Learning Taijutsu from Guy

"Kakashi, the teacher you found for me isn't Guy, is he?!"

The next morning, Gu Qi followed Kakashi toward a mountain on the outskirts of Konoha. Behind Gu Qi were the three Ninja Dogs he had just adopted.

But the farther Gu Qi walked, the more he felt, for some reason, that something bad was about to happen.

"Who else would it be?" Kakashi asked in return.

Gu Qi was stunned. "Damn it, learning Taijutsu from Guy is going to make me stupid!"

"Hmm, that is a problem." Kakashi nodded, fully agreeing with Gu Qi.

"That's a serious problem, okay!"

"Don't worry. I believe you can keep your head on straight, Gu Qi."

"Heh!"

Might Guy, Konoha's proud Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf.

When it came to Taijutsu, there were very few people in Konoha who could match him.

If Kakashi hadn't asked, there was no way Guy would have agreed to train Gu Qi.

There was no denying that Guy was excellent at Taijutsu, but Gu Qi honestly couldn't stand the way Might Guy went around talking about youth all day.

"Forget it. Han Xin endured the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs. What's losing a few IQ points? It's no big deal."

Having made peace with it, Gu Qi continued after Kakashi with the expression of someone marching to his death.

Kakashi looked at Gu Qi's face and rolled his eyes.

Before long, the two of them reached a dojo where Guy often trained.

"Yo, Kakashi! My lifelong rival, you're here! Come on, let's have a match first!"

As soon as they entered the dojo, Gu Qi heard Might Guy's spirited greeting.

"Huh? Did someone just say something?"

"Ah! I've been ignored by my lifelong rival!" Might Guy wailed, clutching his head.

"..." Gu Qi was at a loss. How awful must someone's childhood have been for them to turn out like this?

Kakashi ignored Guy completely. Only after Guy had calmed down did he say, "I brought Gu Qi here. I hope you'll train him properly."

"Don't worry! Leave it to me!" Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, revealing a gleaming tooth, and replied with confidence.

"Okay! I'm off." Kakashi gave Gu Qi an encouraging look and left.

With Might Guy staring at him, Gu Qi had no choice but to steel himself and step forward. "Teacher Kai, please take good care of me."

"No need to be shy, Gu Qi! I'll make sure to train you properly. Seeing how hard you're working takes me back to my childhood. This is youth!"

As he spoke, Might Guy suddenly burst into tears again.

Damn it, Gu Qi felt like turning around and running.

After a while, Might Guy came back to himself and said to Gu Qi, "Come on, Gu Qi. Let me see what you can do."

Gu Qi bowed. "Please go easy on me."

They bowed to each other and formed Hand Seals. Then Gu Qi charged straight at Might Guy.

As for waiting for the other guy to attack first? Forget it.

The gap between them was enormous. If Gu Qi didn't take the initiative, he wouldn't get a chance at all.

"Good strength. Decent speed." As Gu Qi kicked at Might Guy, Guy immediately offered his assessment.

"Your movements are too stiff, and you're not agile enough."

After a series of kicks in midair, Might Guy continued his critique.

"Your techniques are too rigid. You lack experience."

After Gu Qi unleashed a Konoha Whirlwind, Might Guy added another comment.

Might Guy never once counterattacked. He only kept dodging.

"Shadow Leaf Dance!" Gu Qi attacked Might Guy again.

But this time, Might Guy didn't dodge. Instead, he suddenly tapped Gu Qi's left foot with a light kick.

Caught off guard, Gu Qi lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Finally, your stance is unstable." Might Guy concluded.

Gu Qi looked dejected. "Am I really that bad?"

Gu Qi had always thought he was working hard enough. He hadn't expected to be so thoroughly crushed.

"Compared to other kids your age, you're not bad at all, Gu Qi. But you're Kakashi Hatake's younger brother. Is this really all you're aiming for?" Might Guy goaded him.

Gu Qi immediately retorted, "Of course not! I'm going to become the strongest in the Shinobi World. So please train me as strictly as you can, Teacher Kai."

"That's the spirit of youth! Don't worry, little Gu Qi. I'll make sure to push you to the limit." Might Guy once again teared up as he spoke.

"..." Damn it, aside from Rock Lee, who was missing a few screws, who could stand Might Guy?

Gu Qi figured that if he spent too long with Might Guy, sooner or later his brain would short-circuit.

"All right, little Gu Qi! Let's start training. First, run one lap around the village."

"..." Gu Qi suddenly wondered if he'd even survive this.

......

By the time Gu Qi got home, it was already evening.

Feeling sore all over, Gu Qi threw himself onto the bed.

He wasn't the only one. The three Ninja Dogs beside him also looked utterly defeated.

Gu Qi had spent the entire day in Guy's special training, and the three Ninja Dogs hadn't escaped Guy's clutches either.

But the three Ninja Dogs were still very young, and they were done after just one morning.

For the rest of the day, Gu Qi had to carry them on his back to finish the training.

"I must've lost my mind to learn Taijutsu from Might Guy." Gu Qi muttered to himself.

It was only the first day, and Might Guy's hellish training had already wrung Gu Qi dry.

Running one lap around the village had only been the warm-up. The ten thousand frog jumps and punching a hundred towering trees apart with his bare hands, without using chakra, were the sorts of things that could kill a person.

On top of that, Might Guy had forbidden Gu Qi from eating his specially made jerky to recover his strength.

That meant Gu Qi had spent the entire day forcing himself through the training on sheer willpower.

Fortunately, thanks to wearing the Red Pill for so long, as well as all the techniques and experience Might Guy had taught him, Gu Qi had managed to make it through.

Thinking about what lay ahead gave Gu Qi a headache.

More than once, Gu Qi had wondered why he couldn't just enjoy his childhood like Shikamaru and the others.

"Sigh!"

"What, can't take it already?" Kakashi suddenly appeared at Gu Qi's window.

"Damn it, couldn't you use the door?!" Gu Qi almost jumped in fright.

Kakashi replied casually, "A ninja doesn't take the usual route."

"Heh!"

"When you're training with Guy, remember to go to the hospital once a week for a checkup. If you have any hidden injuries, get them treated right away," Kakashi said.

"Got it, got it."

"Take this money. I have another mission tomorrow." Kakashi suddenly pulled out an envelope.

"Already? You've only had a few days off," Gu Qi complained.

"Don't worry. This time, I'm going to escort the envoy from Kumogakure. The war between Konoha and Kumogakure is over, and they're coming to sign a peace treaty." Kakashi reassured him.

"All right, then. Be careful on the way."

"Mm. These are some scrolls for training in ninjutsu. I'm only going to escort the Kumogakure envoy, but I might not be back for a while." Kakashi took out a scroll.

"What ninjutsu are in there?" Gu Qi asked.

"They're the ninjutsu I recommended you learn. There's Shadow Clone, which you've always wanted to learn, and the Rasengan, created by the Fourth Hokage," Kakashi said.

"Why didn't you include your own Chidori and Lightning Blade?" Gu Qi asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "With the amount of chakra you have now, there's no point in learning Chidori. I'll teach it to you when the time is right."

"Thanks."

"Huh? Since when did our Gu Qi get so polite?" Kakashi said with a laugh.

"Mind your own business."

"Haha!"

Once Kakashi left, Gu Qi opened the scroll he had given him.

The scroll contained not only descriptions of the ninjutsu but also Kakashi's notes on how to use them.

There was enough ninjutsu here to keep Gu Qi learning for quite a while.

Of all the techniques, the Rasengan and Shadow Clone were definitely the ones he had to learn.

So Gu Qi decided to start with the Rasengan.

After all, he had been fascinated by the Rasengan for a long time.

Fortunately, he still remembered some of the training methods for the Rasengan from the anime.

So Gu Qi decided to find some water balloons to buy tomorrow.

After practicing chakra for a while, Gu Qi cut a piece of jerky into pieces about the size of a Ryo coin, soaked them in Secret Brew, and fed them to the three Ninja Dogs.

Once the three Ninja Dogs had fallen asleep with satisfied smiles, Gu Qi ate some jerky, took a sip of Secret Brew, and went to sleep.