Forest of Death

Kazan had no idea how long he had been running. When his body felt close to its limit, he finally stopped.

He took off his shirt and wrung it hard. Sweat poured from it like water from an open tap, splashing onto the dry training ground.

It was proof of how hard he had worked.

"Heading back, Ka... Kazan?"

Might Guy stopped when Kazan did.

He had been trying to catch Kazan the entire time, but his five-lap deficit had grown to fifteen. He was exhausted.

Only willpower kept him on his feet.

"Yeah. It'll be a problem if I leave it any later."

"That's enough for today, Guy. See you."

Kazan slung his wrung-out shirt over his shoulder and left the Ninja Academy without looking back.

The sun would set soon. He needed to find dinner.

Once Kazan was out of sight, Might Duy came over. "Let's head home too, Guy."

"Okay."

Might Guy followed his father home.

On the way, he couldn't help asking, "Dad, can I really become a powerful Ninja?"

"Of course!" Might Duy answered without hesitation. He pressed a thumb to his chest. "Your sweat will never betray you. Every step you run is your youth roaring!"

"But... even at Taijutsu, I can't beat Kazan..."

Guy's voice dropped.

He had no talent for Ninjutsu, and he understood nothing about Genjutsu.

When the Ninja Academy first recruited students, he had been almost the only applicant turned away.

His father's constant encouragement had kept him going until he finally moved the Third Hokage to admit him.

He had thought that if he kept working hard, he would someday catch up to everyone else and prove that he and his father were right to follow their Ninja Way.

Then he arrived at the academy and met Kazan.

He couldn't match Kakashi's talent for Ninjutsu. Now he couldn't match Kazan's talent for Taijutsu, either.

Fifteen whole laps meant more than just a number.

It meant his body held far less energy than Kazan's—the genius who had given up Ninjutsu to train solely in Taijutsu.

He couldn't even outwork Kazan or Kakashi.

More than once, he had seen Kakashi training alone. He had also watched Kazan emerge wounded from the Forest of Death.

I'm too weak!

As Guy hung his head, Might Duy swung a fist and sent him flying several meters.

"You idiot, Guy!"

"The fact that they're ahead of you means you should follow the path they've cleared and chase them all the harder!"

"Listen to me! Youth is a train with no return trip. Anyone who's always afraid of failing will never succeed!"

"Be brave. Don't ask yourself whether you can beat them. Ask yourself what you need to do to beat them..."

Might Duy shared the lessons life had taught him with his son.

Guy clearly hadn't expected such wisdom from his father. For once, it wasn't something like "The moment you die is when your youth reaches its peak!"

Clarity returned to Guy's eyes. "I understand, Dad!" he shouted.

"Guy!"

Father and son embraced in the street and burst into tears.

Passersby gave them a wide berth. Everyone was wary of the eccentric pair.

Meanwhile, Kazan had reached the Forest of Death.

His dinner was in there.

As he grew older and stronger, his body needed a massive amount of energy every day.

An ordinary Ninja could fill up on a bowl of rice, a bowl of Miso Soup, a fish, and some vegetables.

To Kazan, that was barely an appetizer.

It might keep him from starving, but it was nowhere near enough to satisfy the demands of the Garp Template.

He needed vast amounts of Food to feed his overactive Cells and give them enough energy to unlock his body's potential.

Kazan walked into the Forest of Death, the place that terrified the people of Konoha, as though he knew it by heart.

The Forest of Death was a venue for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and it teemed with beasts: giant snakes over a hundred meters long, bears the size of houses, and enormous apes that could leap dozens of meters...

Creatures like those were everywhere.

He had barely entered the outer woods when a pair of scarlet eyes flashed in the shadows. Clear saliva dripped from sharp fangs.

Kazan looked over. A tiger the size of a small house stepped out from behind a tree.

"Been waiting long, Hakimi?" He chuckled and beckoned.

Then something remarkable happened.

The tiger Kazan had named Hakimi bounded over like an eager puppy and affectionately licked his face.

Hakimi was Kazan's "hunting hound." Kazan had found him as a cub two years ago.

His mother had probably died fighting another fierce beast, leaving Hakimi to wander to the edge of the Forest of Death.

Luckily for him, Kazan had just eaten. Otherwise, he might have ended up in a pot.

"Let's go."

"Roar!"

Hakimi immediately crouched so Kazan could climb onto his back.

Then the man and tiger charged deeper into the Forest of Death.

They soon found a target: a Grizzly Bear even bigger than Hakimi.

The Grizzly Bear spotted them too and fixed its gaze on Hakimi.

It paid Kazan no mind. He was just a two-legged creature it could crush with a single swipe.

It clearly had no idea which of them was the real threat.

"That's the one. Go, Haki Tiger!"

Kazan sprang high off the tiger's back. At his command, Hakimi lunged straight at the bear.

The Grizzly Bear reared up to meet him.

Boom! Hakimi knocked the bear flat, but it quickly swatted him away. He crashed into a nearby tree and brought it down.

Before the bear could get back up, the two-legged creature dropped from the sky.

"Fist Bone!"

Kazan clenched his right fist and plummeted like a Meteorite.

"Impact!"

The bear watched his fist rush closer and grow larger. Then, with a deafening boom, Kazan drove it straight into the bear's head.

There was no Haki behind the blow, much less Conqueror's Coating. Just his fist, reinforced with Chakra.

Yet that single punch nearly sent the Grizzly Bear to meet its ancestors.

"Roar!"

The wounded bear went berserk. Fresh blood ran from its eyes, blurring its vision, and it swung its paws wildly. Trees snapped in half all around it.

Kazan retreated to Hakimi's side, massaged his left shoulder with his right hand, then shook out his left arm.

"Still alive? You can take a hit."

Hakimi answered, "Roar!"

"Don't bite its paws. I'm having bear paws tonight, and I don't want your drool on them."

With that, Kazan launched himself forward again. "Fist Bone: Impact!" he roared, driving another punch at the bear.