Time spent training flew by like a white horse flashing past a crack.
In just a few short days, Sosuke had learned a great deal about Zan-Ken-So-Kido from Kyoka Suigetsu.
Even now, he was still training in the forest, sweating profusely.
The ground was riddled with pits, and wood chips and broken stones were scattered everywhere.
Sosuke stood before a boulder several yards tall. His eyes were closed, his face expressionless, and one hand rested lightly on Kyoka Suigetsu.
As a gentle breeze blew past, a green leaf danced along with it, drifting before him.
"I felt it!"
Sosuke suddenly opened his eyes.
A sharp glint flashed in them!
His hands, which had been resting lightly on the blade, now moved like a raging storm.
"Swish!"
With a faint sound, Sosuke stopped moving and sheathed his sword. He panted softly as he looked at the boulder before him.
In an instant, the massive rock split into several pieces and slowly slid to the ground.
"Bang!!"
Dust billowed up from the ground.
On closer inspection, every cut in the rock was as smooth as a mirror. Beside the polished stones, twelve green leaves lay quietly on the ground.
In the instant the leaf had drifted past, Sosuke had struck six times!
That was what he had come to understand about the Slash Path over the past few days!
Sosuke gently ran his hand over Kyoka Suigetsu. The sword felt like an extension of his own body, and he was making astonishingly rapid progress in swordsmanship!
As for Kido, the amount of chakra he could use was a major limitation!
The most he could manage right now was to cast Hado #31: Red Fire Cannon once.
There was nothing he could do about his limited chakra for now. All he could do was train and extract more chakra every day.
As for Hakuda, the skills he had mastered most during this time were probably Hakuda and the Slash Path.
Unfortunately, although he had learned the necessary techniques for Hakuda, he had no suitable opponent to practice against. Sosuke couldn't help feeling regretful.
The last thing giving Sosuke a headache was Flash Step.
He desperately wanted to learn this high-speed movement technique!
But after trying it out, Sosuke realized that he had no way of mastering such a useful ability yet.
There was no other reason: this high-speed movement technique placed far too much strain on the body!
If he forced himself to use it with his eight-year-old body, he would only put it under severe stress!
So for the next few days, Sosuke decided to focus on strengthening his physique.
After a full day of training, Sosuke was exhausted. He was dragging his weary body away when a sound from afar caught his attention.
The training spot he had chosen was in a remote corner of Konoha Forest, where no one usually came.
Hearing someone else nearby made him curious.
So Sosuke walked toward the sound, wanting to see who would be in a place like this.
"Three hundred and ninety-seven!" "Three hundred and ninety-eight!"...
"If you can't do five hundred frog jumps, then punch the wooden post a thousand times!! Keep moving forward! Youth doesn't allow you to give up!!"
At the sound of those strange slogans, Sosuke was met with an unexpected sight!
A boy in a green jumpsuit was carrying a huge log and frog-jumping in his direction!
The log looked to weigh at least a hundred pounds!
The thick-browed boy, with his watermelon-shaped haircut, was red in the face. Sweat soaked his body and dripped down from him nonstop!
Sosuke stared at him in shock!
This guy... was he trying to kill himself?!
The thick-browed boy, still frog-jumping, noticed Sosuke standing up ahead.
He struggled to raise his head and look at Sosuke, then grinned, showing a row of white teeth, and laboriously tossed the log aside.
He brushed the dust off himself, flashed a wide grin, and said to Sosuke,
"Hello, Sosuke! It's nice to meet you. I'm Might Duy, from the class next door!"
Sosuke hid his surprise behind his glasses. He adjusted the frames with one hand and smiled politely at Might Duy.
"Hello, Might Duy. I've heard your name before. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Might Duy? Was he the weirdo the class next door talked about?
So that was him!
Sosuke glanced at the log lying off to the side, still a little surprised by the boy's physical strength.
Hearing Sosuke's words, Might Guy's eyes lit up!
He had the chance to meet this genius student up close—the one who was the subject of all kinds of rumors among the students in their year!
And to hear him say that he knew who Might Duy was! It filled him with excitement!
He bowed deeply to Sosuke!
Then he suddenly raised his head, tears welling in his eyes, and said with excitement,
"I'm truly honored! The fact that you know my name has given me a whole new understanding of the meaning of youth!"
"Thank you, Sosuke! Youth should be just like you—outstanding!"
Sosuke kept his polite smile as he listened to Might Duy. Though he found his behavior a little strange, there was no doubt that he was a very capable ninja!
"Thank you for the praise, Might Duy."
"May I ask, if you don't mind, are you training in Taijutsu?"
Sosuke remained gentle and courteous, and the young Might Duy seemed to receive a kind of respect he had never known before!
At Sosuke's question, he blushed and replied nervously,
"Yes, Sosuke. I'm training in Ta... Taijutsu, because... because Taijutsu is all I can do..."
Training in Taijutsu... It was all he could train in. To Might Duy, Taijutsu was everything. As a Ninja Academy student who could only use Taijutsu, his classmates mocked and ostracized him.
But what could he do? He had no way to perform the dazzling ninjutsu other ninja could use—not even the most basic Three Body Technique.
Only by training in Taijutsu could he hold on to the title of ninja!
Only by putting in a hundred or a thousand times more effort to train in the most thankless and exhausting Taijutsu could he hope to keep up with everyone else and avoid being left behind.
Now, standing before Sosuke, one of the Ninja Academy's most outstanding students, he felt incredibly inferior and nervous!
Sosuke was so exceptional... Would he look down on him once he learned that he was a fool who could only exhaust himself training in Taijutsu?
Might Duy had already braced himself for Sosuke to change his expression and walk away when he heard that he was such a "fool."
But then—
"Taijutsu? ...Might Duy, you're an outstanding ninja!"
Sosuke's warm, gentle voice reached him.
Hearing Sosuke's words, Might Duy looked up at him in disbelief!
Sunlight fell across Sosuke's face, giving him a kind and gentle air, like an older brother from next door.
An outstanding ninja... An outstanding ninja...
At last... someone... recognized me...
Might Duy could no longer hold back his tears. The boy let all the grievances he had kept bottled up for years pour out, and the tears streamed down his face!
"Th... thank you, Sosuke! You're... you're the second person, after my father... to recognize me! Thank you!!"
Though his face was covered in tears, he bowed deeply to Sosuke once more.
He could see the sincerity in Sosuke's eyes, just like the way his father had believed that he could become an outstanding ninja!
Tears streamed down from the eyes of the eight- or nine-year-old boy...
Under the fading light of the sunset,
Sosuke walked home with a faint smile on his lips.
He thought back over what had happened that day, as well as the little details.
The thick calluses on that boy's hands, and the bandages wrapped around his arms...
He murmured softly,
"Might Duy... what a terrifyingly hardworking guy."
Before you continue