He had always felt bitter and troubled over his son's poor talent as a ninja.
But after hearing Torikaze's words today, he felt completely enlightened.
As for Shinku and Kosuke, they had taken it to heart as well and expressed their agreement with what Torikaze had said.
The only difference was that neither of them had any anxiety over their children's talent. After all, both had little ninja geniuses for children. They simply did not need to worry about that sort of thing.
"Remember this from now on: never use ninja talent to determine a child's future. Understand?"
"Alright, alright, I understand. Listening to that lecture, anyone who didn't know better would think Sensei Mizuya had arrived."
Kosuke's joke made everyone laugh. None of them minded, since after spending so much time with Torikaze, they all knew one another's temperaments.
"Alright, Iruka, stop standing there. Sit down and learn properly. You're old enough now, so go intern at the Ninja Academy tomorrow and start building up experience."
"Yes, Uncle Torikaze!"
Today truly marked the beginning of a new path in Iruka's life.
He had originally been studying at home, preparing to interview at the Ninja Academy after the Spring Festival to see whether he could become a trainee teacher.
He had never expected Torikaze to solve that problem for him directly, and to give him such strong affirmation in person.
Iruka was absolutely delighted.
"The food's here. Everyone, dig in. These are all this restaurant's specialties."
Torikaze was not particularly used to all these strange dishes, such as sashimi. At most, he would try them for the novelty.
But it was evening anyway, so eating a little less was no big deal.
"Come to think of it, quite a few people came for this year's Spring Festival. Even the leaders