Soft-Leg Guy

On the first day of vacation, Might Guy suddenly woke up.

It could not exactly be called a nightmare. Uchiha Ling had merely said in the dream that he wanted to challenge him.

That was terrifying. Being challenged was not scary; losing was. Who knew what awful trash talk Uchiha Ling would spew?

He put on his jumpsuit and got up early for his morning training.

"Let's run ten laps around the Hidden Leaf Running Circuit first! Time to warm up!"

When he reached the second lap, a footstep suddenly sounded behind him.

The scene from his dream had come true. As expected, what occupied your thoughts by day would appear in your dreams at night!

Uchiha Ling had caught up!

Might Guy shouted, "What are you trying to do, Uchiha Ling? Don't come any closer!"

"Didn't you say yesterday that you were going to train hard all winter? Didn't you say you'd defeat me on the first day of next year? Let me see what you've got."

Might Guy's blood pressure shot up instantly, every inch of him expressing resistance.

He sped up at once, swearing to shake Uchiha Ling off.

However, Uchiha Ling accelerated and caught up.

During the Final Exams, he had gained one Supercompensation from Ebisu and another from Asuma Sarutobi. His muscles had become so strong that they felt uncomfortable.

At a time like this, he had to give his muscles enough exercise to soothe them.

The best way was high-intensity training.

Training alone was too boring. More importantly, he could not out-trash-talk his Shadow Clones.

He still had some dignity. Some things were too crude for him to say.

Shadow Clones had no taboos whatsoever. When they started trash-talking him, even he could not take it.

So he had decided to find Might Guy as a sparring partner and have him help consolidate his improved muscular strength.

Who was more suitable to spar in Taijutsu than Might Guy?

"Might Guy! Aren't you supposed to be a tough guy? Did someone inject anesthetic into your legs? Why are you so slow!"

Might Guy turned his head and saw that Uchiha Ling had already caught up, looking completely unstrained.

"No way! Not only are you bad at Ninjutsu and unable to learn the Three-Body Technique, you're bad at Taijutsu too? Tell me, can you at least eat? You do know how to do that, right? You're not only good at wasting your father's food, are you?"

Might Guy panicked. Taijutsu was his pride, the thing his father had taught him the most, and the thing through which he had interacted with his father the most. How could Uchiha Ling say he was bad at Taijutsu?

His family was poor. His father was a Genin who took on odd D-Rank Missions. Every grain of rice in their home was precious. How could Uchiha Ling say he wasted food?

"Aaaah! Don't underestimate my youth!"

Might Guy grew faster and faster.

Originally, running laps around the Hidden Leaf Running Circuit had been meant as a warm-up. But the pace became incredibly fast and the exertion incredibly intense, turning the warm-up into the main event.

Only then did Uchiha Ling grow interested.

A speed like this was worthy of his current body.

Every time he raised his leg, he could feel his thighs groaning.

Every time he breathed, he could feel his chest roaring.

He had to push his muscles to their limit so that he could become familiar with exerting the strength of his powerful body. After drawing an ability from the system, he also had to familiarize himself with it as soon as possible and turn the system's ability into his own.

Otherwise, even his movements would be uncoordinated.

After racing ten laps around the Hidden Leaf Village, Might Guy collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving like a bellows.

Uchiha Ling wanted to lie down too, but he had to keep up appearances. He could not show that he was exhausted.

**"Might Guy, is this your limit? You've disappointed me so much.

"Originally, I thought that although you were bad at Ninjutsu, you could at least brag about having a future as a Taijutsu-type ninja.

"Your pride and joy, Taijutsu, is this terrible. I can't even imagine how wretched your Ninjutsu and Genjutsu must be!

"I see nothing but darkness in your future. Go home, wash up, and go to sleep later. Submit a withdrawal application. I'm sure the teachers have been waiting for it."**

"You! Uchiha Ling! My youth has only just begun to burn! I won't give up on my ninja dream! My dream is to become a Chunin!"

**"Oh? Become a Chunin? Such a plain little dream? Even a loser like Obito Uchiha once shouted that he would become Hokage.

"Now that I think about it, isn't your father named Might Duy? Isn't he a Genin whom nobody is willing to escort out of the Village?

"Give up. You and your father should wash up and go to sleep together. Your father can submit a retirement application, and you can submit a withdrawal application. Your family can stay together and honestly do manual labor in the Village.

"I'm a kind man. Once I become a Chunin and start earning high mission fees, I'll let you and your father clean my yard together."**

Might Guy pouted, forcing himself not to cry in front of Uchiha Ling.

His father had often moved him to tears with slogans about youth and passion. He never expected Uchiha Ling to trash-talk him into tears today.

Not only had Uchiha Ling looked down on him, he had even insulted his father.

But!

He would not surrender!

**"I trained hard for a month to prepare for the Final Exams. I'm only running slowly today because I haven't recovered from my fatigue!

"Just you wait! My youth is capable of far more speed than this!"**

Uchiha Ling's breathing had calmed considerably. He turned around and walked away as he said,

"I'll be waiting for you at the usual place tomorrow, Soft-Leg Guy!"

Might Guy was always brimming with fighting spirit. A temporary setback had little effect on him, so it would not be easy to break him.

Might Guy watched Uchiha Ling walk away, seething with indignation.

His powerful kicks were so formidable that one kick had sent Obito Uchiha flying. Yet in Uchiha Ling's eyes, he had become Soft-Leg Guy.

He had been looked down on by Uchiha Ling in the area of Taijutsu he excelled at most.

Uchiha Ling went home and caught up on some wonderful sleep, sleeping until noon before eating and heading out.

He wandered through the various Training Grounds beneath Konoha's walls, searching for familiar figures and seeing if he could put some pressure on them.

Soon, he spotted Kurenai Yuhi in one of the Training Grounds.

Kurenai Yuhi's morning training was nearing its end.

A voice suddenly rang out.

"Kurenai, I knew you'd be waiting for me at the usual place. Sorry for the wait."

Kurenai Yuhi shuddered in fright. When she turned around, she saw that it was Uchiha Ling.

"When was I waiting for you?! How is this the usual place?"

"Kurenai, don't be shy. I know you're embarrassed. It must have been difficult for you to create this chance encounter with me in such a roundabout way."

Kurenai Yuhi was so angry that her little face flushed red.

Uchiha Ling jumped to Kurenai Yuhi's side and said, **"Come on, let's spar.

"This term, first Ebisu and then Asuma Sarutobi kept interrupting us, so we couldn't spar properly.

"Let me teach you personally. I'll make sure you're a completely different person next term."**

Although Kurenai Yuhi was angry, she endured it when she thought of Uchiha Ling's strength.

Chances to spar with the Top of the Grade were rare.

After they finished sparring, Uchiha Ling offered to treat Kurenai to ramen.

Kurenai Yuhi hesitated again and again but did not refuse.

Uchiha Ling secretly rejoiced.

Giving her love was not as good as giving her special treatment.

What girl could hold out against being someone's favorite?

I speak harshly to the whole world, but when it comes to you alone, I show my last bit of tenderness.

No matter how annoying Uchiha Ling usually was, he was exceptionally special toward Kurenai Yuhi.

And so, vacation began.

In the morning, he trained intensely while trash-talking Might Guy.

He caught up on sleep before noon.

At noon and in the afternoon, he gave Kurenai Yuhi special training.

At night, he trained intensely while trash-talking Might Guy.

His training had both intensity and emotional value.