Special Training!

Afternoon.

"Is this how you train?"

Uchiha Nagasawa sat on the ground, utterly drained, exhaustion plain on his face.

At this point, Roy didn't even have the strength to answer Uchiha Nagasawa.

He was lying on the ground, unable to move.

"Do you have to push yourself this hard for physical training?"

Natsume chimed in. He had trained right alongside them.

Now he was sitting on the ground too, nearly spent.

"Better to push yourself now than lose your life in battle, right?"

Roy finally caught his breath.

After just half a day of high-intensity training, Roy had lost the ability to move, while Uchiha Nagasawa and Uchiha Natsume were exhausted as well.

They had basically lost their ability to fight.

Thinking of the battle between Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama, which had lasted for several days, made Roy shudder.

Did these people have unlimited stamina?

"Better to push yourself now than lose your life in battle!"

"Hahaha, well said!"

"But Roy, while we Uchiha aren't weak at Taijutsu, we're better at ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"Why not spend more time improving in those areas?"

Uchiha Nagasawa agreed with Roy's philosophy, but this training method...

"Ninjutsu's power is closely tied to the body's strength. If your body can't withstand powerful chakra, your techniques will be much weaker."

"As for genjutsu, isn't this kind of training enough to make your mind stronger?"

After speaking, Roy stood up again.

He added two more iron weights and resumed training.

"Suddenly, what Roy said makes a lot of sense!"

"No way I'm losing to a junior!"

Uchiha Natsume continued training too.

Uchiha Nagasawa really didn't want to move another inch, but now...

He started running along with them.

It wasn't until nightfall that Roy took off his weights and dragged his exhausted body to the side to sit down.

"Phew... While the body's muscle memory is still fresh, this is the best time to refine chakra."

"I'll get started."

Roy sat cross-legged and began refining chakra.

Uchiha Nagasawa raised a hand, apparently about to say something, but then lowered it.

It was bad manners to disturb someone while they were refining chakra.

"Let's do it together. We can have a proper talk with the kid later."

"Sure..."

After exchanging glances, Nagasawa and Naishiro began refining chakra too.

Before long, the two of them realized...

Their chakra refinement speed had increased significantly.

Their conversion efficiency had improved a lot too.

After their initial excitement, they settled down and focused on refining chakra faster.

"Big Brother Nagasawa, Captain Natsume."

"Breakfast is ready."

At the call, Nagasawa and Natsume finally opened their eyes.

"Grrr..."

The moment the two smelled the delicious food, their stomachs began to growl.

"Sorry for making you prepare dinner, Roy. We—"

"Uh..."

Uchiha Nagasawa felt as though he hadn't woken up yet, but when he saw the rising sun, he couldn't keep it together.

"Did we sit here all night?"

Uchiha Nagasawa looked utterly bewildered.

"Yeah."

"I've got a biological clock now. I woke up naturally so I wouldn't end up going hungry."

"I've already eaten. You two should have some too."

As he spoke, Roy went off to the side and began doing aerobic exercises.

Early morning was the best time to stretch your body.

It was like doing a warm-up.

"Are your legs numb?"

"Sore?"

"I feel fine. There's something to this training method..."

"Should we tell the clan head?"

"Hmm, maybe we should test it a little more first?"

The two chatted as they ate.

"Boss..."

"Captain Natsume, Lord Nagasawa, you're here too?"

The three had originally planned to look for Roy, but he wasn't at home.

So they came straight to the training ground.

They hadn't expected to run into Uchiha Nagasawa and Uchiha Natsume.

The atmosphere grew awkward at once.

"You're here for Roy, right? Go ahead."

"We were just about to leave."

Uchiha Nagasawa nodded, then smiled at the three of them.

At his words, a chill ran down their backs.

Who was this?

Uchiha Nagasawa, clan head Uchiha Fugaku's personal guard. During the Third Shinobi World War, he had been known as the Black Death Thunder God.

With his Dark Thunder, he had claimed countless enemy lives.

And within the clan, Uchiha Nagasawa was also known for being stern and taciturn.

He was one of the Hardline Faction's leading figures, and not exactly mild-tempered.

And now he was smiling at them?!

"Understood, Lord Nagasawa."

The three nodded, then hurried toward Roy.

"Did I look scary just now?"

Nagasawa looked curiously at Natsume beside him and pointed to his own nose.

"Not that scary. You just looked like you were about to eat someone."

"Anyway, let's go see the clan head first. We can talk about everything else later."

Natsume didn't have time to stand around chatting with him. He turned and vanished.

Though puzzled, Nagasawa also disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.

"Big Brother Roy, Lord Nagasawa and the others were..."

"Oh, they came to train with me."

"It seems to have worked out pretty well, so they went to tell the clan head."

"There are weights over there. Put four on each of yourselves, around your calves and arms."

"Then start training."

Roy was already ready to train, with his weights strapped on.

"Training?"

"Running, punching, squat jumps, push-ups, sit-ups..."

The three were dumbfounded.

Was this most basic training really Roy's secret to getting stronger?

Was he pulling their legs?

Though they were confused, they did as he said.

At first, they even ran faster than Roy.

An hour later.

"Big Brother Roy, how long do we have to run?"

"Until around noon."

Two hours later.

"Xiu, if you can't keep going, take a break. I can still do this!"

"Shut up! I think you're the one who can't keep going!"

"You guys are amazing. You still have the energy to bicker."

Three hours later.

"Thud!"

Yoichi, the least fit of the three, collapsed to the ground. Like a duck with its throat squeezed shut, he gaped and panted for breath.

Ten minutes later, Xiu and Naishiro collapsed too.

They watched Roy, still running steadily despite carrying several times their weight.

The three no longer thought this was some simple special training.

Knowing what to do was one thing; being able to do it was another.

Right now, they wanted nothing more than to lie there until the end of time. They didn't want to move at all!