"You got these formulas for forbidden drugs from Orochimaru?"
Kiyohara asked.
If such drugs existed, they could indeed rapidly boost one's strength.
The Akimichi clan were experts in this field, though what they used weren't called forbidden drugs, but legally produced secret medicines.
For example, the famous Three-Colored Pills:
The green pill increases a person's physical strength by one third.
The yellow pill completely unleashes the user's potential.
And the final red pill was said to be capable of unleashing a hundredfold increase in power.
Of course, Kiyohara thought that was an exaggeration. If it were really that powerful, the Akimichi clan would have been the number one clan in the entire shinobi world long ago.
Still, the fact that their pills could even be given such names already showed how extraordinary the clan's secret medicines were.
Kiyohara was very curious — what kind of effects would the forbidden drugs known by his missing-nin future self have?
"I managed to get some," Missing-nin Kiyohara replied.
"But most of them have severe side effects on the body."
He spoke with a hint of regret.
Although they granted him strength far beyond an ordinary jōnin, the price was that he had to take medicine for the rest of his life to suppress the side effects. The reason he stepped on an exploding tag and died was precisely because he had a sudden attack during one of his episodes.
"Then tell me about the ones without any side effects," Kiyohara said.
"Strictly speaking, all secret medicines have side effects. The difference lies in whether they are permanent or temporary, and whether you can recover from them."
"Explain please," Kiyohara urged.
Missing-nin Kiyohara glanced at him. As expected of his past self, he wasn't shy about using such methods.
After all, proper shinobis were supposed to gain strength through relentless training, following the so-called Shinobi Way.
But Kiyohara was leaving for Kannabi Bridge in three days. Even if he crammed desperately, he wouldn't see meaningful improvement. Sharpening a blade at the last minute only scraped off a little rust at best.
If he wanted a shortcut, he obviously had to take unconventional measures.
"You need to take out a loan immediately," Missing-nin Kiyohara said.
"A loan? For what?"
Kiyohara was stunned. Were the medicines that expensive?
"You don't even know if you're going to survive. Why hold onto money you might never get to use? Better to exchange them for something that might save your life." Missing-nin Kiyohara said, his tone filled with frustration.
He had suffered from this mistake himself.
Damn it — he fled the village too hastily. Orochimaru didn't give him any time to prepare. When he came back to his senses, he had already escaped from Konoha, leaving all his possessions behind, which were promptly and legally confiscated.
"Shinobis can't get much of a loan, can they?"
Kiyohara asked since he had never tried.
Shinobis were a high-risk profession, living from day to day. Forget loans — even insurance companies probably wouldn't dare to accept them.
Konoha had refrigerators, televisions, utility poles — all sorts of modern conveniences. The village was actually quite modernized, though its people remained somewhat traditional and conservative in thought.
He had even thought about borrowing money from every Uchiha member a few days before the Uchiha Massacre. After the clan "auto-deleted" itself, all debts would vanish as well.
Kiyohara definitely trusted Itachi Uchiha's work efficiency — the only one he'd leave alive was Sasuke.
"Borrow as much as they'll give you," Missing-nin Kiyohara said.
"You're going to war — why not mortgage your life and push for six full sets?"
"This is a risk-free investment: if you die, your debt dies with you. If you live, you can earn the money back through missions."
Kiyohara thought about it for a moment — damn, that actually made sense.
But this was essentially going all in.
And going all-in required wisdom—few chose correctly.
After all, no one truly knew how difficult a mission would be. They could only guess based on its rank.
But a C-rank mission might suddenly escalate into a B-rank; an A-rank mission might, due to the enemy's carelessness, end up no harder than a C-rank.
This Kannabi Bridge mission was one example — everyone believed that with Minato there, success was guaranteed. And Minato did indeed complete the mission.
But who could say whether you would be the one paying the price?
No matter how strong Minato was, he couldn't protect everyone. People never assumed they would be the one to die. That was why almost no shinobi dared to take loans.
Only someone like Kiyohara, who knew the plot ahead of time, could exploit this information gap.
After thinking quietly for a moment, Kiyohara began rummaging through his house, gathering everything of value.
Using those items as collateral, he managed to borrow 650,000 ryō.
Any higher, and no one would lend to him. Naked loans weren't possible either.
That amount was already considered lucky, based on his decent reputation in the village.
In the lenders' eyes, a lowly genin had a rather high mortality rate.
Including his previous savings, Kiyohara now had 700,000 ryō — a considerable sum.
Following missing-nin Kiyohara's instructions, he immediately went to purchase medicinal ingredients and tools.
In Konoha, the Nara clan and Akimichi clan held entrenched influence in the medicinal trade industry. Many businesses were practically monopolized by them.
The Nara clan owned vast forests, raising intelligent deer whose antlers were extremely valuable medicinal materials.
The Akimichi clan specialized in creating medicinal formulas; even Tsunade once borrowed their recipes in the original story — proof of their tremendous value.
Together with the Yamanaka clan, the "Ino-Shika-Chō" trio formed a powerful alliance. The Nara and Akimichi were truly a formidable pair.
"Damn, these herbs are really expensive," Kiyohara muttered.
His newly borrowed money vanished almost instantly.
"They're expensive for a reason. These forbidden medicines will minimize side effects. As long as you control the dosage, the worst you'll get is occasional headaches for about three months. After that, nothing," Missing-nin Kiyohara explained.
These were treasures he had obtained after following Orochimaru for a long time. Orochimaru only cared about Sasuke, but that meant he occasionally discarded useful things.
But for Missing-nin Kiyohara, that was actually good news — it meant Orochimaru wasn't interested in taking over his body. He would much rather die from a cold kunai than have Orochimaru's soul enter him.
"Three months, huh? That's acceptable," Kiyohara said, quite satisfied.
How was this forbidden medicine? This was basically a divine elixir!
"You brat, why are you buying so many herbs?"
Kiyohara turned around at the voice — two shadows immediately hovered over his face, forming a very pronounced curve.
He estimated their size — large.
Then he noticed the purple diamond mark on the woman's forehead and her long golden hair. Her identity was obvious.
Tsunade!
"Lady Tsunade," Kiyohara greeted respectfully.
At this time, Tsunade had returned to Konoha. With the village at the brink of life and death, she couldn't just stand by.
On the eve of the Third Great Ninja War, she had even treated Minato when he collapsed at the Third Training Ground. She hadn't stayed away from the village ever since Dan's death. This was recorded in the official manga side story Minato Gaiden
"I'm buying these to make my family's secret medicine," Kiyohara said.
He didn't bother with excuses like family illness or a sick friend.
Such lies wouldn't fool Tsunade. It was better to give a normal answer.
Shinobis generally didn't pry too deeply into each other's affairs anyway.
As expected, Tsunade didn't continue questioning that subject.
Instead, she asked something else — with urgency in her tone:
"Kid, I saw you taking out a loan just now. How did you manage that?"
Her voice carried urgency. She had lost money again and was desperate for capital to make a comeback.
(End of Chapter)