Aside from training,
there was one other thing worth mentioning.
Tsunade made good on her earlier promise. Although her hemophobia kept her from personally treating Mikami Tajima, she still participated deeply in his diagnosis and created a surgery and recovery plan tailored specifically for him.
If everything went well, Mikami Tajima had about a thirty percent chance of being able to walk again.
That was already a very high probability.
After all, more than ten years later, when Rock Lee faced a similar situation, even with Tsunade herself operating after overcoming her hemophobia, he had still nearly died on the operating table.
As for whether he could ever be a ninja again, that would come down to luck. The initial judgment was that it would be very difficult.
Mikami Yuu, however, didn't really mind.
—At a time like this, continuing to be a ninja wasn't exactly a good thing. The best outcome would be for Tajima to recover enough basic mobility so he wouldn't be bedridden for life as a medicine-drinking invalid, but still be unable to continue as a ninja. That would be the perfect chance for him to change careers and find some normal work.
To repay this favor,
Mikami Yuu went out of his way to thank Tsunade in person.
"There's no need to thank me. This is simply Konoha Hospital's duty."
In the hospital office,
the woman with long blonde twin ponytails sat at her desk flipping through a medical text, not even looking up as she spoke.
"If you've got the time, you'd do better to worry about the medical class evaluation at the end of this month. I already told you—if you fail, you and Nohara Rin are both out."
"…Thanks for the reminder, but you can rest easy about that, Tsunade-sama."
The corners of Mikami Yuu's mouth lifted slightly, confidence in his voice.
"I'm ready on my end and can start anytime. As for Rin, I'll keep pushing her too."
"Oh? That confident?"
Tsunade set the book down and glanced at him, then stretched lazily. With that movement, the curves and cleavage at her chest became even more pronounced, standing out sharply against her slim waist.
"Then I'll be waiting to see the result. You'd better actually pull it off."
Gulp.
Mikami Yuu swallowed unconsciously.
Who could possibly handle a sight like that?
On the other side,
Tsunade seemed to sense something faintly, so she reined in the movement a little and said, "You should hurry up and go see your father instead of wasting time here with me. His surgery is in a couple of days. Even if the odds of failure aren't high, it's not as if there's no risk at all."
"…Tsunade-sama."
Mikami Yuu didn't leave immediately. He took a breath.
"There's one other question I wanted to ask you… about the Cell Activation Technique…"
…
A little later,
Mikami Yuu left Tsunade's office and went to his father's bedside. After hearing that he still had a chance to stand again, Mikami Tajima was in an excellent mood and ended up talking to Yuu for quite a while.
"Oh right, Yuu—have you thought about what I mentioned before? Using my accumulated merits to exchange for a jutsu?"
"If I just leave those merits sitting there, they're wasted. It'd be better to use them to get you a strong jutsu to protect yourself! Sand and Konoha are already at war now. Who knows when you kids might end up brushing against battlefield situations yourselves? If you wait until then, it'll be too late!"
"Well…"
Mikami Yuu hesitated.
He really had been thinking seriously about this these past few days. For that very reason, he had even made time to privately ask Minato for advice.
At his current stage, Mikami Yuu's combat style was basically built around two systems.
The first was close-quarters killing, centered on the Three Basic Jutsu and Hatake Swordsmanship.
The second was stationary Fire Release bombardment, centered on Great Fireball: Burn to Ash.
The former had greater long-term potential.
The latter had higher raw output.
As for Water Release and the Eight Gates, his current proficiency was still limited, so they could only count as secondary specializations for now.
So if he was going to exchange for a jutsu, the first thing he needed to decide was whether to keep reinforcing what he was already good at, or instead shore up his weaknesses.
Mikami Yuu personally leaned toward the former.
After all, both Water Release and the Eight Gates were techniques with heavy demands on chakra reserves. Even though Water Wave's trait reduced chakra consumption, in the short term there was no way it was going to let him pull off a Senju Tobirama– or Hoshigaki Kisame–level "Sea Release" style.
So rather than that, it made more sense to first finish building out the Fire Release system that already had the bones of a framework.
"…In that regard, my personal suggestion is that you exchange for a long-range attack jutsu."
This was what Minato had said.
"Your Great Fireball is already extremely well trained, and with Phoenix Sage Fire added in, you basically have your close- to mid-range fire coverage covered. If you want to expand from there, you could consider exchanging for Dragon Fire Jutsu or Great Dragon Fire Jutsu.
"Both of those have long-range precision attack capability. And Great Dragon Fire, once mastered, can release multiple fire dragons at once. With your talent for Fire Release, Yuu, you should be capable of reaching that level."
"…Makes sense."
Mikami Yuu had nodded.
His original plan had actually been to exchange for Great Fire Annihilation.
After all, the scene of Uchiha Madara using one fire jutsu and forcing more than ten water jutsu to counter it was just too shocking.
But when he thought about it carefully…
Great Fire Annihilation was, in essence, more like an upgraded version of Great Fireball: Burn to Ash. Its killing power might indeed be stronger, but accordingly, its chakra cost was also much higher, and against skilled opponents it could still be dodged or blocked.
Meanwhile, long-range precision strike capability really was something his current combat system lacked.
"I wonder if I could exchange for Dragon Flame Release Song Technique…"
That one was supposed to have a hundred-percent hit rate.
But that technique had only ever been used by Uchiha Madara, which meant its difficulty and overall grade were both far beyond ordinary levels. Konoha's jutsu archive probably didn't even have it. The Uchiha clan might possess relevant notes, but that would be private clan property, inaccessible to outsiders.
"Then Great Dragon Fire it is."
"Or Dragon Fire Jutsu and just train it slowly."
Mikami Yuu made his decision.
…
Two afternoons later,
Mikami Yuu brought Mikami Tajima's identification papers to Konoha's mission administration hall and formally requested a jutsu exchange.
"…You're Mikami Yuu? One of Jōnin Namikaze Minato's subordinates?"
The Konoha ninja handling the desk seemed to recall something.
"Your father's mission contributions are enough to exchange for two C-rank jutsu, but he's still a little short of a B-rank. However, Jōnin Namikaze came by a few days ago and said that if it was you coming to exchange for a jutsu, the remainder could be deducted from his own mission credits."
"…?"
Mikami Yuu froze slightly, a bit surprised.
But the even bigger surprise came immediately after:
[Under the introductions of your father and teacher, you arrive at the matchmaking office in the center of the village. The staff there warmly receives you and informs you that your father and teacher have already opened a membership account for you and have tentatively picked out a simple, honest young girl for you. Her name is "Dragon Fire Jutsu."]
[Please decide whether to make contact with her: Yes / No]
[Or you may choose a different intended contact from the matchmaker's list: ___]