Companions

When Uzumaki Hane saw that the lock had not been broken and the mark he had made was undisturbed, he lowered his guard. Yamano Koromo and Tanaka also had keys to his home in the village, so he figured it must be the two of them.

Sure enough, it was Yamano Koromo inside. She was cooking in the kitchen, and a lavish dinner had already been laid out on the table.

Yamano Koromo held a dish in her hands. When she saw Uzumaki Hane, she smiled gently and said, "Hane, you're back. Dinner's just ready."

Uzumaki Hane looked at Yamano Koromo. Yamano's gentle smile left him a little dazzled, and for a moment his heart pounded. Without thinking, he said, "I'm home." Then he went over and sat down at the table.

Only then did Uzumaki Hane recover from being dazzled. "Koromo, what brings you here?" he asked.

Yamano Koromo said gently, "You went off to train again, didn't you? You used to train like crazy after every mission."

As Uzumaki Hane recalled, his predecessor had been that kind of person.

Yamano Koromo continued, "But after that mission, you seemed like a different person. You've been training desperately every day. Your strength has improved by leaps and bounds, but we've been worried about you this whole time." Cold sweat poured down Uzumaki Hane's face. Everyone had noticed something was different about him, but they had refrained from saying much because they trusted their comrade. And here he had thought he had hidden it well.

Uzumaki Hane said, "I..."

Yamano Koromo raised a hand to stop him. "I don't know what happened to you after we got separated that day, but don't forget that Tanaka and I are your closest companions. We'll always support you."

As he listened to Yamano Koromo, an indescribable feeling welled up inside Uzumaki Hane, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Yamano Koromo continued, "You're still injured this time, and you need proper nourishment, so I'll come over and cook for you every day from now on."

Uzumaki Hane knew that Yamano Koromo trained hard every day. If she had to come over and cook for him too, it would be too much for her. He hurriedly said, "No, you need time to rest too. I can take care of the cooking myself."

Yamano Koromo shook her head. "No. If you do it yourself, you'll definitely just throw something together." Uzumaki Hane stared into her determined eyes for a long while before giving in. "All right. Thanks for the effort, Koromo."

Hearing Uzumaki Hane agree, Yamano Koromo smiled happily.

After dinner, Uzumaki Hane walked Yamano Koromo home. They strolled along the street and soon reached the Yamano home. After saying goodbye to her, he went straight home.

Uzumaki Hane sat cross-legged on the floor and began strengthening his body. Scalding magma flowed through him, and the intense pain made him sweat, soaking his clothes in no time. He could only grit his teeth and endure it, but fortunately, after strengthening his body over this period, he had begun to get used to the agony. When it was over, he collapsed onto the floor. Every time he strengthened his body, he could feel it growing stronger, and he felt nothing could be better than this moment.

After resting for a while, Uzumaki Hane recovered somewhat. Previously, he had only strengthened his body once each night. He decided to do it a second time tonight.

Still, what he had just endured really was unpleasant. Uzumaki Hane thought of Rock Lee, who could be called a genius of hard work, and murmured, "I can't lose." He began letting magma flow through his body...

When Uzumaki Hane woke up in the morning, he found himself lying on the floor. He thought back and remembered strengthening his body a second time the night before. Although he had completed it in the end, he had relaxed as soon as he succeeded and then passed out.

Although he had passed out the night before, Uzumaki Hane felt refreshed when he woke up. Feeling the strength coursing through his body, he stretched, got up, and prepared to head to the training ground.

Uzumaki Hane arrived at the training ground early, but Might Guy and Rock Lee were already there doing squats. Judging by the sweat covering their faces, they seemed to have been training for quite a while.

When Might Guy saw Uzumaki Hane, he gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Hane, you're too late. Youth won't allow you to slack off."

Rock Lee also raised his right thumb and said, "Youth won't allow you to slack off."

The two of them dazzled Uzumaki Hane. He joked, "Teacher Kaido, Rock Lee, you two really look like father and son."

Rock Lee looked at Might Guy and said solemnly, "Teacher Kaido is like a father to me." Hearing this, Might Guy cried out, "Rock Lee..." Rock Lee cried out in turn, "Teacher Kaido..." Rock Lee and Might Guy gazed deeply into each other's eyes, then embraced as tears streamed down their faces. Uzumaki Hane's mouth twitched, and he silently cursed himself over and over for his loose tongue and for wanting to ask that question.

After the two had spent a while moved by emotion, they began training. Today's training was push-ups, so the three of them each went to a separate spot and started doing push-ups.

As Uzumaki Hane worked, he counted, "One, two, three, four..."

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the sun had risen.

The three were absorbed in their training. "One thousand one hundred and eleven, one thousand one hundred and twelve, one thousand one hundred and thirteen..." Sweat had already blurred Uzumaki Hane's vision, and all that remained in his mind was the need to persevere. But he had still underestimated human laziness: once you gave up, how difficult it was to start again.

Time continued to pass at its own steady pace. Uzumaki Hane counted, "...One thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, two thousand." The tension inside him eased, and he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

Might Guy said, "Hane, you can take a short break. After all, it's been a long time since you did extreme training."

"No need, Teacher Kaido. I can still keep going," Uzumaki Hane said. He insisted on getting to his feet and began doing other training.

Time passed in a flash, and before they knew it, it was noon. The three had trained all morning and were hungry, so they decided to pause their training and get something to eat.

Might Guy said, "My treat today." Uzumaki Hane remembered that he hadn't eaten barbecue in a long time and said, "Teacher Kaido, eating meat after training can help build muscle." Might Guy's eyes lit up. "Is that so? All right, let's have barbecue." The three went to a barbecue restaurant and had a big meal.

After resting for a while, the three prepared to continue training, but on the way they ran into Mitarashi Anko, who was looking at Uzumaki Hane with a dangerous gaze.

Seeing Mitarashi Anko's expression, Uzumaki Hane had a bad feeling and instinctively wanted to avoid her. Mitarashi Anko grabbed him and said, "I'm in a bad mood today and need a target. Guy, I'm borrowing Uzumaki Hane for a while." Uzumaki Hane's mouth twitched slightly. What does your bad mood have to do with me? But Mitarashi Anko had helped him train some time ago, so he couldn't very well refuse. He could only look to Might Guy for help.

Might Guy flashed a set of straight, pearly white teeth and gave him a thumbs-up. "No problem." He promptly pulled Rock Lee away.

Uzumaki Hane looked speechlessly at Might Guy, who had so readily abandoned him, as Mitarashi Anko dragged him away.