A month later.
The Ninja Academy training ground.
Today was the team combat class.
Ikkaku Umino stood at the edge of the field, notebook in hand.
More than twenty students were divided into groups, taking turns demonstrating the Three Basic Techniques they had learned over the past month.
"Next, Hatake Kakashi."
Kakashi stepped forward.
He took his place and formed Hand Seals.
Poof!
The smoke cleared, revealing three identical Kakashis standing side by side.
Their movements and expressions matched perfectly—even the angles of their upturned hair were identical.
"Whoa!!!"
"That's incredible!"
"Three clones! Perfect!"
The students erupted.
Asuma pursed his lips, but he couldn't take his eyes off them. Kurenai covered her mouth and gasped softly. Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses, looking unconvinced, but said nothing.
Kakashi dispelled the clones and returned to the group.
His expression barely changed, as if he had just done something perfectly ordinary.
"Very good." Ikkaku Umino jotted down a few notes. "Next group, Uchiha Obito."
Obito took a deep breath and strode forward.
"Watch this!"
He formed Hand Seals with exaggerated movements, muttering under his breath.
"Boonsin, no jukeshi!"
Poof!
The smoke cleared.
Two clones appeared beside him.
One had its head tilted.
The other was cross-eyed.
Both stood crookedly, as if they were drunk.
"Pfft—"
Someone burst out laughing.
"What is that...?"
"How can you even call those clones?"
Obito's face flushed red. He bit his lip.
Ikkaku Umino seemed to have expected this result. His voice was calm as he said:
"Next, Might Guy."
Guy walked forward expressionlessly.
He took his place and formed Hand Seals.
The chakra inside him stirred, and then—
Nothing happened.
There wasn't even a poof.
"..."
The corner of Guy's mouth twitched twice.
The air fell quiet for a brief two seconds.
"Pfft—hahahahaha!!!"
"Zero clones! He's even worse than Obito!"
"Can you even call him a ninja?"
The laughter was louder than before.
Guy looked at his hands and sighed helplessly.
"Guess it really isn't going to work..."
Yijin Jing had indeed improved his physique, and his chakra reserves were much greater than when he had first arrived.
But the talent for ninjutsu seemed to have nothing to do with the body he'd ended up in.
He had tried countless times over the past month.
Every time, his chakra dispersed as soon as it reached his fingertips. He just couldn't gather it.
At first, Guy had still hoped he could fix the problem, but eventually, he gave up.
Spending so much time and chakra on something he wasn't suited for would only waste his efforts.
He might as well go all in on one path.
As for what everyone else thought?
They could think what they wanted.
Guy returned to the group as if nothing had happened.
As he passed Obito, he saw him staring at the ground, fists clenched tight.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
The school bell rang.
The students headed out in groups of two and three.
"Kakashi's amazing!"
"No wonder he's a genius."
"Obito's clones were so funny..."
"And Might Guy got zero clones, haha..."
Their voices faded into the distance.
Guy acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. He gathered his things, ready to head to the Back Mountain Training Ground for extra practice.
Just as he stood up, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Hey! Bushy Brows!"
Obito stood in front of him, eyes wide.
"How come you're not even angry?"
Guy blinked. "Angry about what?"
"They're laughing at us!" Obito pointed toward the doorway. "They're calling us the dead last! They say we're no match for Kakashi!"
Guy looked at him.
"Oh."
Obito grew impatient. "That's all you have to say? Aren't you upset?"
Guy thought it over.
Was he upset?
A little, at first.
After all, no one liked being laughed at.
But then he'd come to terms with it.
If he couldn't do ninjutsu, then he couldn't do ninjutsu. Being upset about it wouldn't make a clone appear.
Instead of wasting time feeling bad, he could go kick another five thousand times.
"I'm fine," he said. "I'm used to it."
Obito stared at him.
"Used to it? How can you get used to that?"
Guy looked at him and suddenly asked, "Do you know why Kakashi is so good?"
Obito pursed his lips. "Because he's a genius."
Guy shook his head.
"Because he works hard every day, too. We just don't see it."
Obito opened his mouth to say something, but for a moment, he couldn't find the words.
This was the first time anyone had explained a genius to him that way.
Guy slung his schoolbag over his shoulder. "Anyway, I'm going to train. Want to come with me?"
Obito stared at him blankly.
"Train?"
"Yeah."
Guy headed for the door.
"If you're no good at ninjutsu, train at something else. Taijutsu, shuriken, tactics—there's always something you can work on. It's better than sitting around getting mad."
He reached the doorway and glanced back.
Obito was still standing where he was.
Guy raised his thumb and flashed his white teeth.
"You have to burn with Youth! How else are you going to get stronger?"
With that, he pushed open the door and left.
Watching the green-clad figure, Obito suddenly remembered something his grandmother had once said.
"A true strong person isn't someone who never cries. It's someone who keeps running even after they've cried."
After a long moment, he grinned.
"That guy..."
He ran after him.
"Hey! Wait for me! I'm coming too!"
The Back Mountain Training Ground.
"Let's start with a hundred laps to warm up!"
Obito swallowed nervously at those words.
But thinking that he couldn't embarrass himself in front of Might Guy, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
"All right!"
Two small figures dashed between the trees.
Half an hour later.
Obito was gasping for breath, but he gritted his teeth and kept following Might Guy.
"Do... do you train like this... every day after school?"
"Hm? Of course not."
Obito relaxed at the answer. "I knew it..."
"This is just the warm-up."
Guy cut him off, counting on his fingers.
"Next, five thousand side kicks, three thousand one-finger push-ups... Oh, and I have to stand under a waterfall for an hour tonight."
"Are you crazy?!"
Guy looked back and grinned.
"That's what Youth is all about!"
Obito looked at Guy and suddenly fell silent.
But soon, he was smiling again.
His young face once more showed that he feared nothing.
"Fine, let's train! Who's scared?"
On the Back Mountain Training Ground, two small figures began their training.
But Obito's stamina was far too weak.
They had been training for just over an hour, and the sun hadn't even set when he collapsed on the ground.
Guy was doing one-finger push-ups.
His face was slightly flushed, but his breathing was steady.
The warmth of Yijin Jing flowed through him, and he recovered his strength quickly.
Obito tilted his head and watched Guy, feeling as though something had lodged in his throat.
"So this guy's been working this hard the whole time..."
He forced himself to his feet.
His gaze turned resolute as he looked at Guy.
"I'm going to become Hokage! How can I give up here?"
"If Bushy Brows can do it, then I can too!"
[Bond triggered: Resonance of the Underdog]
[Reward: Monk Points +30]
"Hm?"
Might Guy's heart stirred.
Glancing at Obito's trembling legs, Guy silently spent 30 Monk Points on Yijin Jing.
[Yijin Jing (Well-Versed) → (Mastered)]
A breakthrough!
A wave of heat burst from his lower abdomen, instantly surging through his limbs and bones.
It was more intense than ever before.
Guy's whole body shuddered.
His muscles twitched, his bones burned, and his blood boiled.
Looking down, he saw a layer of gray-black slime seeping from his arms. It was sticky and carried a faint fishy smell.
"Have the impurities in my body been expelled?!"
He could feel every cell breathing, growing stronger.
[Yijin Jing: Greatly increased stamina recovery, greatly increased physical strength, greatly increased training efficiency]
The description was as unremarkable as ever, but the effects were far more powerful.
Now he could easily run five hundred laps around the field without even getting winded!
"As expected, it was right to keep strengthening Yijin Jing!"
Guy's eyes lit up as he checked the techniques' proficiency.
[Yijin Jing: 618 (Mastered)] [Vajra Leg: 483 (Well-Versed)] [Vajra Finger: 482 (Well-Versed)]
In the nearly two months since Guy had gotten the system, he'd put every Monk Point into Yijin Jing.
A total of 610 points.
Unlike Vajra Leg and Vajra Finger, Yijin Jing was a superior technique, and its proficiency could only increase by one point every seven days.
To master it completely, he'd need a full 7,000 days.
Even with diligent training every day, it would take at least nineteen years!
Now, that time would be greatly reduced.
Guy was already looking forward to the day he mastered Yijin Jing completely.
But before then... he couldn't neglect his two lower-grade techniques, either.
"I've decided. Extra training today!"
"I'm not going home until my proficiency hits 500!"
Guy's blood surged as he performed one one-finger push-up after another.
Watching from the side, Obito's mouth twitched.
"Is this guy... a monster?"
"Thump!"
His legs gave out, and he dropped onto his butt.
Gazing up at the thick darkness of the night sky, Obito looked utterly dejected.
"Just end it... Whoever wants to be Hokage can be Hokage..."
Just as Obito was thinking this, the distant sound of shuffling footsteps suddenly reached them.
Obito stiffly turned his head. When he saw who was approaching, he froze for a moment.
"Huh? What's she doing here?"