Early the next morning, Mizuki arrived at the flower shop. After arranging the shop's affairs and asking Sakura Haruno to watch the store, he headed toward the Hokage Tower.
He arrived too early—except for a few busy staff members, not many people were inside the building yet. Mizuki knocked on the door of the Third Hokage's office.
"Come in."
Mizuki pushed the door open and stepped inside, walking forward and bowing respectfully. "Third Hokage, I'm here."
"Oh, it's you, Mizuki. You've come even earlier and are working so diligently," the Third said, lifting his head from his work.
"You're always ahead of me in dedication. May I ask what orders you have for me?"
"There's something I wanted to ask you." The Third lit his pipe and took a puff. "Do you remember that life-saving pill you gave Hayate Gekko and Aoba Yamashiro during the Land of Waves mission?"
"Yes." Mizuki nodded.
(He wondered nervously,) "Could there be some incident I don't know about?"
"Don't worry; I'm just asking about the progress of the research on that pill," the Third said kindly.
"There hasn't been much progress on new developments, but we did make an unexpected discovery regarding its effects and application methods." Mizuki relaxed upon hearing it wasn't about any accident.
"Oh? Please tell me more," the Third seemed quite interested.
"Of course." Mizuki decided to explain the general situation, though naturally, he wouldn't reveal the core mechanism—it was too shocking, and he still lacked the strength to ensure his own safety if things went wrong.
"Although improvements in its effects have been limited, we have clarified its primary function. For ninjas on the battlefield, it works as a decent healing aid and supplement. Generally speaking, as long as physical stamina and chakra reserves are sufficient, the harm to the body isn't too severe. Most injuries can heal fully with Medical Ninjutsu. The main problem is that it overuses cellular vitality; excessive use significantly shortens lifespan. Moreover, these side effects accumulate over time, and we've yet to find an effective way to restore the depleted cellular vitality."
"Can we confirm that the side effects aren't significant in the short term?"
"Yes, that part can be confirmed."
"However, the village conducted some trials using the pills from Aoba Yamashiro, and the results appeared very bad~"
"May I assume the village hasn't conducted human trials?" Mizuki didn't avoid the topic. "Or rather, haven't tested them specifically on ninja?"
"Hmm?" The Third's expression suddenly darkened. "Are you telling me... you tested it on actual ninja?"
"You misunderstood. The discrepancy between the animal test results and actual usage led me to identify this issue. In reality, the pill's effect on ninja was surprisingly good." Mizuki explained. "So I believe it might be due to chakra—the practical effect supports my theory."
"I see," the Third mused. Thinking back, both Hayate Gekko and Aoba Yamashiro had taken the pills along with himself and Mizuki, and their survival rate compared to experimental animal data really did seem suspiciously high.
"What's the current production rate for the pills?"
Their production is extremely complex and requires excessive resources. I estimate they can only be used as a last-resort measure for now. Although their effects are significantly better than regular potions, they still cannot completely eliminate side effects, and mass production isn't feasible, so it's not really worth it."
"How many of these potions have already been distributed?"
"Aside from those possessed by Hayate Gekko and Aoba Yamashiro, only I and my fiancée, Chiharu Tsubaki, possess any."
"Chiharu Tsubaki? Is she from the Sealing Team?"
"That's correct," Mizuki affirmed.
"Alright, that's enough for now. You may leave. Don't speak of today's matters to anyone."
"I understand, Third Hokage." With that, Mizuki exited.
After watching Mizuki leave, the Third turned sideways and pulled out the bottom drawer on the right, revealing a large vial of green potion—the remainder from experiments conducted after retrieving it from Aoba Yamashiro.
"With this, our chances improve slightly. Still, I hope we won't have to use it," thought the Third as he carefully stored the potion inside his ninja tools pouch.
Meanwhile, leaving the Hokage's office, Mizuki wasn't thinking much about it. After all, it probably didn't concern him directly. If someone insisted he supply Omnipotence potions, he'd just sell them at a high price—this was an exclusive market, and he alone decided the cost. Learning how to make them was out of the question; no one could replicate them even if they tried. Even Orochimaru wouldn't be able to crack it without the basic data—by the time he did, who knows when that would be. By then, he'd have nothing to fear.
Mizuki strolled casually toward his flower shop, casually purchasing several sticks of dango for breakfast without caring about appearances, eating as he walked.
Arriving at the flower shop, he found someone unexpectedly inside.
"Why are you here? Wanting to buy flowers?" Mizuki asked.
The visitor was none other than Ino.
"No thanks. We already have staff," Mizuki immediately refused. One girl was already difficult enough to manage. Two employees, especially two girls, would surely drive him crazy arguing nonstop. "Plus, don't you run your own flower shop? What are you doing coming here?"
"But Teacher, I noticed this store has been closed for days—it's obvious nobody's managing it."
"That's because I overslept. Who asked you to care? Anyway, we have someone working now."
"You mean Sakura? She's not a temporary worker; she came here to learn Ninjutsu!"
"You wouldn't understand. Everyone needs to balance work and rest occasionally. Besides, it helps build character—do you know what 'character' means? It means perseverance. Please trust my professionalism as a teacher; I won't mislead her."
"Ino, stop arguing. I already told you there's no need to help," Sakura interjected upon hearing their conversation, hurrying over to mediate. "Teacher Mizuki, please don't get upset. Ino meant no harm."
"I understand, but I can't afford to hire anyone. Feel free to come back in a month to work, but not now."
"I'm not asking for payment, just offering to help."
"Hired. No pay? Then why not take advantage of your generous offer?"
"Teacher Mizuki, you just—" Ino attempted to protest further before interrupting herself with a surprised, "Huh? Did you say yes?"
"I said hired. If your hearing's bad, why even bother applying for part-time work?"
"So I got hired just like that?"
Sakura completely ruined Ino's carefully rehearsed lines.
"What are you lingering for? Get to work already! You want to quit?"
"I'm going right away." Ino hurriedly started tidying up the flower shop.
"You two just keep working. I'll go out for a walk and come back later to inspect." If she could get away with slacking off, why not take the chance to relax? She'd been going stir-crazy these past couple days.
As soon as Mizuki left, Ino Yamanaka gave Sakura Haruno a thumbs-up.
"Told you it would be fine. All set."
Sakura shook her head. "Staying here isn't really helping either. Actually, I think Teacher Mizuki being around isn't so bad."
"I'm just worried you'll lose so hard people will think I'm even worse!"
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