CH_125

『If even Neru can choose to change, will I ever get that chance too?』 Tōji wondered.

"The Akimichi barbecue place looks packed. Look—the line's all the way to the door." Neru pointed at the shop with the "Food" sign up front.

"Let's just queue up for now. When Captain Kenji and Natchi get here, we can decide whether to find somewhere else." Tōji pulled Neru into the line.

"Oh—Tōji and Neru! Are you here to celebrate your chūnin promotions too?" Izumo and Kotetsu were at the very end of the line and spotted them right away.

"Izumo, Kotetsu—what a coincidence!" Tōji greeted them without answering the question.

"Hello." Neru wasn't as familiar with Izumo and Kotetsu—they were more like acquaintances.

"Just the two of you? Want to join us?" Kotetsu suggested.

"Our captain and Natchi are on their way. They shouldn't mind joining either." Tōji figured there wasn't anything too private to discuss at this meal, so he agreed.

"Oh, Izumo—your original jutsu actually worked out. That's impressive!" Tōji brought up the old topic again.

"I've got Kotetsu to thank for that. If we hadn't been messing around and broken that jar of mizuame, I never would've gotten the idea." Izumo smiled at his best friend.

"Developing a C-rank original jutsu just like that—I'm envious." Tōji had joined Izumo's discussion back then, but he'd had no inspiration at all.

"Hey—didn't you say you were interested in working on it together? How about I teach you?" Izumo remembered that day of Minato's inauguration.

"That wouldn't be right—you developed it all on your own." Tōji wanted to learn, but Izumo's generosity made him feel guilty.

He thought to himself, 『I'll turn it down first. If Izumo insists on teaching me, I'll owe him a favor.』

"Tōji, Neru—we're here!" Just then, Natchi arrived with Kenji.

"So that's your captain?" Kotetsu and Izumo were seeing Kenji for the first time, their attention immediately caught by the large steel plate on his back.

"…" Tōji wanted to strangle Natchi! Bad timing! Now the topic was broken, and he couldn't easily bring it up again.

"Izumo, Kotetsu—this is our captain, Kokubō Kenji." Natchi was already introducing Kenji, steering the conversation far away…

"Nice to meet you! You're Gan Kotetsu, and you're Kamizuki Izumo—am I right? Hahaha." Kenji seemed familiar with these young shinobi—or rather, Kotetsu and Izumo were among the standout graduates of Tōji's class.

Of course, they couldn't compare to Anko…

Once Natchi and Kenji arrived, it was those two who hit it off with Kotetsu and Izumo, while Tōji and Neru found themselves on the sidelines.

Though the line looked long, Tōji and the others were only the third group waiting—they didn't have to wait long before getting a table.

After they sat down, Izumo brought it up again. "Tōji—I'm planning to develop another jutsu soon, called 【Mizuame Binding Rope】. Interested in working on it together?"

"Absolutely!" In that moment, Tōji loved Izumo.

He was already thinking about which Water Release jutsu he could offer in return.

Both "Mizuame" techniques were C-rank, and Tōji knew three C-rank Water Release jutsu…

『Izumo never used those three ordinary C-rank Water Release jutsu in the original story, so he probably never learned them.』 Tōji made his calculations.

Just like that, most of the frustration that had been weighing on him all day began to fade.

As much as he'd always complained about the Will of Fire—you can always count on its inheritors!