SHIMMERING MIST : HATAKE SI Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8

TSUNADE SENJU

In the hospital of Konoha, Tsunade Senju sat in her office as she took a break after working for more than a day straight. She had felt exhaustion creeping in, yet she couldn’t stop. There was so much work to be done. The hospitals had been ravaged by mismanagement, and the med nins lacked proper training. The hospitals had lost their standard since the last time she had been here.

Her office was filled with mess, as reports of various cases lay strewn across the room, and she knew she would need to clean up soon. Or she could just wait for Shizune to show up. Yeah, that plan was much better.

Just like the wine she was drinking, she once more looked over the shinobi sitting in front of her. Ohashi Hatake, son of the White Fang and a Kato Sumiko. Kato, and hadn’t that name been a surprise to her? A cousin of Dan’s whom she had never met, she had been surprised when she had first heard of his existence.

The kid belonged to two prominent bloodlines yet had been raised in an orphanage. He had refused any help from his father Sakumo, an idiotic move in her opinion. The kid should have sought every advantage, for that was what kept Shinobi alive, and that was all that mattered.

However, he had written to Shizune about his reason, and she found it honorable, if not naïve. And so when he had asked for some instructions about her Grand Uncle’s techniques, she had decided to tell him the basics.

And then he went on to do the impossible. He went on and reengineered it. A feat that even she hadn’t been able to achieve. They had maintained communication ever since and she would often send him some training tips, and the kid had continued to shatter her expectations.

And coincidentally, the kid even looked like her Grand Uncle. His hair was a shade darker, yet she noticed both had similar facial structures. She picked up the bottle and brought it to her mouth as she took another gulp of the special wine from Land of Honey, a delicacy that must have cost him quite a pretty penny.

“AHHH!” she brought it down and placed the bottle back on the table, using her chakra to wipe away the excess alcohol in her system. She was in no mood to get wasted.

“You didn’t have to bring this kid. From what I have heard, you would have been able to succeed even without my help,” she said as she looked over him and felt a pang of regret as she saw him in that special jounin vest.

Nawaki would have been a jounin by now.

The kid was abashed by her praise and replied awkwardly.

“I don’t know about what kind of rumors are going on about me, and I am flattered that you think so highly of me, but your help was instrumental in the breakthrough I achieved. So, consider it a token of my appreciation,” he said with a smile, and Tsunade was surprised for a bit as she saw the resemblance the kid shared with his father.

“Ahh, well, it’s just the standard kind of rumors. Youngest jounin, upcoming prodigy,” and she took another gulp of the bottle before she looked the kid straight in the eye as she added with a huge smile on her face.

“And I also remember hearing about a fiery forbidden romance with a very fiery Kiri nin,” and the kid spluttered at that as his eyes widened, and he spoke out scandalized.

“Where the hell did you hear about that?” he asked her, and she laughed, for the small flush on his face told her everything she needed to know about that. Many would have asked her to discourage the kid, but Tsunade would never stand in the way of young romance. Especially one as speicy as this one.

“Ahh, it seems it’s true. Well, you’ve got a challenge on your hands kid. You might even have to steal away that girlfrie….” And he cut her off.

“She isn’t my girlfriend! Gods, I am going to kill whoever spread that around!” he said through gritted teeth and Tsunade shrugged as she stifled her laugh. It seemed it was worth reading those letters from her old teammate.

“Yeah. Yeah, and it’s a complete coincidence that you saved her life in the chunin exams and have somehow run into her on every other mission you take,” she said with a raised brow, and the kid shook his head.

“. I didn’t save her. We made a strategic alliance in the chunin exams. It happened thrice, and it was a pure coincidence each time. Three! And I have completed over fifty missions now,” he argued, and Tsunade smiled as he tried to rebuff her claims. However, seeing the kid, she was reminded of the times when she had been young. Young and unbroken.

“Well, whatever you say, kid. But I heard that you were deployed on the southern border once more. Perhaps you might even run into her again,” she teased him again, and the kid just sat down and huffed. And Tsunade’s mood soured as she thought about the kid’s deployment. Even though he was a jounin, he was still barely fourteen, and now he had already served on the front lines.

She looked down at her hand, and clenched them as she lamented her own powerlessness. Before she suddenly stood up and looked straight at the kid.

“Well, why don’t you tell me if the rumors are true? I wanna see just how strong is the Shimmering Mist of Konoha?” she challenged the kid, who seemed a bit taken aback at first before his eyes hardened and she got her first glimpse of the jounin ninja sitting in front of her.

“You want to spar with me, Lady Tsunade?” he confirmed in a serious tone, and she nodded as she felt excitement bubbling inside her. How long had it been since she had sparred with someone? She had kept up her training, but sparring was another ball game.

“Well, then I would be honored. But I am to leave for my mission tomorrow, so when do we do it,” he questioned.

“Why don’t we do it right now. I have the keys to a special training ground. We can use that,” and he nodded as he got up from his seat as well. And then she began to walk out of the room with him following her.

“And don’t worry, kid. I will heal you up when I beat you to a pulp,” she challenged jollily and noticed a smile on his face.

“I am afraid you will find bashing me to the ground isn’t as easy as you think,” he replied before they were interrupted by an intruder—an intruder who seemed to be staring at her.

“Where are you going, Lady Tsunade?” questioned Shizune as her eyes narrowed as she glanced at the bottle in her hand. Tsunade smiled as she looked at her apprentice.

“I am going to have a spar with your dear cousin, and could you please clear up the mess in my office for me? It’s becoming a hassle,” and she walked past her student, who was still processing her words. And when she did, all Tsuande heard was a small shriek.

“WHAT?”

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KATO SHIZUNE

She had decided to follow Tsunade-sama and Ohashi to the training ground in the end, as both of them had been adamant about having that spar regardless of her reservations. Tsunade-sama had a special permit to Hokage’s training grounds. And hence here they were, with both Lady Tsuande and Ohashi getting ready for their spar.

And they had a special guest. She looked to her side at the excited face of Konoha’s greatest prodigy, Minato Namikaze. Unlike her, Namikaze-san seemed excited about the spar, and finding him in the training ground had been a rather welcoming surprise.

“Thank you for agreeing to referee the match. I don’t think I could have done anything if both of them took things too far,” she thanked the famed jounin once more. He seemed a bit abashed as he spoke.

“Ahh! I don’t mind it all. There is so much that I could learn from this fight, so I should be thanking you,” she smiled as she straightened up and sighed once more as she watched Ohashi and Lady Tsunade doing stretches.

“I just hope Tsunade-sama holds back appropriately. I wouldn’t want Ohashi-kun to go to his mission tomorrow with an injury,” she said with a shake of her head when the jounin by her side suddenly interrupted her.

“Well, I think Ohashi-kun is going to surprise you. And I believe Lady Tsunade will not find it as easy as you think to face him,” and her head snapped towards him. Of course, she was aware of Ohashi’s prowess, but they were talking about Tsunade Senju here, the Senju princess, the strongest Shinobi of the continent.

Yet Minato Namikaze seemed dead serious. She looked over at Ohashi once more, who had his eyes closed in concentration.

“I know that he is strong, but we are talking about Lady Tsunade here. She will win, right?” she said with a frown, and arguably the fastest shinobi alive answered her.

“There is a high chance that she will win. But it’s not a surety. Ohashi can be a very tricky opponent,” he argued, and she frowned as she looked at him again.

“Why do you say that?” she decided to ask him directly. Shizune herself wasn’t focused on the martial side of things, so having his insight would be helpful. Minato-san seemed to think about it for a second before he finally began.

“Do you know why Lord Third is called the God of Shinobi?” he countered with his own question. She nodded as she answered his question.

“It’s because he has mastered all the known techniques and, with his wealth of experience, can counter any offensive in the most efficient way,” she replied before her head snapped towards Ohashi, and she frowned.

“Yes, that is the gist of it. I would say Ohashi-kun is a crude replication of Lord Third,” and she frowned at his words.

“I do not see it. From what he told me, he is still working on mastering his third nature, and even then, his arsenal of ninjutsu isn’t quite as vast as Lord Third,” and Minato-san broke out into a chuckle.

“Yeah, Ohashi-kun is struggling to master fire release right now. But as I said, he isn’t a complete copy but rather a crude one. He doesn’t have Lord Third’s experience or arsenal, but he has an uncanny ability to have counters to whatever you throw at him,” and he suddenly reached into his pocket before taking out a kunai. The special kunai for his infamous Hiraishin, a technique the man had mastered.

“When I first met him about a year ago, I had almost mastered my technique. We talked a bit and then we decided to have a little spar ourselves,” he continued to her surprise, and she had never heard about this from Ohasi at all.

“And what happened?” she questioned, rather excited about the outcome of their spar. Minato-san smiled while looking at the serious combat-ready form of her cousin as he replied.

“To this day, he is the only shinobi who lasted over thirty minuted while facing me,” and her eyes widened as she heard those words. Minato-san stepped forward and looked over at both Lady Tsunade and Ohashi-kun before he raised his hand, and suddenly brought it down.

“BEGIN!”

BOOOOM!

And Shizune barely saw her sensei move as Tsunade-sama suddenly vanished into a blur, leaving a huge crater in her wake. She looked towards Ohashi, and she was right in front of him. In the blink of an eye, with a punch headed straight t his head. Her heart nearly gave out when Ohashi did not move to dodge, but before she could say anything, Tsunade-sama’s fist hit him.

Her body moved on instinct to help him as she noticed a splatter, but before she had taken her second step, she felt herself getting pulled back.

“What are you doing? Gods! Look at all the bloo….” But she stopped mid-sentence when she got a good look at Ohashi-kun’s body. And she found no blood, as his body suddenly dissolved the water itself.

“Didn’t I tell you before? It’s not going to be as one-sided as you think?” suddenly, she felt the air around them thicken as mist began to cover the whole training ground.

Thick Chakra-laden mist that made it impossible to see through it at all. She looked toward Minato-san as he jumped back.

“How will you keep track of the spar with all this mist?” she questioned as they landed on the ground. His eyes were closed in deep concentration as he answered her.

“Don’t worry. I placed special seals on them. Even with the mist, I will be able to intervene instantaneously if anything goes wrong,” and she nodded, feeling a bit more reassured.

“I will guide you through what’s happening as well,” he suddenly added, and she nodded as she leaned in closer as he began to tell her of what was happening inside the thick mist cover.

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