Soft-Leg Guy

On the first day of vacation, Might Guy jolted awake.

It was not exactly a nightmare. In the dream, Uchiha Ling had said he wanted to challenge him.

Too terrifying. The challenge itself was not scary—the prospect of losing was. Who knew what nasty trash talk Uchiha Ling would spew?

He pulled on his jumpsuit, got up early, and went out for morning training.

"Ten laps around the Hidden Leaf Village first! Let's warm up!"

As he reached the second lap, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

The scene from his dream had returned. Just as expected—what he thought about during the day had appeared in his dreams at night!

Uchiha Ling had caught up!

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

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

Might Guy's blood pressure instantly soared. Every inch of his body screamed resistance.

He immediately picked up his pace, determined to shake off Uchiha Ling.

But Uchiha Ling accelerated and caught up.

At the end of term, he had gained a round of excessive recovery from both Ebisu and Asuma Sarutobi. His muscles had become so strong that they were almost uncomfortable.

At times like this, he needed to give his muscles enough exercise to settle the restlessness throughout his body.

The best way was high-intensity training.

Training alone was too boring, mainly because he could not trash-talk better than a Shadow Clone Technique.

He still had some shame. Some lines were too crude for him to say aloud.

Shadow clones, on the other hand, had no such scruples. They could insult themselves so viciously that even he could not stand it.

So, he decided to find Might Guy as a sparring partner and have him help consolidate the increase in his muscle strength.

Who could be more suitable as a taijutsu sparring partner than Might Guy?

"Might Guy! Aren't you supposed to be a macho man? Did you anesthetize those legs of yours? Why are you so slow?!"

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

"No way, right? Not only are you bad at ninjutsu and unable to learn the Three-Body Technique, you're bad at taijutsu too? Go on, tell me—can you even eat? Or do you only know how to waste your father's food?"

Might Guy panicked. Taijutsu was his pride. It was what his father had taught him the most, and what he and his father had shared 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 jobs. Every grain of rice in their home was precious—how could he say he was wasting food?

"Ahhh! Don't underestimate my youth!"

Might Guy ran faster and faster.

Running laps around the Hidden Leaf Village had originally been meant as a warm-up, but the pace became so fast and the exertion so great that the warm-up became the main event.

Only then did Uchiha Ling become interested.

This was the kind of speed that suited his current body.

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

Every breath made his chest cavity roar.

He had to push his muscles to their limit, familiarize himself with how to exert force with this powerful body, and quickly master the abilities he drew from the system, making the system's abilities his own.

Otherwise, even his movements felt somewhat uncoordinated.

After racing around the Hidden Leaf Village ten times, Might Guy collapsed to 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 let himself look weak.

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

"I thought that since you were bad at ninjutsu, you at least boasted that taijutsu-type ninja had a future.

"Even the taijutsu you're so proud of is this terrible. I can't imagine how wretched your ninjutsu and genjutsu must be!

"Your future looks completely bleak to me. Go back, wash up, and sleep. Submit an application to withdraw from the academy—I'm sure the teachers have been waiting for it for a long time."

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

"Oh? Becoming a chunin? Such a plain little dream? Even trash like Obito Uchiha has shouted about becoming Hokage.

"Now that I remember, is your father Might Duy? That genin no one is willing to take out of the village?

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

"I'm a kind person. Once I become a chunin and start earning high mission rewards, I'll let you and your father clean my courtyard together."

Might Guy pursed his lips, forcing himself not to cry in front of Uchiha Ling.

His father had often moved him to tears with slogans of youth and burning passion. He had never expected that today, Uchiha Ling's insults would make him cry instead.

Not only did Uchiha Ling look down on him, he had insulted his father too.

But!

He would not admit defeat!

"I trained hard for a month to prepare for the final exams. I'm only slow today because I haven't recovered from my fatigue yet!

"Just you wait! My youth is far faster than this!"

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

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

Might Guy was always full of fighting spirit. A temporary setback would not affect him much. He was not easy to break.

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

His powerful kicks were so formidable that he had sent Obito Uchiha flying with one kick, yet Uchiha Ling had actually called him Soft-Leg Guy.

In the taijutsu he was best at, Uchiha Ling had looked down on him.

Uchiha Ling went home and took a nice second nap, sleeping until noon before eating something and heading back out.

He wandered through the training grounds beneath Konoha Village's walls, looking for familiar figures to see if he could put some pressure on them.

Before long, he spotted Kurenai Yuhi at one of the training grounds.

Kurenai Yuhi's morning training was nearly over.

A voice suddenly rang out.

"Kurenai, I knew you'd be waiting for me at our usual place. Sorry I'm late."

Kurenai Yuhi jumped in fright and turned around to see Uchiha Ling.

"When was I waiting for you?! And how is this our usual place?"

"Kurenai, don't be shy. I know you're embarrassed. It must have been hard for you to manufacture an accidental encounter with me this way."

Kurenai Yuhi's little face flushed red with anger.

Uchiha Ling jumped down beside Kurenai Yuhi and said, "Come on, let's spar.

"This semester, it was Ebisu this and Asuma Sarutobi that. They kept interrupting us, and we never got to spar properly.

"Let me teach you hands-on. Next semester, I'll definitely make you a whole new person."

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

Opportunities to spar with the top student in their year were rare.

After they finished sparring, Uchiha Ling invited Kurenai to eat 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 resist being treated as special?

I may throw harsh words at the whole world, but when it comes to you alone, I offer my last bit of gentleness.

No matter how irritating Uchiha Ling usually was, he truly treated Kurenai Yuhi as someone special.

And so, vacation began.

In the morning, he insulted Might Guy while training at high intensity.

He caught up on sleep in the morning.

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

At night, he insulted Might Guy while training at high intensity.

His training had both intensity and emotional encouragement.