"Hah!!!"
An explosive shout, piercing and so passionate it was almost bursting, came from deep within the forest like a thunderclap!
Immediately afterward came a series of heavy, rapid impacts at an incredible frequency, as if something were madly smashing its body against a massive tree!
Shira's heart gave a sudden leap. This voice... could it be...?
He immediately crept toward the sound, moving even more cautiously.
He passed through a dense thicket, and the sight before him made him hold his breath!
In a forest clearing, a man wearing a distinctive green jumpsuit, with a bowl cut and astonishingly thick eyebrows, was doing handstand push-ups at a jaw-dropping speed, supporting his entire weight on just two fingers!
He was so fast that he left afterimages!
"971! 972! 973! This is youth!!!" he shouted, counting madly with tears welling in his eyes.
Beside him stood a giant tree so wide it would take several people joining hands to encircle it. It was covered in countless fist and foot imprints, clearly his earlier "masterpiece."
Might Guy!
It really was him! And he was a million times more fired up than Shira had imagined...
Shira forcibly suppressed his excitement and shock, without rushing out immediately. He carefully surveyed the surroundings and confirmed that there probably weren't any other Konoha Ninja present.
Guy's training methods were so unusual that it seemed he really was accustomed to training alone in a remote place like this.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Shira took a deep breath and stepped out of hiding, but instead of approaching, he kept a relatively safe distance. Then, facing Guy, he used all his strength to shout, imitating Guy's passionate tone:
"Excuse me! Are you Mr. Might Guy, the Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf?!"
His voice echoed through the open forest.
Guy, who had been doing handstand push-ups, abruptly stopped and landed steadily on his feet with a light somersault.
Sweat and tears still covered his face as his large eyes, beneath those thick eyebrows, looked in surprise toward the source of the voice-a plainly dressed child who appeared to be only six or seven, but whose eyes were exceptionally bright and determined.
"Oh-ho-ho!!! A passionate young man I don't know?!"
Guy appeared in front of Shira in an instant, moving so fast that his movements were almost impossible to see. He crouched down, his face nearly touching Shira's, flames blazing in his eyes, as if confirming his firm determination never to give up and his passionate spirit of youth.
"That's right! I am Konoha's proud Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf-Might Guy! Young man, what can I do for you? Could it be that you, too, want to challenge your limits and embrace your burning youth?!!"
The overwhelming pressure and the wave of passion rushing at him made Shira's breath catch.
But he steadied himself and, meeting Guy's pure, blazing gaze, spoke the words he had prepared long ago, the words most likely to move him:
"Mr. Guy! My name is Shira, Shi as in purple, ra as in Rasa. I'm from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. I can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu! But I believe I can become a great ninja with Taijutsu alone! Please-teach me how to become stronger!"
With that, he bowed deeply and solemnly to Guy.
In the forest, only the rustling of wind through the leaves and Might Guy's gaze, growing ever brighter and hotter, remained.