"A dwarf?" Ryu muttered.
The dwarf heard Ryu call him dwarf, and angry, bulging veins could be seen on his forehead.
"Who are you calling a dwarf? I am taller than you, brat. Call me a dwarf again, and I will break your legs." The dwarf shouted at the top of his lungs.
The person sleeping in the wooden cart opened his eye and said, "Don't argue with them, brother. Let's be on our way."
Ryu got down from Tsunade's back and examined the duo more carefully.
Ryu thought, 'They both have larger-than-normal chakra for a civilian. One is a dwarf, and the other looks more sick than I was at death's door. The hardship that they had faced in their lives must have made their wills and chakra so strong.'
"Tch," the dwarf said, but he follows the instructions of this person in the pushing cart. Clearly, the one in the cart was the one making the decisions for them.
Ryu then stopped them from leaving and said, "Hey, if you don't want me to call you a dwarf, then what should I call you?"
He added, "When I looked at you, 'dwarf' was the word that came to mind."
The dwarf said in annoyance, "My brother, Jiyuu, saved you. Do not throw your life away, brat. Beat it before I beat it into you. You are already pretty beaten up. I guess that nasty mouth of yours is the reason you are in this situation. The young ladies in the back would not be able to save you if you do not keep your mouth shut."
Ryu replied, "You are not wrong about why I was beaten. And the lady behind me is the one who beat me because I ran my mouth."
Tsunade's eye twitched. She thought, "If you know that, then why run your mouth?"
Ryu continued, "But you are wrong about one thing."
Both Tsunade's and Dwarf's attention was caught.
Ryu continued, "The lady behind me, the big one, she is not a young lady; she is half a century old."
"Ouch!!" Ryu said in pain. Tsunade had hit him in the head.
He asked, "Why did you do that, Aunty Tsunade?"
Tsunade said in annoyance, "Don't go telling random people my age."
Ryu tried to justify himself and said, "But it's true, and everyone who knows you already knows."
"Ouch!!" Ryu said when Tsunade hit him again.
"A century old. You must be joking. She does not look a day past 30." The dwarf said, looking at Tsunade.
"Ouch!" the dwarf said when Tsunade hit him in the head too.
The dwarf asked, "What did I do?"
Ryu replied, "Just like her, you were also angry when I called you a dwarf. Truth can be hurtful sometimes. Things that one is uncomfortable with sometimes, even if it's the truth, like appearance or age, can be a sensitive topic."
"So it's true." The dwarf said when Tsunade confirmed her age. "But how is this possible?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes, not wanting to engage any further in this conversation. But she wondered why Ryu stopped here to have a talk with two strangers more strange than any stranger.
Ryu replied, "Ninjutsu. That's what makes the impossible possible."
Ryu then approached the person in the cart and said, "There is something wrong with this person."
The dwarf warned, "Hey, stay away from him."
Ryu looked at the dwarf and realised that these two share a strong bond. He looked at the weak and fragile person in the cart and said, "A year ago, I was just as you are now. I did not have mobility, unlike you, but I was otherwise in a similar condition as you. Too weak and feeble.
You can trust me. Can I take a look at your hand if you don't mind?"
The person in the cart was surprised by the sudden interest of Ryu in him.
Ryu assured him, "Do not worry. I will be very gentle. I may not look like it, but I am a medical apprentice under training."
The person became somewhat trusting when he heard that Ryu was a medical apprentice.
But the dwarf was not convinced. He said, "A medical assistant, a kid like you, who is even shorter than a dwarf. Do not try to fool us."
He looked at his partner and said, "Don't trust this kid."
Ryu answered, "Age can be deceiving. The one in the back is a legendary medical ninja called a legendary sannin. I could also be another 50-year-old expert."
Ryu said, "Ouch, stop hitting me, Aunty Tsunade."
Tsunade looked at the sick person in the cart and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Ryu rubbed the bump on his head and replied, "He has a medical condition. I want to examine him. Just to make sure I have diagnosed his condition right. If I am right, then maybe I can help him."
Jiyuu relaxed when he heard that the person with the foul mouth is actually trying to help them. He said, "Okay, but please be careful."
"Do not worry," Ryu assured as he examined his hand meticulously. Upon observing all the signs, he confirmed the medical condition afflicting this person.
He turned to Tsunade and said, "Brittle bone syndrome.'
Tsunade looked at Jiyuu and said, "Just as I thought. It's a very rare condition. The last time I saw a case was 20 years ago. The child that was seen with this condition was a newborn, and he died within a few months."
Jiyuu and the dwarf were scared when they heard what Tsunade said about the other similar case of brittle bone syndrome.
Ryu said, "Mr. Glass is so fragile that he cannot stand without breaking his bones. But he survived this long. I guess this person's will to survive is not as brittle as his bones."
#Pow#
The dwarf gave Ryu a direct punch in the face and shouted in anger, "Don't make fun of him; you don't know how much he has suffered."
Ryu got up from the ground, wiped his blood from his mouth, and said, "Yes, you are right, dwarf-san. I don't know. I can only guess about his hardships."
Hearing him call him a dwarf again and again angered him. He tried to punch Ryu again, but Ryu redirected his punch with his hand.
Just then, the dwarf froze in shock like he was a statue.
Ryu asked, "You don't like it if other people call you a dwarf? Are you not a dwarf?"
The dwarf asked, "What have you done to me? Why can't I move?"
Tsunade asked, "He did it again. He used blood to put a cursed seal on him."
Ryu dusted his clothes and said, "Relax. It's just a fuinjutsu cursed seal to stop enemy movements. I will release you in a minute."
Seeing his brother in this complicated situation, Jiyuu requested Ryu, "Please don't hurt him. He has already endured enough suffering."
The dwarf shouted, "Don't beg him for my sake, brother."
He looked at Ryu and said, "You don't know how to talk to people. You don't consider how other people feel when talking to them. I hate rich kids from noble Ninja clans who think people like us are insects and we should just bow down our heads around them."
Ryu said, "Don't worry; I had no intention to hurt him or you. I actually cannot hurt you two, even if I want to. Use of ninjutsu to hurt civilians is a crime.
Ryu snapped his fingers, freeing the dwarf from the cursed seal.
Ryu looked at the dwarf and said, "Well, I hate kids from Nobel Ninja clans too. That is two things in common between us. Other than our height."
Jiyuu tried to intervene and said, "Yasashii, please be calm. He is not trying to provoke you. There is no disdain in his voice."
Ryu smiled and said, "Your partner at least had a good head on his shoulders. He is quick to assess the situation. I am sure you are too, but your anger against this world is clouding your judgement and holding you back."
This was the first time someone said anything good about him. All his life, all he heard was ridicule of others. His own family discarded him once he was of a certain age. He was all alone until he found his sworn brother in a dumpster while scraping for food. Life was tough for both of them. They could not even work as a minimal wage labourer. They bonded over their disability and became inseparable.
Yasashii, the dwarf, asked, "Are you telling me you are not from a noble ninja clan?"
Ryu replied, "I was an orphan who was adopted a year ago."
"But I saw you call her aunty," Yasashii said.
Ryu replied, "Well, I just found out today that she is my aunt. But believe me, I met her just yesterday."
Ryu continued, "If you weren't upset about being called a dwarf, you might have noticed that I genuinely want to help your friend."
##PoWeR StOnEs##
Thank you, Victoria Torres, for supporting me on Patreon.
If possible, please support me on Patreon and leave a review here. A review would mean a lot to me and help me expand the story.
25+ more chapters, including 5 free chapters for everyone, are available to read on patreon. com/PageTurnerPJ.
Your support is what gets this story going, so please donate PoWeR StOnEs to the story and add it to your library.
Please keep supporting the story.