“Tsk, tsk—talent like yours, if I weren’t so much older, I’d almost consider marrying you myself.”
“If it were you, sensei, I’d say yes without hesitating.”
“Ptooey, ptooey!”
Kitayama Sho hadn’t expected him to play along with that at all, and her ears burned red before she caught herself, giving Chiba a light swat on the head.
“Your formula’s made you famous this time, by the way.
Several clans have sent people around already, quietly asking if there’s a better version in the works.
What’s your take?”
“Handle it however you see fit, sensei.
I won’t get involved in that side of things.
Just make sure my share doesn’t come up short at the end.”
Chiba said with a faint smile.
Kitayama Sho let out a breath and nodded readily.
“Then I’ll submit it through channels.
Lord Hokage can make the final call.”
“There is one other thing, though.”
Chiba brought up the line outside, then continued, “It’s stretched all the way out onto the street.
Doesn’t look great, and it’s wasting everyone’s time standing around.
We should switch to a numbered-ticket system instead—let people take a ticket and come back when it’s their turn.”
“Mm, that’s a reasonable approach.”
Kitayama Sho considered it for a moment, recognizing the benefit right away.
She thought it over further and added, “Our supply’s limited right now too.
Once we’ve handed out a set number of tickets, we can send the rest home instead of leaving them standing around for nothing.”
“Right, and we should cap how much each person can buy.
Otherwise someone with deep pockets buys up a dozen doses at once and everyone behind them goes home empty-handed.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Kitayama Sho nodded emphatically.
The medicine had proven far more popular than anyone had anticipated—an unprecedented crowd, and that wasn’t even counting what a few clans had already quietly siphoned off ahead of the public sale.
Without that, the real demand would’ve been even higher.
Which meant the old system simply didn’t hold up anymore.
She thought it over, then stepped out to speak briefly with the medical-nin running the sale, and quickly had someone drawing up numbered slips to hand out.
The line outside thinned dramatically within minutes.
Chiba poked his head out cautiously and found the crowd outside had lost most of its earlier chaos.
But.
The moment the door opened—
“Hey!
Handsome, you seeing anyone?
Want me to set you up?”
Chiba flinched at the shout, then caught himself—the voice was too young to belong to any of the adults out there.
He turned and, sure enough, spotted Tenten hiding just off to the side of the doorway.
“Got your ticket, then?”
“Yep.
Ha, sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine.
Everyone was just having some fun.”
Chiba gave her a small smile back, then glanced past her.
“Wasa, what brings you here?”
“I—I wanted to thank you.”
Tsukihikari Wasa bowed slightly, her face flushing red.
“Thank me?”
Chiba looked at her, a little puzzled.
Her surname was Tsukihikari—likely from the same clan as Tsukihikari Hayate.
Though something about her manner—
The shyness didn’t quite match up.
“I actually wanted to ask you something!”
Wasa bowed again as she said it.
“We’re friends, classmates.
Whatever the question is, just ask.
No need to be so formal.”
Chiba said quickly, steadying her.
“I heard this medicine strengthens the body, so I came to buy some for my uncle—he’s never had good health.
And, um, I wanted to ask if you might be able to look at his condition—”
Wasa looked up at him carefully as she spoke.
“Your uncle is—?”
“Oh, right, I’m sorry, I forgot to say.
My uncle is Tsukihikari Hayate.
He’s a tokubetsu jōnin, but his health has always been poor.”
She hurried to apologize for the oversight.
Tenten tilted her head, thought it over, and shook her head slightly—she had no particular recollection of that name.
Chiba, though, had actually met the man.
Hayate came by the hospital often enough that Chiba had crossed paths with him while making his rounds.
He thought it over and said, “Your uncle’s case is a bit unusual.
Part of it’s congenital weakness—the kind that can be managed later in life, but never fully compensated for.
And there’s a lung condition on top of it.
I don’t know much beyond that, honestly.”
“Yes, exactly!”
Wasa’s eyes brightened, seeing that Chiba had genuinely met her uncle and had described his condition with striking accuracy.
She asked, excited, “Chiba, is there anything that could be done?”
“There isn’t, and honestly, I’d advise against using this medicine on him carelessly—it needs to be handled with real caution, under medical observation, and only used once you’re sure it won’t cause harm.”
Chiba said, and walked her through the pharmacology briefly.
Some medicines were harmless, even beneficial, for a healthy person, but could easily do more harm than good for someone already frail.
“I understand.
Ugh, if even Chiba can’t do anything—”
“Well—I’ve studied a bit of medicine and pharmacology, but I’m nowhere close to a real medical-nin, and your uncle’s condition sounds far too complex for that anyway.
Lady Tsunade might be the only one with a real shot at treating it.”
Chiba, seeing her face fall, pointed her toward someone else instead.
In the story he remembered, Hayate hadn’t survived long enough to see Tsunade return, so whether she could actually have cured him remained an open question.
Congenital illness was notoriously difficult to fully treat regardless—even Tsunade might have managed nothing more than easing the symptoms.
Wasa had heard of Tsunade’s reputation too.
But.
The woman hadn’t set foot in Konoha in years, and even if she could cure him—
Wasa let out a silent sigh, her spirits sinking.
Tenten, finding a gap in the conversation, spoke up.
“Does this medicine really work, though?”
“It works.
I’ve got versions that perform even better, but the ingredients are rare, or the cost runs too high to produce at scale for now.
What you’re buying is the most cost-effective version available.”
Chiba explained.
“That’s amazing.
If it were me, coming up with even one formula would already be an achievement.”
Tenten said, genuinely impressed.
Wasa stood quietly to the side, saying nothing, just watching.
“I should get to training.
Ugh, I thought once exams were done and team assignments came through, that’d be it, but apparently there’s still another test waiting.
I’d better get ready properly—might as well try the medicine out while I’m at it.”
Tenten lifted the two doses she’d bought.
Chiba gave a small nod.
Even the best medicine was only ever a supplement.
What actually mattered was the effort someone put in themselves—without that, no amount of medicine would do much good.
Once Tenten had left, Wasa finally spoke up.
“Chiba, we’re friends now, right?
I—I hope we can keep in touch going forward!”
“Ah, yeah… sure.”
Honestly, Chiba felt a little lost, not entirely sure what was going on in the girl’s head.
Still, whatever the case, basic courtesy was the least he owed her.
He didn’t dwell much on the whole exchange.
After seeing her off, he went back into the medical division, sat down, and read for a while before his thoughts drifted back to the scene outside.
With this many people affected by the formula, the bodhi seed ought to have grown from it too, shouldn’t it?
The thought had barely finished forming before he turned his attention inward to check on the seed’s condition.
The pattern’s noticeably deeper this time.
Hm?
Why does it feel like—
He’d expected another boost to mental acuity, the same as before, but as he examined it more closely, something else seemed to be happening instead—his physical stamina seemed to be recovering faster than usual.
No.
Not just stamina, either.
His mental energy too.
He couldn’t hold back a surge of delight.
Chakra was made up of physical energy and spiritual energy combined.
Physical energy had plenty of ways to recover—soldier pills, a proper meal, any number of things.
Spiritual energy, though, had never had any remedy beyond simple rest.
This gift from the bodhi seed wasn’t a direct power boost, exactly, but for Chiba, it mattered just as much as one, if not more.
If this kept up, there might come a day when he could stand shoulder to shoulder with a true sage.