This Is Clearly a Miracle Pill

"Did you obtain the formula for the forbidden drugs from Orochimaru?"

Kiyohara asked.

If there were forbidden drugs available, they could indeed rapidly enhance one's strength.

The Akimichi Clan were experts in this field, though they didn't call them forbidden drugs, but rather legally produced secret medicines.

For example, the Three-Colored Pills: the green pill could increase a person's physical strength by one-third, while the yellow pill could fully unleash the user's potential.

The final red pill was rumored to be able to stimulate a hundredfold increase in potential.

Of course, Kiyohara felt that was an exaggeration; if they were truly that powerful, the Akimichi Clan would have long since become the number one clan in the ninja world.

However, being able to carry such a title already showed the extraordinary nature of their clan's secret medicines.

Kiyohara was curious: what kind of effects would the forbidden drugs known to the rogue ninja Kiyohara have?

"I obtained some."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.

"But most of them cause great harm to the human body."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara sighed with a hint of melancholy as he said this.

Although they brought power far greater than that of an average jonin, he had needed to take medicine for the rest of his life to mitigate the side effects; the reason he had stepped on an explosive tag was precisely because he had suffered a flare-up at that moment.

"Then tell me about the ones without harm."

Kiyohara said.

"Strictly speaking, all secret medicines have harm; the difference is whether it is permanent or temporary, and whether it can be recovered from."

"Explain in detail."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara glanced at Kiyohara; he was indeed his past self, having no qualms about using such methods.

After all, orthodox ninjas relied on diligent training to gain power, which was what they called upholding their ninja way.

But Kiyohara was leaving for Kannabi Bridge in three days, and even if he tried to cram at the last minute, he wouldn't find anything good; sharpening a spear right before the battle would at most scrape off some rust.

If he wanted to take a shortcut, he naturally had to use unconventional methods.

"Go take out a loan right now."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.

"What for?"

Kiyohara was surprised; could these drugs be that expensive?

"You don't even know if you'll survive, so what's the point of keeping anything? You're better off exchanging it for things that will increase your chances of staying alive."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara shook his head, his tone sounding somewhat frustrated at his past self's lack of foresight.

He had suffered because of this.

Damn it, his defection had been too rushed, and Orochimaru hadn't given him any time to prepare his escape.

By the time he looked back, he had already slipped out of Konoha, leaving all his belongings in the village, only for them to be legally confiscated!

"Ninjas can't really take out many loans, can they?"

Kiyohara had never tried to get a loan.

In a high-risk profession like being a ninja, where one's life hung by a thread, let alone loans, no insurance company would dare to cover them.

Konoha, which possessed various technological creations like refrigerators, televisions, and utility poles, actually had a high degree of modernization, but people's thinking remained relatively traditional and conservative.

He had actually considered going to borrow money from all the Uchiha a few days before the Uchiha clan's annihilation night; once the Uchiha clan was automatically wiped out, the debts wouldn't need to be repaid.

Kiyohara trusted Uchiha Itachi's professional capabilities; he would surely leave only his younger brother Sasuke behind.

"Borrow as much as you can."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.

You're heading to the battlefield, so why not go all in?

"This is a guaranteed win; if you die, the debt dies with you. If you live, just complete a few more missions, and you'll earn the money back."

Kiyohara thought about it, and damn it, that actually made sense.

However, that would be equivalent to going all in.

Going all in was a form of wisdom, but there weren't many who could choose the right time.

After all, no one knew the difficulty of a mission; one could only judge it based on the mission rank.

But a C-rank mission could suddenly turn into a B-rank mission, and an A-rank mission could potentially drop to the difficulty of a C-rank mission due to the enemy's carelessness or mistakes.

Just like this mission to Kannabi Bridge; everyone felt that with Namikaze Minato there, the mission would definitely be completed.

In fact, Namikaze Minato did complete the mission.

But who knew if they would be the ones to pay the price?

No matter how strong Namikaze Minato was, he couldn't look after everyone, and normal people wouldn't think that they would be the ones to die, which was why few ninjas ever resorted to taking out loans.

Only someone like Kiyohara, who knew the plot in advance, could pull this off by exploiting an information gap.

Kiyohara pondered for a moment, then rummaged through his cabinets and took out everything of value in his home.

He used these as collateral to take out a loan of 650,000 ryō.

Any higher, and no one would have been willing to lend to Kiyohara, not even with unsecured loans.

He only managed to secure this amount because Kiyohara still had decent credit in the village and got lucky.

To them, as a mere genin, Kiyohara's mortality rate was still quite high.

Adding in his previous savings, he had a total of 700,000 ryō, which was already a significant sum of money.

Immediately after, under the guidance of the rogue ninja Kiyohara, he went to purchase some medicinal herbs and tools.

In Konoha, the influence of the Nara Clan and the Akimichi Clan was deeply rooted in the medicinal industry; one could even say that many businesses were monopolized by these two clans.

The former, the Nara Clan, owned a vast expanse of forest land and raised intelligent spirit deer, whose antlers were a highly valuable medicinal ingredient.

As for the Akimichi Clan, they excelled in various medicinal formulas; in the original story, Tsunade had even borrowed medicinal recipes from them, which was enough to prove their value.

Furthermore, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were allies with an extraordinary relationship, making the Nara Clan and the Akimichi Clan a powerful combination.

"Hiss, these herbs are really expensive."

The money Kiyohara had just borrowed hadn't even warmed his hands before more than half of it was gone.

"There's a reason they're expensive. These forbidden drugs can minimize side effects to the greatest extent. As long as you control the dosage, you'll have occasional headaches for at most three months, and after that, there won't be any issues."

The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.

These were the few good things that guy had tossed out after he had spent a long time hanging around Orochimaru.

For Orochimaru, he only had eyes for Sasuke.

This was actually good news for the rogue ninja Kiyohara, as it meant he didn't have to worry about Orochimaru stabbing him in the back.

He would rather have a cold kunai enter his body than Orochimaru's soul.

"Three months? That's acceptable."

Kiyohara was very satisfied with this result.

This wasn't some forbidden drug; this was clearly a miracle medicine!

"You brat, what are you buying so many medicinal herbs for?"

Hearing this, Kiyohara turned around, and two dark clouds loomed over his face, displaying a full curve.

He estimated it with his eyes; it was very large.

Coupled with the purple diamond pattern on the woman's forehead and her long blonde hair, her identity was obvious.

Tsunade!

"Lady Tsunade."

Kiyohara spoke respectfully.

The current Tsunade had also returned to Konoha.

With Konoha at a critical juncture of life and death, Tsunade naturally couldn't just stand by and watch.

On the eve of the Third Shinobi World War, she had even treated Namikaze Minato, who had collapsed at Training Ground 3.

It wasn't as if she had stayed outside the village ever since Dan Katō died.

This matter was recorded in the official manga, Minato Gaiden.

"I'm buying these to make my family's secret medicine," Kiyohara said.

He didn't make up excuses about a sick family member or a sick friend.

None of that could fool Tsunade, so it was better to be straightforward.

Ninjas generally didn't pry too deeply into each other's personal information.

Sure enough, Tsunade didn't continue to ask.

She curiously inquired about something else, saying:

"Kid, I just saw you taking out a loan over there. How did you manage to get it?"

Tsunade's tone was a bit hurried.

She had lost some more money and was now in urgent need of some capital to make a comeback.