Beat Until You Want to Vomit

Half an hour later, Lu Yu returned to Tazuna's house, bathed, changed into clean clothes, and headed to a nearby forest.

Lu Yu glanced at Zabuza, who was following behind him with an expectant look, and said indifferently:

"I do have a way to make you stronger, but—"

Upon hearing Lu Yu's words, Zabuza immediately nodded with a sensible expression:

"I understand. To become stronger, one must show sincerity. So, Lu Yu-kun, what do you need me to do for you?"

Watching Zabuza act so sensible, Lu Yu nodded with satisfaction:

"Good. Dealing with smart people is always pleasant. How about this: starting tomorrow, until we leave the Land of Waves, you and Haku will conduct live combat training for the members of my team."

"Live combat training?"

Zabuza was slightly stunned; he hadn't expected it to be so simple.

"Yes. It shouldn't be difficult for you and Haku, should it? My suggestion is that you carry out at least three to five ambushes a week..."

"Three to five times..."

The way Zabuza looked at Lu Yu changed. He could understand Lu Yu's desire for his companions to grow stronger, but wasn't this frequency a bit too high?

"Well, giving them one or two days of rest is fine. As long as you train them earnestly, I can guarantee that you won't have to live this life of hiding and fleeing anymore."

"What?"

Zabuza's face filled with wild joy, and he looked at Lu Yu in disbelief.

Only those who have been on the run know how painful such a life is...

At any time and any place, anyone might want your life; even while sleeping, you have to be hyper-vigilant at the slightest sound.

At any moment, even a second of negligence could lead to your death.

Zabuza had truly had enough of these days spent living in constant fear.

Hearing Lu Yu say this now, Zabuza asked eagerly:

"Lu Yu-kun, are you serious?"

Listening to Zabuza's slightly trembling voice, Lu Yu looked at him earnestly:

"Yes, rest assured. I will make arrangements for you and Haku. Go do your job well. Oh, and try not to let them realize that you and Haku are conducting special training for them. You understand what I mean, right..."

"Don't worry, Lu Yu-kun. I will make them experience the feeling of being on the brink of death at all times."

Seeing Lu Yu nod, Zabuza knew there was nothing left for him here and vanished in a few leaps.

An hour later, Asuma returned to Tazuna's house with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

Seeing that Choji and Shikamaru were not seriously injured, Asuma provided them with rough bandages, and there were no major issues.

As for Ino, she was just a bit exhausted. As she returned to her room to sleep, she unexpectedly found a small note on the table.

Ino looked at the handwriting on the note and recognized at once that it was written by Lu Yu.

The gist of the note was that Lu Yu had to go out for a while, and his return date was uncertain.

Two minutes later, Asuma looked at Ino's worried expression and couldn't help but sigh helplessly.

Silly child, you still have the heart to worry about him? You'd better worry about yourself in the coming days.

Over there, Zabuza had already made arrangements with him; starting tomorrow, he would have to be an excellent 'actor.'

Only after receiving Asuma's repeated assurances that Lu Yu would definitely be fine did Ino return to her room to rest.

On the other side, Lu Yu took his luggage and began his long-awaited tour of the Land of Waves—sea fishing, swimming, surfing, mountain climbing, and camping. He was living more comfortably than one could imagine.

As for Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, they were miserable...

From the second day on, the three of them began a hellish life...

Haku: "Thin-eyebrows, if it weren't for your lack of chakra yesterday, you would have died by my hand. I've rested well today, prepare to die..."

Shikamaru: "Hmph, it's not certain who will die yet!"

Two days later...

Zabuza: "Heh, didn't expect this, did you? Your Big Beard Teacher has been trapped by Haku. Since you've managed to survive until now by luck, let me show you what cruelty really is..."

Shikamaru: "Choji, Ino, be careful! This guy is strong!"

Three days later...

Haku: "I didn't expect you guys to be quite capable, actually surviving under Zabuza-san's hand. Today, I will definitely kill you..."

Shikamaru: "Hmph, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as you think..."

A month later...

Haku: "Thin-eyebrows, what kind of look is that? Want to fight? Take this—Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

Shikamaru: "Hey, hey, hey, that excuse is too crude, you want to fight again?"

Three months later...

The two sides met again and stared at each other from a distance. This stare lasted for a full five minutes, and then—

Haku: "Ugh..."

Shikamaru: "Ugh..."

They had been fighting for three whole months, back and forth, until they were so familiar with each other that they were truly sick of fighting.

That was the reason for the scene before them: vomiting as a greeting upon meeting...

Meanwhile, Tazuna and the others repairing the bridge had gone from initial fear to getting used to it, and finally, to not even bothering to pay them any mind.

The workers simply went about their business, repairing the bridge and doing their jobs.

One worker pushing a cart of cement frowned as he watched the intense battle between Haku and Shikamaru, muttering in dissatisfaction:

"Hey, can you two go fight over there? The cement here was just laid..."

Immediately, Shikamaru and Haku, who were in the middle of a fierce exchange, stopped at the same time. They looked at the man with apologetic expressions and said in unison:

"Sorry."

Then, the two of them glanced at each other:

"Ugh..."

On this same day, Lu Yu finally finished playing with everything there was to play with in the Land of Waves and returned to Tazuna's house with a look of satisfaction.

Lu Yu was covered in bags large and small, filled with all sorts of local specialties and strange, curious trinkets. Inside one of the largest bundles was a stash packed full of Sealing Scrolls.

Looking at the massive bag of Sealing Scrolls, Lu Yu was in a great mood:

Finally, I won't have to worry about money ever again...