"Iâm home!"
After returning home, Shikamaru called out, then stepped into the room.
"What in the... What happened to you?" Seeing his sonâs bloodied hands, Shikaku furrowed his brow, asking with concern.
Shikamaru forced a bitter smile. "Itâs all thanks to Hikari-senpaiâs training. Sigh..."
"Now, nowâwhatâs with that defeated look? Thatâs not like my son!"
"Come on, Dad. If I were as energetic as everyone else every day, youâd start wondering whether Iâm really your kid!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shikamaru sensed danger and instinctively crouched, covering his head.
*Thwack!*
A sharp slap landed on his head. "Listen here, brat! You can question whether your old manâs your real dad, but you better not question if your momâs your real mom!"
"I get it, I get it, my dearest, most beloved mother!" Shikamaru deployed his ultimate survival tactic. "Mom, Iâm hungry!"
"If youâre hungry, eat! And you, Shikakuâspend more time paying attention to your sonâs training! How could you let his hands get like this without even treating them?" After smacking her son, Shikamaruâs mother looked at his hands with a pang of worry.
The backs of his fingers were scraped raw, the flesh mangledâa gruesome sight.
Luckily, the bleeding had stopped. Otherwise, Shikamaru mightâve passed out from blood loss.
"Ugh, Iâm too embarrassed to even treat these wounds." Shikamaru grabbed a cushion, plopped down, and stared at Shikaku, lost in thought.
"Whatâs that look, kid? Plotting something sneaky?" Though Shikaku felt bad for his son, he also knew this was the path to becoming stronger. Every elite shinobi had endured harsh training since childhood.
But the look in Shikamaruâs eyes irritated him.
It was a gaze full of doubt.
Was this brat questioning whether he was really his kid, or doubting his old manâs 200 IQ?
"Sigh..."
Shikamaru exhaled deeply, then raised his injured hands toward Shikaku.
"Dad, between me, Ino, and ChÅji, who do you think is the smartest?"
Shikaku glared at his son. Was this kid spouting nonsense on purpose?
Didnât this kid know his old man was Konohaâs top strategist?
Maybe he wasnât the strongest in battle, but his brain could easily outmatch two shinobi at once.
"From the way youâre asking, did someone bruise your ego?" Shikakuâs curiosity was piqued.
He knew his son wellâShikamaru had always been sharp, but his laziness and over-reliance on his wits had held back his growth.
"Yeah. Today, Hikari-senpai was guiding our training. Wanna guess who finished first?"
Shikaku smirked. Nice try, kid. You think you can trip me up?
"Definitely not you."
Shikamaru nodded.
"Yep. It was ChÅji."
"Funny thing is, I wasnât second either. Ino was."
"Then third place has to be you, right?" Shikaku offered some consolation.
Even if he wasnât first or second, third wasnât bad.
Shikamaru looked like he was about to cry. "Nope! Third wasnât me either! Actually... I still havenât completed the training! Aaargh, this is so frustrating!"
"Pfftâ!"
Shikaku couldnât hold back his laughter.
Shikamaru stared at his father, eyes full of suspicion.
"Dad... Are you really my dad?"
"I get crushed like this, and not only do you not comfort me, youâre laughing?!"
Shikaku stifled his grin. "I wasnât laughing at you. I just remembered something funny."
Shikamaru: (ಠ_ಠ)
âYeah, sure. Like Iâd believe that.â
âWhatever. A good son shouldnât argue with his father.â
"Honestly, Iâm starting to doubt my own intelligence." Shikamaru muttered.
Shikakuâs expression turned serious.
This wonât do.
His son could doubt his strengthâthat was fine. The Nara clan didnât rely on raw power to thrive in the shinobi world. But doubting his intelligence? Unacceptable. If a Nara lost confidence in their brain, they might as well retire.
"Alright, son. Tell me whatâs going on. Maybe your old man can help. And donât worryâsometimes, being too smart can make you overthink things. So, how exactly were you training?"
Shikaku was genuinely curious. What kind of technique had Kamizuki Hikari taught them that allowed ChÅji and Ino to grasp it faster than Shikamaru?
"Nothing complicated. We hung a stack of paper on a tree, got into a horse stance, and kept punching the paper. Thatâs how my hands ended up like this."
Hanging paper on a tree and punching it... sounds like taijutsu training.
"And whatâs the benefit of this training?"
"I donât know. I havenât even cleared the first stage."
"Then just quit!"
"But after Ino finished her training, she punched me once and I hit the ground so hard I couldnât get back up. If Hikari-senpai hadnât healed me with medical ninjutsu, I mightâve lost my manhood forever!"
"WHAT?! Kid, donât scare me like that!" Shikaku lunged forward, hands reaching for Shikamaruâs pantsâclearly intending to check if everything was still intact.
"Whoa! Dad, what the hell?!" Shikamaru clutched his pants, horrified.
Had his father been reading too much âquestionableâ content lately? Was he about to cross a line?!
"Relax, Iâm just making sure your âlittle brotherâ is still there. The Nara bloodline depends on it!" Shikaku was dead serious. If his son had lost his manhood, heâd need to consider starting over with a new heir.
"Thatâs not where I got hit! It was my kidney! My kidney, got it?!"
*Whoosh!*
Shikaku immediately let go, his face briefly flashing with embarrassment. "Then show me where you were injured!"
Realizing his mistake, Shikamaru relaxed. As long as their father-son bond wasnât tainted, he was fine.
"Right here. Inoâs punch felt like it shattered my kidney. But after Hikari-senpaiâs treatment, I could stand up fine. Maybe I just imagined it."
Shikaku touched the spot Shikamaru indicated. As an elite shinobi, his observation skills were top-notch.
Even after healing, the residual damage to the muscle fibers told him just how brutal that punch had been.
If he had to guess, that strike had ruptured Shikamaruâs kidney. But if Kamizuki Hikari healed it without surgery... Just how advanced was his medical ninjutsu?
Though not a medical-nin himself, Shikaku knew enough.
Mastering the Mystical Palm Technique already made you a lead physician at Konoha Hospital. Those who surpassed that level were rareâeven Tsunade might not be able to fully repair a shattered kidney without invasive procedures.
"Son."
"Yeah?"
"After dinner, Iâm taking you to Konoha Hospital for a checkup."
"Seriously? I feel fine!"
"Weâre going. Unless you want me to knock some sense into you."
"Dad, youâ"
"What about me?" Shikaku smiled warmly.
Seeing that smile, Shikamaru instantly surrendered. "Dad, youâre just too cool."
"Thatâs more like it. Remember, your dad will always be your dad, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
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