Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Male Leisure Pills
The next day.
At the break of dawn, Master Naruto, just turned 18 minus 76 months, arrived early at Training Ground Three.
He glanced at the other two. They were just as sleepy-eyed as he was, which made Naruto feel a lot better. Teacher Kakashi was quite the troublemaker. Is this what being a ninja is like?
Naruto, who had a premonition that his ninja life wouldn't be very peaceful, spoke up, "Alright, tell me what information you've gathered."
Sakura Haruno, responsible for intelligence gathering, answered first, "I heard Teacher Kakashi is a genius; he became a Jonin at 12."
"A Jonin at 12?" Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, both a little dumbfounded. "He's that strong?" Twelve was barely the age of graduating from the Ninja Academy.
"Anything else?"
"I think he was also called the 'Leaf's Technician.'"
"Technician?" Is it the kind of technician I'm thinking of? Deeply suppressing the urge to retort, Naruto asked again, "Anything else? Say it all at once."
"That's all."
"Just that? What about his strength? His moves?"
"Those are hard to find out."
"Hmm?" Naruto was startled for a moment, then slowly nodded. Indeed. For a ninja, or even a ninja village, a ninja's own information was the greatest secret. If the enemy knew your trump cards, you'd be no threat at all and would be targeted. Unless your strength was so immense that you had no worries. And when the enemy didn't know your information, it could easily lead to a famous scenario, specifically: a first-strike kill. Naruto, with his Flying Thunder God, could easily achieve this.
Noticing Sakura looking dejected, as if intimidated by Kakashi's reputation, Naruto was silent for a moment, then said in a relaxed tone, "What's wrong? Already scared? Never mind that we have to defeat Teacher Kakashi; I even prepared good stuff for you."
"Tch~ who's scared?" Sasuke was the first to object. Even if he were scared, he wouldn't admit to being a coward, let alone when he wasn't.
"What good stuff?" Sakura found the key point.
Naruto took out the four prepared pills, two red and two blue, each about one centimeter in diameter, and distributed them equally. "Here, these are for you."
"Male Leisure Pills? These are only sold 100 per day and are said to be a miracle drug that can bring people back from the brink of death and heal bones, as long as there's still a breath left!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. "Where did you get these, Naruto?"
Naruto didn't answer, just smiled faintly. Would he tell them that the divine doctor, Xiong Fengshan, who arrived in the village half a year ago, was his clone? No! Would he tell them that these pills, produced by Old Xiong's secret formula, were actually just recovery items from the System Shop? No! Would he tell them that an item sold for 1,000 Ryo in the shop was sold for 20,000 Ryo by Old Chinese Doctor Xiong Fengshan's persuasion?
No! Just keep silent and act like a pro.
"My mom wanted to buy two for me as a graduation gift, but she tried for days at Divine Doctor Xiong's place and couldn't get any." Saying this, Sakura suddenly changed her opinion of Naruto dramatically. She looked at Naruto gratefully and thanked him, "Thank you, Naruto."
"Thanks, Naruto." Sasuke also thanked him, his tone quite serious.
"The red ones replenish blood, and the blue ones replenish chakra. Don't mix them up."
"Understood," both replied.
Seeing them carefully handle the Leisure Pills, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. With the Leisure Pills, the team should be well-equipped for this assessment.
As for the effects of the Leisure Pills, they weren't as exaggerated as Sakura described. They could indeed rapidly restore blood/chakra within a short time, and the associated injuries would also recover. But these things also had limitations. The maximum blood replenishment was 10,000 HP, and chakra was the same.
The red Leisure Pills were most effective; it seemed ninjas generally didn't have much HP. Taking this Leisure Pill, even if you were on the verge of death one second, five minutes later, you could be fully revived. It was like: One Leisure Pill enters my belly, my fate is mine, not heaven's! It sounded a bit exaggerated, but the effect was pretty similar.
As for the blue Leisure Pills, they were slightly less impactful, especially for someone like Naruto, whose chakra reserves exceeded ten million; 10,000 chakra was just a drop in the ocean. However, for Sasuke and Sakura, whose HP and chakra were generally below 10,000 as Genin and Chunin, the blue Leisure Pills were indeed a miracle drug.
Such good medicine naturally attracted many covetous eyes, both inside and outside the village. However, Old Xiong's bluffing (genjutsu) ability was top-notch. Moreover, selling this item was a decision he made that went against ancestral traditions. Everyone gave him a little face (genjutsu).
But even so, due to various pressures, branch stores in other villages were set to open by the end of the year. As for the secret formula? There was no secret formula. Still want to interrogate him? Ask if his fists agreed! If all else failed, he would just close the shop. Then other villages would have it, and only your village wouldn't. What would you do then? After all, this thing was like a scorpion's poop—one of a kind!
As for the price? It was just about making a large profit from high volume. With Naruto around, he didn't expect a shortage of wars in the future, nor a shortage of customers.
The Leisure Pills gifted by Naruto opened up the team's conversation. The three chatted while they waited. They waited and waited until 6 o'clock.
"It's been an hour! Why isn't Teacher Kakashi, the King of Lateness, here yet?" After the three became familiar, even Sakura, who usually acted demure in front of Sasuke, couldn't help but complain.
"Maybe he ran into a black cat blocking his path and lost his direction in life."
Sakura said incredulously, "Is there really such an excuse?"
Naruto then activated his full-scale perception. The moment he did, he was startled. Teacher Kakashi's chakra, specially marked, was hidden in a tree not far away, secretly peeking at them. How perverted. Naruto wanted to expose this boring trick on the spot, but...
He glanced at his panel again, a wicked smile spreading across Naruto's face.
"Ow~" he suddenly yelped.
"What's wrong?"
"My stomach hurts, I might have eaten something bad yesterday."
Naruto stood up, clutching his stomach, and ran off into the distance. Only a single sentence drifted back on the wind, "I'm going to the bathroom, wait for me."
Sasuke, Sakura: -_-||
Naruto specifically ran to the bushes beneath Kakashi's tree. Under the voyeur's gaze, Naruto transformed into Kakashi. Although he didn't know what was under the eye patch, nor what face was under the mask, this perfect Transformation Jutsu was so flawless that even Kakashi himself, if he jumped down, would first have to doubt his own existence. Then he would have to admit it, pointing at Naruto and saying: "Yes, this is my twin brother."
"Cough cough."
Naruto coughed twice, changing his voice, and at the same time, narrowed his eyes into a lifeless, dead-fish stare. Feeling it was about right, he whoosh-ed, jumping twice to appear before Sasuke and Sakura.
"Teacher Kakashi, you're too late!" Sakura began to complain as "Kakashi" arrived.
"I ran into a black cat blocking my path on the way here and lost my direction in life. So I was a little late, sorry."
Sakura: Huh? Is that really a reason?
"Tch~" Sasuke also expressed his displeasure.
A bright smile appeared on Naruto's face beneath the mask; these two didn't suspect a thing. This was entirely due to the fact that since he impersonated the Hokage when he was three, Naruto had never done anything like it again. No criminal record, no suspicion.
Naruto wondered what the secretly observing Kakashi was thinking; at this moment, Naruto was very pleased. If Kakashi didn't come out soon, he would continue the act.
"Where's Naruto? Where did he go?" 'Kakashi' asked, feigning concern.
"He ate something bad last night and has diarrhea."
"In that case, we won't wait for him. You two can start the mission first."
"Eh?" Sakura had not expected this; it didn't align with what the three of them had discussed last night. "Teacher, aren't we waiting for Naruto?"
"Do you think you only need to complete one mission today? No, this is a continuous mission. If you can't complete all of them within today, the entire team will be eliminated! Otherwise, why do you think I made you come so early?"
Naruto mimicked Kakashi's tone. Although he hadn't interacted much with Kakashi, neither had Sakura or Sasuke.
"Huh?" both exclaimed.
"Then why are you so late?" Sakura grumbled quietly.
"What did you say?" 'Kakashi' shot a sword-like glare at her.
Sakura immediately stated, "Nothing, Teacher Kakashi, we firmly agree."
"Then hurry up and run! First mission: run 500 laps around the village within 3 hours."
"500 laps?" Sakura felt a bit desperate. Was that a number she could possibly complete?
"Handstand running!" 'Kakashi' emphasized again.
This time, even Sasuke couldn't sit still: "Handstand?"