"Kakashi, let's go train!"
"No!"
"Our passionate youth has just begun! Rather than sitting here in the cold wind, why not go run ten thousand meters?"
Sitting high up on the wall, Kakashi's mouth twitched. The guy next to him with the bowl-cut hairstyle and the green spandex suit, Might Guy, was really annoying!
Seeing that he couldn't persuade his classmate, Might Guy scratched his head in frustration.
Kakashi was the genius student of their Ninja Academy year. Guy wanted to defeat him through hard work and training, but Kakashi completely refused his invitations.
Baring his pearly white teeth, Might Guy exclaimed, "Are you worried about Lord White Fang?"
Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's father, known as Konoha's White Fang, was reputed to be stronger than the Legendary Sannin.
Recently, however, he had been engulfed in a massive wave of public criticism.
During an extremely secret mission six months ago, as the team leader infiltrating enemy territory, Hatake Sakumo was forced into a dilemma: complete the mission or save his comrades?
According to regulations, abandoning a mission was strictly forbidden. Yet, he chose to save his comrades' lives and abandoned the mission. The village ninjas blamed him for the losses Konoha suffered.
If that was all, it might have been manageable. But just two days ago, even the comrade he saved came forward to publicly criticize Hatake Sakumo.
This made things extremely difficult for Konoha's White Fang.
As White Fang's son, Kakashi was deeply concerned about his father's situation, his heart heavy with worry.
Glancing at Might Guy, Kakashi clenched his fist but didn't say a word.
As the two sat on the wall, swinging their legs, the sound of hurried footsteps rose from the end of the street.
A boy with red lips, white teeth, and a face full of determination ran past them, his legs heavy, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Looking down at him from above, Might Guy's eyes lit up.
"Isn't that Kōichi?"
Kakashi glanced over, his expression unchanging.
"He's been training himself hard recently. This is the third time I've seen him run past here."
Hearing this from Kakashi, Might Guy felt a surge of joy.
So Kōichi, his classmate, was a hard worker too!
"Since you won't train with me, I'll go find Kōichi!"
Might Guy jumped down from the high wall and ran after Kōichi.
---
"One thousand meters, five hundred meters... one hundred meters, finally made it!"
Dragging his heavy feet, Kōichi let out a long sigh of relief.
Today's thirty-thousand-meter long run was finally over, and it had exhausted him considerably.
Might Guy's loud voice sounded behind him. "Kōichi, you're stopping? Keep it up! Persevere! Our youth has just begun; how can you stop here!"
Looking at Might Guy's passionate expression, Kōichi's face remained impassive.
How could Guy know that he had already run thirty thousand meters, circled a huge loop around Konoha, and even finished five hundred sit-ups and one thousand push-ups.
"Guy, you go ahead. I'm going home."
"Eh? Why are you as cold as Kakashi, kid?"
Kōichi shook his head, offering no explanation, and passed through Konoha's main gate, slowly heading towards his home.
His coldness was fundamentally different from Kakashi's.
Kakashi, or others in their year like Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai, came from Konoha's prestigious clans. They were clan ninjas, born with a natural arrogance.
Kōichi's aloofness, however, was solely to protect himself—to prevent outsiders from easily getting close and discovering his secrets.
At an outpost outside Konoha, three ninjas watched the small child walking alone towards the settlement outside the village, discussing him with admiring.
"That kid, Kōichi, is a war orphan, right? He's sure working hard!"
"I heard Kizuki brought him back from Kusagakure. Pity Kizuki died on the last mission."
Mentioning their familiar comrade's name, the three ninjas fell into silence.
Sadness instantly permeated the group.
The ninja world was too cruel. A comrade you drank and ate barbecue with yesterday might die on a mission tomorrow.
They had just finished some missions and were on leave. Seeing their fatigue, the village had assigned them light duties like this sentry post to guard the village.
Someone suddenly said, "That kid has been pushing himself too hard in training lately. He's still so young; his body probably can't take it."
As the saying goes, wealth supports martial prowess. Since ancient times, to walk the great path of physical training, besides talent, substantial resource support is essential.
For example, ninjas from clan families, besides necessary ninjutsu knowledge, receive specialized guidance for taijutsu training during childhood.
Furthermore, they often have support like medicinal baths and medical ninjutsu, precisely to prevent them from damaging their bodies during training.
"He's just an orphan. If he doesn't work hard, after graduating from the Ninja Academy, he'll be sent on missions or to the battlefield. At that point, he'd just be waiting for death."
"Shh! Don't mention the battlefield. I don't like war!"
"Who does? But the village's situation has been getting increasingly tense lately. Sunagakure has been causing trouble over there..."
As the three chatted, their topic shifted from the orphan to matters of state, and soon, Kōichi was gradually forgotten.
...
Just like these adults' perspective, Kōichi was naturally well aware that his biggest weakness in pursuing this grueling training regimen was the lack of logistical resources.
He didn't have the resources to properly condition his body after such an immense training load.
Even in this energy-rich world of Naruto, his body wouldn't be able to withstand it.
However, after completing his first round of training, all these worries were put to rest.
"Ninja Academic Overlord System, distributing Newbie Gift Pack. Overlord Skill — Full-Body Recovery Jutsu Experience Card. Duration: One Year!"