Might Duy

When school let out that day, Uchiha Mai was stopped by Might Guy again. To be honest, Mai had been rather surprised that Guy hadn't kept pestering him with challenges over the past few days.

"Mai, let us settle this in a match!"

Dressed in an outlandish outfit, Might Guy raised his thick brows and pointed his thumb at himself. "I actually wanted to challenge you a few days ago.

But my dad was unusually home from missions and resting, so I spent several days training with him.

When my dad heard that the Uchiha genius also took taijutsu training seriously, he was just as inspired as I was."

Might Guy's father?

Wasn't that Might Duy, the man who kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen into the Lucky Trio?

Uchiha Mai was immediately intrigued and asked, "Is your father still in the village?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Might Guy scratched his head, completely baffled.

"Nothing. I've just run into a few problems with my taijutsu training lately, and I wanted to seek guidance from an expert proficient in taijutsu," Uchiha Mai replied.

The boxing techniques he had obtained from Mayweather mostly consisted of methods for throwing punches and generating force, psychological tactics, while the jujutsu techniques were mostly locks.

There was a saying: arms couldn't twist past thighs. The power of the legs far surpassed that of fists and palms.

But modern boxing had point scoring, and in close combat, lifting one's leg too high could easily throw one off balance, so it did not have many kicking techniques.

The Ninja World, on the other hand, did not need to worry too much about balance due to shinobi's extraordinary agility. The taijutsu popular in the major hidden villages all focused on kicks.

Whether it was Konoha's Strong Fist or Kumogakure's Nintaijutsu, it was all the same.

Uchiha Mai desperately needed to learn the Ninja World's trendiest, toughest kicking techniques to make up for the deficiencies in his boxing system.

Don't ask why a boxing style needed to learn leg techniques. Wasn't Konoha's Strong Fist style packed with kicking techniques too?

When Might Guy heard that Uchiha Mai wanted to study taijutsu under his own father, he became even more excited and burst into tears again.

"If Dad learns that an Uchiha genius wants to study taijutsu under him, he'll definitely be delighted.

I'll take you to see him right away. My dad is the strongest taijutsu shinobi in Konoha—the entire Ninja World. You'll definitely learn a lot from him!"

With that, Might Guy forgot all about the challenge and dragged Uchiha Mai toward his home.

Mai was slightly taken aback. He had still underestimated the influence of the Uchiha name.

In this era, when the smoke of war had yet to completely clear, the Uchiha name possessed an intimidation unmatched throughout the Ninja World. Only the Senju could compare.

Setting aside the Three Tomoe, virtually every Uchiha shinobi who awakened the Sharingan could attain Two Tomoe once he reached adulthood.

After gaining more experience and seniority, with the Sharingan, a Jonin would emerge.

Jonin were already the backbone of a village. Even at Konoha's peak, its number of Jonin had not exceeded three hundred.

According to Uchiha Mai's knowledge, there were at least forty Uchiha clan members with either Three Tomoe or Two Tomoe. That meant a potential thirty to forty Jonin.

The vast majority of those several dozen Jonin did not have shinobi registration numbers.

Only shinobi who graduated from the Ninja Academy received shinobi registration numbers. That was why Konoha's registration numbers had only passed ten thousand, yet during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Five Great Shinobi Villages could still assemble a Shinobi Alliance of seventy thousand.

Thirty to forty Jonin amounted to more than one-tenth of Konoha's total. Sunagakure, one of the weaker Five Great Shinobi Villages, probably only had just over a hundred Jonin.

That was the foundation of the clan that had once stood alongside the Senju as the strongest in the Ninja World.

The Uchiha were the aristocrats among shinobi, so prestigious that Uchiha Sasuke, despite displaying rather ordinary talent in the early Shippuden, could still become the focus of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

In the Ninja World, the Uchiha's ping-pong-paddle clan crest worked even better than the soaring pattern of the Plain White Banner.

Having discussed the Uchiha, it was time to discuss Might Guy and Might Duy.

Because they could barely practice ninjutsu and could only train taijutsu relentlessly, they had never received recognition from the other shinobi in the village and had suffered countless cold looks.

Living at the bottom of Konoha, they desperately craved recognition from the village's other shinobi.

Did an Uchiha youth from a great Ninja World clan, having heard that Might Duy's taijutsu was amazing, wanting to seek instruction from a mere Genin count as recognition?

It absolutely did!

The Uchiha had taijutsu too. Otherwise, how had Uchiha Madara earned his title, Rose of the Battlefield?

Might Guy dragged Mai in a mad dash, refusing to pause even for a moment as he ran home. He shoved open the door with one palm and shouted, "Dad, I'm back!"

In the somewhat run-down courtyard, Might Duy, who looked much like Might Guy except decades older, sat on a small stool beneath the shade of a tree, sewing weighted leg wraps for Might Guy with his head lowered.

Hearing his son's shout, he set down the Nuibari and abruptly looked up. "Why are you back so early? Didn't you say you were going to challenge your classmate today?

Uh, and who is this?"

Why had he brought someone home?

Might Duy took two looks, then suddenly noticed the ping-pong-paddle clan crest on Uchiha Mai's clothes. His pupils contracted slightly.

"Hello, Mr. Duy. I'm Guy's classmate, Uchiha Mai." Mai gave a slight bow and spoke with impeccable courtesy.

Might Duy was even more shocked. Since when were Uchiha people this polite? Could this be a fake Uchiha?

Which Uchiha he usually saw didn't walk around with his nose in the air, looking down on everyone with his chin?

After all, he was asking for a favor. Basic courtesy was still necessary.

Might Guy pulled Mai over beside his father and introduced him. "Dad, he's the Uchiha Mai I told you about before—the one who is very interested in taijutsu and is also really skilled at it.

He said that he recently encountered some problems while training taijutsu and wanted to seek advice from a shinobi proficient in taijutsu."

"B-but I'm only a Genin..." Might Duy suddenly lost confidence and spoke hesitantly. The Uchiha name was still quite intimidating.

Mai smiled and effortlessly spun a lie. "I've heard the elders in my clan mention you.

They said that although Mr. Duy is only a Genin, he is extremely powerful, and that his understanding and attainments in taijutsu rank among Konoha's finest.

If not for being unable to learn the Three Basic Jutsu, you would definitely have been promoted to Chunin."

W-wait... an Uchiha shinobi thought so highly of me?

Might Duy froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into tears and embraced his own son as they wept together. Choking up, he said, "My taijutsu... my taijutsu has finally received the village's recognition.

I, Might Duy, am not trash. I am a powerful shinobi too."

"Dad is of course a powerful shinobi. Taijutsu isn't something only trash practices..."

The father and son completely acted as though Uchiha Mai did not exist, embracing as they spoke of the bitterness and hardships of the past years.

Uchiha Mai: "..."

Had the Might Guy lineage's tendency to burst into tears at every turn and wear their emotions on their sleeves already appeared in his father's generation?

He absolutely could not let them infect him. Otherwise, he might learn the trendiest, toughest leg techniques, only to become such a goofball that he could no longer harvest Style Points. That would be a terrible trade.