At night, Sanbo Motoyoshi looked at a dazzling lineup of food and sighed, “Tonan, when are you going to test your chakra attribute to see if you have the wind attribute?”
Uchiha Tonan raised his head, put the remaining rice of the bowl into his mouth, and said while chewing, “I tested it. I just have the water, earth, fire, and lightning attributes… no wind attribute.”
Motoyoshi was stunned for a moment hearing this and asked again, “Are you certain?”
Tonan nodded, and while picking up the rice grains from his bowl with chopsticks, he stressed, “I really don’t have it.”
“If you don’t have it, then you don’t have it. It can’t be forced.”
Motoyoshi felt empty in his heart. He nodded and hesitatingly said, “Today, I went to meet the doctor.”
Tonan was dumbfounded for a moment. He raised his head slightly, and said without a change in expression, “What did he tell you?”
Motoyoshi smiled warmly and replied, “Everything that should’ve been told.”
Tonan’s expression became gloomy, and the chopsticks in his hand paused. He continued to quietly pick the rice grains. He had already finished the food in his bowl, but he didn’t seem to realize it.
Motoyoshi sighed inwardly and put on a smile. “There’s no rice in the bowl… let me fill it for you.”
Tonan put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a paper towel. His hand was trembling slightly. Without warning, he swept all the food on the table to the ground. His face was red, the veins on his neck bulged, and he was breathing heavily. Only after some time had passed, he composed himself and said in a calm tone, “I’ll go find him and settle the account.”
Motoyoshi frowned and said in a deep voice, “Tonan, calm down!”
Tonan pursed his lips and squatted down. He covered his eyes with one hand, and his whole body was quivering. Motoyoshi’s eyes were full of anguish. He pushed his wheelchair to Tonan’s side and reached out his hand to gently stroke his head. He comforted, “Everyone has to die someday.”
Tonan shook his head frantically while sobbing, “It’s all my fault, I’m an ominous person. I harmed you. If you didn’t have me, then you would’ve been able to live a healthy life for a long, long time.”
Motoyoshi shook his head and replied, “It has nothing to do with you. If you weren’t here, no one would even know if my corpse had rotted. In these last moments, just accompany me, alright?”
Tonan nodded, and he seemed to suddenly remember something. He grabbed Motoyoshi’s hand and said, “You won’t die. I’ll find a specialized doctor to examine you in a few days. Perhaps, that doctor was not skilled enough and made an error. When I met him, I felt he was not very reliable.”
Motoyoshi was reluctant. “There’s no need, Tonan. Accept the reality, don’t waste money.”
“No, he must be wrong!”
“Alright, alright he slipped up. For now, though, it’s enough as long as you stay with me.”
Over the next few days, Tonan was always with Motoyoshi. Every day, before dawn, he would push the old man on the wheelchair to look around the village. In the afternoon, he would chat with him in the courtyard.
At night, he would sleep until midnight and then go to Motoyoshi’s bedroom to quietly watch him. Motoyoshi’s situation deteriorated at a rate visible to the naked eyes. Sometimes, he even seemed to hallucinate and his speech gradually became unclear.
On this day, Tonan went to the Hokage Residence to look for Sarutobi Hiruzen. Just as he entered the door, he saw Sarutobi Shinnosuke sitting on Hiruzen’s desk, chatting with him while drinking tea.
Seeing Tonan walk in, Shinnosuke hastily got off the desk and looked at him with a kind expression, “Tonan, how come you’re here?”
Tonan put his hands on his knees and bowed to Hiruzen, “Hokage-sama, there’s something wrong with grandpa Motoyoshi. I want to issue a mission. Please help me find a medical-nin to examine him.”
“Is that so!? Cough cough,” Hiruzen secretly winked at Shinnosuke and the latter helped Tonan get up. As if he was the older brother next door, he said with concern, “Tonan, you won’t need to issue a mission for this. I happen to know a top medical-nin. How about we meet him now? I believe he’ll definitely try his best if I request him.”
Tonan looked at Shinnosuke’s seemingly sincere eyes and nodded with a moved expression. “Thank you for helping me, Shinnosuke-senpai.”
“Let’s leave, I’ll take you to him.” Shinnosuke put his arms around Tonan’s shoulder and led him out of the Hokage office. Hiruzen looked at the receding back of the two and took a deep breath. “These tobacco shreds are truly good.”
Half an hour later, Shinnosuke and Tonan found the medical-nin, and Tonan accurately reported Motoyoshi’s recent situation. The more he listened, the more the medical-nin frowned and solemnly asked, “You’re saying your grandpa’s morale began to collapse after learning he has only five years to live?”
Tonan nodded and answered, “Yes, grandpa hoped to live until he could hold a great-grandchild. This news gave him a big blow. No matter what you discover later, please tell him that the last result was wrong, he has no health problems, and he can live a long life. Please!” Tonan bowed deeply towards the medical ninja.
The medical-nin sighed and agreed, “I understand, don’t worry.”
………
In the courtyard, Motoyoshi was in the wheelchair basking in the sun and sleeping soundly. Suddenly, with a loud ‘bang’, the door was roughly pushed open by Tonan.
Motoyoshi was awakened with a start. He saw Tonan hastily come over while pulling a medical-nin. Shinnosuke stood outside the door and didn’t go in to disturb.
“Grandpa, this is Konoha’s famous medical-nin.”
Motoyoshi glanced at the doctor, nodded, and said, “We’ve troubled you.”
The medical-nin nodded, and without wasting time, started to check Motoyoshi’s condition. As time passed, he frowned more deeply. Seeing his expression, Motoyoshi weakly asked, “Doctor, can I be saved?”
The medical-nin retracted his hands and answered with a smile, “What’re you talking about? Your health’s very good. According to my experience, you can easily live to a hundred years.”
Motoyoshi paled at this reply and said with a forced smile, “Good… that’s good. Thank you.”
Seeing the medical-nin was preparing to leave, Tonan hastily followed, “Doctor, I’ll see you off.”
“Alright.”
Tonan left the courtyard with him.
