"Letâs just get some medicine from the hospital!"
Hikari rejected Tsunadeâs offer to heal ChÅji with medical ninjutsu.
"The Medical Palm Technique uses chakra to stimulate cell division near the wound, leading to rapid healing. It works well, but it resets the body to its previous state, reducing the benefits of training."
"No way! I train in taijutsu too, and Iâve never felt anything like that!" Tsunade retorted.
"Youâre a Senju. Youâve inherited your clanâs strong physique. Others are just ordinary shinobiâhow could their bodies compare to yours?"
"Well, thatâs true... Then Iâll go to the hospitalâwait, no! Iâm the Hokage! You go get the medicine, and Iâll stay here!" Halfway through her sentence, Tsunade suddenly snapped back to reality.
âIâm the Hokage, damn it! Sending me to fetch medicine? Thatâs beneath me!â
"No need. Someoneâs coming." Hikari said, turning toward the training groundâs entrance.
"Hmm?" Tsunade glanced over and saw a girl with twin buns running toward them. "Tenten from Team Gai?"
"Thatâs her."
"Why is she here? Shouldnât she be training? Or have you sunk so low that youâre now targeting little girls?"
"Heh."
"Youâ!" Tsunade raised her hand, but ultimately let it drop.
As Tenten approached, she whispered, "Thereâs a kid here, so I wonât hit you. But about Kakashi... donât you owe me an explanation?"
"Kakashi? Whatâs up with him? Did he die on a mission? That was fast!" Hikari wasnât the least bit worried about Kakashiâs safety.
The man was the legendary "fifty-fifty Kakashi"âeven if Kaguya Åtsutsuki descended, he could hold his own for a few rounds. To kill him, youâd have to take out Naruto, Sasuke, and Maito Gai first.
"Iâm talking about Kakashi and Shizune!" Tsunade snapped. "You told Kakashi, but why didnât you fill me in on the outcome? If I hadnât reacted quickly today, this whole thing mightâve dragged on!"
"Oh, that." Hikari scratched his head. "I didnât know youâd call him today. I was planning to tell you after work."
"Canât you take this seriously? This is Shizuneâs future weâre talking about!" Tsunade fumed, seemingly forgetting that Hikariâs relationship with Shizune was nowhere near as close as hers.
She and Shizune had spent over a decade together, while Kamizuki Hikari had only recently gotten to know her. Given that, her words were unnecessarily harsh.
"Alright, I get it."
[What an unreasonable woman! Iâm not Shizuneâs parentâwhether she and Kakashi work out or not has nothing to do with me!]
Annoyed by Tsunadeâs scolding, Hikari walked forward a few steps to meet Tenten.
"Hikari-senpai! Tsunade-sama!" Tenten bowed politely.
"Tenten, donât mind us. Iâm just here to observe." Tsunade said casually before glancing at Hikari.
Hearing his inner thoughts, she realized her attitude might have been unfair.
âHave I been too demanding with Hikari?â
âAround him, I feel like Iâm with familyâI speak without thinking sometimes.â
âHeâs probably upset. Should I apologize?â
Hikari ignored Tsunade. He wasnât her granduncleâwhy should he put up with her?
"Tenten, do you have any medicine for treating external injuries?"
"Of course! Let me get it for you." Tenten glanced at Tsunadeâs conflicted expression but wisely chose not to comment. As a genin, she knew better than to involve herself in the messy affairs of adults.
She pulled out several scrolls from her pouch, quickly identifying the right one.
"Release!"
The scroll unfurled, and an array of bottles and jars appeared on the ground.
"Senpai, this oneâs for external injuries, this is for physical recovery, and these two rolls of bandages can be used on Ino and Shikamaru so they can keep training!"
"Great, keep track of what we use. Once these guys finish the first phase of training, Iâll make sure they take on some missions to pay you back."
"Senpai, you donât need to be so formal." Tenten, the little rich girl, clearly wasnât hurting for cash.
"Itâs fine. Itâs not for me anyway. They need to settle their debts. These three come from big clansâeven if they canât earn money, they wonât starve."
ChÅji, lying on the ground, suddenly twitched violently, startling Tsunade into checking on him.
"Odd. His nerves seem fine. Why the random twitching?" she muttered.
"Probably the bodyâs self-regulation. His cerebellum was checking if he was dead, so it stimulated his nerves and caused the twitching." Hikari offered as an explanation.
Tsunade smiled, not believing a single word.
"Wow, Senpai, you know so much!" Tentenâs timely praise made Hikari grin and left Tsunade exasperated.
âThis guy... all he knows is how to charm little girls. Look at herâif Hikari proposed, sheâd probably say yes in a heartbeat. Kids these days have no restraint!â
"Alright, Iâll treat ChÅji. Tenten, bandage these two and wake them up. They should eat, rest, and resume training this afternoon."
This time, Shikamaru and Ino, lying under another tree, twitched in unison.
"Got it!" Tenten picked up a roll of bandages and headed toward them.
Hikari crouched beside ChÅji, cleaning his wounds.
"Ow! Ow! That hurts!"
ChÅji jolted awake, flailing his chubby arms and wailing like a stuck pig.
"Seriously? You didnât make a sound during training!" Hikariâs green-glowing hand patted ChÅjiâs shoulder twice, and his arms flopped limply to the ground.
"Senpai, donât torture me!" ChÅji paled, his arms now limp and unresponsive.
"Quit whining, or Iâll hang you from a tree and give you a real beating!" Hikari applied the ointment and wrapped the bandages haphazardly.
"Thatâs some ugly wrapping." Tsunade remarked.
ChÅji looked at his poorly bandaged arms and nodded in agreement.
"If youâre not helping, save the commentary. Want to rewrap it yourself?" In no mood to humor Tsunade, Hikari left ChÅji and went to help Tenten with Shikamaru and Ino.
"ChÅji, want me to fix that bandage?" Tsunade offered, her medical pride unable to tolerate Hikariâs shoddy work.
"No, no, Iâm good!"
"Hokage-sama, my wounds are already treated. Maybe check Shikamaruâs handsâhis injuries are just as bad as mine!"
*Whack!*
Tsunade affectionately slapped ChÅjiâs head. "You brat, Iâm the Hokage!"
ChÅji looked like he was about to cry. This kind of "care" from the Hokage was just too much for him to handle.
"Tsunade-sama, Iâm just a child! Please spare me!"
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