Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 52 52 : The Precious Healing Pill

Riku smiled and said, "Not necessarily. Even if they have Kage-level chakra or taijutsu, they may lack the actual combat experience soone like Kakashi-sensei has. After all, you're also an elite Jonin. This mission isn't impossible."

"There's still great danger," Kakashi replied solemnly.

That was the only conclusion he could co to. After all, the Third Hokage himself had assigned this mission.

Yugao looked at Riku apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Riku. You got caught up in this because of ."

Riku smiled gently. "Sister Yugao, while I do think this whole situation is pretty unpleasant, it's not your fault."

He knew very well that Yugao must have rejected the Third Hokage's request at first.

Even Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy had tried to refuse.

But clearly, over the past month or so, Hiruzen Sarutobi had likely assessed Riku's strength—and concluded it was already at the Jonin level.

This mission was, in truth, a test—an evaluation to determine whether Riku was worth nurturing further.

Riku could easily guess what the Third Hokage was planning.

And it left him feeling irritated.

He had no desire to be "nurtured" by soone who would be dead in a few months. Riku figured things might get easier under the Fifth Hokage.

At that point, he wouldn't need to hide his strength anymore.

But for now, he had no choice but to accompany Kakashi and the others on missions. Refusal wasn't really an option.

Kakashi placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Sorry. As your teacher, I can't protect you from this."

Riku could feel Kakashi's guilt.

He looked up, eting Kakashi's eyes with a calm smile. "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. I might not want to take this mission, but I have to admit—it's a great opportunity for ."

"And I plan to surprise you all."

"Weren't you always wondering how strong I really am?"

Kakashi blinked at his words, montarily stunned. The guilt in his expression deepened. "Then I swear—on this mission, even if it costs my life, I won't let anything happen to you."

Riku could feel the sincerity in his words.

He smiled again. "Don't say that, Kakashi-sensei. How do you know I'm not stronger than you?"

He said it half-jokingly, but it made Yamato, Guy, and Yugao pause for a second.

Kakashi, on the other hand, actually considered the possibility.

He'd always known that Riku wasn't showing his full strength.

But Kakashi had never pushed to find out. If Riku didn't want to reveal it, he wouldn't ask.

After a mont, Riku turned to Yugao, thought for a second, and pulled out a small bottle.

"Sister Yugao, this is a healing dicine I made myself. It'll help you."

He poured out a small, green pill that glead like a precious gemstone.

"This pill was refined from several rare dicinal herbs. After taking it, your body should completely recover."

Yugao stared at the pill in shock.

Just by looking at it, she could tell how precious it was.

Even its surface radiated a powerful chakra.

"This is... too valuable..."

Before she could finish, Riku placed the pill in her hand. "With your body at full strength, you'll be able to fight without holding back. That way, we're all safer."

Yugao was clearly the weakest of the five.

Riku didn't want her to be a liability.

Of course, he couldn't say that out loud.

Yugao hesitated only for a mont before swallowing the pill without complaint.

Kakashi chuckled. "You're really pulling out all the stops now. This is rare."

Guy and Yamato both looked shocked.

"You're actually using that dicine?" Guy asked.

Riku sealed the bottle and tucked it back into his ninja pouch. He smiled. "Don't overthink it. I don't have many left."

In fact, these healing pills were extrely limited.

Riku had only managed to refine six of them over the last three years.

He'd already given one to Yamato, one to Guy, one to Kakashi, and now one to Yugao.

That left only two.

And the ingredients were insanely rare. It had cost him 500,000 ryo to refine just those six pills.

The pill had a single purpose: to repair the body.

As long as a person had even a sliver of life remaining, the pill could bring them back from the brink of death.

It also maintained full body function for an entire month, rendering the user immune to all poisons during that ti.

Yamato had already tested it once.

During an S-rank mission, he was ambushed and nearly killed. After taking the pill, he fully recovered, took down the enemy, and completed the mission.

Naturally, when he tried to get another from Riku afterward—Riku refused.

He couldn't spare any more.

Yamato walked over now with a hopeful smile. "Riku, how many more of those do you have? Give one more?"

Riku sighed, a black line of frustration forming on his face. "I only have one left."

Yamato looked disappointed. "Aww, man. If we had more of that stuff, we'd basically have extra lives. What a sha."

In this world, such potions were insanely rare.

Healing of this level was usually tied to forbidden jutsu—and most of those required a life in exchange.

While Riku's pills couldn't raise the dead, they were still extraordinarily valuable.

Kakashi and Guy both still had theirs.

They exchanged a glance and grinned.

"Yamato, thanks for testing that pill's effectiveness for us," Guy teased.

Yamato gave Kakashi a helpless look. "Co on, senpai, your strength is off the charts—why not give yours?"

Kakashi just smiled and replied kindly, "Keep dreaming."

After Yugao took the pill, Riku smiled and said, "Let's go, Kakashi-sensei. If we complete this mission, I'll officially beco a Chūnin."

"Not that I really care about the title… I'm more curious about the S-rank forbidden jutsu in the Scroll of Seals."

Kakashi sighed. "That kind of jutsu costs your life. It's really not worth it."

His words made Guy, Yamato, and Yugao all fall silent.

If it were up to them, they'd rather find an S-rank jutsu for Riku themselves than let him risk his life on a mission like this.