Sand Village medicinal resources were the most sought-after commodity in the current ninja world. This was something that even the most desperate attempts to obtain through back channels could not reliably secure in sufficient quantities.
Akatsuki had been attempting to contact Sand Village merchant networks for years, doing everything possible to purchase medicines, but the volume they could actually obtain never came close to meeting their needs.
Afraid Yahiko and the others would not believe him, Yuji simply reached into his clothing and pulled out several wrapped packages of medicine, tossing them over.
Yahiko caught them, opened one, and looked inside.
A merchant, Yahiko thought to himself, forming a guess about the mysterious figure's background.
But this person's level of strength meant their background was absolutely not from any ordinary power.
Under normal circumstances, even if the mysterious figure revealed some form of identity, Yahiko would not simply negotiate with a stranger of unclear origin who was radiating a clearly dangerous presence.
But Sand Village medicines were simply too important to the organization to refuse outright.
"How much do you have?"
Yahiko's voice carried a slight tremor.
"Based on my understanding of Akatsuki's situation, enough to sustain you for a considerable period," Yuji said with confidence.
After saying this, he reached back into his clothing and pulled out several scrolls. Right in front of the assembled Akatsuki members, he unsealed the scrolls one after another, summoning several large crates of medicines.
Seeing this, Yahiko's breathing tightened.
"Consider these a gift for our first meeting, given freely to establish friendship between us."
Yuji said it simply.
Yahiko and Konan exchanged glances.
The value of Sand Village pharmaceuticals needed no explanation. The several crates before them might not look like a massive quantity at first glance, but acquiring this much on the open market would require enormous expenditure of both effort and finances. And this person was simply handing it over for free?
How was this person capable of something like this?
"Yahiko," Konan said quietly, a gentle warning in her voice.
This mysterious figure had appeared suddenly, killed Hidden Rain fighters without hesitation, then tried to join their organization. After being refused, rather than showing any anger, he had proposed a business arrangement and was now proactively offering a gift of this scale.
No matter how one looked at it, this was far too unusual. Deeply suspicious.
"Yes."
Yahiko understood Konan's meaning clearly. He looked toward the mysterious figure.
"We do genuinely need the medicines. But we will not accept them without payment. If this is a business arrangement, we will purchase at market price."
"That is acceptable," Yuji said.
He could see clearly that the other party did not want to be connected to him through obligation or favor. They did not want to owe him anything. This reaction was entirely understandable.
Several Akatsuki members stepped forward to count and verify the goods. After confirming everything was in order, one member quickly departed. After a considerable wait, that person returned and handed Yuji the payment in cash.
Yuji did not count or check the amount. He simply accepted it.
He noticed that the payment Akatsuki had assembled was in mixed currencies of various denominations, large and small. It was clearly money scraped together from whatever sources were immediately available. This spoke clearly to Akatsuki's current financial situation, which was genuinely dire.
Beneath the mask, the corner of Yuji's mouth curved slightly upward.
After the transaction concluded, the masked figure showed no particular intention of leaving. Yahiko instructed the others to continue clearing the battlefield, then stood with Konan and Nagato watching the masked figure with guarded eyes, prepared for any sudden movement.
Once all the wounded comrades had been carried away from the site, Yahiko offered a polite farewell and departed quickly with the others.
The rain had lightened considerably by this point.
The battlefield was left with only Yuji standing alone.
'Upright, resolute, optimistic, an extraordinarily strong sense of responsibility, and exceptional willpower," Yuji thought to himself, watching the direction Akatsuki had gone. "Similar to Minato in many ways. Also a person with remarkable ability to inspire others, thoroughly principled. Only because of his background and the experiences that shaped his growth, that principled spirit carries an additional weight of mission that is almost suffocating to carry. You can sense the pressure he bears.'
'As a simple assessment, very similar to Minato. But without Minato's ability to carry it all with lightness. His thinking is also overly idealistic. In that respect, Minato actually has a clearer view of reality than Yahiko does.'
He finished the thought and glanced toward the distant trees.
After Yahiko's group had been gone for a considerable time, the extraordinarily concealed chakra signature that had been present in the forest finally disappeared.
White Zetsu had been observing for a while.
To ensure the original plan could proceed normally, White Zetsu would naturally monitor Akatsuki's every movement with particular care. A stranger who had appeared suddenly and made contact with Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan would warrant special attention.
'But as long as I have not revealed my true identity, even with the most thorough analysis, you cannot confirm who I am in the short term.'
Yuji thought this to himself quietly.
Then he vanished from where he stood.
...
On the other side, on the road back to their base.
Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato ran together shoulder to shoulder.
"The Sand Village's pharmaceutical distribution network operates almost entirely through national-level channels. Any individual with the standing to deal directly with them would at minimum need to be a prominent and well-established noble.
Even medicines that trickle down through dispersed civilian trade get swept up by local power holders before ordinary people can access them in any meaningful quantity. What reaches ordinary civilians is barely enough for treating everyday illness, let alone battlefield application."
"Beyond that, aside from us, other forces are constantly doing everything they can to siphon off pharmaceutical resources from the major distribution channels. For this red-masked man to be able to produce that kind of quantity so easily, his background is certainly not simple."
"The prices we have been paying through our previous purchasing method have already been well above market rate. Yet this person claimed it was a business arrangement while in reality making almost no profit from us whatsoever."
"Is he trying to help us?"
"Looking at how he carried himself, he genuinely seemed to want to join our organization."
"Do not be naive. That was simply a pretext he used to conceal his actual purpose."
The three of them discussed quietly as they moved.
Although Akatsuki was deeply committed to the Land of Rain's battlefield, they also maintained a clear awareness of the ninja world's current state. The Sand Village had been using its pharmaceutical resources to openly extract wealth from the ninja world, generating enormous profits.
And it was not only the Sand Village itself. Many of the forces and individuals cooperating with the Sand Village had also been profiteering through speculation and opportunistic trading.
For the mysterious figure to sell to them at simple market price was clearly unusual.
"He is not from the Land of Rain," Yahiko said in a low voice.
"What?" Both Konan and Nagato felt a slight jolt at this.
Within the Land of Rain's borders, even Salamander Hanzo himself could not instantly produce that volume of pharmaceutical goods. And the Hidden Rain Village had never cooperated with the Sand Village commercially. Hanzo did not appear to want to spend resources in that direction.
"Regardless of who he is, we can at minimum confirm that he came specifically toward us. We cannot yet judge what this person's actual purpose is, but staying cautious is never a bad approach." Yahiko offered the reminder.
Then he continued.
"You two felt it as well."
"Very strong. The methods he used to kill those Hidden Rain fighters used nothing but taijutsu, and he did it with complete ease. This tells us his true capabilities go considerably deeper than what he showed." Konan responded.
"Looking across the entire ninja world, the number of people who possess this level of ability is not large."
"But even with the field narrowed down, there is no way to lock down his identity from what we saw. Tracing him would be extremely difficult."
"Unless he chooses to reveal himself."
Nagato added, "Which means the name he gave us is likely just an alias."
"Have everyone scatter. Do not take direct routes back to the base. Spread out, take extra detours, confirm no one is following, then return separately."
Yahiko gave the instruction carefully.
Their base location absolutely could not be compromised.
"Understood." Konan nodded once.
She slowed her pace and relayed Yahiko's orders to the other comrades around them.
...
Stones plz 💎💎
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