In the blink of an eye, two and a half years had passed.
The Shinobi World had been unusually quiet throughout those two and a half years.
The Ōtsutsuki, among the major villains in Naruto, had caused no trouble, and the inherently evil Uchiha Clan had done nothing either. Life in the village was peaceful, with even the usual petty disputes few and far between.
All of Konoha had settled into a stable period of peace.
Everyone had changed.
The kids had all grown up, shedding their childishness as their strength skyrocketed.
Don't ask. The answer was that someone had been putting pressure on Konoha's younger generation.
Miki Yūya got along pretty well with Shikamaru, Rock Lee, and Akamaru.
For that very reason, they were often on the receiving end of his pressure. Shikamaru's strength kept improving, and when he put his intelligence toward developing his abilities, his progress was downright terrifying.
Rock Lee had always been a genius at hard work. If even an "idiot" like Miki Yūya worked that hard, the potential Rock Lee unleashed under his "encouragement" was utterly absurd.
For someone who didn't use his head and launched into youth and hot-blooded passion at the drop of a hat, getting fired up made his talent look like a cheat code.
As for Akamaru, he only came under pressure because he had accepted Miki Yūya as his big brother, then caused trouble every day. He made problems for Miki Yūya, who would then go straighten him out.
Then Akamaru would turn around and put pressure on Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba was completely baffled, but all he could do was keep training harder.
In that atmosphere, Konoha's younger generation worked ridiculously hard.
Even Konohamaru, who got beaten up every day, had thoroughly lost his immaturity and impatience over those