Might Duy!

Konoha

The woods behind the mountain

"Three Sword Style: Oni Giri!" With Chihane's low shout, a tree so thick it would take two people to encircle it was sliced into several sections.

A glance around made it clear that Chihane had become quite the little lumberjack, leaving his handiwork scattered everywhere.

"System, open the panel."

Host: Chihane Hatake

Gender: Male

Class: Swordsman

Strength: Genin

Swordsmanship: One-Sword Style: Iai-Death Lion's Song

36-Pound Phoenix (locked)

Three Sword Style: Oni Giri

Tiger Hunt

Items: Wado Ichimonji, Zoro's Green Bandana, Zoro's Training Manual

Bottom-tier cannon fodder, but with luck, you might escape with your life.

A month had passed since the last practical exam. After obtaining Zoro's Training Manual, his swordsmanship had grown steadily stronger, until training at home was no longer practical. His techniques caused too much destruction, so he had to train in the woods behind the mountain, where people rarely came.

Chihane felt that his current training was gradually reaching a plateau. These simple basic exercises were no longer doing much for him. It was time to start training with weights.

The training-weight industry in this world was highly developed. In the original story, the weights strapped to Rock Lee's legs had looked inconspicuous, but their terrifying weight was absurd.

Still, Chihane firmly believed that no one could match his physique, now that he possessed Zoro's monstrously powerful pirate constitution.

With his current swordsmanship, Chihane would no longer need a clever trick to defeat Hyuga Namikaze if they faced each other again. But swordsmanship was meant to kill. The academy's practical exams were especially awkward for physical fighters like him-one slash could kill his opponent outright.

The thought that no one might let him use his sword techniques in the next practical exam suddenly left him feeling empty.

But when he thought of the approaching Shinobi World war, he immediately put things into perspective. He was still weak. He couldn't even beat his own younger brother yet.

On his way back, the shops and pedestrians lining the streets left him somewhat dazed. Everything still felt a little unreal.

A year had passed since he came to this world. He wondered whether his parents were doing well, and whether she was all right.

As he passed the Ninja Tool Shop, Chihane instinctively stopped. Since he needed training weights anyway, he might as well go inside and look.

Just as he reached the entrance of the Ninja Tool Shop, Chihane suddenly paused.

He had spotted a very familiar figure.

A green bodysuit and thick, bushy eyebrows-but he was certain this man wasn't his classmate Might Guy.

Rock Lee hadn't even been born yet, so there was no doubt.

This man, who was also buying training weights, had to be him.

Konoha's legendary eternal Genin!

Might Duy!

The father of his classmate Might Guy!

Everyone knew that Konoha's strongest fighters were its Genin, and this man was probably the strongest Genin around right now.

Of course, Chihane had always admired him deeply.

More precisely, he admired people like Might Duy, Might Guy, and Rock Lee. Strictly speaking, Chihane was one of them, too.

We might not be geniuses, but through hard work, we can surpass those so-called geniuses!

A thunderous crash rang out inside the Ninja Tool Shop, and even the ground seemed to shake.

"I'm terribly sorry."

Watching the shopkeeper struggle to carry a pile of weights before dumping them in the main room, Might Duy gave an embarrassed smile.

"Honestly, you could at least give me a hand."

The shopkeeper grumbled at Might Duy, "Hurry up and take them away. Go on."

As Might Duy started to leave, the shopkeeper sighed. "You've been buying my training weights all these years. After all those years of practicing Taijutsu, you're still a Genin. Why keep at it?"

Might Duy paused when he heard that. "So I can protect the people around me when they need me."

With that, he walked away without looking back.

The shopkeeper remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly at his retreating figure. Chihane watched the scene unfold.

Chihane knew how strong this man truly was. He had meant every word-this was the man who had reduced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to a trio.

Shaking his head, Chihane entered the Ninja Tool Shop. "Sir, give me a set of the weights that man just bought. A fifty-kilogram set."

The shopkeeper looked at Chihane in surprise. "You want training weights, too?"

Still, he quickly fetched a set for Chihane. Unlike Might Duy's weights, the fifty-kilogram set didn't need to be custom-made; they had finished ones in stock.

Chihane picked up the weights. They were just right. That would take care of his needs for a while.

"Sir, I'd also like you to make these two types of weights for me." As he spoke, he took out the designs he had prepared earlier.

"What are these meant to train? I can tell this one is for strength training, but what's this?" The shopkeeper pointed to the second design in Chihane's hands.

"This one is for training my teeth. A powerful ninja needs a good set of teeth," Chihane told the shopkeeper, looking at the design.

"All right... come back in three days."

Looking at the child before him, the shopkeeper felt that the world truly was full of strange things. What good would training his teeth do? Was he planning to bite his opponents?

Ninjutsu: Three Consecutive Bites???

Chihane turned and left the shop, trying to find Might Duy. Fortunately, that unmistakable green bodysuit made him stand out spectacularly on the otherwise ordinary street!

He followed Might Duy into a deserted patch of woods and watched the man put on his weights and begin an intense workout.

Even Chihane couldn't help being startled by such a brutal training routine.

If that shopkeeper saw this, would he still try to persuade Might Duy to give up?

As he observed Might Duy's training, Chihane grew increasingly delighted. Compared with Might Duy's methods, his own training had far too many shortcomings.

After that burst of delight,

Chihane unhesitatingly committed every one of Might Duy's training methods to memory.

Although Duy was only a Genin, Chihane firmly believed that no one in all of Konoha could match him in Taijutsu.

He certainly couldn't go wrong learning Taijutsu from him!

Once Duy finished training, Chihane shook his head and headed home. After all, he still had his own training to do that evening.

What he didn't notice was that, after he left, Duy stared at the spot where he had been for a long time!

Ever since discovering Duy's training spot, Chihane would stop by for a look whenever he had time between his own sessions.

Sometimes Duy trained alone, and sometimes he trained with Guy.

After nearly a month of training, Chihane had made tremendous progress. His physique steadily improved, and his swordsmanship advanced considerably as well.

His body had fully adapted to the weights. He had even replaced his teeth-training weights with heavier ones several times, and every time he visited, the shopkeeper stared at him for ages.

His greatest disappointment, however, was that throughout the entire month, he had never seen Duy practice the Eight Gates of Death.

"I'll go take another look today. If only I could learn the Eight Gates of Death."

That afternoon

The little grove where Might Duy trained

Chihane had just reached the grove when he saw Might Duy and Might Guy standing in their usual training spot, their expressions solemn.