"Cough, cough~ Water... water..."
Every inch of his body screamed in pain, and his throat felt like he had swallowed hot coals.
Consciousness hadn't fully returned, but Ebisu instinctively called out.
Cool water poured into his mouth, and he gulped it down greedily.
I... was hit by the enemy's Water Style. Izumi... did they escape...?
Memories from before he passed out flooded back. Ebisu snapped his eyes open!
He struggled to sit up and observe his surroundings, only to realize he was no longer on the battlefield but inside a civilian house.
Beside him, Daiki was supporting him, and Izumi was the one holding the bowl of water.
"Thank goodness! Cough, cough... You're all alive. That's great."
"Where is Musashi? Is he okay?"
"Teacher Ebisu, Musashi is fine. He went to find food," Daiki said.
"Teacher Ebisu, you're awake?!"
The door opened, and Musashi walked in carrying a basket of food. Seeing Ebisu awake, he looked pleasantly surprised.
"Thank goodness you're okay. Thank goodness." Immense relief washed over Ebisu.
He had promised Hiruzen Sarutobi to keep these kids safe. If his entire team was wiped out on their first real mission, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself even in death.
Then, a thought struck him.
"What's the situation? Where is the enemy? How did you escape?"
"Teacher Ebisu, it's all thanks to the massive amount of explosive tags you threw at the end!" Musashi said quickly. "The enemy was distracted by your Fire Style and didn't fully dodge the explosion. He was severely injured."
"Daiki and I didn't even attack. Seeing the situation turn bad, the enemy retreated on the spot."
"He's probably healing in some corner right now. You were hurt too badly, so we didn't dare stay there. We ran for a whole day to get here."
"Really?" Ebisu felt like he was dreaming.
The explosive tags actually hit?
"Really. Teacher Ebisu, you were amazing!" Daiki chimed in. "I watched from a distance. There was a huge explosion, and the enemy was blown away!"
"If his luck was bad, he might be dead already."
"Is my strength... is my luck that good?" Ebisu muttered.
Izumi: "...Yes."
Hearing even Izumi agree, Ebisu tried to recall the situation hazily.
Preparing for death, his Fire Style was indeed stronger than usual.
Hmm, his kunai throw did have full force behind it. It's normal that the enemy got careless and failed to dodge.
As expected, his rank of "Special Jonin" wasn't just for show.
"Hahaha-cough! Cough! Cough!~ Hahaha, my strength is recognized by the Hokage after all." A smug smile stretched across his scarred face.
"Izumi, what's wrong? You look a bit strange," Ebisu noticed Izumi's complex expression.
Yeah, very strange.
"Are you worried about my injuries?" He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"I was just a bit careless and fell into a disadvantage. Once we get back to Konoha and the Medical Corps treat me, I'll be fine in no time."
"Right, right. We're waiting for you to get better so you can lead us on more missions," Daiki said, peeling a fruit Musashi brought back.
"Teacher, eat this. Eat more so you recover faster."
After eating, exhaustion washed over him again, and Ebisu quickly fell asleep.
Although they were already inside the Land of Fire, Ebisu was still worried about accidents.
The fear instilled by the enemy Jonin hadn't completely faded. Considering the safety of his three students, after resting for a day and confirming he wouldn't die immediately, they hurried back to Konoha.
His injuries were severe, so running back on his own was out of the question.
But Musashi had strength to spare.
Carrying Ebisu on his back was no problem.
"Musashi, Musashi, slow down a bit!"
On the road, Musashi sprinted like the wind with Ebisu on his back.
He was even running ahead of the others.
The rushing wind made Ebisu's weak voice hard to hear.
"Teacher, what did you say? Too slow?"
"I'll speed up then!"
"I~ SAID~ SLOW~ DOWN~" Ebisu tried to yell as loud as he could.
But because Ebisu's head was a bit far from his ears...
Musashi still couldn't hear clearly.
He stomped his feet, coming to a sudden, violent stop!
Ebisu's upper body, which had been dragged backward by the wind, slammed forward into Musashi's back.
Thud!
His eyes bulged out.
Musashi tried to listen. "Teacher Ebisu, what were you saying just now... Eh? Why did you go quiet... Teacher Ebisu? Wake up! Teacher Ebisu!"
---
After a mad dash, they finally returned to Konoha.
Worried about Ebisu's condition, Musashi took him straight to the Konoha Hospital for treatment.
Perhaps because the treatment was delayed, his injuries looked worse than before.
The three students waited at the hospital until Ebisu woke up and the medics confirmed he was out of danger.
Then, Izumi began her treatment. She had taken a direct hit from Suma's Wind Style and suffered internal injuries, requiring time to recover.
Musashi asked the medics for some ointment to treat skin burns.
During the battle, he used Lightning Chakra to stimulate his body. Since his Lightning Style activation was still in Phase One and immature, the burns on his skin were significant.
To avoid Ayame noticing anything wrong, he needed to heal quickly.
For the next period, the team entered a recovery phase.
Izumi needed half a month of rest. Musashi needed about the same. The Eight Gates damage was unavoidable at this stage, plus the Lightning Chakra burns. He decided to pause intense Taijutsu training for two weeks.
He would pour all his excess energy into Ninjutsu.
As for Ebisu, the medical recommendation was no missions for three months.
Musashi and Daiki naturally agreed with the "no missions" part.
Surprisingly, Izumi, who they thought would be unhappy, didn't say much.
Daiki also began his own Ninjutsu training in earnest.
Although he didn't say it, he felt guilty about being useless in danger.
He felt his weakness had burdened his teammates.
So, for once, he didn't spend all day on "artistic creation" and devoted himself fully to mastering his new ink jutsu.
Musashi used the break from Taijutsu to plan his future training goals.
Taijutsu was a given; that was his primary focus.
Second was refining his Lightning Style training.
Although his Lightning affinity wasn't as good as his Wind affinity, Lightning had the unique property of enhancing physical durability and speed.
He valued it just below the Eight Gates.
Lightning activation plus the Eight Gates would take his Taijutsu combat power to another level.
After that came Sealing Jutsu and Wind Style.
Sealing Jutsu was the main method to limit the side effects of the Eight Gates in the future, and it was the only art Kushina passed down to him. He couldn't neglect it.
Wind Style was his best elemental affinity and would effectively increase his offensive options.
As for other elemental jutsu, he would only research them when bored, treating it as relaxation.