I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 376 Asking elders for money, no matter the reason, is always embarrassing.

"Tatsuma, are you sure you're alright?"

In the living room, watching Tatsuma eat, Nono was still a little worried. When she helped Tatsuma earlier, she could even feel the protruding vertebrae of his spine in her palm.

"It's okay, I just need to replenish some fat, water, and sugar."

Chenma's speech was still somewhat slurred. Although he was eating, his condition did not improve and even worsened because the blood and oxygen in his body had begun to concentrate on supplying oxygen to his digestive system.

Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, Nonou stood up and said, "I'll get you some water right away."

As she spoke, she walked to the kettle, picked it up, and found it was empty. Not only that, the water coming out of the kitchen faucet was also rusty and yellow, making it undrinkable. She didn't know how long it would take for it to become clear again.

"I'll go next door and get it for you."

After Nono finished speaking, she quickly left, and Tatsuma didn't refuse, since he was indeed a bit thirsty.

A short while later, Nonou returned, bringing not only various drinks and water, but also saline solution and glucose solution. She placed them on the coffee table and asked, "Which one would you like to drink?"

Tatsuma glanced at the drinks, then his eyes stopped on the drinks with the highest sugar content. He was holding steamed buns and pastries in his hands, which wasn't a good time to drink. Nono understood and opened the bottle for Tatsuma, even holding it up for him to drink.

As a former surgeon, Tatsuma showed no embarrassment or discomfort, gulping down several large mouthfuls. Tatsuma tilted his head slightly, and Nono, who was also a part-time doctor, raised the bottle opening and then pulled the drink back.

Chenma continued eating his breakfast. With the drink to soothe his throat, he felt much better. After all, his body was so dehydrated that even secreting saliva felt like a luxury to his brain.

To help him digest his food faster, Tatsuma chewed very carefully, and Nonou fed him drinks from time to time. After Tatsuma finished his breakfast, Nonou asked, "Are you full? I'll make you something. Or if you're in a hurry, I can go next door to find some snacks?"

"No need, I'm much better now."

Chenma got up, went to the kitchen where the tap had been running the whole time, washed his hands with the water that had finally cleared up, then turned off the tap, opened the refrigerator, and took out two ice creams.

"Come."

As a thank you, Tatsuma handed one to Nonoo. Seeing Nonoo holding the ice cream but not making any move to open it, Tatsuma explained:

"It's normal to have too low a body fat percentage and insufficient energy reserves."

Seeing that Tatsuma's complexion visibly improved, even his previous despair was replaced by a smile, Nonou finally breathed a sigh of relief. Tatsuma then changed the subject and asked:

"Don't you have to go to work or teach those students?"

"These past few days have been Tsunade-sensei's classes. I've applied for time off from my work at the hospital, and now I'm preparing to reproduce your experiment."

After Nono finished speaking, Tatsuma understood that what was being reproduced was the experiment he proposed to specifically express fluorescent proteins in the epidermal layer of organisms in multiple colors. It couldn't be a room-temperature superconducting material, could it?

"Did you encounter any problems?"

Upon hearing this, Nono's eyes lit up, and she nodded involuntarily, but quickly looked embarrassed and said, "I've read your lab log."

I tried setting up the system using only basic equipment like a centrifuge, electroporator, PCR machine, and electroporator, following the lab log exactly, but I failed several times.

"Was the annealing temperature checked?"

"Yes, I've checked. The data for the intermediate product is very similar to yours, and the error is within the acceptable range. However, the data for the final product does not match your experimental data."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and said, "The intermediate product was left overnight?"

"Yes, but I'm sure it was stored in a -80°C box, and the refrigerator has been checked; there's no problem."

"That explains it. I've never left intermediate products overnight; I always finish them in one go."

Tatsuma stroked his chin, wiping away the ice cream that had accidentally gotten on him, and then said, "This kind of thing is normal. After all, testing methods are limited. Just because we can't detect the changes in intermediate products after they've been left overnight doesn't mean they haven't changed."

Nonou nodded in realization, then asked in confusion, "But the entire experimental process takes more than 20 hours to complete in one go?"

"Um."

Seeing Tatsuma's matter-of-fact expression, Nono was speechless. She finally understood why Tatsuma and Orochimaru's experiments and research were so fast. They were working day and night.

"However, self-built equipment is indeed prone to problems, and there may be other errors that cannot be detected. I suggest upgrading the equipment."

Tatsuma seemed to have thought of something and started talking to himself, while Nonou said with a troubled expression, "But..."

"You're worried about money, aren't you? Orochimaru and I were so broke that we ended up doing experiments out of scrap metal. But you don't need to worry about that now."

Tatsuma got up and walked towards the study. Nono quickly followed. When they arrived at the study, Tatsuma found a lot of documents and placed them on the desk. He said, "These are papers on gene editing and gene transplantation, as well as analyses of their application prospects. Neither Orochimaru nor I have published any of them."

Take these to the director of Biwako and ask for research funding; she will approve it. As for custom equipment, just ask Orochimaru-sama; he'd be happy to help.

Oh, by the way, if you can persuade Dean Biwako to grant Lord Orochimaru renewed access to Konoha Hospital's equipment, I believe he'll give you a very attractive offer.

Nonou nodded blankly. Tatsuma packed the documents into a sealed scroll, handed it to Nonou with an infectious smile, and said:

"Nonou, I'm sorry to have kept you from resting today."

Taking the scroll, Nonou quickly shook her head and said, "No, no delay, I'll go to Konoha Hospital right away."

"I'll take you there."

As he spoke, Tatsuma put his hand on Nonou's shoulder. Before Nonou could say anything, she felt dizzy and then saw the "Dean's Office," a place that always made her tremble.

"I'll leave the rest to you. Our teacher is almost at Konoha Hospital. We can't let her find out I'm here, or I'll have to cover for her all the time."

Tatsuma had an uncontrollable smile on his face, which then disappeared.

"Click~"

The office door opened, and Biwako looked at Nonou standing in front of her door, asking curiously, "Didn't you take leave?"

"Huh?! The Dean?!"

Nonou was startled and stammered, "That was Tatsuma. No, it was me."

Biwako frowned, which made Nonou even more flustered. However, Biwako wasn't angry; in fact, she gleaned some information from Nonou's words and tentatively asked:

"Is the problem with your experiment with Tatsuma?"

Nonou nodded, and Biwako took the scroll from her hand, asking, "Is this for me?"

Nono nodded again, and Biwako turned and walked into her office. She was curious about what Tatsuma would bring her. After breaking the seal, Biwako looked at the documents and her brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Seeing Biwako's appearance, Nonou stood timidly to the side, not daring to make a sound. Biwako didn't open the documents, but only looked at the titles and sorted them. She didn't have time to look at them now, but she would definitely look at them later.

She looked up at Nonou and said, "That kid, he sent you to ask for money, right? Looks like he can be embarrassed sometimes, haha~"

Biwako's mood was beyond Nono's expectations. After all, when it came to funding, or rather, Biwako's attitude towards any action taken by these doctors was always to first oppose, then criticize, and only then offer comfort.

Because what Biwa Lake notices and points out are all mistakes made by the doctors, perhaps just minor errors, but Biwa Lake simply cannot tolerate them.

Including Nonou herself, she was scolded by Biwako many times. The worst was Heji, because she became Biwako's student, and Biwako scolded Heji even more harshly.

On average, out of every three sentences, one is an angry outburst, another is "respect life and value patients," and the third is "do not disrespect medicine."

This wasn't just directed at the hospital's staff; even Lord Orochimaru was severely reprimanded by the head of Biwako Hospital last time, subsequently expelled from Konoha Hospital, and a sign was even hung at the entrance prohibiting him from entering.

However, it seems that Director Biwako never spoke ill of Tatsuma. Recalling Tatsuma's previous work at Konoha Hospital and his visits over the past few years, Director Biwako always seemed to greet him with a smile.

Thinking of this, Nono became a little bolder and raised her head. Dean Biwako was no longer looking at Tatsuma's documents, but at the revenue report.

Biwako closed the report in her hand and said, "Go make a list. I will definitely support things that are beneficial to the entire medical community. Our revenue has been very good in the past two years."

As long as Orochimaru doesn't cause trouble, starting a few more research projects is no problem.

Thinking of Orochimaru, Biwako still couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. That bastard could produce more than the entire Konoha Hospital combined. He could supply the hospital with enough test kits and other consumables for two quarters, but Orochimaru used them all up in less than two weeks.

Upon hearing this, Nono was also very excited. After all, she was used to being nagged when she applied for a box of pens, and she was a little unaccustomed to being treated so generously.

Once she calmed down, Nonou became a little bolder. Remembering Tatsuma's previous instructions, she said, "Dean, Tatsuma said that if we reopen the laboratory to Lord Orochimaru, we should be able to save a lot on procurement costs."

Orochimaru?

Biwako leaned back in her chair with a tactical movement and said decisively, "Konoha Hospital isn't short of funds. We'll cover the full cost of the equipment; no discounts needed!"

(End of this chapter)