Illusion-Breaking Pill

Lu Zeming looked at Tsukikawa Sosei first.

Tsukikawa Sosei spoke as decisively as he acted.

"We don't have enough bamboo, but we can use steel bars and wood instead. No problem on my end!"

Lu Zeming turned to Akita Yoshiko.

It was Akita Yoshiko's first time taking part in such an important meeting. She was nervous and excited, and her voice trembled a little.

"Silk lets light through well, but... but we can't make enough of it. If we add more workers and looms, we can produce enough for two greenhouses a day!"

Afraid Lu Zeming would be dissatisfied, Akita Yoshiko hurried to add, "I can... I can work late. I should be able to weave enough for one more greenhouse."

Lu Zeming smiled reassuringly. "No need to work late. Just do your best. Your looms are all old hand-operated models anyway. When I have time, I'll replace them with fully automatic ones."

"Thank you! I'll work hard to repay you!"

Akita Yoshiko lowered her head, still unable to meet anyone's eyes.

People needed experience to grow. Lu Zeming was in no hurry.

That left Fujino Masao.

"Making oiled paper won't be difficult. It just adds a step where we soak the paper in oil, so it won't slow production. But it's too cold right now, and the paper won't dry easily. That'll seriously limit our output."

Lu Zeming smiled. "That's easy to solve. I'll send over two fire-style ninja and two wind-style ninja later. They'll follow your orders."

Fujino Masakuma had never dreamed he would one day be directing ninja at work. His excitement was easy to imagine.

"That would be wonderful. I can guarantee enough paper for five greenhouses every day."

Finally, Lu Zeming gave his orders.

"Nakanuma Takuma will oversee construction of the Greenhouse. Tsukizaki Yuki will handle the allocation of personnel and supplies."

For the first time, Flower Village began to run like a real machine. Its engine was hardly powerful, its gears didn't mesh quite right, and it still lurched now and then.

But so what? This machine was young and had plenty of chances to learn from its mistakes. Lu Zeming believed it wouldn't be long before its roar echoed across the world!

By his reckoning, the date agreed upon for the second trade with the Shinbu was approaching.

Lu Zeming grumbled to himself. I'm the head of a village, yet I still have to make these trades in person. What a waste of time. I'm bringing someone with me this time, no matter what. From now on, I'll leave the trading to them.

Who should I take?

Ikeda Masato and the others were out. They had been Kusagakure ninja and had some ties to the Shinbu. They weren't suitable.

Listening Yulong was tied up with matters concerning the villagers' livelihoods.

Yuka, Haruki, and Mayuko were still too young to shoulder such a responsibility.

That left only Kumi Uzumaki.

"Are the Shinbu's goods ready?"

Kumi Uzumaki took out the account sheet and scanned it. "Two thousand Super Ice-Cold Pills and one thousand Wound-Healing Pills. All ready!"

Lu Zeming took out a wooden box and tossed it to Kumi Uzumaki.

"Take a look and tell me what this pill is worth."

The moment Kumi Uzumaki opened the box, a rich medicinal fragrance drifted out. Kumi felt her mind grow astonishingly clear, as though her brain had been washed clean.

Inside lay a dark green pill that looked like jade, with a faint, shadowy gleam flickering across its surface.

"Wh-what is this?"

"I call it the Illusion-Breaking Pill. You can use it two ways. Swallowing it improves your mental strength and resistance to Genjutsu. Or you can use it as a one-time tool: crush it, and it'll break an enemy's Genjutsu. I haven't tested what level of Genjutsu it can break. We don't have a single ninja in the village who can use Genjutsu."

Lu Zeming spoke casually, but Kumi Uzumaki was stunned.

"This... this..."

She stammered for ages without managing a complete sentence.

She wasn't overreacting. What Lu Zeming had shown her was simply too astonishing.

How could something like this exist? A price? This was priceless!

After a long struggle, Kumi Uzumaki finally managed, "I don't think the Shinbu can afford this!"

Lu Zeming grew anxious. "They can't afford it? That won't do. I've got more than thirty in my room!"

Kumi Uzumaki fell silent. She was simply numb.

In fact, Lu Zeming had made the Illusion-Breaking Pills from a broken branch of Ghost Lantern Vine and a few herbs that calmed the mind and nourished the heart, including schisandra, lily, and sour jujube seed.

There were plenty of broken Ghost Lantern Vine branches. Lu Zeming had used only half of one and ruined more than a dozen batches before ending up with these thirty-odd pills that looked passable.

Lu Zeming had taken one himself and found it didn't help him much, so he had decided to sell them. Judging by Kumi Uzumaki's reaction, though, he seemed to have underestimated their value.

"Apart from the Shinbu, we don't seem to have any other customers. The village needs money to buy food. Any ideas?"

Kumi Uzumaki thought for a moment. "We could sell them through a Bounty Station. They have deep pockets. They can definitely buy the lot!"

Lu Zeming immediately thought of the place in the original story where Kakuzu had taken bodies to collect his payments after killing his targets. If he remembered right, it was called a Bounty Station.

From what Kumi Uzumaki was saying, a Bounty Station wasn't just a place to collect assassination bounties. It was more like an underground black market where people could trade.

Lu Zeming vaguely remembered that, in one storyline, Konoha ninja had been watching Kakuzu for some time but waited until he left the Bounty Station before making their move.

That was worth thinking about. Konoha claimed to stand for justice, so why hadn't it destroyed the Bounty Station? Why wait until someone came out to act? And the Bounty Station had even dared to put a bounty on Asuma, the Third Hokage's son.

"The Bounty Station must have powerful backers."

Lu Zeming's fingers tapped the table unconsciously. The Naruto World was clearly not as simple as it looked.

"Do you know where the nearest Bounty Station branch is within the Land of Grass?"

"Of course. It's west of us, near the border with the Land of Rain!"

"Good. Go get ready. Tomorrow we'll fulfill our agreement with the Shinbu, then head straight for the Bounty Station."

"Yes!"

The next day, Lu Zeming, Kumi Uzumaki, and three carefully selected Chunin gathered at the village entrance.

All three were ninja from the Listening Family: two men and one woman, all adults.

Lu Zeming wanted to avoid sending ninja under fifteen out on missions whenever possible.

Children shouldn't be used up. They were the future, and only if they survived could that future hold more possibilities.

What's more, the ninja of Flower Village would never accept assassination missions, now or in the future.

Why use ninja to create corpses when they could create wealth? Even a nuclear-powered pack mule couldn't work as hard as a ninja.

After a brief exchange of greetings, they set off north together.

They were all fast, and they knew the route. In just half a day, they reached the meeting place.

Their contact was the same as before: Shinbu Kosuke.

Shinbu Kosuke looked even more haggard than last time, with a scruffy beard and bloodshot eyes. A new scar marked his face, giving him the worn look of a grown man, though he was only sixteen.

"Zeming, it's so good to see you!"