Only by keeping your eyes fixed ahead could you keep going!
Watching Might Duy and Might Guy, who were already two laps ahead of him, Sato Hideaka panted heavily. He kept repeating the cadence he'd used during military training runs, distracting himself so he could forget his exhaustion as much as possible and keep up with the father and son...
With his "absolute control" over his cells, Sato Hideaka could make effective use of the strength in his muscle tissue while running, conserving his energy. But compared with Might Duy and Might Guy's astonishing stamina, he still had a long way to go.
By now, the three of them had run around Konoha Square who knew how many times—eighty laps, eighty-one, ninety... Sato Hideaka had lost track in his foggy state of mind. The only thing he cared about was staying close behind the two of them and not letting them pull away!
After running more than a dozen more laps, Might Duy and Might Guy finally stopped. Sato Hideaka, drenched in sweat, forced his legs to keep moving and ran two extra laps to reach one hundred before he tried to make his body stop...
The long run had made his numb legs move mechanically, at odds with his body's commands. His upper and lower body fell out of sync, and Sato Hideaka suddenly lost his balance and crashed to the ground. Lying there, his chest heaved violently, and he panted like a bellows, wheezing with every breath!
"Guy, let's start with two thousand kicks against the post..."
Might Duy glanced at Sato Hideaka, sprawled on the ground, gave him a thumbs-up, then turned to Might Guy and spoke with fiery enthusiasm.
The fact that six-year-old Sato Hideaka had managed to keep up with them and complete one hundred laps around Konoha Square on his very first day of training had astonished Might Duy.
When Guy had been Hideaka's age, even after a year of training, he hadn't been much stronger than Hideaka was now. So Might Duy didn't demand that Hideaka get up and keep training. As far as he was concerned, what the boy had already done was incredible.
"Yes! Two thousand kicks against the post! One, two, three... nine!"
Might Guy roared. Like a robot responding to a signal, he ignored his already weary body and began violently sweeping his right leg into a post riddled with holes and scars. Each kick landed with a heavy thud.
The half-man-thick post shuddered under the blows. The earth around it trembled, loosening the soil!
Lying on the ground, Sato Hideaka watched Might Duy and Might Guy training with such passion. His resolve to protect Nonō outweighed his fatigue and weariness. His teeth chattering, he braced himself with his arms and slowly struggled to his feet...
Each effort felt like it would be his last, but despite his trembling legs, he still managed to stand. He made his way to a post thick enough for a person to wrap their arms around, summoned all his strength, and swept out one leg!
"One, two, three... one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, two thousand!"
Watching Sato Hideaka get back to his feet, Might Duy was overcome with a heart-stopping sense of awe. This boy, barely five years old, had pushed past his physical limits and then gone on to complete two thousand kicks against the post. It was incredible!
What kind of resolve could be driving him?
Might Duy looked at Might Guy, who was just as shocked, and felt the blood of youth surge through him once more. "Good! Two thousand kicks complete! Now, fifty laps around Konoha Square doing frog jumps!"
As the onlookers watched like they were enjoying a show and teased one another, the three of them began hopping around Konoha Square like frogs, looking like clowns. Step by step, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, they completed one grueling task after another, pushing their bodies to the limit.
Sato Hideaka kept his eyes fixed on Might Guy. Whatever Guy could complete, Hideaka forced himself to complete too: one hundred laps around Konoha Square, two thousand kicks against the post, fifty laps of frog jumps around Konoha Square, eight hundred push-ups, one thousand sit-ups...
Breaking through the limits of the body didn't take clever thinking, logical analysis, or cunning shortcuts. It took unshakable resolve and incomparable perseverance. When sweat, pain, and exhaustion were cast aside, humanity could open the door to forbidden power!
After pushing past his limits several times, Sato Hideaka's mind began to grow hazy. He finally passed out while doing barbell presses...
When he woke again, night had fallen. Pain like knife cuts throbbed throughout his body. The muscles in his arms and legs had swollen like steamed buns, and dark blood seeped from the worst of the swollen injuries.
A warm, soothing sensation slowly spread from his right leg!
Sato Hideaka struggled to turn in that direction. Before him, he saw Yakushi Nonō's worried, heartbroken, and angry expression. She was using Cactus Technique with both hands to treat the external injuries caused by his training!
"Hideaka, do you call this training? You're practically hurting yourself! It's only a Genin Exam. Do you really have to risk your life like this? Do you know how much it hurts me to see you like this..." Tears glimmered in Nonō's eyes, and her gentle voice held a rare sternness and reproach.
Sato Hideaka raised his trembling right hand and wiped the tear from Yakushi Nonō's eye. He tried to curve his lips into a smile, but it came out somewhere between a grin and a grimace. "I have to win this Genin Exam. I know my own body. With Big Sister Nonō treating me, the hidden injuries from training like this won't cause any problems!"
"Starting tomorrow, stop training like this, and there won't be any problems! If you keep training this way, something terrible is bound to happen. Promise your big sister you won't do this again, okay? I'm really worried about you..."
A pleading look appeared in Yakushi Nonō's eyes. When she'd seen Sato Hideaka brought to the hospital by Anbu Ninja, his muscles congested and swollen, his clothes in disarray and streaked with blood, his entire body unconscious, she'd nearly fainted on the spot.
Extreme training had pushed Sato Hideaka past his physical limits again and again—perhaps a dozen times or more—and he was showing all the signs of bodily exhaustion and injury!
She'd immediately recognized what was wrong with him and had kept treating him, easing his worsening injuries. Otherwise, his muscles would have swollen into something far worse than buns—by then, they'd have been the size of watermelons.
"Big Sister, please help me. I really want to win this competition."
Light shone in Sato Hideaka's blue eyes as he stared intently into Yakushi Nonō's large brown eyes. Without Yakushi Nonō's Medical Ninjutsu, with his current condition, even getting out of bed and walking tomorrow would be difficult.
As for continuing his extreme training, only Yakushi Nonō's constant treatment of the injuries it caused could let him train again the next day. That was why her support mattered so much!