Although advanced medical techniques, especially Medical Ninjutsu, can achieve certain things that even the most advanced modern medicine in his previous life would have to admit are inferior.
However, Medical Ninjutsu can only be used by well-trained Medical Ninjas, and the training cost of a Medical Ninja is extremely high; their numbers are extremely limited.
While Konoha enjoys relatively abundant medical resources, in the vast lands of the Land of Fire and even the entire Shinobi World, countless ordinary people in towns and villages may never see a Medical Ninja in their entire lives.
The purple-level talent that Shinichi is currently pursuing, and even the existence of a higher level, requires an extremely broad cognitive foundation.
It is far from enough for high-ranking officials and nobles from various countries in the Shinobi World, ninjas from great ninja villages, and citizens of some major cities in the Land of Fire to know about him.
He needed to make his name known to ordinary people who had never seen a ninja, who spent their lives working in the fields, and who lived, died, and were born in remote mountain villages.
An antibacterial drug that does not rely on chakra, does not require ninjas to manufacture, and can be used by any civilian doctor or even ordinary people is the most direct key to opening that door.
Even for ninjas and Konoha itself, an antibacterial drug that can be mass-produced and applied on a large scale is of great significance from both military and economic perspectives.
Although the Shinobi World today has long recognized the concepts of microorganisms, cells, and bacteria, it also has corresponding methods for treating wound infections and various inflammations. They either use Medical Ninjutsu to directly kill the pathogens in the wound or use special drugs extracted from rare medicinal materials for antibacterial treatment.
However, without exception, these methods were concentrated within the extraordinary group of ninjas or provided by ninjas to wealthy merchants and nobles.
It could even be said that the vast majority of ordinary ninjas do not have this condition; they are all concentrated in an extremely narrow elite circle, and only a few people and formal Medical Ninjas can use it at any time.
And it's not very widespread!
Ordinary ninjas have very limited options for treatment after being injured; they can simply rinse the wound with water, apply the hemostatic medicine they carry, and disinfect it with alcohol. The rest is up to them to tough it out and pray that the wound doesn't become red, swollen, or fester, that the fever doesn't continue, or that it doesn't develop into sepsis.
If there were a drug that didn't require chakra or advanced Medical Ninjutsu, that ordinary ninja could carry, easily obtain, and use, and that was effective against a variety of common infections, then the situation would be completely different!
So Shinichi set his sights on Sulfonamides, the famous antibacterial drug from his previous life.
However, in his previous life, he was neither a chemistry major nor a medical major, nor even a science student.
He read only one popular science article and knew that this antibacterial drug was originally discovered in a dye called Prontosil.
As for what Prontosil looks like, what color it is, how it is synthesized, and how it is decomposed, he knew nothing about it.
Therefore, Shinichi could only resort to the most rudimentary method, to purchase almost every type of dye available on the market, then prepare and test them one by one to observe which dyes could stop the growth of bacteria in the petri dish.
Once a suitable candidate dye is found, he will leverage his medical expertise and exceptional analytical skills to analyze its molecular structure and then procure several other dyes with similar structures.
Comparative tests were conducted on the materials to gradually narrow down the candidate pool.
Unfortunately, after experimenting for more than half a month, he still hadn't found any valuable clues.
After some time, Shinichi sat down again, gently placed the glass dish back on the lab bench, and frowned slightly.
"Could it be that this world... actually doesn't have Prontosil?"
He muttered to himself softly, after all, this world is not the same as his previous one, and some things that were everywhere in his previous life may not exist here at all, which is not surprising.
Perhaps Prontosil never existed in this world at all.
"Or… should I find penicillin first?"
Another thought popped into his head, but he immediately shook his head.
Even setting aside the possibility that Prontosil might not exist, what about Penicillium?
Does that specific strain of penicillium mold, capable of secreting penicillin, necessarily exist in this world?
Moreover, penicillin is much more troublesome than sulfonamides.
If sulfonamides follow a chemical route, dyes, chemical synthesis, and molecular structure modification, the path is relatively clear. Once the key intermediate is found, subsequent steps can be carried out via organic synthesis.
Penicillin follows a biological route, including fungus screening, culture medium optimization, fermentation condition exploration, and active ingredient extraction. This route involves more variables, a longer cycle, and is full of uncertainties at every step.
If he's not careful, what grows in the culture medium won't be penicillin, but rather clumps of useless bacteria.
"Alright, I'll leave it at that for now. I can start over once I get back to Konoha, when things are more favorable."
Shinichi rubbed his temples, suppressing the thought for the time being.
For him, regardless of whether prontosil or a suitable penicillium strain exists in the world, he will definitely pursue the research and development of mass-market drugs in the future.
This is a very important part of his overall long-term plan!
After all, he is destined to be a loving father to everyone in the world.
He got up again, handed the laboratory over to his Shadow Clones to continue managing, and turned to walk towards the door.
Just as he reached the door, he suddenly stopped.
Wait a moment!
The so-called Prontosil, could this special dye not have been a common dye available on the market from the beginning, but rather something specially designed and synthesized for research and development purposes, as a novel compound?
If that's really the case, then my decision to buy and test every single dye available on the market over the past two weeks has been misguided from the very beginning.
No matter how many kinds he tries or how long he tries, he will never be able to find the Prontosil in it, because this thing is not a regular commodity at all; it is impossible to find it even if he searches every dye shop in the entire Land of Fire, or even every dye shop in the entire Shinobi World.
"That's quite possible..."
Shinichi muttered to himself while standing silently at the door for a long time.
His knowledge of sulfonamides in his previous life was limited to the simple description in that popular science article, which stated that it was accidentally discovered in a dye called prontosil.
As for whether Prontosil was specially designed and synthesized by chemists or was an off-the-shelf dye that had been used in printing and dyeing factories for a long time.
The article didn't mention it, so naturally, he wouldn't know.
Upon closer reflection, the former is more in line with the logic of drug development.
After all, how could a bactericidal dye, if it were just a common, readily available product, have earned such a milestone reputation in medical history?