Drenched in Sweat

A few days later, everyone finally returned to Konohagakure.

Since this mission had been rated A-rank, and although they had coasted through the whole thing thanks to Minato, it had indeed been extremely dangerous. They were therefore given a week off.

Naturally, that week of leave was not meant for resting. Genma proactively went to Str's Hotel, ready to undergo further training.

After chatting with Str for a while and presenting the clothes he had specially bought, he was soon thrown into a room.

The room was extremely spacious, yet completely empty, making it rather strange. Stranger still was the large circle drawn on the floor in white powder.

Before Genma could figure out what the circle was for, several tall, burly men suddenly entered through another door. They looked fierce and menacing, clearly not easy opponents.

The burly men spotted Genma as well, and their gazes shifted slightly, seemingly carrying a hint of contempt.

"Hey, Str, is this little brat the one? We get free drinks for a day as long as we beat him, right?"

The biggest and strongest of the men suddenly spoke. While surprised, Genma also understood Str's intentions.

This was meant to increase his practical combat experience. And knowing how Str thought, it probably would not be an ordinary way of gaining practical combat experience.

Before Genma could continue considering Str's exact intentions, a hidden compartment on the side of the room opened, and Str's voice came from within. "That's right. You only need to beat this kid until he can't move, or push him out of the circle. Genma, when fighting these people, you can't use any other abilities. You may only use Tai Chi."

Shiranui Genma was stunned. So this sudden training was meant to give him more practical experience with Taiji...

The group of burly men before him had muscles plainly visible beneath the lights. Even from seven or eight meters away, he could feel the explosive power contained within them.

They really were perfect for using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds...

"Kid, you'd better be careful!"

The leading man twisted his neck and loosened his joints before stepping in front of Genma. His massive fist tore through the air as it shot toward Genma's face.

Looks like the temptation of alcohol is pretty strong~

Genma felt bitter inside, but his hands swiftly grabbed the man's fist and pulled it behind him, trying to drag him down.

He was not rigidly applying Tai Chi techniques, but using the principles of Taiji. Str often told him that when practicing martial arts, he had to practice the intent behind the art, so the specific moves did not matter. Yet that approach did not seem very effective against these burly men. They even knew how to coordinate. The moment Genma's hands were occupied, they rushed in, countless fists about to rain down on him.

He had no choice but to give up on pulling down the first man. With a push of both hands to the side, he redirected the first man with his momentum, sending him crashing into another man who had been about to attack.

Genma spread his hands wide and began repeatedly using his palms to push aside the other men's fists. He was fast enough that none of the incoming punches landed on him, though his palms still began to ache slightly.

Where had these muscle-bound brutes even come from?!

Genma clicked his tongue, but merely knocking them around was not enough to extinguish their desire to drink. The men quickly got back on their feet, their eyes beginning to redden.

The entire room instantly became a place of brawny men charging and roaring. The noise was deafening, the collisions savage, as though the whole room were made of paper.

The strong men were numerous, powerful, and enduring. Even Genma, with his exceptional physique, was pushed out of the circle after becoming exhausted.

His first training session ended in failure. Str said nothing else, only telling him to continue tomorrow. Genma dragged his tired little body home.

The next day, the room was once again full of burly men. Since they were still the same group, they said nothing and charged at Genma as though he were their mortal enemy.

Having learned that punching Genma only got them pushed aside, the men all began using their palms, intending to shove him straight out of the circle.

This really was the baffling tactic of using magic to defeat magic. Caught off guard, Genma was nearly pushed out of the circle.

He used a few shameless tricks to escape the men's encirclement. What had originally been a clash of fists and feet now looked more like sumo wrestling, leaving Genma both frustrated and helpless.

He could only rely on more agile Movement Techniques, waiting for the right opportunity to use Tai Chi Push Hands.

But that was still extremely difficult. Once he moved close to a man whose attack had overextended, the others would come grab him. They would even notice the slightest sign and move to block his movements.

If he simply relied on agile dodging, it would turn entirely into a game of hawk catching chicks, and the training might lose its effect.

Seeing one man approach him steadily, his hands half-curled into claws as he waited for a chance to seize him, Genma moved directly toward him. Just as the claws were about to grab him, he pushed the man's palm aside, making it crash into his other hand.

Under the man's astonished gaze, Genma pressed his hand against the man's shoulder again. Like wrestling, he used both hands and feet to topple him.

Because they were too close together, the other men feared accidentally hurting their companion. Genma was therefore able to succeed, and their expressions as they looked at him grew more serious.

But Genma's head began to ache again. Wasn't this plainly forcing him to constantly adjust his methods? These brutes were not stupid, after all...

Sure enough, after learning that Genma possessed wrestling-like techniques, the men all stretched out their arms to push him. This had many benefits as well. Due to their size, three men surrounding Genma had previously been the limit, but now four men could attack him at once.

The pressure grew even greater, and Genma did not know how to deal with it for the moment. When their hands pushed toward him, he merely redirected them to the side.

But that was not very useful at all. He could not topple even one of the men, and instead left Genma panting heavily.

Seeing that this worked, the men rotated in a fresh group after the first four grew tired, making Genma want to cough up blood.

However, as time passed, Genma used Push Hands an unknown number of times. He was drenched in sweat, his hands heavy and aching as though they no longer obeyed him, but his use of Tai Chi Push Hands became increasingly keen.

Just like the insights that continually surfaced in his mind when he practiced Taiji slowly, he became more sensitive not only to his own use of strength, but also to the direction and force of the men's power.

Although he was somewhat exhausted, his Push Hands became more and more accurate, and the force he needed to use was far less than before.

More precisely, his Push Hands had become more efficient.

Genma entered a mysterious state. He looked as though he might collapse at any moment, yet no matter how the burly men tried to push him, they could not apply even a fraction of their force to him.

It was as if, the moment their hands reached Genma's side, they entered a curtain of water and were carried elsewhere by the current.

The unconvinced men switched in another group, but after some initial difficulty adjusting, Genma once again became just like he had been against the previous group.

But how could these crude brutes calm down like water? Their eyes soon reddened with frustration, and they angrily began throwing punches.

How could Genma, with barely any strength left, withstand them? After his hands were beaten swollen, he was pushed out of the circle.

Though exhausted, he had gained a great deal today. After dragging his tired body over to tell Str about some of his insights, he left the tavern.

The next day, he eagerly returned to the tavern and was soon taken to the spacious room. But to his surprise, the circle had become smaller...

And the burly men arrived as promised, seemingly in even greater numbers...

Str had probably heard about his progress and come up with a way to increase the number of times he used Push Hands.

Genma felt bitter inside, but he had no choice. He gritted his teeth and began sparring with even more burly men.

The sounds coming from the room were truly rather frightening. There were not only rough roars, but also repeated slapping sounds.

After training with the burly men for five whole days, Genma finally received Str's permission to rest for two days.

The two of them actually had some things to do as well. Training could not be neglected, and Teacher Yushi's birthday fell within those two days, so life remained quite busy.

And when Genma thought about how quickly the money equivalent to two S-rank mission rewards had been spent, he began considering new ways to make money.

After discussing it with Hideyoshi, he had Hideyoshi talk it over with Str, and together they opened a Hotpot Restaurant.

Winter was approaching, making it the perfect time to open a Hotpot Restaurant.

Thanks to Hideyoshi's foresight on several previous occasions, the family had thrown itself wholeheartedly into preparing for the Hotpot Restaurant.

Although two days were not enough to get the restaurant open, they had made progress in preparing several hotpot dishes.

On the evening of December 8, Genma invited Yushi, Kurenai, and Raiton. Since they had just experienced life and death together, and they were old friends as well, he also invited Minato's team.

Kakashi politely declined, but considering that he always wore a mask, he probably could not eat hotpot anyway. However, Kushina, whom Kurenai liked the most, came.

"Mmm~ Genma, so this is what you meant by being able to cater to everyone's tastes."

Kurenai eagerly picked up a slice of meat that had been cooking for a long time, glistening red with oil, and stuffed it into her mouth with all her might.

"Wow, ha~ ha~ It's so hot, so spicy..."

"Eat slowly. No one's fighting you for it. Here, your favorite Octopus. I cooked a whole one for you~"

Genma dotingly placed an octopus into Kurenai's dish.

"Whew, Genma, you're really something. You even managed to come up with this."

Namiashi Raidō wiped the oil from the corner of his mouth and gave him a rare thumbs-up.

"I never expected to eat something so novel on my birthday. Are we the first customers?"

Kamise Yushi, who looked even older than Minato, sighed as he looked at Genma.

"Of course. For something like a birthday, I naturally had to prepare something special for you. Speaking of which, Teacher, shouldn't you find a girlfriend and surprise us sometime?~"

At Genma's words, Kamise Yushi could not help looking at Minato and Kushina at the next table, then at Kurenai beside Genma, who had transformed into a foodie. He was instantly furious.

"You brat! You've got the nerve to make fun of me?"

After cursing, he thought about it and realized he really had no way to refute him. He smacked his lips, then quickly gave up as he looked at the steaming hotpot.

The hotpot was very special. One pot had been divided into four sections, each with a different flavor of broth. Sitting so close to the boiling pot soon left everyone drenched in sweat.

Yet that hot, exhilarating feeling only made them more unable to stop.