"Yin Yang Master? Never heard of that before, and he used Fire Release Ninjutsu without using Chakra at all… Hanabi, are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"
In the Hokage Office, after listening to Hyuga Hanabi's words, Uzumaki Naruto thought for a moment and asked.
Hyuga Hanabi hurriedly shook her head and said, "Impossible, there's no way I saw it wrong. Even if they don't refine Chakra, a ninja's body and meridians are completely different from an ordinary person's. That boss's meridians didn't look like there was any sign of Chakra existing in his body at all…"
After hearing Hyuga Hanabi say this, everyone in the room more or less accepted her words. After all, Hyuga Hanabi was also a Jonin, and there weren't many in the village whose Byakugan surpassed hers.
Tsunade had also returned. She just happened to be nearby, and after receiving Sakura's message, she came back to take a look. But upon seeing those extremely effective secret medicines, even she was surprised.
If they'd had this kind of secret medicine during the wars in the Ninja World back then, Konoha's casualties would have been greatly reduced.
"Naruto, what do you plan to do now?"
Tsunade opened her mouth and said, "Even though the Five Great Ninja Villages aren't at war, if secret medicine with this kind of effect falls into the hands of other ninja, it could bring a lot of trouble."
"This… I don't really know what to do either."
Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head and said, "If he's just properly running a shop and doing business, Konoha can't really do anything to him. And even if he doesn't stay in Konoha, this Yin Yang Master can still go to other countries…."
Off to the side, Sakura asked, "Speaking of which, what exactly is a Yin Yang Master? Even Lady Tsunade doesn't know?"
Tsunade shook her head and said, "I've never heard of it…"
"Right, maybe Fukasaku Sage at Mount Myoboku would know. I'll ask him."
Uzumaki Naruto suddenly thought of Mount Myoboku, which he'd visited recently, then cut his finger and formed a few hand signs. He pressed his hand on the desk and said, "Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
A puff of smoke appeared, and then an elderly toad appeared on Uzumaki Naruto's desk holding a bowl. But what was in the bowl wasn't rice, it was wriggling worms.
This instantly made the others watching feel a bit nauseated. People who'd never eaten bugs simply couldn't stomach that sort of thing.
Fukasaku Sage glanced around, then promptly kicked Uzumaki Naruto in the stomach and said angrily, "Little Naruto, how are you just like Little Jiraiya—summoning me without checking what I'm doing first!"
"Sorry, sorry, Fukasaku Sage, I summoned you this time because I have a question I want to ask you."
Uzumaki Naruto hurriedly apologized, then changed the subject and asked Fukasaku Sage, "Fukasaku Sage, do you know what a Yin Yang Master is?"
"Yin Yang Master?"
When Fukasaku Sage heard this term, a look of surprise flashed over the old toad's face as he asked, "Little Naruto, where did you hear about Yin Yang Masters?"
"Eh, so Yin Yang Masters really exist? How come I've never heard of them before?"
Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Naruto's face showed surprise. Tsunade, Sakura, and the others all revealed the same expression. So Yin Yang Masters weren't just made-up nonsense.
"It's normal that you haven't heard of them. The group known as Yin Yang Masters disappeared a very long time ago. When I was born, Yin Yang Masters had already been extinct for almost three hundred years."
Looking at Uzumaki Naruto's shocked expression, Fukasaku Sage asked, "Sounds like you've run into a Yin Yang Master?"
Uzumaki Naruto nodded and said, "Yeah, we met someone who called himself a Yin Yang Master, but we couldn't be sure, so we wanted to ask you. Using the Byakugan, we could confirm that he doesn't have Chakra, but he can use flames to refine secret medicine, and maybe has other abilities…"
Fukasaku Sage said, "No Chakra, huh. Then he might really be a Yin Yang Master. Because Chakra was brought by the Goddess of Mao, and before the Divine Tree descended, Yin Yang Masters were the rulers of this planet. They directly manipulated Natural Energy, creating Gods under this heaven and earth, controlling life and death, and guiding humanity onto the correct path…."
The Goddess of Mao was Otsutsuki Kaguya. After experiencing the Fourth Great Ninja War, everyone in the room had some understanding of the sealing of Otsutsuki Kaguya that had happened a thousand years ago.
"Even we of Mount Myoboku had to listen to the Yin Yang Masters back then."
Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Naruto said in shock, "Yin Yang Masters were that powerful?"
"No matter how powerful, they still became history. After the Goddess of Mao appeared, the Yin Yang Masters were the first to rebel against her. But the Goddess of Mao was too powerful and inflicted devastating losses on them. After that, they gradually faded away, and by the time I was born, there was no longer any news of Yin Yang Masters."
After Fukasaku Sage finished speaking, the room fell silent. They were still digesting his words.
After a while, Uzumaki Naruto finally spoke. "Looks like Hanabi's Byakugan didn't see wrong. That pharmacy owner really doesn't have Chakra—he's directly using Natural Energy. The Byakugan can't see Natural Energy; it can only sense it…."
Tsunade frowned slightly in thought and said, "I didn't expect there would still be Yin Yang Masters around now. What is this guy trying to do? From the looks of it, he seems to be searching for something…."
"Whatever he's looking for, as long as we understand his background, that's enough for now. These secret medicines have already passed Sakura's inspection; there's nothing wrong with them. Next… Sai, just collect information on him. For the time being, we won't make contact with him."
Nara Shikamaru spoke up. In his view, for someone they didn't really understand and who didn't show obvious malice, the best strategy was to leave him alone for now and wait for him to gradually reveal his intentions. That would be enough.
"Shikamaru's right. Since the other party can use Natural Energy, even surveillance won't do much. Sai, just gather intel on him from before he came to Konoha. For monitoring inside the village, let's give up on that for now."
Uzumaki Naruto said. He was the only one in Konoha who could use Natural Energy, and he knew very well how strong Natural Energy perception was. Anbu surveillance would be completely ineffective against someone using Natural Energy.
Sakura spoke up at this time, "I can use buying medicine as an excuse to often visit that pharmacy and take a look. I'll just buy one or two each time, that way I can collect some intel..."
After speaking, Sakura also thought in her heart that this way the village's Secret Medicine might be able to be sent to Mr. Sasuke; when it comes to missions, probably no ninja has it harder and more dangerous than the missions Mr. Sasuke carries out.
"Hahaha, that's not a bad method either. But Sakura, I'm counting on you for those Secret Medicines."
Uzumaki Naruto guessed Sakura's plan, but he was thinking the same thing. Sasuke was outside investigating the Otsutsuki, always going to dangerous places; compared to them, who stayed in the village, he needed those Secret Medicines much more.
After the meeting in the Hokage Office dispersed, Fukasaku Sage didn't leave immediately and asked Uzumaki Naruto about the things the Great Toad Sage wanted to know.
However, what the Great Toad Sage said was too general. All they could infer from the intel was that the enemy was related to the Otsutsuki, and after he and Shikamaru's analysis, the enemy was very likely the one Kaguya wanted to deal with. They could only rely on Sasuke's investigation.
For the time being, there was no intel at all.
After hearing Naruto's answer, Fukasaku Sage returned to Mount Myoboku.
————————————
Yoichi Pharmacy.
Today Uchiha Yoichi wasn't doing Alchemy. He had bought the shop next door to the pharmacy and was planning to open an Izakaya there, mainly to satisfy his own cravings for good food and drink.
Even though his lifespan had already exceeded several thousand years, Uchiha Yoichi had never given up his cravings. Whenever he encountered some food he'd never eaten before, he would want to give it a try.
Maybe it was a habit brought to him by his Otsutsuki genes; he just couldn't change this instinct to "eat."
Since he wasn't short on money, Uchiha Yoichi very quickly bought the three-story shop next door. He planned to break through the top floor, and leave the first and second floors for the Izakaya and a restaurant.
Just as Uchiha Yoichi finished talking things over with the renovation team, someone suddenly spoke behind him: "Eh, wasn't this place next door a toy store? Why did it close down?"
Uchiha Yoichi turned his head and saw that the speaker was someone he knew, that married woman with a mature, sultry voice, Yamanaka Ino. It was just that this married lady didn't seem to have a very good impression of him.
"I bought it. From now on this place will be an Izakaya and a restaurant."
Hearing this, Yamanaka Ino asked in surprise, "You bought it? What about Boss Seino? And why are you opening these two kinds of shops, they're completely not like you at all..."
"Who knows, he probably left with the money. I'm doing it for my own convenience—go downstairs and I can eat right away."
After Uchiha Yoichi finished speaking, he tilted his head and gave Yamanaka Ino a once-over.
Being stared at like that made Yamanaka Ino a bit uncomfortable, so she put her hands on her hips and said, "What are you looking at?"
Uchiha Yoichi said, "Looking at you. Obviously you're a ninja, but you act like you've got nothing to do all day. Your temper and personality aren't that great either. You've been arguing with your family lately, haven't you?"
"You bastard..."
Yamanaka Ino instantly clenched her fists. She thought to herself that this guy's words were way too infuriating. He had just said she wasn't doing any ninja work, and now he brought up her arguing with her family... She indeed hadn't really talked to Sai recently, but her relationship with her family was absolutely the best!
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll..."
"Do you know what the seven-year itch is?"
Yamanaka Ino was stunned when she heard this question. Half of her anger disappeared as she said, "Eh? I-I don't know. But what does that have to do with what you just said? How can you just randomly talk about my personal life..."
"Of course it's related. Your current situation is a lot like the seven-year itch. You'd better solve it as soon as possible."
After saying that, Uchiha Yoichi turned around and went back into the pharmacy. Truly skilled fishermen always need to chum the water in advance, give those dumb fish a little benefit, and then they'll unknowingly bite onto the hook.
Right now, he was setting the hook for Yamanaka Ino.
Originally Uchiha Yoichi had planned to peacefully "go fishing," but since he kept running into this woman, he couldn't be blamed for casting his line.
"Wait a minute..."
Seeing Uchiha Yoichi turn to leave, Yamanaka Ino still hadn't figured out what the seven-year itch was, so she hurried after him with quick little steps and asked, "What did you mean just now by the seven-year itch?"
But when they were still outside, Uchiha Yoichi didn't answer her. Only after they entered Yoichi Pharmacy did Uchiha Yoichi pour two cups of tea, carry them over, and place one of them in front of Yamanaka Ino.
"Th-thanks."
Seeing this, Yamanaka Ino thanked him in a low voice, secretly thinking in her heart that this guy wasn't that annoying when he kept his mouth shut.
After setting down his own tea, Uchiha Yoichi sat opposite Yamanaka Ino and spoke: "It's a set of symptoms summed up from a combination of medical science and social studies..."
He was about to start setting the hook!