Xiong's Carefree Pill

The next day.

At the crack of dawn, Master Naruto, who had just turned 18 minus 76 months, arrived early at Training Ground 3.

He glanced at the other two.

Seeing them groggy-eyed like himself, Naruto felt much better.

Teacher Kakashi was really something else.

Is this what being a ninja is like?

Sensing that his ninja career wouldn't be peaceful, Naruto spoke up, "Alright, tell me, what intel did you get?"

Sakura Haruno, responsible for gathering information, answered first, "I heard Teacher Kakashi is a genius, becoming a Jonin at 12."

A Jonin at 12?

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look, both stunned.

That strong?

At 12, you're barely graduating from the Ninja Academy.

"Anything else?"

"Apparently, he was also rated as a Konoha Technician."

Technician?

Is that the same technician I'm thinking of?

Deeply suppressing the urge to complain, Naruto asked again, "What else? Just say it all at once."

"That's all."

"Just that? What about his strength? His techniques?"

"That's hard to find out."

Hmm?

Naruto was momentarily taken aback, then slowly nodded.

Indeed.

For a ninja, or even a ninja village, information about the ninja themselves is the biggest secret.

If the enemy knows your trump cards, you're no threat at all and will be studied and targeted.

Unless your strength is so overwhelming that you have nothing to fear.

And when the enemy doesn't know your information, it easily leads to famous scenes.

That is, a "first-meet kill."

With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Naruto could easily achieve this.

Seeing Sakura dejected, as if Kakashi's reputation had scared her witless, Naruto was silent for a moment, then said in a relaxed tone, "What? Scared already? Not to mention we have to defeat Teacher Kakashi, I even prepared something good for you two."

"Tch~ Who's scared?"

Sasuke was the first to object. Even if he were scared, he wouldn't admit it, let alone when he wasn't.

"What good stuff?" Sakura caught the important detail.

Naruto took out the prepared pills, two red and two blue, totaling four, each about one centimeter in diameter, and divided them equally between the two.

"Here, for you."

"Xiong's Carefree Pill? These are limited to 100 sold daily, a miracle drug that claims to bring the dead back to life and heal bones as long as there's a breath left!" Sakura exclaimed with surprise and joy.

"Where did you get them, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't answer, a smile playing on his lips.

Would he tell them that the divine doctor Xiong Fengshan who came to the village half a year ago was his clone?

No!

Would he tell them that the pills produced by Xiong's old formula were actually recovery items from the shop?

No!

Would he tell them that an item sold for 1000 Ryo in the shop was resold for 20000 Ryo after the old doctor Xiong Fengshan's smooth talk?

No!

Don't speak, just play the part of a master.

"My mom wanted to buy me two as a graduation gift, but we couldn't get any from Divine Doctor Xiong after trying for several days."

Speaking of which, Sakura's opinion of Naruto changed considerably.

She looked at Naruto gratefully and said, "Thank you, Naruto."

"Thanks, Naruto."

Sasuke thanked him afterward, his tone quite serious.

"Red ones restore health, blue ones replenish chakra. Don't mix them up."

"Mhm, got it." x2

Seeing the two carefully fiddling with the Carefree Pills, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

With the Carefree Pills, the team should be well-equipped to handle this assessment.

As for the effects of the Carefree Pills, they weren't actually as exaggerated as Sakura had described.

They could indeed rapidly restore health/mana in a short period, and also heal accompanying injuries.

But this item had its limitations.

The cap for health restoration was ten thousand HP, and the same for chakra.

The red Carefree Pills had the best effect; it seemed like ninjas generally didn't have much health.

After taking this Carefree Pill, even if you were on the verge of death a second ago, the next second... no, five minutes later, you'd be revived with full health.

It could be said: "One Carefree Pill in my belly, and my fate is mine to command!"

It sounds a bit exaggerated, but the effect was indeed similar.

As for the other blue Carefree Pill, it was a bit lacking, especially for someone like Naruto, whose chakra reserves exceeded ten million. Ten thousand chakra was just a drop in the bucket.

However, for Sasuke and Sakura, who generally had less than ten thousand health and mana, being Chunin and Genin, the blue Carefree Pill was practically a divine medicine.

Such excellent medicinal effects naturally attracted many covetous eyes, both within and outside the village. But Old Xiong's ability to deceive (illusion) was second to none.

Moreover, selling this item was a decision that went against his ancestors. Everyone gave him some face (illusion).

But even so, under pressure from various parties, branches in all the villages had to be opened before the end of the year.

As for the secret formula? There was no secret formula.

Still want to interrogate me? Ask my fists if they agree!

If all else fails, he'd just close the shop. Then all the other villages would have it, but yours wouldn't. See what you'd do then!

After all, this thing was like Scorpion's poop – one of a kind!

As for the price? It was just about high volume and low margins.

With him, Naruto, around, there would be no shortage of wars in the future, nor a shortage of customers.

The Carefree Pills Naruto gifted 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, that king of lateness, here yet?"

After the three became familiar with each other, Sakura, who had always appeared demure in front of Sasuke, couldn't help but complain.

"Maybe he encountered a black cat blocking his path and got lost."

Sakura couldn't believe it: "Is there such a reason?"

After speaking, Naruto activated his comprehensive sensory abilities.

The moment he activated it, he was startled.

Kakashi's chakra, specially marked, was hiding in a nearby tree, secretly peeking at them.

This was too perverted.

Naruto wanted to expose this boring trick face-to-face, but...

He glanced at his panel again, and a wicked smile spread across his lips.

"Ouch~" he suddenly let out a strange cry.

"What's wrong?"

"My stomach hurts. I might have eaten something wrong yesterday."

Naruto stood up, clutching his stomach, and ran off into the distance, leaving only a sentence drifting in the wind, "I'm going to the restroom, wait for me."

Sasuke, Sakura: -_-||

He specifically ran into the bushes beneath Kakashi's tree. Under the gaze of this peeping Tom, Naruto transformed, becoming him.

Although he didn't know what was under the eye patch, nor what face was under the mask, this perfect transformation jutsu would make even Kakashi himself doubt his life if he jumped down.

He would have to admit it and point at Naruto, saying: "That's right, this is my twin brother."

"Ahem."

Naruto coughed twice, changing his voice. At the same time, he narrowed his eyes, adopting a lifeless, dead-fish-eye look.

Feeling it was about right, he zipped past, jumping twice to appear before Sasuke and Sakura.

"Teacher Kakashi, you're so late!"

As soon as the Kakashi impersonator arrived, Sakura began to complain.

"On my way here, I encountered a black cat blocking my path and got lost. That's why I'm a little late, sorry."

Sakura: Huh? Is there really such a reason?

"Tch~" Sasuke also expressed his displeasure.

A brilliant smile spread across Naruto's face beneath his mask. These two actually didn't suspect a thing.

This was entirely thanks to the fact that Naruto hadn't done anything like this since he impersonated the Hokage when he was three years old.

No prior offenses meant no suspicion.

Naruto was feeling quite pleased, wondering what Kakashi, who was secretly observing, must be thinking.

If Kakashi didn't show up soon, he'd just keep up the act.

"Where's Naruto? Where did he go?" 'Kakashi' asked, feigning ignorance.

"He got food poisoning last night and had diarrhea."

"In that case, we'll leave him for now. You two can go ahead and do the mission."

"Huh?"

Sakura Haruno hadn't expected this at all; it didn't align with what the three of them had discussed last night.

"Teacher, aren't we going to wait for Naruto?"

"Do you think today only requires completing one mission? No, this is a consecutive mission. If we can't complete them all within today, the entire team will be eliminated!

Otherwise, why do you think I had you come here so early?"

Naruto mimicked Kakashi's tone. While he hadn't interacted much with Kakashi, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke hadn't either.

"Huh?" ×2

"Then why are you so late?" Sakura Haruno muttered quietly.

"What did you say?" 'Kakashi' shot a dagger-like gaze at her.

Sakura Haruno immediately declared, "Nothing, Teacher Kakashi, we absolutely agree."

"Then get moving! First mission: run 500 laps around the village within 3 hours."

"500 laps?"

Sakura Haruno felt a pang of despair. Was this a number she could actually complete?

"Run while doing a handstand!" 'Kakashi' emphasized.

This time, even Sasuke couldn't stay seated. "A handstand?"

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