A Mortal Body

Uchiha Yu wore a thick vest stuffed with weighted lead blocks as he huffed and puffed along the edge of the village.

Calling it running was generous. He was moving even slower than walking, practically inching forward one step at a time. Each step left a deep footprint, while sweat dripped onto the ground like rain.

Most ninja excelled in speed and agility. Any genin who had graduated could run at over a hundred kilometers per hour. Uchiha Yu himself could reach two hundred kilometers per hour.

But that was under normal weight conditions. He was currently carrying a full six hundred and fifty kilograms. Every step required all of his strength.

When he had first left home, he could still run. But after circling half the village wall, he had completely wilted. Once his stamina dropped severely, the most intense feeling was not the weight itself, but the way the load shifted his center of gravity and disrupted his movements.

Uchiha Yu was like a hammer now, with the hammerhead on top, always on the verge of falling flat on his back.

Maintaining his balance while moving under a load ten times his own body weight was far harder than simply lifting his legs and walking.

Soon, more than half his stamina had been exhausted. Then the chakra that had been expelled from his meridians and scattered throughout his limbs and body took over.

Strangely, although the chakra was not circulating through his meridians, it could communicate through the circulating Natural Energy and unleash even greater power. Uchiha Yu could carry the heavy load and run at sixty kilometers per hour. He could even use chakra to protect tree branches and leap among them like an ape.

But the burden was ultimately too great. Before long, even his chakra was completely depleted.

The greatest advantage of cultivating the Immortal Path after reaching Foundation Establishment was that it would never draw chakra from the body's cells. Never, under any circumstances.

He could use however much remained above the safety threshold, but once he reached that threshold, he could not squeeze out even a single drop more.

That left only his utterly exhausted muscles to hold him up. That was why Uchiha Yu was suffering so badly.

Yet this most difficult stretch was precisely when his true cultivation began.

Without chakra's protection, every step under six hundred and fifty kilograms of pressure severely damaged his muscles, fascia, and bones.

Before the pain signals could reach his brain, fire-aspected Natural Energy spread from his meridians and instantly repaired his injured body. The repair also brought a faint but perceptible improvement.

Close behind the pain came the itch of healing, followed by the overwhelmingly pleasant sensation of strengthening, all reaching his brain in succession.

That feeling of pain, itch, and bliss... was simply indescribable.

Uchiha Yu could not get enough of it. He inched forward step by step, savoring wave after wave of wonderful sensations.

Cultivating immortality... really is addictive!

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from behind him. Uchiha Yu immediately sensed trouble and tried to cover his ears, only to discover that he could not lift his hands at all.

"We're doomed. I'm going to die!"

The rumbling was also the sound of heavy footsteps. As the source drew nearer, the noise grew louder, and even the ground began to tremble rhythmically.

"Yo—this is unbelievable! Guy, did you see that? This chunin is still persevering! That's simply—amazing!"

I'm not a chunin, and this vest isn't a standard chunin vest either!

Forget it. I could never convince those two stubborn guys. Besides, I've completed the promotion mission, so I'm basically a chunin candidate now.

"I saw it, Father!"

"Although he is very slow, that is only because our training methods are different! We could not carry such a heavy burden, so we must not look down on him!"

"Father, this senior is a chunin, while you are only a genin. How can you judge him—"

Thud! A fist smashed into his head.

"Ah!!"

"You lost focus, Guy!!"

"Focus! Only focus can bring improvement!"

"Look at this chunin! Look at how focused he is! You are slacking off! You are wasting your youth!"

Thud! Another punch.

"Ah!!"

"Youth is the most precious thing of all! You must work twice as hard so that one day, you can bloom with brilliance!!"

"Yes!"

"Keep it up!!"

"Keep it up!!"

The two ninja wore green bodysuits and strange orange scarves. With glossy black hair and voices like thunder, each carried a rock larger than himself as they staggered past Uchiha Yu.

This was not their first encounter. Even today, it was not their first time meeting.

They had already exchanged greetings long ago, so the two green-clad ninja merely flashed Uchiha Yu a grin. Their gleaming front teeth nearly blinded him before they ran off.

"Keep it up! Only two more laps until today's goal of circling Konoha ten times is complete! We're almost there!"

"Yes, Father!"

"Youth—!"

Uchiha Yu did not stop walking, but his body trembled even harder. Only after those energetic shouts could no longer be heard did he finally let out a breath of relief.

A gray shadow darted out with a swish and landed directly on Uchiha Yu's head. It was Miwa Masayo.

The Tabby Cat scratched her ear and said with lingering fear, "The Might Clan's spiritual impact... is too fierce, meow. There is no way to get used to it."

"It happens ten times all morning. Yu, how do you endure it?"

Uchiha Yu pointed to his ears and said, "I sealed off my hearing. I also closed my eyes just now."

"Closing your eyes and blocking your hearing is indeed a solution, but how did you know they had left?"

"When they go far away, Miwa Masayo, you come back."

"...Good idea."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Miwa Masayo looked behind them and said, "That father and son will need another twenty minutes before they catch up again. We can finally have some peace and quiet for a while."

"How could Konoha have such strange ninja?"

"Haha, the Might Clan's ninja really are strange."

"You know them, meow?"

"Mm, I would not say I know them... After all, I know them, but they do not know who I am."

"Meow?"

Uchiha Yu did not explain to Miwa Masayo just how extraordinary Might Duy and Might Guy were.

This father and son had left the deepest impression on him in this world, far surpassing the future male and female protagonists. In the end, people who reached the peak of the Ninja World solely by relying on their fathers were not worthy of comparison to the feat of ordinary men attempting to slay gods.

Yet after interacting with them for three consecutive days, Uchiha Yu had developed serious doubts about their supposedly ordinary bodies.

He possessed the most abundant chakra among ninja his age, powerful and miraculous Natural Energy, the ability to perfectly repair physical damage, and the Uchiha clan's systematic training methods.

Only with the support of all those conditions could Uchiha Yu undergo three hours of extreme training.

Beyond that limit, his body's self-healing ability would fail to keep up. Not only would he be unable to grow stronger through training, it would even seriously weaken the results of his previous training.

But what did the Might father and son have?

Only the most basic taijutsu taught at the Ninja Academy, the forbidden technique Eight Inner Gates, and the training methods Might Duy had developed through twenty years of trial and error.

They did not even have enough money to eat meat every day.

Yet under such meager conditions, the two of them could perform over eight hours of extreme training every day. They had to spend the rest of their time working, or they would have no money to maintain their lives.

Uchiha Yu seized an opportunity to cast Genjutsu, then carefully examined them from head to toe.

They truly had no special bloodline. Perhaps the only thing sustaining them was their unyielding will.

A miracle.