Uya looked utterly pained. Even if his talent for ninjutsu had been terrible before, he was still a million miles away from living off a woman!
Full of resentment, Uya returned to his room. Instead of resting, he launched into another bout of frantic training.
One hundred twenty-six, one hundred twenty-seven...
Two hundred thirty-one, two hundred thirty-two...
He counted silently, sweat already pouring down his body.
His sweat had soaked the floor, leaving a wet patch.
His arms grew stiffer and heavier, seemingly unable to support his body any longer.
But before Uya's eyes, he seemed to see the scenes of the Shinobi World War, then his previous life of accomplishing nothing before finally dying in an accident.
His arms were already so numb that he could no longer feel them.
Now he relied on willpower alone to squeeze every last bit of strength from his body, forcing his way past its limits.
Last time, Uya had managed only two hundred seventy-six at most.
This time, Uya gritted his teeth and forced himself to hold out until three hundred twenty.
But his arms had completely lost all feeling.
He struggled on, wanting to reach three hundred fifty, but finally collapsed at three hundred forty-five.
He lay sprawled on the floor, powerless and panting heavily.
But this time, Uya had ultimately done far more than before.
He could count that as breaking through one of his body's limits.
"Good... next time, I'll aim to add another hundred... without training like this, I'll never catch up to Might Guy and the others from the original story."
Although his arms were so stiff he could barely feel them, there was not a trace of dejection in Uya's eyes. Instead, they grew even more resolute.
After a short rest, he struggled to his feet and began doing squats.
"I need to do a hundred more squats than last time, too!"
Having set his goal, Uya began squatting down and standing up, over and over.
There was no telling how much sweat he shed.
In the end, Uya did a hundred sixty more squats than last time, even surpassing the goal he had set.
Finally unable to muster even a shred of strength anywhere in his body, Uya stood up one last time, toppled straight onto the bed, and fell asleep.
He slept until the next day.
Because he often trained to his limits like this, he could recover by the next day even if he had exhausted himself the day before.
After all, this was a world of ninja. Even if Uya found it difficult to mold chakra and had abysmal talent for ninjutsu, he still had chakra inside him.
"Looks like breaking through two limits yesterday strengthened my body a little."
Uya clenched his fists. Feeling as though his strength had increased a little, he could not help looking pleased.
If only he could break through those limits every day.
Of course, it was also quite possible that, having just obtained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and gained the Quake Release Kekkei Genkai, this kekkei genkai had in turn provided some enhancement to his body's strength.
The power of the Quake Release Kekkei Genkai was to add the Power of Tremors, allowing him to produce an Air Quake by striking the air—or rather, space—with his fist, as well as earthquakes that shook the ground and Seaquakes that raised tsunamis.
"Let's test the Air Quake's power again."
A hint of excitement appeared on Uya's face. He clenched his fist, bent his arm, and abruptly hammered it to one side.
Hum!!
A slightly brighter white light appeared, then abruptly burst in the air.
Uya punched empty air, but it looked as though he had struck a mirror.
Crack!!
The "mirror" shattered, making it look as though he had smashed space apart with a single punch.
However, the cracks were not very pronounced. They spread just a little in all directions, tracing a few fine fissures before stopping.
"The Air Quake really did get stronger."
Uya withdrew his fist, looking somewhat satisfied.
From the looks of it, the tremors produced by his punches should be able to stop any kunai or shuriken, as long as they had not been imbued with Chakra Nature Transformation.
"Unfortunately, its power still can't reach very far."
What left Uya feeling slightly unsatisfied was that the Air Quake unleashed by his fist did not cover enough distance, reaching only about a meter at most.
Of course, this was also related to its power.
If his Air Quake grew stronger, its attack range would increase along with it.
For now, however, his fists could still only serve as close-range attacks.
But when it came to long-range attacks, Uya was not without options.
Taking out a kunai, Uya gripped it tightly in his fist.
Hum!!
A faint halo of white light immediately appeared around the upper end of the kunai.
Then Uya abruptly hurled it at a large tree in the distance.
Crack!!
The kunai lodged firmly in the tree trunk. At the same time, the Power of Tremors erupted, spreading a short distance outward and shattering a layer of bark.
"Using it for long-range attacks like this loses some of the Power of Tremors, but it's still enough."
"Ordinary genin and chunin can't imbue kunai with Chakra Nature Transformation to increase their penetrating power yet."
Walking over and pulling out the kunai, Uya examined the effect it had produced.
He nodded, reasonably satisfied.
Remembering that there was a practical combat assessment today, Uya decided against training early in the morning before going to school. Instead, he planned to conserve enough stamina.
So, after eating a meal, Uya headed to the Ninja Academy.
The Ninja Academy was an institution founded by the Second Hokage to train ninja. At this point, it had only existed for around ten years, so many aspects were nowhere near as developed as they were when the original story took place.
At this time, the Senju Clan had only just begun to decline and had not yet died out completely.
The Uchiha Clan was also in its heyday.
As for the Hyuga Clan, they could only stand aside for now.
But regardless of the clan, Uya could only look on. Never mind that he was a child from another village-even if he had been born in Konoha, he could only look up for now at such behemoths as the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan, and even the Hyuga Clan.
"Uya, you're here."
As soon as he entered the classroom, Uya saw Kushina greeting him.
She was probably the only person who would greet him, too.
The other students either ignored Uya outright or glanced at him with a hint of contempt before turning away indifferently.
"Yeah."
Uya smiled at Kushina, then walked over to his seat and sat down.
Kushina looked at Uya with slight surprise. "Didn't you bring the ointment I delivered to you last night?"
"Uh... I think I forgot it."
"How could you be so careless? What if you get hurt later?"
Kushina immediately puffed out her cheeks, looking at Uya with some annoyance.
Uya: "..."
Pfft!
Why did she make it sound like he was definitely going to get hurt?!
Couldn't she have a little confidence in him?!
(End of chapter)