Chapter 42

"You forget who his father is," Shenesu sighed and emptied the sake cup handed to him in one gulp. "I also underestimated him very much the first time..."

"And what happened?" Akamichi asked sympathetically.

"What happened, what happened... I ended up paralyzed, with bruised balls, and a broken nose!" the clan head exclaimed, tears welling up as he emptied another cup.

"Ho... how... hahaha... how did you manage that?" the blonde couldn't help but laugh.

"That little demon turned out to be very fast for his age, and by moving within striking distance, he paralyzed the left side of my body with two touches and, hitting me between the legs, smashed my face with all his might," the victim grumbled. "Who would have told me that a child could hit like that — I wouldn't have believed it!"

At this point, the chubby man couldn't hold back, bursting into thunderous laughter along with Inoda, drawing the attention of other bar patrons.

"Well, Shene, you really blew it with the kid!" Yamanaka grinned, somewhat calming down. "But how did he manage to paralyze you? With a seal? But then why only half of your body?"

"Not with a seal, he just touched me in two places and I lost feeling in the left side of my body."

"Wait, isn't it that Ryo-kun recently, literally a few months ago, finished training at the hospital? I heard that someone from your clan managed to achieve fifth-degree medical ninjutsu mastery at the age of seven," Inoda recalled.

"That's him," Nara nodded. "I personally asked Ichimaru to take him for training after otou-san ordered him to enroll in the new group of medical students."

"And Ishar-dono contributed to this?" the blonde was surprised. "But didn't he distance himself from clan affairs after handing over his power to you?"

"Exactly, but he harbors no ill will towards this little monster and indulges him in every way," Nara grimaced. "Not that I object — he's a smart kid and can match Shikaku in intelligence, but... he's a real monster when it comes to learning or training! If I tried to even come close to his daily schedule, I would have been in the grave long ago!!!"

"Mmm, are you exaggerating?" Choji cautiously asked, pushing another bottle of sake closer.

"Exaggerating? Am I exaggerating?! Ha, I'm more downplaying it!" Nara exclaimed. "If you want, I can tell you, and then you'll understand everything yourselves!"

"Go ahead, we're curious to know what kind of genius you're raising," Yamanaka smirked.

"Well then, let's start with our sparring sessions," taking a sip from the cup, he sighed. "Ryo hits at full force."

"What?"

"Yes! In our training, I only slightly restrain the speed to be on par with an experienced Chunin and completely unleash the force of the blow! The only condition is not to hit in places where one blow can guarantee the death not only of the child but also of an adult, and otherwise, there are no restrictions."

"And how long does he last?" the chubby man chuckled.

"You should ask, how long I last," Shenesu tiredly smiled. "Even after taking the most powerful blow, Ryo comes to his senses in a couple of seconds, heals if necessary, and throws himself back into battle. You can't imagine how exhausting it is — to see all your attacks hit the target, but not achieve the desired effect! And what's even more annoying is that my opponent is an eight-year-old kid!"

"And how long does such training last?"

"From one to three hours almost every other day, and sometimes more often," two wet tracks ran down the lazy shinobi's face. "Now I can't even sleep during the day — every time he's nearby, I have to go and train that little demon again!"

His friends didn't share such a tragic view of the situation and tried their best to suppress their laughter.

"It's not funny! I'd like to see you in such a situation!"

"Sorry, Shene, but it's too funny to hear how you're bothered by an eight-year-old nephew!"

"And you can't even refuse him!" Nara sighed.

"Why?"

"After the first two times, I tried to get out of it with work — he agreed and ran away. The next day the situation repeated itself, but Setsura-chan was nearby, and for the whole next week, I slept on the couch and nursed bruises with a promise to repeat the disciplinary process if it happens again!"

The two friends nodded sympathetically — both of them had felt the heavy hand of the kunoichi, one of the best in their clan in taijutsu, even in their young years.

"The only thing that comforts me is that she also took part in some of the sparring," the distressed shinobi sighed. "According to Setsura, after three to four years of such intensive training, Ryo will be able to knock down the vast majority of Chunin and even many Jonin, not specializing in taijutsu, and will make everyone else work hard for victory. Considering his endurance inherited from his father and the ability to heal himself almost on the go, I have no doubt about it. And he only switched from academic style to learning Go Ken and the main Uzumaki style — Uzu Ken — six months ago!"

"Ryo-kun is going to focus on hand-to-hand combat?" the blonde chuckled.

"If only — he considers medicine his main direction. I personally spoke with Ichimaru, and you know what he said?"

"What?"

"That Ryo has an amazingly bright mind! He grasps almost everything on the fly, and even older children who studied in the same group looked downright bleak against him! And that's not all! While everyone else with varying degrees of difficulty went through the basic course in medical ninjutsu, he asked to be given additional literature and studied it simultaneously! Ichimaru said he rarely saw such diligence, perseverance, and understanding of such a complex subject as medicine at such a young age. Actually, I felt on my own experience how he can not only apply the knowledge gained in battle but also heal. And if my nephew doesn't slow down his progress, he'll get the status of a full-fledged medical ninja in six months to a year."