Inside the Sealing Space.
Naruto was still fast asleep on a soft bed.
The main reason he slept in the Sealing Space was that it was comfortable.
If he wanted a waterbed, he could have one. If he wanted a Simmons mattress, he could have that too. If his back ached, he could even sleep on a heated brick bed.
At three in the morning, just as Naruto was sleeping soundly, the alarm hanging above his head suddenly rang.
"So noisy! Let me sleep a little longer!" Naruto irritably slapped the alarm away.
Although he had knocked it away, the alarm kept ringing without pause.
Seeing this, Naruto silenced it with a thought.
With the alarm quiet, Naruto rolled over and went back to sleep.
But less than two minutes later, a huge mechanical arm picked him up.
Naruto rubbed his eyes and saw Zeff staring at him expressionlessly.
"Mr. Zeff, you're up so early!"
Naruto rubbed his bleary eyes and greeted Zeff.
"It's already three thirty. Time to get up and train!"
Zeff spoke without a trace of emotion.
Seeing Zeff like this, Naruto froze for a moment.
Yesterday, Zeff had seemed like an easygoing older man, but today, something about him made Naruto feel uneasy.
Perhaps sensing what Naruto was thinking, Zeff continued, "Yesterday, I wasn't your instructor. But starting today... if you're going to train under me, I have to be strict with you!"
"Get out of bed!"
Hearing this, Naruto reluctantly left the comfortable Sealing Space.
He certainly needed to train. In this world of Naruto, strength was everything. Besides... he had already promised Zeff, and he had been the one to ask for the training in the first place...
His consciousness returned to his body, and Naruto got up and began getting dressed.
Once dressed, Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique to create two solid clones.
Zeff chose one clone as his temporary body, but the clone prepared for Wolffy remained completely still.
Naruto knew Wolffy was still sleeping in. After all, he had spent the entire night hauling bricks with Kurama. He probably wouldn't wake up until noon.
Naruto picked up the Gravity Bracelet Wolffy had finished making yesterday and headed out, running toward one of Konoha's training grounds.
Just then, Zeff spoke from behind him.
"Naruto, put on the Gravity Bracelet and set it to double gravity!"
Without another word, Naruto put the Gravity Bracelet on his wrist and set the gravity to two.
To Naruto, a mere two times normal gravity was child's play.
Wasn't even three hundred times gravity child's play for people like Son Goku and Vegeta?
But... the moment he pressed the switch, he changed his mind.
The doubled gravity immediately made Naruto's body feel heavy.
If it had only made his body heavier, that would have been fine, but the pressure acted on both the inside and outside of his body. This was no longer simple weight training.
Naruto struggled to draw a few breaths.
At just twice normal gravity, he already found it difficult to breathe.
That was because gravity was pressing on his lungs. His body would only return to normal once it fully adapted to the increased gravity.
"Start running under double gravity. Don't worry. Even if you run yourself into the ground, we still have Wolffy's Healing Pod."
Seeing Naruto struggling, Zeff thoughtfully offered him that reminder.
Naruto could only bear the pressure and begin jogging.
Zeff ran alongside him, pointing out the flaws in Naruto's running posture as they went.
Actually, Naruto really wanted to learn the ninja run-the kind where you ran with both arms trailing behind you.
Everyone in the world of Naruto ran that way, apart from Orochimaru, who believed in science.
The running posture Zeff taught was much more scientific.
Ah... looks like I won't be doing the ninja run after all!
Naruto sighed inwardly. Meanwhile, under Zeff's guidance, he ran faster and faster.
Just as the two were about to reach the training ground, a figure wearing a white training outfit caught their attention.
The boy was young, probably not much older than Naruto. He looked about six or seven.
He had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and hair tied into a long braid.
His face was covered in sweat, and even his hair had clumped together from the moisture. Clearly, he had already been running for quite some time.
Naruto and Zeff recognized the boy at first glance. This was Rock Lee, who would become one of the Konoha 12 in a few years.
Rock Lee was a hopeless ninja with no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu.
Everyone thought he could never become a ninja, and at first, Rock Lee had thought so too.
Fortunately, he met one of the most important people in his life, Might Guy. With Might Guy's encouragement, Rock Lee finally embarked on the path of a Taijutsu ninja.
But the hardships of being a Taijutsu ninja were more than most people could endure.
Rock Lee, who was still running, also spotted Naruto and Zeff.
Rock Lee was puzzled, not only because someone besides him had gotten up this early to train, but also because these two looked identical.
Curious, Rock Lee ran over to Naruto and Zeff.
"Excuse me, are you two up early to train too?"
Hearing Rock Lee's question, Naruto smiled, then extended a hand with some difficulty and introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Naruto Uzumaki!"
Rock Lee also held out a hand, but there was some dirt on it, perhaps from an earlier fall, so he didn't immediately take Naruto's hand.
Naruto smiled, unbothered, and reached out to shake Rock Lee's hand.
"I... my name is Rock Lee."
Just then, Zeff walked over to Rock Lee and began pressing and squeezing various parts of his body with both hands.
Rock Lee looked at Naruto awkwardly.
Naruto gave an awkward smile as well. "This is my clone, and he's also the teacher supervising my training!"
When Rock Lee heard that Zeff was Naruto's clone and also the teacher supervising him, his eyes immediately lit up.
Rock Lee had learned his training method from Might Guy. Specifically, it relied on self-discipline.
That kind of self-discipline was an immense test of willpower.
Yet Naruto had actually thought of using a clone to keep himself training. Rock Lee greatly admired him for it and was very envious too.
"Rock Lee, you can't keep training like this!"
After examining Rock Lee's entire body with his hands, Zeff straightened up and spoke in a very serious tone.
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