But... I've Grown Stronger!

Wisps of cooking smoke drifted slowly from the chimney newly erected on the little wooden house that very day. In the glow of the setting sun, they floated away like white ribbons.

"Chiba, dinner's ready."

A clear female voice came from inside the little wooden house.

"Two thousand nine hundred ninety-eight... two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine..."

At that moment, in the shade behind the little wooden house, the handsome black-haired boy was doing push-ups. Beads of sweat rolled down and splashed onto the earth, seeping into the soil and leaving dark marks across the muddy ground.

"Three thousand!"

Chiba pushed himself up from his final push-up. As sweat dripped from him, he took a slight breath and hurriedly called out, "Coming!"

His daily physical training consisted of three thousand repetitions each of straight punches, side kicks, push-ups, and squats. The four exercises took nearly an entire day, adding up to more than eight hours altogether.

Even after speeding up, it still took this long? My stamina's fine, but it's far too time-consuming! There was originally a ten-kilometer run too, but given the situation, I have no choice but to give it up. I have plans after dinner too: developing ninjutsu, examining and treating Nao, and sword-swinging practice can only be done at night.

Oh, and Hirohiko wanted to discuss something with me. The very first day is already packed tight! Chiba slowly rose to his feet, breathing slightly. Three thousand repetitions of each of the four exercises came to a full twelve thousand movements, all while wearing the Weighted Training Gear he could barely handle at present. No matter how much his body had been strengthened through recovery from near-death, it would be a joke to say he was not tired.

Even his hands had already begun to tremble slightly.