Pink Little Pills

Konoha, evening.

At the edge of the Ninja Academy's Training Ground, before a wooden post that had been beaten full of dents and pits, Might Guy was unleashing a furious barrage.

Every punch he threw came with a dull, air-shattering impact, while the force of his fists sent gravel flying in every direction.

Ye strode toward the green figure with his hands in his pockets.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Guy suddenly whipped his head around.

Their gazes met.

The instant he saw Ye's face, Guy's half-thrown fist froze stiffly in midair.

His originally unstoppable momentum came to an abrupt halt.

He sprang backward three large steps, opening up an absolutely safe distance.

His hands swiftly crossed before his chest in a tight guard, and even his calves trembled faintly.

His gaze swept Ye's pockets with extreme vigilance. Only after confirming that his hands were empty did he relax slightly.

Yet his legs remained poised to bolt at any moment.

"Ye... what are you here for?"

Guy's voice carried obvious wariness, with even a hint of a sob in it.

"I'd rather die than eat that pink little pill again! Back off, back off, back off!"

The terror of yesterday evening's unstoppable flood in that dead-end alley had already left an indelible mark on the hot-blooded boy's mind.

Ye's mouth twitched, his face darkening.

"What pink little pill?"

Ye rolled his eyes and spoke irritably.

"Can you stop making Soldier Pills sound like contraband? Anyone who didn't know better would think I drugged you."

Guy did not lower his crossed arms, maintaining his highly guarded defensive stance.

Ye stopped teasing him and stood where he was.

He took a deep breath, and his expression changed within a tenth of a second.

A layer of extreme sincerity and solemnity instantly settled over his previously casual face.

He stepped two paces closer, looked straight into Guy's eyes, and spoke in a low, forceful voice.

"Dear friend."

Ye looked at him. "Can I train with you?"

A breeze swept across the Training Ground.

Guy's crossed hands froze before his chest.

The instant he heard those words, his wide eyes completely lost focus.

He stood stunned for a full three seconds.

Then, without warning, two streams of tears the size of beans burst from his eyes and splashed into the dirt at his feet.

He lowered his arms, his shoulders shaking violently.

"Ye!"

Guy roared in a cracking voice.

His trembling hands yanked open the oversized, bulging Ninja Tools pouch at his waist.

With both hands, he held out a brand-new green jumpsuit, folded with impeccable neatness and not bearing even the slightest wrinkle.

Guy raised the outfit high above his head, his choked voice echoing over the Training Ground.

"Ye! Do you know how long I've waited for this day?!"

"This is the youthful battle uniform I prepared for you! Put it on! Let us sweat together!"

At that very second, a screen of light exploded across Ye's vision.

A dense barrage of crisp system notifications rang madly through his mind.

[Recognition Points from Might Guy: +999!]

[Recognition Points from Might Guy: +999!]

[Recognition Points from Might Guy: +999!]

[...]

Ye clicked his tongue inwardly.

This Armor-Breaking System really ought to be renamed the Emotion Harvester. It could farm points ruthlessly from both positive and negative emotions.

Guy held up the green skintight suit radiating an unsettling aura of youthfulness and offered it to Ye with a face full of wild delight.

Ye lowered his head, his gaze landing on the green outfit that would outline every inch of a person's body.

An image automatically surfaced in his mind: himself wearing this thing ostentatiously through Konoha's streets, walking on his hands side by side with Guy.

His stomach churned.

Ye did not hesitate in the slightest.

He took half a step back and decisively shoved both hands into his pockets again.

All sincerity vanished from his face in an instant.

"No."

Ye's voice was cold and hard, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Ordinary people can't pull off clothes like that. You should keep it for yourself."

Guy's hands holding the skintight suit froze in midair.

The tears at the corners of his eyes seemed to stick to his cheeks.

His face, previously filled with ecstasy, darkened at a visible speed.

The arms holding the outfit drooped limply, and the jumpsuit sagged limply with them.

Even his bowl cut lost its shine.

Ding!

Another familiar, crisp notification sounded in Ye's mind at the perfect moment.

[Guard-Break Points from Might Guy: +999!]

Listening to that wonderful heavenly sound, Ye felt extraordinarily pleased.

With one casual rejection, he had smoothly completed a double harvest between "extreme recognition" and "extreme guard break."

Less than ten seconds had passed.

This was called sustainable development.

But you couldn't harvest the chives to death.

Seeing signs that this premium chive before him was about to wither completely, Ye quit while he was ahead and immediately changed the subject.

"We can talk about the clothes later."

Ye straightened his expression.

"Guy, take a look at my Taijutsu fundamentals first."

"Sorry for the trouble, but help me make a training plan. I want to know the gap between us."

The moment he heard the word "training."

Two sharp lights instantly burst from Guy's dim eyes.

He immediately rolled the green skintight suit into a ball and stuffed it back into his Ninja Tools pouch, entering an intensely rigorous professional mode at once.

"Alright!"

Guy pointed at the sandy track around the Training Ground and shouted.

"Basic testing begins now! First, run five laps around the Training Ground at full speed!"

"Then immediately do one hundred full-speed push-ups! No stopping in between!"

From somewhere, he produced a battered little notebook and a pencil stub. With blazing eyes fixed on Ye, he was ready to record the data at any moment.

Ye did not waste any words.

The Peak Genin Chakra within him instantly began to circulate, pouring through his meridians into his legs.

He suddenly pushed off the ground, kicking up sand as he shot onto the track.

One lap, two laps, five laps.

After finishing the run at full speed, Ye did not pause at all. He planted his hands on the ground and immediately began one hundred rapid push-ups with perfect form.

Chakra's enhancement left him brimming with energy.

After finishing the last one, Ye stood up, his chest heaving violently and a fine layer of sweat covering his forehead.

Though he was somewhat out of breath, his stamina was nowhere near depleted.

Guy clutched the pencil stub and rapidly recorded the time and movement frequency in his little notebook.

Just as Ye was about to sit down and rest, Guy immediately reached out to stop him.

"You can't sit down! Walk slowly! Let your muscles gradually relax!"

Guy corrected him loudly.

Then Guy crouched down, snapped off a tree branch, and quickly wrote a long string of numbers across the flat sand at the edge of the Training Ground.

"This is your training plan."

Guy stood and dusted off his hands.

Ye leaned closer and lowered his head for a look.

Three hundred laps around the Training Ground every day.

Five kilometers of handstand walking.

Three hundred push-ups.

Five hundred squats.

Two hundred pull-ups.

A long series of numbers was densely carved into the sand.

Ye had originally thought that, with his Peak Genin Chakra reserves, this sort of basic Taijutsu training would be easy.

But looking at the suffocatingly dense training plan on the ground, his scalp went numb.

Was this a plan made for humans?

Wouldn't anyone who finished it be ready for cremation?

Guy explained seriously from the side.

"Ye, your Chakra reserves far exceed those of ordinary new students."

"This intensity is just enough to bring you close to your physical limit every day."

"At the same time, as long as you rest through one night of sleep, the muscle soreness definitely won't affect your extra training the next day."

Ye took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart.

With a probing tone, he pointed at the numbers on the ground and asked:

"This plan is definitely brutal. Guy, then what's your daily training plan like?"

Guy stood perfectly straight, raised his right thumb, and flashed a mouthful of gleaming white teeth that still shone in the twilight.

He smiled as naturally as ever.

"About twice as much as yours, I guess."