Another five minutes passed.
Naruto's second clone finally arrived.
Naruto knew this clone was Wolffy.
After arriving, Wolffy tossed the freshly made bracelet to Zeff, looking rather annoyed.
"Sorry for the trouble, Wolffy!"
Wolffy glanced at Zeff and said, "It really was a lot of trouble!"
Zeff gave Wolffy a long look. "You really want to go home, don't you?"
Wolffy froze at Zeff's words, then snorted.
"Hmph... don't you?"
Zeff fell silent for a moment, then shook his head without answering.
"Heh... Wolffy, I know you really want to go home, but have you ever considered that your only hope of getting home is to make Naruto stronger? Not that Time Machine you tinker with every day!"
"Ah..." Wolffy sighed. "Of course I have. I've talked to Naruto about it before, too."
"But... it'll take several more years for Naruto to become truly strong..."
"I can wait. I'm just afraid... what if my wife remarries..."
Zeff: ...
Wolffy's words left Zeff speechless.
Still, he tried to reassure him. "Do you really have so little faith in your wife?"
Zeff's words sent Wolffy drifting into his memories.
What kind of wolf was his wife, Red Wolffy? Beautiful, sophisticated, sexy... none of those were her defining trait. Her greatest trait was [violence].
That's right... why don't I trust my wife? Who besides me could take a blow from her frying pan? Even if someone survived one, what about two? Three? An endless barrage?
At that thought, everything suddenly became clear to Wolffy. Who besides him would dare marry Red Wolffy? Anyone who married her would be beaten to death with a frying pan within two or three days...
Having figured it all out, Wolffy looked at Zeff again, a hint of gratitude in his eyes.
Of course, Zeff had no idea what Wolffy was thinking. Had he known, all he could have said was, "Your wife is seriously fierce, and you can really take a beating!"
With his newfound clarity, Wolffy returned to the Sealing Space, planning to keep grinding to save up for an annual bundle.
Meanwhile, Zeff went over to Naruto and Rock Lee.
"Naruto, Rock Lee, stop for now!"
At Zeff's words, Naruto wanted to collapse straight onto the ground, but Rock Lee caught him.
"Naruto, don't rest immediately after exercising!"
Zeff came up to Rock Lee and handed him the Gravity Bracelet.
"Rock Lee, from now on, wear this both during your daily activities and while training!"
Rock Lee took the bracelet in confusion, then glanced at the one on Naruto's wrist.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled and fought through his exhaustion to help Rock Lee put it on. Then he set it to double gravity, just like his own.
As double gravity took effect, Rock Lee's entire body sank.
"This..." Rock Lee stared at the Gravity Bracelet on his wrist in shock.
"What is this? My body suddenly feels so heavy..."
Feeling the change in his body, Rock Lee wasn't frightened. Instead, he was rather excited.
Rock Lee knew this was definitely a form of weighted training.
He had actually been planning to buy training weights lately, but... they were far too expensive. His meager allowance barely kept him fed...
"It's called a Gravity Bracelet. The number on it represents the gravity setting. Right now, it's at twice normal gravity."
Naruto explained.
"Oh..." Rock Lee murmured, clearly not understanding.
"So basically, it's a really powerful training weight! Thanks, Naruto..."
With that, Rock Lee started running.
Now Rock Lee finally understood why Naruto had never been able to run fast.
Still, Rock Lee was much stronger than Naruto. At least he could run at a brisk pace, while Naruto could only jog.
Seeing Rock Lee start running, Zeff told Naruto, "Naruto, turn off the gravity and run with Rock Lee!"
Naruto: ...
Naruto hadn't expected to have to keep running.
Fortunately, he wouldn't have to do it under double gravity this time.
Once he switched off the Gravity Bracelet, Naruto immediately felt lighter. Some of his depleted stamina returned, and he felt as though he could run for another hour.
And so, Naruto caught up with Rock Lee.
At the same time, Zeff caught up with both of them.
This time, Zeff helped Rock Lee correct the mistakes in his running form.
Compared with Naruto, Rock Lee had more serious problems. More precisely, his running form had already become a habit, and changing it would take sustained effort over time.
Things were much simpler for Naruto, since he had been running under Zeff's guidance right from the start.
Just like that, another hour passed.
It was now five o'clock.
Under double gravity, even Rock Lee, whose stamina far surpassed Naruto's, was trembling all over with exhaustion.
"All right... just run home, and this morning's training will be over!"
As the two ran toward Naruto's home, Zeff had already estimated the limits of their endurance.
Although Naruto seemed to have less stamina than Rock Lee, when it came to their absolute limits, Naruto far surpassed him.
Because Naruto had Kurama inside him, even a little chakra leaking out from Kurama would allow the utterly exhausted Naruto to keep going.
They returned home.
Zeff stripped the utterly drained Rock Lee and Naruto naked, then placed them in the Healing Machines.
There had originally been only one Healing Machine. Wolffy had hurriedly knocked together the second one.
After putting them inside, Zeff fitted them with oxygen masks, closed the chamber doors, and began filling the machines with water.
Once the Healing Machines were full, Naruto and Rock Lee felt as comfortable as if they had stepped into a hot spring.
Their fatigue quickly vanished, and in such comfortable surroundings, they soon fell asleep.
By the time they woke again, it was past seven.
Zeff, who had been watching them the whole time, immediately pressed the drain button when he saw them wake. Only after draining all the water from the Healing Machines did he open the chamber doors again and let them out.
"How do you feel?"
Zeff asked as he watched Naruto and Rock Lee step naked out of the Healing Machines.
Naruto stretched and smiled. "Just what you'd expect from Wolffy's invention. It's totally broken... ah, no... I mean, totally reliable."
Meanwhile, Rock Lee stared back at the Healing Machine in disbelief.
With the Gravity Bracelet, the intensity of Rock Lee's training that day had pushed him beyond his limits.
Under normal circumstances, he would have needed a long rest to recover.
But after just one hour in the Healing Machine, every trace of fatigue had vanished from his body.
"So... so amazing..."
Looking at Rock Lee, Naruto sighed inwardly. Ah... he can't even say "fucking awesome." How pitiful!
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