Strength

The matter of the Hyuga Clan had come to an end, leaving only pain and sorrow for Yuko and her son, Neji. Afterward, Mika brought Ito Makoto to visit them several times, hoping that keeping them company would ease their grief. But outsiders would always be outsiders. No matter how much they did, they could never make up for the sorrow of losing a loved one.

Hizashi Hyuga's death was the first major event in the Naruto world that Ito Makoto had experienced firsthand. And because he had witnessed it himself, the impact had been all the deeper.

In Konoha, everyone's fate was entirely controlled by those in power. They couldn't even decide whether they lived or died. Ordinary people had no say in anything. The powerful could make them do whatever they wanted, and if they wanted them dead, they had to die.

Even though the Third Hokage had committed the despicable act of forcing someone to die, he was still hailed as a wise Hokage. If events followed the course of the original story, that man would even be beloved by all the villagers of Konoha, and countless people would mourn his death when he died.

The idea that might makes right was laid bare more starkly than ever in this shinobi world.

In this world, justice was powerless, and the truth didn't matter. The only things that truly mattered were power and strength.

There was only one way to break free of the control of the powerful and take charge of one's own fate, instead of becoming another sacrificial pawn like Hizashi Hyuga: grow stronger.

In the thousand-year history of conflict among shinobi, there had been only two people who never cared about the constraints of power.

The First and Uchiha Madara.

To them, power was nothing but a means for the weak to protect themselves. A single ninjutsu was enough to silence any schemer who dared to dictate terms to them.

If Hizashi Hyuga had possessed strength like the First's, who would have dared to brand him with the Caged Bird Seal? Who would have dared to make him sacrifice himself?

The moment the Main Family issued the order, Wood Release would probably have reduced the entire Konoha Hidden Village to rubble.

In the eyes of ordinary people, power mattered more than strength. Even a powerful man like the White Fang of the Leaf could be driven to suicide by scheming.

But to those with cheat-like powers, authority was nothing but weeds. If they didn't like it, they could clear it away whenever they pleased.

Fortunately, Ito Makoto had the potential to become one of those people with cheat-like powers. As long as he worked hard, he could reach that level. The Rinnegan's existence meant he could become the kind of powerhouse who regarded all things as mere weeds.

As it happened, by completing the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, Ito Makoto had already eliminated the danger of the Uchiha Clan Massacre at its root. At last, he could devote all his energy to getting stronger.

"What? You want to train with me?" Might Guy looked suspiciously at the child before him.

He knew that the little boy was Dr. Ito's child, named Ito Makoto. He had even taught the boy the Summoning Technique before.

"But when I invited you before, you turned me down yourself. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I've come to understand just how important it is to train in the springtime of youth. I'm in the springtime of my youth, and I don't want to waste any more time. Only by following Teacher Guy's example can I make my youth burn to its fullest."

Ito Makoto made it up on the spot.

In truth, after thinking it over carefully, Ito Makoto had concluded that training in Taijutsu under Guy was the right choice.

The Rinnegan was powerful, but it wasn't without weaknesses. Taijutsu was one of them. Of course, that didn't mean Taijutsu could defeat the Rinnegan; it meant that Taijutsu could injure someone who wielded it.

If he could master powerful Taijutsu, then at the very least, his future opponents wouldn't be able to exploit a weakness in his Taijutsu.

Besides the Rinnegan, Yin-Yang Release was another pinnacle power in the Naruto world.

Yin Release represented the power of the spirit. Yin Release techniques could create form from nothing, while Yang Release represented the power of the body. Yang Release techniques could breathe life into form. Together, the two formed Yin-Yang Release.

It was a ninjutsu that could create all things from nothing and give them life.

In the original story, those who had mastered Yin-Yang Release included Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, and Naruto Uzumaki.

Those who mastered Yin-Yang Release could regenerate their bodies and create flesh at will. They could also nullify ninjutsu other than Senjutsu. It was one of the hallmarks of a Six Paths Level powerhouse.

There was no need to discuss Yin Release for now. As for Yang Release, the fact that it represented the power of the body alone showed that it was inextricably linked to the physical body.

Although Ito Makoto didn't yet understand these advanced powers, it was best to prepare in advance. Who knew? He might have a chance to truly master them in the future.

And when it came to training the body and Taijutsu, no one in Konoha was more qualified than Might Guy. After all, in the original story, he had grievously injured Six Paths Madara using nothing but Taijutsu.

That was why Ito Makoto had decided to set aside his embarrassment. Even if he had to wear a green bodysuit and be laughed at by everyone, he would learn Taijutsu and the Eight Inner Gates from Might Guy. Strength mattered more than pride.

"I'm so moved! This is youth!" Might Guy's eyes filled with tears in an instant. "Young man, your passion has moved me. Starting today, we'll train together in the spirit of youth!"

"Here, put on this bodysuit." Might Guy pulled a green bodysuit out of nowhere, one about the same size as Ito Makoto.

"Teacher Guy, where did you get this? How come it's almost exactly my size?" Ito Makoto said, reluctantly taking the outfit.

"Actually, I prepared it especially for you before I came to teach you ninjutsu last time. But you turned me down then, so I didn't bring it out." Might Guy laughed heartily. "I knew I was right. You really have returned to the path of youth."

Damn it, he'd planned this all along. Ito Makoto shot Might Guy a resentful look. Why did he have to be so clever about this of all things?

Clutching the bodysuit, he steeled himself and found a secluded spot to change.

Ito Makoto's face turned red in the bodysuit. This outfit was just too embarrassing.

"Not bad, young man. It fits you pretty well." Might Guy gave him a thumbs-up.

Ito Makoto didn't want that kind of praise from Might Guy at all.

"Now that you're equipped, it's time to start training." Might Guy got down to business. "You can't match my level of intensity yet. But I can use the training plan I followed as a child to make a new schedule for you."

At the mention of training, Ito Makoto perked up too. This was exactly what he wanted: the training experience of a Taijutsu expert.

Might Guy took Ito Makoto to the center of the village. The Ninja Academy stood there, close to the Hokage Office.

It was also proof of how much the First had valued educating the next generation.

Might Guy pointed at the Ninja Academy and said,

"When I was five, my goal was to run five hundred laps around the Academy's field. One lap was about four hundred meters, so five hundred laps came to two hundred thousand meters—two hundred kilometers."

Ito Makoto's teeth ached just listening to that. Were kids in the shinobi world abnormal, or was Might Guy? Why did running always mean hundreds of kilometers?

"But you're not even four yet, so naturally I won't set such a lofty goal for you right away," Might Guy added. "And you're different from me. You're a genius at ninjutsu, so you can't devote all your energy to Taijutsu. If I forced you to focus on it, I'd be ruining you. In that case, I think a distance of one hundred laps around the field would suit you for now."

One hundred laps around the field meant forty thousand meters, or forty kilometers. Ito Makoto smiled wryly. In his previous life, even soldiers only ran five kilometers cross-country. He was just three years old, and they were already asking him to run forty kilometers, even as a scaled-down version. Taijutsu really wasn't for normal people. If he were on his own, he never would have had the nerve to set such a lofty goal.

"Can I use the Body Flicker Technique?" Ito Makoto asked. The Body Flicker Technique used a burst of chakra to move instantly, and it was how ordinary shinobi traveled quickly.

"Of course not!" Might Guy patted Ito Makoto on the head. "Our goal is to train your body. How would you train it if you relied on chakra?"

"Don't worry. A body strengthened by chakra activation is nothing like an ordinary child's. Even with this level of intensity, you won't hurt yourself."

Ito Makoto swallowed and nodded.

"But we can't go inside and disrupt the students' lessons, so let's run outside instead. We can work out the distance by counting our steps."

Might Guy raised his fist. "Burn, my youth!"

With that, he set off running toward the distance.

Ito Makoto followed right behind him.

After running wildly with Might Guy all morning, Ito Makoto finally returned home. The Senju Bloodline really was impressive. His bloodline had especially strong ancestral traits, giving him an abundant supply of chakra as well as far greater stamina than an ordinary person.

He had never trained before, yet Ito Makoto had managed to persevere through sheer willpower. Whenever he reached his physical limit, new strength welled up from within him.

He had reached his goal on his very first run, leaving even Might Guy astonished. Guy shouted excitedly that they needed to train more, then went off to train by himself.

That was only natural. There was no way Ito Makoto could keep up with Guy's current training pace. Even while running, Guy would often race far ahead, come back to see how far Ito Makoto had gotten, then run off again before returning.

Although the two of them had trained together all morning, Might Guy's training volume had far exceeded Ito Makoto's.

After returning home, Ito Makoto took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and went next door to Sakura's house to guide her in learning chakra extraction.

So far, Sakura's chakra training had been going smoothly. She couldn't compare to him, but she would certainly be able to complete it before the Ninja Academy's entrance exam next year.

That put Ito Makoto at ease. He didn't want his influence to keep Sakura from even passing the Ninja Academy's entrance exam.

While accompanying Sakura as she practiced chakra extraction, Ito Makoto also did his own training.

He now had a way to train his body, but training his mind was just as essential.

The Sharingan's power was the power of Yin Release. And since Yin Release represented the spirit, improving his eyes was closely tied to training his mind.

However, training the mind was much more troublesome than training the body. There were plenty of ways to train the body, which was tangible, but there was almost no guidance for training the intangible mind.

Neither Might Guy nor his mother had any advice beyond saying that the mind grew stronger naturally with age, experience, and learning.

In other words, when it came to training the mind, shinobi had only one path: natural growth. There was no special method.

Still, by modeling his approach on physical training, Ito Makoto came up with something that wasn't quite a method.

Just as the body grew stronger when exercise consumed its stamina, could the mind grow stronger when its energy was depleted?

Ito Makoto boldly made that assumption. Following the approach he'd used for physical training, he decided to exhaust his mental energy every day by repeatedly using Genjutsu.

For this purpose, he learned a Genjutsu from his mother: the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique (D-rank). It was only a D-rank ninjutsu, but it was enough to drain his mental energy.

Ito Makoto prepared a little white mouse as the target for his Genjutsu. Every day, while accompanying Sakura as she extracted chakra, he repeatedly cast the Hell Viewing Technique on the mouse to train his mental energy.

To his surprise, the method really worked. After his depleted mental energy recovered, it had indeed grown stronger. The proof was that he could cast Genjutsu more times in a row.

Once he'd confirmed that the method worked, Genjutsu training became a mandatory part of Ito Makoto's daily routine. Of course, depleting his mental energy too much felt awful, like a hangover that left his head spinning. Fortunately, his body was up to the task. After training, he only needed an hour of rest to ease most of the discomfort.