"Huh? There's a deal this good?"
Mikami Yuu was stunned.
The Great Ninja War had just broken out, and you were already retiring from the ninja roster… what kind of absurd luck was that? Did you eat some kind of Fortune-Defying Luck or something?
You only lost a leg—but your teammates lost their lives!
Of course.
Even if that really was the situation, Mikami Yuu's reaction was a little too cheerful and filial in the worst possible way, making Mikami Aoi poke him on the head and scold him lightly.
"This child, what nonsense are you saying…"
"Haha, kids say the darndest things."
Mikami Tajima didn't take offense.
After that,
Mikami Aoi began telling Tajima about how things had been at home over the past year, and about Mikami Yuu's graduation from the Ninja Academy.
"…What? Yuu graduated first in his class, beat the Hokage's son, got a reward, and his squad leader is that really impressive jōnin, Namikaze Minato, the one rumored to be skilled in space-time ninjutsu?"
"Hahahaha, as expected of Aoi's and my son! Amazing!"
Tajima was in such a good mood that he forgot about his leg injury for a moment. Only when he came back to himself did he notice that the wounds on his body had started bleeding again.
Just as Aoi was about to go call a doctor,
Mikami Yuu spread out his hands, hovered his palms above Tajima's wounds, and used Healing Technique.
"Huh? Yuu, you know medical ninjutsu too?"
"I've learned a little. I help out at the hospital from time to time these days."
Mikami Yuu answered casually.
As he spoke, a small commotion rose not far away.
A blonde woman with twin ponytails—Tsunade—had appeared among the crowd. She looked around, then strode straight toward Mikami Yuu's side.
"…Tsunade-sama?!"
The wounded nearby, along with their families, all looked shocked and hurriedly rose to greet her.
Tsunade waved a hand very casually. "No need for all that. I just came down to take a look. You're all injured, so focus on recovering instead of worrying about what's happening outside… Hey, brat, this is your father?"
The second half was directed at Mikami Yuu.
Tajima, lying in the hospital bed, froze. "Yuu… you and Tsunade-sama…"
What kind of relationship?
"Oh, for now he more or less counts as my student."
Tsunade glanced at Mikami Yuu and answered offhandedly. "This brat… Mikami Yuu has real talent in medical ninjutsu. He's been studying in the medical class lately and has helped me quite a bit. I heard his father came back from the border wounded, so I came over to take a look.
"Don't worry. Konoha Hospital won't neglect any wounded person, especially not someone like you—a hero."
Those polite public words immediately made Tajima flustered.
"A-hero? I'm not worthy of that…"
"No. Every ninja who bleeds for Konoha is a hero."
Tsunade said it simply.
How should you put it…
Tsunade's appearance this time may indeed have been partly due to Mikami Yuu, but more than that, it was probably political. With Sunagakure's invasion, the border under attack, and waves of wounded returning from the front, Konoha needed someone of her stature to step forward and steady morale.
Once the formalities were out of the way,
Tsunade lowered her head and looked at the pale green glow in Mikami Yuu's hands.
"How is it?"
"…He's fine for now. Stable condition. No immediate danger to his life."
Mikami Yuu answered.
"Good."
Tsunade paused, then made a promise. "Later, I'll personally examine your father and work out a treatment plan. We'll see whether there's still any chance for him to stand again."
"…"
Mikami Yuu wanted to say that this was already pretty good as it was. If Tajima really could stand again, there was a good chance he'd be sent right back out to become frontline filler.
But since Tsunade had already offered, he could only nod and thank her.
After that,
Tsunade turned and left.
Only then did Tajima get a chance to ask about the "medical class."
"…Hahaha, so that's how it is. As expected of my son. I can see in little Yuu the mak—cough, cough—the makings of a jōnin!"
"Oh right, Yuu. Over the past two years at the border, I picked up two jutsu. I don't know whether they'd be useful to you."
"Hm?"
Mikami Yuu was a little surprised. "What jutsu?"
"Great Fireball and Phoenix Sage Fire."
Tajima replied.
"…"
Mikami Yuu almost didn't know what to say.
What a coincidence. Those were exactly the same two he already knew.
He actually knew one more than Tajima did—Fire Style: Fire Formation Wall…
But that made sense. The jutsu a chūnin could usually access were generally C-rank, and among common C-rank Fire Release techniques, Great Fireball and Phoenix Sage Fire were the most widespread. Anything above that was beyond what Tajima could normally get his hands on.
"Ah, so you already know those two…"
Tajima scratched his head awkwardly. "It's fine. I've done a lot of missions at the border these past two years, and all together I should have enough merit to exchange for one or two C-rank jutsu from the village. Maybe I can even try for a B-rank. If there's anything you want to learn, I can use those merits to exchange for it!"
"Well… let's talk about that in a few days."
Mikami Yuu was definitely tempted, but he didn't decide right away.
For Tajima—a man already in his thirties and now very likely unable to ever be a ninja again—those merits were basically the savings of half a lifetime. They deserved careful thought before being spent.
Besides, Tajima had only just returned to the village yesterday and was still in a cast in the hospital. Mikami Yuu had at least been under his care all these years. Even if he didn't care much about formalities, now wasn't the time to be overly "filial" in the worst way possible. Better to let the man rest in peace for a few days first.
That night,
Mikami Aoi stayed at the hospital to keep watch.
Mikami Yuu went home alone to rest.
Rin and Hiroshi seemed to have heard the news too. They were waiting at the corner when Mikami Yuu came back, came over to ask after things with concern, and said they'd make time in the next couple of days to visit Tajima before finally heading home somewhat worried.
Then the next morning—
at the agreed meeting point for Minato's squad,
Mikami Yuu and the others arrived one after another. Even Obito, who was usually late, showed up on time for once, all of them waiting for Minato's orders.
"Everyone's here?"
Minato cleared his throat and began. "You all know by now that Sunagakure and Konoha are at war. The village will be sending ninja to the border little by little, and as one of Konoha's jōnin, I may be assigned additional duties and won't always be able to stay by your side.
"So while I can still remain in the village fairly often, I've decided to reduce the frequency of out-of-village missions and put you all through one to two months of special training.
"The training will be tough, but it's for your future. Before the worst-case scenario arrives, you need enough strength to protect yourselves."
"Understood."
Mikami Yuu and the others exchanged looks, then nodded in agreement.