Days passed like this.
Monotonous.
Tedious.
And fulfilling.
Wake up at dawn, run ten kilometers to the back hill.
Go to school, listen to lessons, class ends.
After school, head to the Uchiha Forge, hammer iron until dark.
After dark, eat dinner.
After eating, practice the sword.
Then head to the waterfall, soak for an hour, and practice finger thrusts on the rocks.
Finally, go home and collapse into bed.
Day after day.
Month after month.
Another two months passed.
One day, the Ninja Academy was closed.
Guy didn’t go to the forge.
Early in the morning, he headed into the back hill, walking toward the waterfall.
In two months, this was the first time he’d taken leave.
Not because he was tired.
But because he felt— It was close.
Just one step away.
Vajra Finger had been stuck at 999 proficiency for almost three months now.
Ever since that night he’d kicked the ninja bear into the air, he’d known that this technique didn’t need more training volume.
It needed that paper-thin barrier.
But that barrier had held for three months.
He just couldn’t break through.
Guy took off his shirt and stepped into the waterfall.
It was autumn now.
The water was starting to get cold.
But for him, a little cold meant nothing.
He walked to the spot directly under the waterfall, standing in front of the rock he’d stabbed countless times.
That rock didn’t even look like a rock anymore.
Its surface was covered with holes—deep and shallow, new and old, large and small.
Some holes could fit a whole finger.
Some were just tiny dots.
The deepest one was from last night.
One thrust, and his entire finger had sunk in.
Guy took a deep breath.
He raised his hand.
And began to strike.
One.
Two.
Three.
The waterfall pounded down on his head, hammering his shoulders raw.
But after all these months, he was used to it.
Two thousand.
Three thousand.
Five thousand.
His fingers had gone numb long ago.
But the warm current of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic kept circulating, pushing the numbness down and sending fresh energy up.
He kept striking.
Seven thousand.
Eight thousand.
Ten thousand.
The sun rose to its peak.
Then slowly drifted westward.
Guy had lost count of how many strikes he’d done.
His mind grew emptier and emptier.
Only the sound of the waterfall remained.
Suddenly, Guy remembered something Uchiha Tōya had once said.
“Forging has no secret.
You just hammer it over and over.
Until the iron remembers you, and you remember the iron.” He looked down at the rock.
The rock remembered him.
And he remembered the rock.
So then…
What about his fingers?
Guy raised his hand.
He looked at his index and middle fingers.
Three months ago, these two fingers had been swollen like carrots.
Now they weren’t swollen anymore.
But the knuckles were a full circle thicker than three months ago.
The pads of his fingers were covered in calluses, thick as tree bark.
Under his fingernails, there was always rust and stone dust that never quite washed clean.
These were his hands.
A six-year-old’s hands that looked like they’d done hard labor for twenty years.
Guy stared at those two fingers.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
Forging was about hammering.
Stabbing rocks was about thrusting.
So then…
What if he used the power of hammering when he thrust?
He raised his hand.
Aimed at the rock.
He didn’t exert force.
He just reached out slowly.
The moment his fingers touched the rock— His mind went click.
Every hammer strike, every finger thrust, every drop of sweat, every breath from the past three months— All of it surged up at once.
THWIP.
A very soft sound.
His fingers sank into the rock.
Like poking into a block of tofu.
Guy blinked.
Then that power surged out through his fingers.
He couldn’t hold it back.
And he didn’t want to.
Guy spun around and thrust his hand behind him.
A golden light exploded from his fingertips.
A phantom image of his fingers magnified.
Ten times.
Twenty times.
Thirty times.
A massive golden finger appeared in the waterfall, perfectly matching his thrusting motion.
The golden light was blinding.
The waterfall— Stopped.
In that instant.
The water crashing down from above was halted by that single finger.
Held back for an entire second.
Then the golden light faded.
The water crashed down again.
Guy slowly withdrew his hand.
He looked down.
Two fingers.
Still just two fingers.
But they felt different.
Heavier, somehow.
And lighter at the same time.
[Vajra Finger — Transcendent] The system notification rang in his mind.
Guy froze for two seconds.
“I BROKE THROUGH!!!!” He shouted it out.
His voice echoed through the entire mountain forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.
“FINALLY BROKE THROUGH!!!!” He raised both hands to the waterfall, to the sky, to the sun sinking in the west.
“THREE MONTHS!!!
THREE WHOLE MONTHS!!!!” After shouting, he stood in the water, catching his breath.
The water poured over him, cold and sharp.
But his whole body was burning.
Three months.
Three whole months.
No battles.
No opponents.
No opportunity for enlightenment.
Just striking every day, training every day, repeating the same thing every single day.
And finally.
He’d broken through.
[Congratulations!
You have achieved the pinnacle of the Low-Grade Ultimate Technique: Vajra Finger.] [Reward: Random Skill Gift Pack] [Open now?] “Open!” Golden light exploded.
An ancient manual appeared in his mind.
On the cover, three large characters.
[Golden Bell Shield] [Low-Grade Ultimate Technique] [Defensive Martial Art.
Upon training, you can condense inner energy to protect your body and withstand attacks.] Guy blinked.
“Golden Bell Shield?” He scratched his head.
“Only Low-Grade?” He was a little surprised.
Among the Shaolin 72 Arts, the Golden Bell Shield had quite a reputation.
Iron Shirt.
Golden Bell Shield.
The hallmarks of hard body training.
And yet in this system, it was only Low-Grade?
But then he thought about it.
Muscle-Tendon Change Classic was High-Grade.
Broken Precept Blade was Mid-Grade.
So Golden Bell Shield being Low-Grade made sense.
Besides, Low-Grade or not— This was defensive!
It was exactly what he’d been missing!
Guy’s eyes lit up.
These past few months, he’d been thinking about one question.
Offense was covered.
Vajra Leg was complete—one kick could send a ten-meter ninja bear flying.
Vajra Finger was about to be complete too.
Broken Precept Blade was still in training.
But what about defense?
What if one day he ran into someone too fast to dodge?
What if one day he got surrounded and couldn’t block everything?
Now, it was taken care of.
Golden Bell Shield.
Even if it was only Low-Grade, it was still a proper defensive art.
“How do I train it?” He opened the detailed description of Golden Bell Shield.
[Golden Bell Shield: Condense inner energy into a golden bell phantom to protect the body.
The stronger the inner energy, the stronger the defense.] [Training Method: Endure strikes daily, guiding inner energy to flow across the body’s surface.
The more attacks you withstand, the faster proficiency increases.] After reading, Guy grinned.
Train by getting hit?
That was perfect for him.
He’d been getting tired of poking rocks every day anyway.
Now he could poke rocks and then let people hit him.
Perfect.
He was about to head to shore and try out this Golden Bell Shield training method.
Suddenly— “GUY!!!” A voice came from the edge of the forest.
Urgent.
Guy turned.
Kurenai ran out of the trees, breathless, her face flushed red.
Her black curled hair was plastered to her forehead, her clothes soaked with sweat.
She saw Guy standing in the waterfall and froze.
Then, not caring about anything else, she called out: “Guy!
Hurry!
The school is calling for an assembly!” Guy was taken aback.
“Assembly?
School’s closed today.” “I know!” Kurenai ran over and stopped at the water’s edge.
“Iruka-sensei sent people to notify every household!
All students have to go!
Immediately!” Guy stepped out of the waterfall and picked up his clothes.
“What’s so urgent?” Kurenai shook her head.
“I don’t know.
But the messenger said we have to go.
No exceptions.” Guy dried himself off and pulled on his clothes.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Today was a weekend.
School was closed.
Emergency assembly.
All students must attend.
This…
Could it be that?
He looked at Kurenai.
Kurenai looked back at him, worry in her eyes.
“Guy, do you know what it’s about?” Guy was silent for two seconds.
Then he shook his head.
“I don’t know.” He tied his shoes and stood up.
“Let’s go.” The two of them ran out of the forest.
Heading toward the school.
End of Chapter 21