It was a night when moonlight shone alongside the stars. Still of Ninja Academy age, they had been practicing together at the Training Ground.
"Hey, Rock Lee, we're heading home. You..."
"I haven't finished today's training yet. Go on ahead, I'll head home myself later! Eight thousand six hundred thirty-two, eight thousand six hundred thirty-three..."
Watching Rock Lee continue his handstand push-ups on a wooden post despite his trembling hands, Hinata and Neji couldn't bring themselves to keep trying to persuade him. They could only leave quietly.
It was the morning of a rainy day.
"Ha! I didn't finish my five hundred laps yesterday, so I'll double it to a thousand today!"
Watching that figure sprint through the rain, Sasuke looked away and held himself to a higher standard as well.
It was a clear afternoon...
It was a drowsy evening...
No matter the time or place, Rock Lee kept racing toward his dream of surpassing geniuses with Taijutsu alone.
To others, he worked hard—so hard they couldn't understand him. His efforts were so excessive that most people couldn't even relate.
"Huff, huff... Rock Lee, what's your dream?"
During those days, Naruto Uzumaki—the person everyone at the Training Ground aspired to catch up to—occasionally joined him in running around the village on their hands. On one such day, he suddenly asked that question.
"Ha, ha... My dream?"
"Yeah. Huff... Just running on our hands like this... huff... is too boring. Let's chat."
My dream is to surpass geniuses like you through hard work!
But seeing Naruto stay one step ahead of him the entire time, Rock Lee couldn't voice his true thoughts. Instead, he said, "I want... want to prove that, with Taijutsu alone... I can still become an outstanding ninja!"
"Really?"
Naruto paused. Then, whether from exhaustion or some