"You're not gonna believe this—I was up against five artificial humans. No, wait, six!"
Inside the hospital room, Takeshi spoke animatedly.
Asuma, lying on the bed, listened to Takeshi's ever-increasing number of enemies and couldn't help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Good grief. It started as one, and now, after a few hours, the number's multiplied several times over?
"Heh, is that so? Funny, because I heard from that kid Obito that you only fought one enemy—and then got ambushed by another artificial human so badly that you fell and got a nosebleed."
Anko, who had come to visit Asuma along with Kurenai, smirked coldly and looped an arm around Takeshi's neck.
"Our dear Fifth Hokage-sama sure has improved a lot when it comes to bragging, huh?"
Feeling the familiar pressure on his neck, Takeshi rolled his eyes.
"Let go of me! I'm the Hokage now—the Hokage! And besides, that idiot Obito wasn't even there, so how would he know I got a nosebleed?"
"Oh? So you did get a nosebleed."
Anko refused to let up.
Kurenai sighed helplessly as she watched Anko's usual brash behavior. Honestly, there wasn't another person in the entire village bold enough to choke the Hokage like that.
"Alright, Anko, let him go. I need to set up an IV for our dear Fifth Hokage-sama."
Just as Takeshi and Anko were reenacting one of their childhood spats, Rin pushed open the door and wheeled in a cart, stopping beside Takeshi's bed.
"An IV? I'm fine. Why do I need a needle?"
Takeshi looked baffled.
His injury had been to his knee, and it had already healed. What kind of injection was this supposed to be?
"Uh... I don't really know either. Tsunade-sensei just told me to bring it over..."
"Alright, if it's from my senior sister, then go ahead and do it."
Hearing that, Anko couldn't resist another jab.
"Wow, that doesn't sound like something a ninja who just defeated six artificial humans would say. You sound like you're marching to your death over a simple injection."
As the needle slipped into the back of his hand, the Hokage finally went quiet for a moment.
His peers took advantage of the silence to reminisce about their academy days.
"I still remember our training sessions—Takeshi and I were unstoppable!"
"'Takeshi and you'? Please. It was Takeshi and Kakashi tearing through everyone while you flailed in the back!"
"Anko!"
"What? You got a problem with that, Asuma da-da-da bigshot?"
"Damn it! Just because you saved me once doesn't mean you get to be this arrogant!"
"Alright, enough, you two. And Asuma, this is a no-smoking zone!"
While the others chatted noisily, Takeshi leaned back against the bed, unusually quiet.
Those who knew him well understood—whenever he got that look, it meant he was deep in thought. No one dared interrupt.
Meanwhile, outside the door stood Haku and Kimimaro. Nearby, Yamato—his face still bruised and swollen—squatted beside Kimimaro, grumbling bitterly as his wounds slowly healed.
"I was fighting Uchiha at the time he got hurt, so why the hell did I get punched too?"
"Hmph." Kimimaro lifted his chin proudly.
"You should at least recognize me as your captain!" Yamato looked on the verge of tears.
"Hmph." Kimimaro just raised his head even higher.
Normally, this was when Haku would step in to smooth things over—but today, he seemed distracted too, lost in thought just like Takeshi.
After a long silence, Takeshi finally spoke.
"I think the strength of the average jōnin in the village can no longer keep up with the current era."
His voice drew everyone's attention. Conversations stopped, and all eyes turned to him.
Asuma frowned. "Are you… talking about me?"
"No, that's not what I mean," Takeshi quickly clarified, waving his free hand. "Hakuyun Sōken is one of the more outstanding jōnin in the village, yet even he couldn't last a few rounds against an artificial human."
He shook his hand with the IV to emphasize his point.
"Of course, part of that has to do with bloodline limits, but ninjutsu and secret techniques are also major measures of a ninja's strength."
In terms of training ordinary shinobi, Konoha was already among the best of the Five Great Villages.
Even so, most ninjas from civilian backgrounds still faced issues like limited ninjutsu reserves, difficulty advancing their strength, and insufficient chakra.
Only someone like Might Guy had truly defied fate.
"You're thinking of teaching the clans' secret techniques to civilian ninjas?"
Asuma, one of the few who could keep up with Takeshi's thoughts, immediately caught on.
"But even if we put aside whether the clans would agree, there's still the problem of whether the civilians can even learn them."
He wasn't wrong.
The secret techniques passed down within each clan were closely tied to their family's Physique and chakra nature. For outsiders, even attempting to learn them would deter most at the physical compatibility stage.
"Regardless, we'll make them hand over the techniques first. As for how to distribute them, we'll decide that later."
Takeshi didn't seem particularly concerned about Asuma's objections.
"Don't underestimate the civilian ninjas. Take our old classmate Might Guy—his taijutsu training is so intense now that even I find it terrifying. If he opens the Eight Gates, I'd probably have to throw Obito in as a meat shield just to deal with him."
"Pfft—honestly, you're impossible," Rin burst out laughing.
"Hmph. Protecting one's foster father is a son's sacred duty."
After all, he'd raised that good boy for years—it was about time the son repaid his old man.
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