Chương 161

Shisui gathered us outside the Hokage's building and said, "All right, go home and prepare your gear. Meet me at the village gate in half an hour." Kaen reacted fast.

"So quick, sensei?" Shisui nodded.

"Yes. I will explain on the way." We all nodded and split in different directions. When I reached home, I found Genta on the ground, out of breath, while his father berated him.

"I thought you wanted to catch up," Takemura said.

"Yes, catch up, not die," Genta grunted. Takemura's hand rose as if to rap him on the head just as I stepped inside. Genta sprang up, suddenly full of energy.

"Noa, let's go eat outside and relax for a bit." I shook my head and moved quickly.

"Sorry, Genta. Our team has an urgent C-rank mission. I need to head out immediately." Takemura's eyes sharpened. He held Genta back when he tried to follow.

"This sounds serious. If they were called so urgently, then it must be truly important. Do not delay him." Genta's shoulders dipped.

"My team still haven't taken a single C-rank mission. Our sensei is too careful." Takemura smiled.

"Do not worry. I have seen your improvements. You are not far from taking one." Genta set his jaw, turned toward the yard, and went back to training. Takemura watched him for a breath, then looked at me. As soon as I came down with everything stowed in my storage seal, he spoke.

"Be careful, Noa. Make sure you come back alive. That idiot would be devastated if something happened to you, and so would I." I paused, a little touched, and could not stop a smile.

"I will." I waved to both of them and headed for the main gate. Shisui was already there, standing ready. He was not his usual quiet shadow. He looked energized and more than ready to move. Kaen waited beside him, and Sena arrived almost at the same time.

"Follow me," Shisui said in a tone that left no room for questions. We ran a long stretch through the thick forests around the Hidden Leaf. At last Shisui stopped. His Sharingan flared to life, and we all tensed. Sena and Kaen scanned the trees and the ground, ready for anything he had sensed. After a few tight moments, Shisui finished sweeping the area and spoke.

"I am sorry I did not explain earlier. It was not safe. We were supposed to meet Lord Kiyosuke at the Land of Wind border in two days. For security reasons his visit was moved up by one day. We must reach the Land of Rivers at full speed with no stops." Sena frowned.

"Sensei, if we push the whole way, we will run out of stamina and our chakra will be low by the time we arrive."

"That is why I brought these," Shisui said. He opened a small leather pouch and showed us a neat row of dark, marble-sized pills.

"Soldier Pills," he said.

"Also called Military Rations Pills. They were developed during the Second Shinobi War to keep squads fighting when supply lines broke. They are made from highly condensed food extracts, rare medicinal roots, and chakra-stimulant herbs. Think of them as concentrated rations with a stimulant effect." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He held one up between thumb and forefinger.

"They do not heal wounds, and they do not create chakra out of nothing. What they do is force your body to burn every bit of energy you still have. They pull both stamina and chakra into active use instead of letting your body save it for recovery. You will not feel hungry. Fatigue will be pushed back. Your endurance and usable chakra will rise to near peak, but only if you still have reserves to draw on. If you are already at your limit, the pill will do little but strain your body." I eyed the pouch.

"Any side effects?"

"Plenty," Shisui replied.

"Fatigue hits harder once the effect wears off. You will feel as if you went without sleep for days. Your mouth dries out. Your heart may pound harder and faster. Your fingers might tremble. If you take more than one in too short a time, the crash will be worse. Push it further and you risk damaging your muscles or overtaxing your chakra network. Some shinobi have collapsed or even died after abusing them. Use water whenever you can, and if you can get even a little food during the mission, take it.

It will ease the strain." Sena's expression stayed calm, though her voice was crisp.

"When do we use them?"

"We take one now," Shisui said.

"We pace ourselves, then each of you takes another about three hours before the rendezvous so you arrive sharp. If we are forced into a fight after meeting Lord Kiyosuke, you take one only on my order. If your fingers start to tingle, if your chest feels tight, or your vision narrows, you signal me at once. Those are warnings you are pushing too far." He handed each of us a single pill and kept the rest in the pouch.

"This mission is about control and endurance. The envoy is the objective. These pills are a tool, not a shortcut. Do not abuse them now or in the future." We pocketed the pills. Shisui's eyes, which had been on us the whole time, seemed to sharpen even more as he gave the final order.

"Go for it." I turned the pill in my palm for a moment before popping it into my mouth. The taste hit me like I had chewed old tree bark dipped in stale medicine, with a sharp, burning herbal bite that clawed at my tongue and refused to let go. I bit down and felt it crumble like chalky dirt between my teeth, bitter grit sticking to the roof of my mouth as I forced it down. The aftertaste was worse, a mix of damp roots and something that reminded me faintly of boiled socks.

If this was what top-secret medical genius tasted like, I was not impressed. For the first few minutes nothing happened. My breathing stayed even as we moved through the forest. I started wondering if Shisui had given us sugar candy just to keep us quiet. Then, about ten minutes later, a faint warmth spread through my chest, slow at first, then steadier. My muscles felt lighter, the sluggish drag in my limbs easing as if someone had taken a heavy pack off my back.

The hunger I had been ignoring faded, replaced by a subtle restless energy that made it easier to keep up the pace. Another five or six minutes passed before I started to feel the real edge of it. My heartbeat ticked a little faster, not enough to set off alarms, just enough to remind me the pill was coaxing my body to burn through its reserves harder than it liked. My focus sharpened, the forest around us seeming a little clearer, every sound a little more distinct.

My steps fell into rhythm with Shisui's without any effort on my part. It was not the wild surge of strength I had imagined when I first read about these pills in my old world. There was no heroic second wind, no glorious rush of power. It was more like my body quietly refusing to slow down when it should have. The effort was still there, humming under the surface, as if the pill was bribing my muscles to keep going while secretly charging interest.

By the twenty-minute mark the warmth had settled into a steady burn in my core. The dull ache in my calves and shoulders had eased, and I felt like I could keep running for hours. Even so, I could already sense the thin thread of strain hiding underneath, ready to snap back the moment the pill's effect faded. What caught me off guard was the feel of my chakra. My coils were still sluggish from earlier training, like sore muscles after a long workout. The pill did not refill what I had burned away.

Instead, it felt as if it scraped the corners of my reserves and shoved them forward. That, combined with my natural chakra recovery, meant I would be back to full in a few hours. Still, the extra traffic in my chakra network made the flow feel a little too fast and a little too rough, as if it were being yanked through pipes that needed time to rest. I muttered under my breath, "Great. Endurance on credit and chakra on overdraft. Perfect recipe for a bright future."

I kept my breathing steady and my steps light, trying not to waste the boost. Shisui's warning stayed in the back of my mind. The pill was not magic. It was a loan, and from the way my body felt, the collector was going to show up swinging a hammer.