One month later.
The Ninja Academy training ground.
Today was a squad practice session.
Umino Ikaku stood at the edge of the field, holding a notebook in his hand.
Over twenty students were divided into several groups, taking turns demonstrating the Three Basic Techniques they had learned over the past month.
“Next, Kakashi Hatake.” Kakashi stepped forward.
He stood still and formed hand seals.
Poof!
Smoke dispersed, and three identical Kakashis stood side by side.
Identical movements, identical expressions, even the angle of their spiky hair was the same.
“Whoa!!!” “That’s amazing!” “Three clones!
Perfect!” The class erupted.
Asuma clicked his tongue, but his eyes were fixed on Kakashi.
Kurenai covered her mouth and gasped softly.
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses with a look of discontent, but said nothing.
Kakashi dispelled the clones and walked back to his spot.
His face showed no emotion, as if he had just done something very ordinary.
“Very good.” Umino Ikaku made some notes in his book.
“Next group, Obito Uchiha.” Obito took a deep breath and strode forward.
“Watch this!” He formed hand seals with exaggerated movements, muttering under his breath.
“Bunshin no Jutsu!” Poof!
Smoke dispersed.
Two clones appeared beside him.
One had a crooked neck.
One had crossed eyes.
Both stood wobbling, as if they were drunk.
“Pfft—” Someone laughed out loud.
“What is that supposed to be…” “Can you even call those clones?” Obito’s face turned bright red.
He bit his lip.
Umino Ikaku seemed to have expected this result.
His voice was calm: “Next, Might Guy.” Guy walked up expressionlessly.
He stood still and formed hand seals.
His chakra stirred slightly, and then— Nothing happened.
Not even a poof.
“…” The corner of Guy’s mouth twitched.
The air was silent for two awkward seconds.
“Pfft hahahaha!!!” “Zero clones!
Even worse than Obito!” “And he calls himself a shinobi?” The laughter was even louder than before.
Guy looked at his hands and sighed helplessly.
“So it really is impossible after all…” The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic had indeed improved his physique, and his chakra reserves were much larger than when he first arrived.
But ninjutsu aptitude seemed to have nothing to do with this body of his.
Over the past month, he had tried many times.
Every time, his chakra would scatter at his fingertips, never able to gather.
At first, Guy tried to salvage it, but eventually gave up.
Rather than wasting massive amounts of time and chakra on something he was not good at, getting minimal returns— It was better to go all the way down one path.
As for what others thought?
Let them think whatever they wanted.
Guy walked back to his spot as if nothing had happened.
As he passed Obito, he saw the guy with his head down, fists clenched tightly.
Ring ring ring…
The school bell rang.
Students filed out in twos and threes.
“Kakashi is so amazing!” “He really is a genius.” “That Obito was hilarious…” “And Might Guy, zero clones, haha…” The voices faded into the distance.
Guy pretended not to hear.
He packed his things and prepared to head to the back mountain for extra training.
Just as he stood up, a hand landed on his shoulder.
“Hey!
Bushy Brows!” Obito stood in front of him, eyes wide.
“How can you not be angry at all?” Guy blinked: “Angry about what?” “Them laughing at us!” Obito pointed at the door.
“Calling us dead lasts!
Saying we are not as good as Kakashi!” Guy looked at him.
“Oh.” Obito was getting worked up: “Just ‘oh’?
Does not it bother you?” Guy thought about it.
Did it bother him?
At first, a little.
No one liked being laughed at.
But later, he came to terms with it.
If he could not do ninjutsu, he could not do ninjutsu.
No amount of frustration would make a clone appear.
Instead of wasting time being upset, it was better to go kick five thousand more times.
“It is fine,” he said.
“I am used to it.” Obito froze.
“Used to it?
How can you be used to it?” Guy looked at him and suddenly asked: “Do you know why Kakashi is so good?” Obito scoffed: “Because he is a genius.” Guy shook his head.
“Because he works hard every day too.
We just do not see it.” Obito opened his mouth to retort, but for a moment, he could not find the words.
This was the first time anyone had explained genius to him like this.
Guy slung his bag over his shoulder: “So, I am going to go train.
Want to come?” Obito stared at him blankly.
“Train?” “Yeah.” Guy walked toward the door.
“If you cannot do ninjutsu, train something else.
Taijutsu, shuriken, tactics—there is always something you can practice.
Better than sitting here getting angry.” He reached the door and looked back.
Obito was still standing there.
Guy gave a thumbs-up and flashed his teeth.
“Youth is all about burning!
How can you get stronger without burning?” With that, he pushed the door open and left.
Obito stared at that green silhouette and suddenly remembered something his grandmother used to say.
“The truly strong are not those who never cry, but those who keep running even after crying.” After a long moment, he grinned.
“This guy…” He ran after him.
“Hey!
Wait up!
I am coming too!” Back mountain training ground.
“First, run a hundred laps to warm up!” Obito swallowed hard when he heard that.
But thinking about how he could not lose face in front of Might Guy, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
“Okay!” Two small figures darted through the forest.
Half an hour later.
Obito was panting heavily, but he kept pushing himself to follow Guy.
“You…
you train like this…
every day after school?” “Hm?
Of course not.” Obito sighed in relief.
“I was wondering…” “This is just the warm-up.” Guy cut him off, counting on his fingers.
“Next up is five thousand side kicks, three thousand one-finger push-ups…
oh, and I also have to stand under the waterfall for an hour at night.” “You are insane!” Guy turned back and grinned.
“Youth is all about burning!” Obito looked at Guy and fell silent.
But soon, he smiled.
His childish face regained its fearless expression.
“Train then!
Who is scared of who!” On the back mountain training ground, two small figures began their training session.
But Obito’s endurance was too weak.
After just over an hour, before the sun had even set, he collapsed on the ground.
Guy was still doing one-finger push-ups.
His face was slightly flushed, but his breathing was steady.
The warm current of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic circulated through his body, restoring his stamina quickly.
Obito tilted his head and watched Guy.
Something felt stuck in his throat.
“So this guy…
he has been working this hard all along…” He forced his body up and stood.
The way he looked at Guy grew determined.
“I am the one who is going to become Hokage!
I cannot fall here!” “If Bushy Brows can do it, so can I!” [Bond Triggered: Dead Last’s Resonance] [Reward: Monk Points +30] “Hm?” Might Guy felt a stir in his heart.
He glanced at Obito, whose legs were shaking, and silently allocated the 30 Monk Points to the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
[Muscle-Tendon Change Classic (Comprehensive Mastery) → (Refined Mastery)] Breakthrough!
A wave of heat burst from his lower abdomen, surging through his entire body in an instant.
More intense than ever before.
Guy’s whole body shuddered.
His muscles twitched.
His bones burned.
His blood boiled.
He looked down and saw a layer of gray-black mucus oozing from his arms—sticky, with a faint, bitter smell.
“Impurities being expelled from my body?!” He could feel every cell breathing, growing stronger.
[Muscle-Tendon Change Classic: Stamina recovery speed greatly increased.
Physical strength greatly increased.
Training efficiency greatly increased.] The description was as straightforward as ever, but the effects were far greater.
Now, he could easily run five hundred laps around the field without even breathing hard!
“As expected, investing everything into the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic was the right choice!” Guy’s eyes lit up.
He glanced at his technique proficiencies.
[Muscle-Tendon Change Classic: 618 (Refined Mastery)] [Vajra Leg: 483 (Comprehensive Mastery)] [Vajra Finger: 482 (Comprehensive Mastery)] In the nearly two months since Guy had obtained the system, he had allocated every single Monk Point to the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
A total of 610 points.
Unlike Vajra Leg and Vajra Finger, the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, as a High-Grade Ultimate Technique, only increased its proficiency by one point every seven days through training alone.
To reach completion, it would take a full 7,000 days.
That was a minimum of nineteen years of daily, uninterrupted training!
Now, that time would be drastically shortened.
Guy began to look forward to the day the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic reached supreme completion.
But before that…
he could not neglect the two Low-Grade Ultimate Techniques either.
“Decided!
Extra training today!” “I am not going home until both proficiencies break 500!!” Guy’s blood was pumping.
He did one-finger push-up after one-finger push-up.
Obito watched from the side, his mouth twitching.
“This guy…
is he a monster?” Thud!
His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Staring at the darkening night sky, Obito looked completely defeated.
“Just end it all…
whoever wants to be Hokage can have it…” Just as Obito was thinking this, a faint rustling sound came from the distance.
Obito stiffly turned his neck.
When he saw who it was, he blinked.
“Huh?
Why is she here?”