CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY (3/4) (p.60-89):
Sasuke reaches the Kodon Clan Shrine. The shrine hasn't been taken care of, it's run-down. Behind it, down the stone stairs, lies the Rengyoudou Shop. It also looks run-down. It's already midnight, so Sasuke returns to the shrine. There's a stone monument with the images of a wolf and a tiger on it. Sasuke kicks in the shrine's door, enters and lays down. Part of the roof is gone. He looks up to the moon, feels a dangerous presence and jumps back up. But it's just a small white snake. Sasuke lays back down.
Sasuke remembers Itachi's "hate me, and live!" speech. He had accepted those words without questioning them. He hadn't noticed the pain behind those words. Then, he remembers Tobi's words. Is he, again, not going to question what he's being told? No, he should pay close attention.
He feels a dangerous presence again. This time it's serious. He sees three shadows jump across the sky. Sasuke jumps outside onto the roof and hides his presence. The three head towards the shop. There's a flash and two explosions. The shop has been set on fire. Sasuke sees two people try to stop the fire with water. Seeing the shop burn angers him. It's like the flames are insulting Itachi's memory. He slams a Chidori into the ground and the shockwaves put out the flames (and leaves quite some destruction).
A boy tries to attack him, but Sasuke avoids him. The boy has pointy hair and is wearing some kind of mask. The boy, which vaguely reminds him of the old Naruto, angrily asks: "Are you from the Sendou Clan too!? Did you come to steal the Kotarou too!?" The boy sloppily throws kunai at him. Sasuke says he didn't start the fire. The boy doesn't believe him and keeps attacking. The sloppy attacks remind Sasuke of the old Naruto, too. Sasuke flicks the boy's forehead. The boy falls back and glares at him. This too reminds Sasuke of "that usuratonkachi". Another guy calls the boy off. The guy has long hair which has been tied back and he's wearing a light purple kimono. The boy refuses. The guy points out that Sasuke has the Uchiha Clan crest on his back, not the Sendou's. This makes the boy change his tune. He asks Sasuke: "That means you're Itachi-san's brother?"
The man introduces himself as Reishi, the owner of the Rengyoudou Shop. The boy is called Kina. Sasuke asks: "You know… Itachi?" Reishi nods, apparently Itachi was one of his customers.
The scene changes to the trio having breakfast. Kina now has the mask tied to back of his head. He explains it used to belong to his father; it's an Anbu mask. Sasuke notices it's a hawk mask and he feels he's seen it before but can't remember clearly. Reishi says "let's eat" but Sasuke says he's not hungry. Reishi assures him there's no poison in the breakfast or anything. Sasuke says he's not so stupid to eat what a stranger gives him. Kina snubs him because apparently Kina had gone out of his way to make Itachi's favorite (rice balls). Kina snubs him some more ("fine, don't eat!") and Sasuke, who desperately tries to keep his stomach from growling because he is hungry, responds that although he might not be hungry, eating while you can is also part of being a shinobi.
So in the end Sasuke starts eating and Reishi and Kina smile at each other. Sasuke thinks the food is quite tasty but says: "It's not bad. ..Considering it was prepared by a brat, anyway." He muses it's been a long time since he had a warm meal. There's also some konbu. Kina notices Sasuke staring at it and asks: "Rice balls with konbu were Itachi's favorites. Do you like them too?" Sasuke is a bit shaken. He averts his face and answers he prefers rice balls with okaka. He looks at the two brothers; they reminds him of himself and Itachi. A young brother who admires his brother and an older brother who acts like a parent. They look like they could overcome any hardship. And that's why he can't understand why they'd make bad drugs like saigenzai.
Sasuke shows the saigenzai he bought and says the seller called it "Rengyoudou Shop's Kotarou". Kina throws a fit. He steals the bag, throws it onto the ground and tramples it. Kina yells: "So you were just after saigenzai! Did you come to steal it like the others!?" He also bad-mouths Itachi, speculating that Itachi was only after the saigenzai too. Reishi disagrees ("Itachi-san wasn't like that") and tries to calm Kina down. Kina yells some more. Apparently Kotarou can only be made by Reishi inside his body so you can't steal it.
Sasuke looks straight at Kina and says, "Itachi… died." That makes Kina shut up. Reishi apologizes for his little brother's behavior. Sasuke says it's fine, he understands why Kina would doubt him. Sasuke explains he just bought the drug to test the shop's reputation. Reishi explains the drug which Sasuke bought is a fake. The prescription for Kotarou is written in the blood of Kodon Clan members. Sasuke asks if it's a Bloodline Limit Jutsu. Reishi says it's not. The ingredients are simple, they grow on the mountains in the area, but the ingredients are then "processed" inside his body. You can't steal it even though many think they can. Reishi says being able to steal Kotarou is "a rumor without root or leaf." Sasuke stays silent, confused. Reishi explains the rumor is groundless (literally "rootless" in Japanese, in other words, he made a really bad pun.) Kina picks on Reishi for his failed pun. Reishi covers his embarrassment with a cough and turns the conversation back on track. Sasuke says he bought the fake Kotarou near a big bridge. Reishi calls it Suikazura Bridge.
Sasuke asks whether Itachi got his medicine from the Rengyoudou Shop. Reishi affirms this. If you mix Kotarou with other medicine, it becomes a powerful painkiller. Sasuke shows Itachi's receipt to Reishi and asks why it has 下品 written on it. Reishi explains that 上品 have a weak effect but no side effects. 中品 leaves no permanent damage if you use them for a little while. But下品 have strong effects but also very strong side effects. Reishi explains that, for example, Itachi's eye drops can leads to temporary blindness. Sasuke now understands why he was having white flashes (he also took some drops).
Sasuke then asks after the 七 ("seven") written on the back of the receipt. It looks like Itachi wrote it himself. Reishi looks at it and get visibly upset so Sasuke decides to change the subject and asks: "Can you tell me anything about Itachi?" Kina suddenly stands up and apologizes to Sasuke for earlier. Sasuke says it's fine and that Kina shouldn't go easy on people who harm his family. Kina nods.
Reishi says Itachi would buy medicine once or twice a year. Itachi had told him, "If my little brother visits the shop… that means I am probably no longer alive." Itachi had said he wanted to live a little longer because there was something he needed to do. He didn't care what would happen to him afterwards. So Reishi gave Itachi the strongest下品 (gebon) he had. Sasuke muses that it's just like Itachi to say that. "Always perfect, always foreseeing, always…. sad."
Reishi asks whether Itachi suffered. Sasuke remembers the way Itachi had clutched his chest and coughed up blood after summoning Susanoo. He says: "Itachi's body was… already beyond repair, right?" Reishi averts his eyes and apologizes. Sasuke says there's no need to apologize.
Kina says Itachi was always quiet and calm, but also incredibly strong and would always help them when the Sendou Clan bugged them. Itachi would also spend the night in the shrine when waiting for his medicine to be prepared. Kina would sometimes enter and give Itachi rice balls with konbu. At first, Itachi would always remain silent no matter what Kina asked. But Itachi slowly started opening up and mentioned he had a little brother. When Kina asked Itachi what Sasuke was like, Itachi smiled happily. With a distant look in his eyes, Itachi answered: "He's honest like you, Kina, but he's hopelessly bad at showing it on the outside. That's why I have to keep a close eye on him." Kina interrupts his story to ask: "…Are you crying, Sasuke-san?". Sasuke blames it on his eyes, averts his face and changes the topic to the Sendou Clan.
Kina says the Sendou Clan are failed shinobi and run the saigenzai scene. Reishi explains that the shinobi that failed to get new jobs after the Neutrality Declaration, formed a clique and started selling bad saigenzai. A shinobi called Sendou Jiryuu is the boss. Apparently, Kotarou was the saigenzai that Reishi's father used to defeat Rouen (the wolf/tiger beast). Sendou Jiryuu wants to get his hands on it to make some fast money: many shinobi are still not used to neutrality and use saigenzai to escape the cruel reality of their lives.
Kina yells that he doesn't care what happens to the village. Apparently, the villagers are now saying that his father used Rouen to attack the village. Sasuke gets a déjà vu (i.e. the Nine Tales attack on Leaf Village.) Reishi scolds Kina not to bother other people with their problems. Reishi says the attack just now destroyed all the medicine pots. It would take time to make new medicine. He asks Sasuke to come back again later, in the future. Sasuke says he'll wait. Reishi again stresses it'll take a while (it sounds like he's trying to get Sasuke to leave). Sasuke says he won't cause them any trouble, he gets up, leaves the shop and says that he'll be staying at the shrine.