Treating an Illness

Land of Crafts, Hidden Crafts Village.

In order to relocate to the Land of Flame as quickly as possible, the ninjas of Hidden Crafts Village had begun bustling about early in the morning. After all, relocating an entire village required an extremely complicated amount of preparation. On top of that, most of the people in Hidden Crafts Village were blacksmiths, and they needed to transport a massive amount of forging equipment and tools. They could not simply leave at a moment's notice like the Blood Pool and the Taketori Clan had.

During this time, Enkō quietly recovered his strength. Though his battle with Shuiwu a few days ago had not left him physically injured, he had consumed too much ocular power. Even though three days had passed since that fight, his eyes still ached faintly. He could not even see things a hundred meters away clearly anymore!

Enkō estimated that if he used Susanoo's power twice more at most, his eyes would go completely blind.

There were only two ways to solve the Mangekyo Sharingan's blindness. One was to transplant another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan from a close relative, and the other was to transplant Hashirama's cells.

Enkō could not do the former. His two older brothers had cared deeply for him since they were young, and he truly could not bring himself to exchange their eyes for his own sight. Likewise, Madara and Izuna had never considered taking Enkō's eyes to evolve their own into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

All three brothers knew of this method, but none of them had ever brought it up!

As for the latter, though he hated to admit it, Enkō knew that the eyes of all three brothers were probably like candles flickering in the wind by now. Even combined, the three of them could not beat Hashirama alone, much less extract cells from his body.

Shuiwu came to Enkō's mind again. If his guess was right, then Shuiwu's Blood Release was the only way to break this deadlock!

"We have to capture him! If all else fails, I'll call big brother over!"

Just as Enkō was considering how to infiltrate the Water Country and capture someone, there came a knock on his door. When he opened it, he found Shentai, the new leader of Hidden Crafts Village. He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties.

"Lord Enkō, we've finished packing almost everything. We can depart at any time."

"It is indeed time to leave." Enkō thought for a moment. "I still have a mission to complete, but I'll send people to escort you back to Flame Hidden Village. Someone there will arrange accommodations for you."

"Understood." Unlike Qingming, Shentai was far more tactful and immediately agreed.

Enkō nodded. He then found Chikuma and instructed him to send half of the clan members to escort the people of Hidden Crafts Village back to Flame Hidden Village, while he himself continued toward their next target—Medicine Hidden Village.

Medicine Hidden Village was located in a small unnamed country near the Land of Fields. The entire ninja village had fewer than fifty people. Rather than a village, it was more like an organization. As its name suggested, everyone in the village was skilled in the use of medicine.

In this era, the system of medical ninjas had yet to be established, so the death rate of ninjas on the battlefield was extremely high. After most injured ninjas were carried off the battlefield, someone would casually bandage them up, and then it was left to see whether they were tough enough to survive.

Though the people of Medicine Hidden Village did not know the Medical Ninjutsu of later generations, the medicines they compounded could achieve effects equal to—or even better than—Medical Ninjutsu.

However, they had eccentric temperaments. Everyone in the village lived atop a mountain. Those seeking medicine had to visit personally, while they themselves never came down the mountain. It was not as though no organizations had tried to recruit them, but they had rejected every one. Neither threats nor inducements worked on them. They neither sought money nor feared death. Even when threatened with force, they would simply close their eyes, resigned to their worthless lives.

Over time, other organizations gave up, but Enkō still wanted to give it another try.

Medicine Hidden Village was not far from Hidden Crafts Village. After traveling for a little over a day, Enkō and his group arrived at the foot of a mountain. From afar, they saw a group of people lining up to climb it, every face carrying a trace of urgency.

"Boss, what's going on?" Chikuma looked at the people in line in confusion and suggested, "Should we just kill our way up there?"

Enkō ignored this reckless suggestion. He walked to the end of the line, patted the shoulder of the young man standing last, and asked, "Brother, what are you lining up here for?"

The young man was dressed like a farmer. Seeing someone ask, he replied in confusion, "Huh? Aren't you here to seek medicine too?"

"Seek medicine?"

"That's right. We're all villagers from nearby, here to ask the doctors of Medicine Hidden Village for medicine. I suffered some internal injuries while hunting last time, and they haven't healed after several days. I had no choice but to come here. But for some reason, it seems like there are suddenly a lot fewer people in Medicine Hidden Village. The line is so long every day now. I don't even know whether it'll be my turn today."

Enkō frowned. "You said there are far fewer people in Medicine Hidden Village. When did that happen?"

The young man thought for a moment. "About a month ago, I guess."

Damn it! Could someone have gotten there first?

Enkō's expression turned somewhat grim, but since he was already here, he had to at least ask about the situation. So he had several members of the Taketori Clan line up at the back as well.

Chikuma was somewhat impatient. "Boss, we're not here to see a doctor. Why do we have to line up?"

"Because they need it." Enkō pointed at the people waiting ahead. "Their lives and deaths have nothing to do with me, but sometimes, you still have to hold on to a little human kindness."

???

Chikuma scratched his head. Though he did not understand, he obediently followed Enkō to the end of the line.

And so, as the line slowly moved forward, they finally caught sight of the village entrance only after the sun had set.

Two tables had been simply set up in front of the village gate. Two people sat behind them: one was responsible for examining patients, while the other collected money and handed out medicine. Behind them, more than ten people moved back and forth through the village, gathering and preparing medicine.

After seeing the doctor, those whose turn had come waited nearby for their medicine, giving the place much the same feel as an outpatient clinic in the modern world.

"Next!"

The doctor was a white-haired old man. After skillfully examining the young man's condition, he motioned for him to wait to the side for his medicine, then called for the next person without even looking up.

Enkō stepped forward and sat before the old man. He said calmly, "Hello. I'm not here to see a doctor, but I would like to speak with your village chief."

The old man waved a hand. "If you're not here to see a doctor, then go home. What is there to talk about with me?"

Enkō froze. "Hm? You're the village chief?"

"You don't even know I'm the village chief, yet you say you came to talk to me? Go on, get out of here. Don't delay me from seeing patients."

The old man immediately waved Enkō away, but after looking up at him, he suddenly said in surprise, "Eh? Your eyes are nearly blind, and you still say you're not here to see a doctor?"

"Huh?" Enkō's entire body jolted. He then forcibly calmed himself, though his voice still trembled slightly.

"Sir, can you treat this illness?"