Chapter 138 - Land of Medicines

Hokage office.

Hiruzen stood still, shocked and in disbelief at what he just heard.

"Tsubaki! Are you sure about that?" The question came before he could even stop himself.

"Yes sir. There is no mistaking it." The Hyuga Jonin replied.

Hiruzen's mind worked faster than it had in a long time. He recalled the day when Shisui Uchiha confided in him and his advisors on his Mangekyo Sharingan powers. He also recalled the day the young Uchiha died and what the clan was about to do at that time.

'Shisui was going to use his Sharingan to stop the revolt but the next thing I hear is that he committed suicide. I had no clue what drove him to do something like that but now… The only way Danzo would have his Sharingan is if he took it from Shisui… The power of his eyes. Now that I think about it, Danzo would definitely covet something like that. He went after Kakashi's Sharingan once upon a time. So it's not a stretch to assume he'd do something like that again.'

Hiruzen had a startling realization. 'Danzo killed Shisui. But that note Shisui left…. No. A shinobi like him wouldn't commit suicide unless he had nothing else. Either Danzo killed Shisui and disguised it as a suicide or something else happened. But he is involved in this. But how do I find out what happened?... Itachi! He would know. I need to make contact with him. I need to know the truth.'

"Lord Hokage. What is it?"

Hiruzen raised his head and looked at the two loyal shinobi in front of him. "I believe in your assessment. If it is a Sharingan then I believe it's Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan that's in Danzo's right eye. Shisui Uchiha committed suicide over a year before the Uchiha massacre. But it seems that's a lie."

"Lord Hokage, not that I'm doubting you or Tsubaki, but you seem absolutely sure that it's Shisui's eye that Danzo has. Why?" The Anbu codenamed Bear asked his kage.

Hiruzen let out a breath and a few seconds later replied. "Shisui had something called Mangekyo Sharingan. It's an advanced stage of the Sharingan even greater than the 3 tomoe. Only a handful of people in history were able to awaken the Mangekyo eyes. Those who awakened those eyes were granted unique powers. Shisui had the ability called Kotoamatsukami. It's a powerful genjutsu that allows the user to enter the victim's mind and manipulate them by giving false experiences. And the victims would be completely unaware they were being manipulated. Those who know it regard it as the most powerful genjutsu in existence."

The eyes of the two ninjas in the Hokage's office widened as they heard that.

"That's… If Danzo had something like that…" Tsubaki was startled as they heard the power of Shisui's Sharingan eye.

"But sir, wouldn't there be drawbacks to something like that? Every powerful jutsu must have some weakness." Bear deduced that something as powerful as that genjutsu must have some sort of a weakness.

"Yes. Every powerful jutsus has their risks but… With Hashirama Senju's power added to the mix, I'm not sure." Hiruzen looked at the two ninjas in front of him. "I will come up with the necessary counter measures. Tsubaki. Make sure to check Bear's status from time to time. I can't have him falling under Danzo's power."

"Yes sir."

Land of Iron.

In a cabin hidden in the snowy forest in the land of Iron, three medic ninjas were taking some much needed rest.

Daichi only needed 4 hours of sleep and after waking up he went downstairs to the small kitchen to cook something for the group. He knew Tsunade and Shizune would be mentally tired after an ordeal like this and wanted to help them.

Daichi had many ingredients stored in his inventory and in a scroll in case of an emergency like this.

He made the necessary preparations and began preparing the foods. Cooking relaxed Daichi. It had a calming effect on him similar to painting or gardening. After sometime several exquisite smells drifted out of the kitchen which woke the other two temporary residents in the cabin.

"Wow… That smells delicious Daichi." Shizune came first and Tonton walked in as well.

"Thanks. It's going to taste even better than it smells." Daichi grinned and gave a cheeky reply.

A few moments later Tsunade joined them in the kitchen. "It's really handy to have our own personal chef isn't it Shizune."

"Yes. The dishes are quite delicious. His cooking skills have certainly improved. I'm half tempted to keep him with us." Shizune replied with a small laugh.

"Oink oink!"

"See. Even Tonton agrees." Tsunade ruffled Daichi's hair. She knew it always got to him.

The slug Sannin and her first apprentice teased the young boy. They laughed seeing Daichi's annoyed face.

"I could stay with you or… you two could come back to the village with me." Daichi replied back with a smile.

Hearing that Tsunade smile slightly turned sad. But it was only for a moment. She snorted and turned her head. "A tempting offer. But I'll pass. Maybe I'll visit once in a while to check up on you and see if you screwed anything up but I like roaming around the place."

Daichi shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "Your loss."

In a short while all the dishes were prepared and they set the table. The 3 ninjas plus a pet pig had a comfortable meal and finally relaxed after the life threatening ordeal they went through.

At that moment Tsunade looked and Daichi decided to broach a delicate subject.

"How are you feeling Daichi?" She asked him.

Daichi was confused for a moment. "I feel fine." He replied unsure why she would ask him now.

"Unless I'm mistaken you've had your first kill today, haven't you?"

Daichi's eyes slightly widened as he heard that. He had completely dismissed it. Due to a combination of gamers' minds, his numerous kills in the dungeon and the kill during the heat of the battle he didn't give it any thought.

"If you're asking me if I had some nightmares over those kills or regret my actions, then the answer is no." Daichi replied with a straight face.

Tsunade looked at the kid for a few moments and then asked. "Why?" Shizune was also paying attention to Daichi.

Daichi was silent as he thought about how to best answer that question. After a minute of silence he gave his reply. "I understand the life I chose. One day I'm going to have to make the choice of me or my enemy. And I know the kind of person I am. I don't feel any regret over killing them. It was in the heat of the battle. But I also didn't enjoy it. If it were just me, I might have tried to escape or I would have tried to subdue them and killing them would have been a last resort. But it wasn't just my life that was at stake, your lives were also in danger. I won't take the life of every enemy I come across, but to those that threaten my life and the people I care about, to those that truly deserve it, I won't show any mercy."

Tsunade looked at Daichi's resolute face and let out a small breath. "You have a strong heart and mind. You are dealing with this better than most kids your age would… The piece of advice I can give you in this situation is, don't let it consume you. With your strength, it won't be long before enemies come for you. You will have to make choices like this again and again. Don't let those decisions swallow you up… Make sure you have someone you can count on to help you through in your dark times. No one can go at it alone and not change."

Daichi nodded. "I understand."

"You saved my life, you know. You're a good kid with a good heart. Don't forget that." Shizune said, smiling at Daichi.

Daichi nodded, smiling.

"I can't help but wonder who those people were? They must have had a reason for such a brazen attack." Shizune turned to her mentor and said as she thought about the attackers.

"Too bad we don't have any bodies. If we did, we could have figured out where they came from." Tsunade sighed.

Daichi was looking at his food and was concentrating on finishing his plate. He didn't want to let the other two know that he had two intact fresh corpses of the root ninjas with him.

Daichi had checked the status of the first two ninjas he killed after taking the scrolls out of the inventory. The bodies were preserved and were still warm as if they were only killed a few minutes ago. Daichi quickly sealed them back inside the scroll and placed them back in his inventory.

'Tsunade sensei is right. But it's better that I hold on to these bodies. I could study them and figure out so many things. Their bodies contain valuable information on the root after all. If I can learn some Yamanaka mind techniques or increase the level of my Mana skills and create a skill that can read memories of the dead, then I can get the root secrets. This is a valuable opportunity, and I can't waste it… Although something like this will definitely take some time to accomplish.'

—-

The next morning the trio of medic ninjas left the place and continued on with their journey. Within seven hours they reached their destination.

"This is the Land of Medicine. If we go inwards then we'll reach the 'Three Wolves' mountain ranges." Tsunade gave a run down of the land to Daichi.

At that moment Daichi received a system notification.

[Mini-Map has been updated.]

[Location - Three Wolves Mountain Range.]

"Now, there are three villages situated at the base of each mountain. The Howling Wolf Village, Awakening Wolf Village and Nourishing Wolf Village. We'll first be heading to the Howling Wolf Village. They sell medicines and shinobi services. I spent some time here training a long time ago. Come on."

"Are medicinal herbs the specialty of this place?" Daichi asked his teacher.

"Yes. The region surrounding the mountain range is filled with medical plants and rare herbs. It's why it's called the Land of Medicine. A person with adequate knowledge would be able to make over 300 medicines with just the herbs that could be found near the Howling Wolf Village."

"Wow." Daichi's eyes widened with excitement. 'If I can increase my knowledge I can maybe level up several skills and increase the effects of several of my medical skills.'

Tsunade led the other two through the mountain range and soon reached the Howling Wolf village. She headed in a certain direction and soon stood in front of a small home. She knocked on the door a few times and a few seconds later it opened.

A man with dull blue hair opened the door and his eyes widened as he saw who was standing in front of him. The next second he quickly shut the door in her face without a word.

Daichi and Shizune stood back and had an awkward expression seeing what just happened.

Tsunade knocked on the door again. "Come on Denjiru, open up."

"Go away." A voice came from the inside.

"Oh come on! Are you still mad about what happened?"

"Yes!"

"What if I say I can remedy that?" Tsunade said in a somewhat teasing tone as she looked at the locked door.

Daichi who was standing several feet back sweat dropped. 'This sounds like the start of a bad porno.'

"Unless you have my 400,000Ryo there's nothing you can do."

"I have it."

After she said those words there was a few seconds of silence and then the door opened once again. The blue haired man looked at Tsunade and asked her to show him the money.

Tsunade took a scroll from her jacket and tossed it at the man. He opened it and was surprised to see it filled with money.

"Can I come in now?" The slug Sannin asked.

The man signed. "You're just gonna break my door down now if I say no. So what's the point?" With that he slowly opened the door and Tsunade entered the small residence followed by Shizune and Daichi.

Daichi looked at the man. 'I wonder what's the story with him?'