steps to the right where a small vial containing a bubbling green liquid inside was stored.
Sukuna put it on the counter next to the figurines.
"I'd recommend these little things. Anything you want besides them?" He looked over the three customers who were staring at the green vial.
"Aren't you going to explain what that is?" Naruto was baffled at the strange shopkeeper, whenever he went there, Sukuna would give them items without explaining their effects.
Sukuna shook his head, a mocking smirk plastered on his face.
"Ah, the youngsters these days... Can't figure things out for themselves... Where is society heading to..."
A visible tick mark decorated Naruto's seething face as he tried and failed to pounce on the shopkeeper hitting his face against the counter instead. He looked down and saw that one of the planks had sprung up and trapped his foot underneath it.
Sukuna chuckled before expressing his heartfelt apologies.
"Looks like the shop needs some renovation done, huh..."
Naruto alternated before glaring at Sukuna and looking confusedly at the ground. He couldn't understand how that small wooden plank was able to keep him from jumping up.
Sukuna lifted the green vile and started explaining.
"This thing here is called 'Green Blood'. Inject it into your bloodstream and you'll gain temporary immunity to any kind of poison as well as a significant boost in physical abilities. Keep in mind though that your fragile bodies are not meant to wield such power and you'll be out for at least a day after the effects wear off."
Kakashi nodded and stashed the items away. Although before leaving he had one last important item he needed to inquire about.
"*cough* About that certain book... Did you manage to get the sequel?"
"Oh you mean part 2 of Keijo!!!!!!? I'll have it ready once you return don't worry!" Both the shopkeeper and Kakashi exchanged a thumbs up before Team 7 left for their mission.