With Tsunade's insight, she could already envision the miracles that a sufficient quantity of this Water of Life could produce.
Immortality?
Rapid wound recovery?
Even invincibility?
Her gaze toward Shen Mo shifted subtly.
Someone who could produce such an item couldn't possibly be just an ordinary merchant.
"Well played, brother," Tsunade said, swirling the bottle in her hand. "Can you tell me where you source these cans from?"
From "kid" to brother?
The shock of the Fountain of Youth must've hit harder than he'd anticipated.
Shen Mo's mind raced through possibilities, but his smile remained steady. "Sorry, that's a trade secret. We've signed a contract not to disclose it."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly.
We?
So there was more than one person selling these cans.
She instinctively wondered if some mysterious faction was scheming behind the scenes.
But then…
"Forget it, just asking casually, just asking," Tsunade repeated, as if trying to convince herself.
After all, she'd left Konoha.
The world's affairs were no longer her concern.
Shen Mo noticed Tsunade's forced smile and the dimming of her eyes, piecing it together.
Right now, Tsunade was still in her slump.
The successive deaths of her brother and lover had hit her too hard.
"Well then, I'll take my leave."
Shen Mo deliberately pulled out a rope, pretending to slowly tie up the remaining eight cans, as if preparing to haul them away.
"Wait a sec."
Tsunade's voice rang out, as expected.
She was hooked.
Shen Mo's heart leapt with glee, but he looked up calmly. "Anything else, miss?"
"Looks like a hassle lugging all those cans around. How about selling them to me at a discount?" Tsunade eyed the other cans with anticipation.
Bingo.
Though she wanted no part in extraneous matters, her curiosity about these cans burned strong.
If they held the Water of Life, what else might they contain?
The unknown was one of the greatest charms of the cans, not to mention the thrill of gambling.
"A discount? Out of the question," Shen Mo said firmly, his face apologetic. "It's against the rules, I'm afraid. Honestly, even for those two cans just now, I'll have to cover their original cost myself when I report back."
Discounts were a slippery slope.
Give an inch, and they'd never stop asking.
Shen Mo had to hammer home one point.
He was just a lowly worker, with some perks and a bit of skill, but no say in the can-selling business.
"Tch." Tsunade was visibly annoyed but didn't push. With a grand wave of her hand, she barked, "Shizune, pay up."
"But, Lady Tsunade…" Shizune hesitated.
Tsunade's gambling had racked up mountains of debt, and all they had left was some living expenses.
"No worries, these cans are a steal!" Tsunade shook the bottle again, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
The second charm of the cans.
No loss!
Everything that came out seemed valuable, with no thought to whether the stuff was actually useful to her.
Shen Mo knew it.
Princess Tsunade was in deep.
"This is a huge help," Shen Mo said, happily taking the money from Shizune. The System in his mind confirmed the transaction, and he pushed the cans forward. "May I join you to see what's inside? If there's anything rare, I can explain it for you."
Tsunade nodded carelessly, slamming her palm down.
Crack.
Another ten thousand in cash?
She gave it a dismissive look and moved to the next.
This time, a packet of powder appeared.
"This is a special narcissus root powder, worth about thirty thousand," Shen Mo said preemptively. "Combine it with a specific mugwort stem extract, and you can create a potent sedative called Water of Living Death—colorless, odorless, and highly effective."
Sourced from the world of Harry Potter.
In truth…
Of the eight cans, besides two with cash, five contained potions or herbs from the Harry Potter world.
Healing draughts, petrification potions, and the priciest—a tiny vial of Veritaserum, which Shen Mo claimed was worth eighty thousand.
Of course, their actual value in the System was around ten thousand each.
Roughly six hundred Trade Points, just meeting the minimum one-fifth trade value.
"Jackpot!"
Tsunade's excited shout overlapped with Shen Mo's smug inner cheer.
"Such incredible potions, incredible herbs!"
Her face flushed with excitement as she looked at Shen Mo.
Tsunade, the perennial loser at gambling, when had she ever scored this big?
"Your luck is truly remarkable," Shen Mo said, lavishing praise with just the right amount of admiration. "Even for a medicinal series can set, pulling so many high-value potions is extraordinarily rare."
"Hahaha!"
Tsunade let out an unladylike guffaw, then smashed the final can with a crack.
Inside was a book.
Here it was!
Shen Mo's eyes sharpened.
This was his grand gift.
"What's this?" Tsunade picked it up and flipped it open. "On the Application of Chakra in Cellular Regeneration."
"This!?" Shen Mo's acting kicked into high gear, his face a mask of shock. "This is a treasure for medical ninjas! They say whoever collects the entire series can become the greatest medical ninja!"
"The greatest medical ninja?" Tsunade shot Shen Mo a glance, scoffing dismissively. "Tch."
She was already a renowned medical ninja.
This must be the least useful thing.
She skimmed a few lines.
Suddenly…
Her expression faltered.
"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked softly, but Tsunade raised a hand to silence her.
The room fell quiet.
Only the rustle of turning pages remained.
This book…
So many of its contents matched her own research and ideas exactly!
It even included additions and explanations she hadn't yet conceived.
Shen Mo just watched, smiling.
In reality…
The author of this book was Tsunade herself. Shen Mo had sourced it from fifteen years in the future—Tsunade's own medical treatise!
But he'd only extracted a small portion.
He'd spent extra Trade Points to strip out any names, dates, or identifying information.
The System truly lived up to its "Omni" name.
"There's more, right?"
Tsunade was engrossed, only to find it ended abruptly.
The whole thing was barely a dozen pages.
For a top-tier medical ninja like her, this was maddening.
"It's a series," Shen Mo said, shaking his head helplessly. "Only found in medicinal series cans, but collecting them all is incredibly difficult."
The third charm of the cans!
Collection!
Like some game where you pull for your waifu.
One copy's useless, two's weak, three's forgettable—don't you want to hurry up and max her out?
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Want to read ahead? Early chapters on: patreon.com/ShadowKage