"Bang! Bang!"
Tsunade slammed her hands on the table a few times, signaling everyone to stop talking.
"The scouting team has confirmed the accuracy of the intelligence. The next step is how we should respond. Everyone, feel free to speak your mind!"
Leaning on her right hand beneath her chin, Tsunade's expression showed no sign of relaxation—on the contrary, her presence grew even stronger, exuding an air of unapproachable authority.
"Do you really think the enemy only has *one* harbor?" Uchiha Tianming countered, glancing at everyone present.
The long table fell silent. Many exchanged puzzled glances, looking at each other in confusion.
"Erm... erm!" Homura Mitokado raised his hand to his mouth and coughed a few times.
"What matters most now is verifying this hypothesis—whether the enemy truly has just one port, either already constructed or currently under construction." His voice was old yet full of energy. Behind his glasses, Homura's eyes gleamed with intensity.
"Listen up, everyone! This is war, and Konoha cannot avoid it!" Seeing that most of them remained quiet, Tsunade rapped the table once with her knuckles and spoke gravely.
"I will draft a plan next. Everyone must participate. With such a long coastline, we need to inspect every spot carefully, especially those near the border!" Tsunade continued, scanning the room with her gaze.
...
"Phew! Let's take a break!" Shizune waved the kunai in her hand slightly, indicating to Saitama that she wanted to rest.
"Alright," Saitama nodded, putting away the kunai he was holding. He hadn't used kunai in a long time, but he still had that familiar touch—his skills hadn't faded.
He randomly picked a spot and sat down. There were no designated resting places around here, but he didn't care much about that.
"Thump!" Shizune had been leaning against a wooden post earlier, but seeing Saitama sitting there, she walked over and sat beside him, keeping about half a meter between them.
"How do you feel about it?" Naturally, Shizune was asking Saitama about his progress.
"In these past few days I've made some improvement, but only real combat can show how effective it actually is. Right now, our training style isn't helping much."
Saitama answered honestly, plucking at the grass beside him while staring at the ground.
"Is that so? That's exactly what Tsunade-sama told me too. But she never lets me go on missions alone by myself."
Shizune scrunched up her face, voicing her complaint.
"Tsunade-sama probably wants to protect you. Don't dwell on it. If a time ever comes when you have to fight as a front-line warrior, then Konoha would've already lost all hope. Remember, your main duty is being a medical ninja."
Saitama turned his head sideways, smiling slightly as he spoke to Shizune. He understood why Tsunade didn't want Shizune on the battlefield—after all, everyone she truly cared about had died in battle. Shizune was likely the disciple Tsunade valued the most now, so this was also part of how she protected her.
"Alright, I know." Shizune patted Saitama's shoulder.
"Oh, by the way, wasn't I supposed to teach you [Medical Ninjutsu] after you came back? Let's do it today—I even brought the [jutsu scroll] with me!"
"A brief silence fell before Shizune suddenly straightened up, as if struck by a sudden thought. She turned to Saitama with sudden realization.
"Oh! Right—I *can* do that!" Saitama felt somewhat envious of Medical Ninjutsu, though these techniques were usually held by only a small number of people and he rarely had the chance to access them.
"I haven't learned many Medical Ninjutsu techniques so far—only Healing Technique and an advanced version called Mystical Palm Technique. However, this one is pretty difficult and I haven't mastered it yet," Shizune counted off on her fingers while listing her jutsu to Saitama.
"Let's go with Healing Technique then! It's more practical in battle. Healing Technique is like carrying half your life in your hands."
Saitama paused for a moment—he already had Lightning Release, so Hemostasis Technique didn't offer much value to him. Mystical Palm Technique clearly posed great difficulty; he probably couldn't learn it anytime soon, and since Shizune herself hadn't fully grasped it, she wouldn't be able to teach him anyway. That left only Healing Technique, which still seemed acceptable.
Saitama's natural regeneration was already powerful, but having extra healing support couldn't hurt, could it?
"Great! I have the scroll here; you can take it home and study it later. In the meantime, I can demonstrate the technique for you."
Shizune was quite happy. Lately, it had always been Saitama teaching her things, making her feel like she owed him something. Now it was her turn to teach him, and her heart finally felt balanced.
"But how should I demonstrate it? Hmm, forget it—I'll just show you the Healing Technique directly." Furrowing her brow slightly, Shizune spoke out almost immediately.
"Psst!" Saitama gathered a thin line of Chidori Current around his right index finger, deliberately compressing it to increase its penetrative power, then sliced across the back of his left hand.
"Ahh! What are you doing?!" Covering her mouth with both hands, Shizune stared wide-eyed at Saitama, clearly shocked.
"Here you go—it's your turn to demonstrate now!" Saitama brought his injured left hand closer to Shizune, his expression unchanged as he smiled faintly at her.
"I could've demonstrated without causing yourself injury," Shizune scolded slightly, her eyes filled with mild anger.
"Hurry up or else my wound will heal on its own!" Saitama nudged Shizune playfully with his elbow.
"Pfft! You and your antics…" Shizune couldn't help but laugh lightly, knowing there was no point in really getting angry at him.
"Come closer!" While instructing Saitama, Shizune grabbed his hand herself and placed it on her thigh.
[Healing Technique]
"Watch this closely!" Joining her hands together, she began gathering chakra, quickly forming a vibrant green chakra sphere radiating signs of life.
"You channel your chakra along specific pathways and then focus it into your hands to use Healing Technique. But remember: don't release chakra too quickly—maintain a steady rhythm."
Focusing intently, Shizune used the Healing Technique while explaining its mechanics to Saitama.
"Do you get it?" Shizune asked, slowly bringing her hands over the injured area on Saitama's hand.
"Ow!" A cool sensation spread across his wounded hand—a feeling Saitama consciously experienced for the first time regarding Medical Ninjutsu.
As soon as Shizune's hand covered the wound, it felt like a minty layer had been applied, sending waves of coolness seeping into his flesh. The wound started healing visibly at a rapid pace.
"I think I got the idea!"
"That's the first time I've taught you anything. How could you possibly get it already? Just keep practicing, and I'll continue teaching you tomorrow. If you don't understand something, just ask me."
Shizune didn't lift her head. Hearing Saitama say he understood, she began muttering under her breath.
Even though she knew Saitama was strong and a genius from the Uchiha clan, medical ninjutsu was her domain. It had taken her nearly a week to finally grasp it, so there was no way Saitama could learn it just by watching once.
"I really do get it!" Saitama withdrew his hand, prompting Shizune to finally raise her head.
"Hey, come on, not understanding something isn't embarrassing. I'll teach you slowly..."
Shizune's voice gradually faded until she fell silent.
"Slowly what?" Saitama interrupted, his right hand glowing with the exact same green aura as Shizune's earlier technique. He smirked at her.
"How is this possible!?" Shizune couldn't believe what she was seeing. She quickly rubbed her eyes to confirm she wasn't mistaken.
"This can't be real! Is there actually someone in the world who can pick up something just by glancing at it once!?" Shizune stared at Saitama's right hand, murmuring to herself.
"Haha, well enough, mainly thanks to this!"
Seeing Shizune remain silent for quite a while, Saitama decided to speak up when her words seemed to question her own ninja abilities.
"What do you mean?" Following Saitama's gaze, Shizune looked toward his eyes, where she saw spinning Three-Tomoe.
"The Sharingan?" Shizune looked puzzled. She wasn't familiar with the Sharingan's special abilities—she only knew it helped in combat.
"The Three-Tomoe Sharingan has one special ability—copying!" Saitama noticed Shizune's confusion and explained.
"The moment you activated your jutsu, I copied it with my eyes."
Saitama continued with a smile.
"Hmph, I thought there was no way anyone could actually learn something just by watching," Shizune let out a deep breath, choosing not to dwell on the Sharingan itself and instead shifting her perspective.
"That still counts as talent, doesn't it?" Saitama shrugged.
"Pfft, this isn't ninja talent—it's just an ability given to you by your kekkei genkai. Basically, you were just born into a lucky bloodline!" Shizune tossed her head slightly, shaking her short hair as her words carried clear disdain for Saitama.
"Well okay then, either way I learned it just by looking once, right?"
Saitama emphasized "just by looking" extra clearly, enunciating every word right at Shizune.
"Hmph!" Shizune turned her head sideways, feigning offense.
"Alright then, no need to give me the scroll anymore. Let's practice a bit more before heading back to rest. It's getting late anyway."
Saitama casually slung an arm around Shizune, speaking in a relaxed tone.
After spending so much time together, they'd grown really close, and casual physical contact between them had become totally normal.
"Okay fine, let's do a little more sparring practice before going back."
Shizune was very tired today too. She even yawned mid-sentence, unbothered by Saitama having his arm around her shoulder, responding with somewhat exasperated tone.
She had originally intended to make her presence felt during today's lesson on teaching Saitama ninjutsu, only to end up having her face slapped repeatedly by him.
"Stand up, and keep attacking me!"
"Hey!" Saitama slapped Shizune's shoulder, then stood up and walked a few steps aside before speaking to her.
"Hmph! Here I come!" As soon as she got up, Shizune rushed straight at Saitama, still wearing a slight frown of displeasure toward him.
"Ha!" A punch narrowly missed Saitama's cheek as he sidestepped, dodging it easily while flashing Shizune a grin.
"A sneak attack? That's really not a good habit!" After evading the strike, Saitama wagged his index finger back and forth in front of his chest, making a provocative gesture that made Shizune even more annoyed.
"In battle, victory is the only truth—who cares whether I snuck up on you or not!"
Shizune normally remained calm and rarely spoke so sharply like this, but right now, she genuinely found Saitama quite irritating.
"He!" Before long, Shizune kicked out again, aiming directly at Saitama's lower body.
"Hehe! Well okay!" Saitama shook his head, realizing Shizune was just talking tough on purpose.
...
After sparing a bit more with Shizune, Saitama took his leave and returned to his tent.
Being a ninja on constant missions, he didn't have nearly as much downtime as Shizune. Rest was important if you wanted to stay sharp.
"Phew!" After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, he lay on his bed and exhaled deeply.
"I've learned another skill!" He stretched both arms upward; bright green auras glowed across his palms—the newly acquired [Healing Technique].
"Time for sleep. Gotta preserve my hide!" He turned sideways, pulling his blanket tighter around him. The area wasn't very warm, especially at night, and a chill had crept through.
Ever since submitting his intel at camp, Saitama had been enjoying a few days off—though he still went out on patrol every morning and came back in the afternoon.
From what Saitama understood, Tsunade had dispatched numerous scouts along the coastline searching for any hidden harbors.
Konoha needed to prepare thoroughly for war—that's why these early steps were absolutely crucial.
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