"By the way, Chōmei, if I mix your scale powder into something else, will the effect weaken?"
"Huh? What are you planning to put the scale powder into? If you throw it into fire, my scale powder will disappear instantly. That stuff is its natural enemy, alright."
Chōmei replied irritably, but he quickly noticed that Gekko Chizan was smiling extremely happily right now, with an indescribably sly expression.
"Hey, Chizan, what exactly are you thinking?"
"That smile of yours is getting more and more sinister."
Gekko Chizan reined in his smile, then took out a medicine bottle from his chest. After opening it, he poured out a pill.
"Chōmei, this is a pill I swiped from my teacher."
"The effect is very simple. It just increases the flow of chakra by a certain amount. It's basically an enhanced soldier pill. My teacher eats this stuff like candy."
"This pill has absolutely no side effects. I was thinking, you could put some scale powder on it and make some kind of slow-acting poison."
"If that doesn't work, even something like diarrhea would be fine. Is that doable?"
"But there's one condition. The scale powder has to take effect with a delay. Can you do that?"
Hearing this, Chōmei immediately became interested. This was clearly going to stir up trouble.
The pill was already taken out. Gekko Chizan was planning to sell poison in the Grass Hidden Village? Interesting. Very interesting.
"I'll give it a try. I'll compress the scale powder and let it seep into the pill."
Without hesitation, Chōmei immediately condensed some high-density scale powder and injected it into the pill.
The originally ordinary-looking pill actually began to change after the scale powder was injected. Its color slowly shifted from pitch black toward brown.
In the end, it became a brown pill.
Looking at the pill in his hand, Gekko Chizan couldn't help but widen his eyes, because he suddenly felt like he had returned to his previous life. Wasn't this damn thing basically a Malteser? It looked way too similar!
(T/N: A Malteser is a popular British chocolate confection with a crunchy malted milk center covered in milk chocolate)
"Chizan, I've compressed the scale powder and wrapped it with a bit of chakra. Only after the pill completely dissolves will the scale powder appear, and chakra consumption also takes some time. That way, the delay you mentioned is achieved."
"I estimate that after swallowing it, it will take about half a day for the effect to kick in."
"But if the other party bites the pill open, then it's over. Even with chakra protection, the scale powder would come out directly."
After listening to Chōmei's detailed explanation, Gekko Chizan laughed, laughing even more wickedly.
This was truly an essential pill for traveling—perfect for screwing people over.
"Good. This is enough. Next..."
"Transformation Technique!"
As a puff of white smoke dispersed, Gekko Chizan had completely changed. He was dressed in a yellow robe, with a hat on his head.
Mm, he looked exactly like an exorcist.
Casually snapping off a tree branch nearby, he activated the Transformation Technique again. Instantly, a large banner appeared in his hand. On it were written the words: Exclusive miracle medicine! Eat one and you'll want two! Absolutely effective, honest to young and old!
"Tsk tsk, this whole getup of yours just screams shady. As expected of you, Chizan."
"Hehehe, let's go. Grass Hidden Village, here I come!"
Visiting the Grass Hidden Village once again, but this time, Gekko Chizan planned to walk straight in through the main gate.
Just as he was about to enter, he was stopped.
"Who goes there!"
"What are you doing in the Grass Hidden Village?"
The two Grass Hidden Village shinobi guarding the gate looked at Gekko Chizan with unfriendly expressions, sizing him up from head to toe. They felt that this person radiated an unmistakable air of strangeness.
The Grass Hidden Village had always been unwelcoming toward outsiders. Now that someone dressed so oddly had suddenly appeared, they were naturally cautious.
"Oh, I'm a traveling pharmacist. I happened to pass through the Land of Grass, so I thought I'd come take a look at the Grass Hidden Village and promote my medicine."
"You two young fellows, could you do me a favor?"
Gekko Chizan's smiling expression made the two guards glance at each other.
They had heard of traveling, but a traveling pharmacist?
What kind of strange profession was that?
"A pharmacist? So you're selling medicine?"
"Ridiculous, ridiculous. This is the first time I've ever heard of something like that."
Facing the guards' mockery, Gekko Chizan didn't care at all. He calmly reached into his chest, which immediately put the two of them on high alert.
After all, there had been disappearance incidents in the village recently, and the entire village was on high alert.
They were afraid he might have ill intentions.
Fortunately, Gekko Chizan merely took out a medicine bottle and poured out two pills.
"This is medicine I made myself. It can refresh the mind and boost alertness, while also improving physical quality. If you're shinobi, it can also enhance chakra flow."
"I guarantee it's good stuff. Much better than whatever soldier pills you eat."
"So? Want to give it a try?"
"If something goes wrong, come find me. After all, I'm planning to find a big client and sell all my pills in one package."
Seeing that Gekko Chizan really had taken out a medicine bottle, the two of them were momentarily stunned.
After all, there was a large character for 'medicine' pasted on the small bottle, and combined with the medicinal fragrance drifting from the pills, they believed him somewhat.
"This medicine of yours... is it reliable?"
"It just looks like a pill. Can it really have that kind of effect?"
One of the shinobi looked curious. After all, the medicinal scent couldn't be fake. He had smelled this kind of medicine plenty of times in hospitals.
"Hehehe, this old man refined these pills over many years of travel, combining countless medicinal ingredients. There will absolutely be no problems."
"If you don't believe me, young man, why not eat one and try it?"
"I guarantee you'll feel full of vigor!"
Deception. Right now, Gekko Chizan was a full-on swindler. And to be fair, the old man he had transformed into really did look kind and benevolent when he smiled, making it hard for others to be suspicious.
Looking at the pill in his hand, combined with his confident expression, the speaking shinobi thought for a moment, then took one pill from his hand and carefully examined it.
"Just eat it directly?"
"Yes, swallow it directly. Remember, do not chew it. The medicine needs to dissolve bit by bit. If you chew it all at once, the effect will be too strong and could cause various adverse reactions."
Listening to Gekko Chizan's explanation, the shinobi nodded. After repeatedly confirming, he also gave his companion a look.
Then, instead of eating the pill, he suddenly ran toward the inside of the village at top speed.
"Huh? What's this supposed to mean? He took my medicine and ran off?"
This move completely baffled Gekko Chizan. He had already swindled things to this extent—why wasn't the guy eating it?
Something wasn't right. This wasn't following the script at all!
"Relax. There's a pharmacy nearby. He went to have it appraised."
"If what you said is true, then everything's fine. But if what you said is false, heh heh, then you old thing might not be able to leave the Land of Grass."
The other shinobi crossed his arms, staring coldly at the old man in front of him.
Gekko Chizan: Fine! Very nice!