Konoha, on the banks of the Naka River.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Qingye repeatedly spewed four fire dragons from his mouth. They shot out in four directions—up, down, left, and right—and collided at a point above the river a moment later, exploding on impact.
The scorching flames spread across the water. With a sizzling sound, a large amount of river water evaporated, and steam rose into the air.
"That should do it."
Uchiha Setsuna narrowed his eyes and sighed with emotion. "You've mastered Great Fire Destruction and Dragon Flame Song Technique, too. There's not much left I can teach you."
It had only been half a month since Qingye returned to the village.
Those two weeks had nearly drained him dry!
He'd passed on almost everything he knew. Not only did he have little left to teach, but his body was close to giving out, too.
He was nearly seventy, yet he was still using up so much Chakra every day to train the next generation. His old bones were about to fall apart.
"All right. From now on, practice on your own. Don't come looking for me unless you have to."
With that, Uchiha Setsuna flatly refused Qingye's offer to walk him home. He hurried away at a much faster pace than usual, almost as if he were fleeing.
"I've been back in the village for half a month. I should be able to take it easy for a while longer."
Qingye slowly made his way home.
He'd learned nearly everything he could from the Uchiha. From here on, he just needed to study it gradually and improve his proficiency.
He still had to work on the shape transformation of Chidori, practice Lightning Style: Kirin, and continue improving his Taijutsu.
When he got home, Qingye beckoned, and a crow flew over from a tree in the yard, landing on his shoulder.
He quickly wrote something on a piece of paper, then slipped the note into the bamboo tube on the Ninja Crow's leg.
"Go see if Might Guy is back yet."
Not long after the Ninja Crow flew off, it came racing back even faster, as if fleeing for its life.
The sound of running followed close behind. Just hearing it, Qingye could picture the figure charging along and kicking up a trail of dust.
Whoosh!
A lithe figure vaulted over the front of Qingye's house.
He adjusted his position slightly in midair, swung his leg out, and spun rapidly toward Qingye with a sweeping kick.
An excited shout accompanied the attack!
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Qingye's mouth twitched. He leaned slightly to the side and dodged the blow, then gave Might Guy a gentle push as he swept past.
The push threw Guy off balance in midair, and he nearly fell. But he reacted quickly, bracing his hands against the ground and performing a backflip before landing steadily on his feet.
"Excellent reflexes! Just what I'd expect from my lifelong rival!"
Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, his bright white teeth gleaming.
"Guy, that's quite a unique way to say hello," Qingye couldn't help saying.
"But you still reacted in time, didn't you? Clearly, I need to work twice as hard!"
Might Guy clenched his fist, his eyes seemingly blazing with fire. "I've decided! I'm going to run five hundred laps around the village later!"
"Wait, hold on!" Qingye hurriedly stopped him. "Guy, I'm here because I need to talk to you."
They'd been classmates at the Ninja Academy. While many people saw Might Guy as a weirdo, Qingye knew all too well just how talented he was and how much potential he had.
Being able to train so intensely every day without ruining his body was a talent in itself.
And when it came to Taijutsu and reflexes, Might Guy was a genius!
Before he got the system, Qingye had relied on the insight of his Two-Tomoe Sharingan and used Lightning Release stimulation to increase his speed just to keep up with Guy in Taijutsu.
"Guy, I'm planning to start daily weight training, just like you."
Qingye turned serious and stated his purpose directly. "You have more experience with this. I'd like to ask you how I should train."
Qingye had already mastered the method of increasing his speed through Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
If he wanted to get even faster, weight training was currently his only option.
"Even with your current strength, you never let up for a moment, Qingye? Now that's the spirit of youth!"
Might Guy thumped his chest and said confidently, "Don't worry. Leave this to me."
The two of them then headed to a ninja tool shop Guy often visited.
On the way, Guy explained the various things to keep in mind when training with weights.
"Since you're only just starting out, Qingye, you shouldn't push yourself too hard. Start with twenty kilograms."
"Once you've adjusted to wearing the weights in your daily life and during training, you can gradually increase them."
"Also, don't wear them all day. Make sure to give your body enough time to rest each day, or it could have an impact if you keep it up for too long."
"Especially at our age—it might even affect our physical development."
He shared all his experience without holding anything back.
Qingye committed every word to memory.
At the shop, Qingye didn't try to save money. He chose the alloy weights that were most comfortable to wear—ten kilograms for each leg—and paid without hesitation.
With his current savings, he didn't need to worry about such a small expense.
Once he'd strapped the weights onto both legs, he immediately felt awkward moving around.
"Come on, Guy. Let's spar!"
Qingye said after a brief warm-up.
When they reached the training ground, Might Guy didn't hold back. He flashed forward and attacked Qingye in an instant.
Qingye tried to move quickly, but he misjudged his speed at first.
He instinctively gauged his speed by his old standards, but he was now a step slower. His body and thoughts fell out of sync.
"Heh!"
Might Guy grinned.
He'd gone through the same thing when he first started training with weights.
Without breaking his momentum, he swept a kick toward Qingye. Qingye was only a moment slow, then quickly jumped to dodge and punched toward Guy's chest.
"Gah!"
Might Guy hurriedly adjusted his stance and leaped back. "Qingye, you seem a lot faster than before!"
Qingye smiled and moved around a little more, gradually getting used to the weights.
When his Speed stat was 8, he'd been about even with Might Guy. Now that his stat was 9, even with the weights slowing him down, he was still fast enough!
"Then, Guy, I'm counting on you from here on!"
With that, Qingye sprang into motion.
The two figures flashed around the training ground, colliding with the earth from time to time. Their heavy blows smashed one crater after another into the ground!
While they were sparring, a white-haired boy came over from a distance.
"Kakashi, you're here too? Take this!"
Might Guy's eyes lit up, and he dashed toward him.
"Wait! Guy, I'm not in the mood today."
Kakashi hurriedly dodged and waved his hands frantically, his mood heavy. "Qingye, I came to see you."
He was nearly going crazy!
Obito's words had finally pulled him out of the confusion he'd felt since his father's death.
But then, on the battlefield, Kakashi had made the choice he believed he could live with. When he returned and faced the villagers' accusations, he'd initially stood firm in his decision. But as time passed, he'd only grown more confused.
Why were so many people criticizing him?
Was this what his father had faced back then?
He'd abandoned his teammates to complete the mission in the past few years, but even then, there'd been no shortage of people talking about him.
Now he'd made a different choice, yet the criticism and blame had only grown worse... So what was he supposed to do to make the right choice?
Before you continue