Chapter 264: Class Reunion

 

At Konoha Hospital, Tsunade watched Sakura and Ino perform the Mystical Palm Technique with both hands.

Green chakra surrounded the injured fish they held. Tissue closed with visible speed.

Mystical Palm was an A-rank technique that only a small number of medical shinobi mastered. It demanded exceptional chakra control as well as enough knowledge of anatomy to direct healing without causing further harm.

Yet Sakura and Ino had learned it with insulting ease.

Their hands remained steady while the fish moved, and neither allowed the healing chakra to spill beyond the wound. Tsunade had expected hours of correction before they could sustain the required output. Instead she found herself searching for smaller faults simply to confirm that she had not overlooked something.

Tsunade began to wonder whether she had exaggerated its difficulty.

"No. They must simply be talented."

During her first six months as Hokage, Tsunade focused on understanding the office and stabilizing the village. Once the immediate burden eased, she began selecting future leaders for Konoha's medical corps. Sakura and Ino caught her attention after completing the necessary study of anatomy and treatment.

Tsunade chose an advanced technique early so they would experience how demanding medical ninjutsu could be.

Instead, their chakra control already approached the precision she expected from veteran specialists.

Ino finished healing her fish and grinned at Sakura.

"Mystical Palm is surprisingly simple. Hokage-sama made it sound extremely difficult."

Sakura laughed. "Medical ninjutsu needs fine control. Tonbo-sensei gave us an excellent foundation."

Only after beginning medical training did Sakura appreciate what Tonbo had taught. At the time, she thought chakra control mattered only until one could perform ordinary techniques and use Elastic Chakra Weave, his versatile technique that behaved like gum under command. Now she understood how much that foundation opened.

Ino had reached the same conclusion from another direction. Yamanaka techniques already demanded careful mental control, but Tonbo's exercises taught her to divide attention without letting chakra fluctuate. Holding Mystical Palm in both hands felt like applying that lesson to living tissue.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched.

"Tonbo taught you this control?"

"After we failed the Chūnin Exams," Sakura explained. "Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-sensei were busy, so we asked him to train us."

Tsunade's annoyance rose with every word.

"That man has this kind of teaching ability and still hides in the Analysis Team. He leaves a Shadow Clone in the office, calls his private research preparation for a great enemy, and refuses to help with administration because Ayame will give birth in a few months. Meanwhile Shikaku and I work ourselves to death."

If Tonbo could build this level of control in young shinobi, Tsunade wanted to drag him to the Academy and make him train the next generation every day.

Sakura and Ino exchanged smiles.

"Tonbo-sensei has his habits," Ino said.

They remembered Eightfold Flavor and several other inventive punishments. His talent for teaching was matched only by his talent for making a lesson impossible to forget.

The punishments were rarely painful in an ordinary way. They attacked pride, concentration, or the senses until the student discovered the exact flaw Tonbo wanted corrected. Sakura still disliked remembering how many times a single lapse had filled her mouth with impossible flavors.

Tsunade placed two thicker medical texts on the table.

"Your control is good enough. From today onward, I will teach you real medical techniques."

Their aptitude satisfied her. With the proper knowledge, either could become a true successor to her medical ninjutsu.

That evening, Tonbo sat at a large table in an Akimichi barbecue restaurant with shinobi of his generation.

Hayama mentioned that he needed to leave after the next drink to care for his two-year-old child.

Tonbo stared.

"You are married? You have a two-year-old? You hid that remarkably well."

Ebisu leaned across the table. "Why did you not invite us to the wedding?"

Hayama took a calm sip.

"We wanted a simple ceremony. Missions were heavy, so we never held a large celebration."

Tonbo's eyes moved toward the unmarried men.

"Ebisu, why are you interrogating him? Look at yourself. And Genma, Guy, and Kakashi. We belong to the same generation, yet Hayama and I are the only ones with children. At this rate, will our children have to carry Konoha's entire future?"

Dark expressions appeared around the table.

Even Guy raised both hands.

"Tonbo, can we discuss another subject?"

The marriage lectures never ended. Hearing one from a married friend with children made every bachelor feel as though he had failed some secret adulthood exam.

"I said we should not share a table with him," Kakashi said. "He becomes unbearable at reunions."

Genma bit into another piece of meat. "I will find a partner this year, if only so I can join the side that asks everyone else when they will marry."

Guy looked genuinely troubled by the accusation. Ebisu tried to redirect the conversation toward missions. Kakashi lowered his gaze toward his book and pretended that failing to make eye contact removed him from Tonbo's generation.

"Exactly," Tonbo said. "Hayama and I must guide you, or outsiders will think our whole generation intends to remain single forever."

He enjoyed the reversal far too much. In his earlier life, relatives had nagged him about marriage until every question became irritating. Now he finally understood the pleasure available to the person doing the nagging.

Coming to the shinobi world and marrying early had been an excellent decision.

The others stopped arguing and concentrated on eating as much as possible. Tonbo was paying. His father-in-law's restaurant chain had grown successful, and everyone considered attacking the bill a reasonable form of revenge.

Plates emptied as quickly as the staff could replace them. Chōza's barbecue recipes made the strategy enjoyable, while Tonbo watched the total climb and understood exactly why his companions had surrendered the argument so easily.

Kakashi looked around the table.

"Where is Asuma?"

"And Kurenai?" Ebisu added.

Tonbo pointed toward the window.

Two familiar figures walked past the restaurant. Their destination was not the reunion.

One by one, the curious shinobi leaned around the doorway until their heads formed a poorly concealed stack.

"That explains it."

"They are going toward the cinema."

"Asuma skipped us for a date?"

"A good choice," Hayama said. "I often took my wife to films before our child was born."

Tonbo nodded in approval. "The second married man of our generation speaks with experience."

Guy sighed. "Such youth... sadly, not my youth."

Some watched with envy, others with jealousy, and several wanted to punch Asuma for succeeding before them. Only Tonbo and Hayama regarded him as a fellow man of sound judgment.

Outside, Kurenai glanced behind her.

"Something wrong?" Asuma asked.

"Someone was watching us. The presence felt familiar."

As a sensor and genjutsu specialist, Kurenai trusted the sensation. Asuma's expression sharpened. He scanned the street and rooftops with a jōnin's attention.

The watchers disappeared into the alley before he found them.

"No enemy."

Kurenai's cheeks reddened. Perhaps the unfamiliar nervousness of the date had made her imagine it.

"Then let us go."

Asuma smiled. "The film is supposed to be excellent."

After they continued toward the cinema, several heads slowly reappeared from the alley.

The reunion had found a much more entertaining subject than marriage.