Kitagawa knew that hard work didn't always guarantee results.
But he also knew that without hard work, you'd never get results at all.
Whether as a teacher or just as a person, he believed you had to respect the effort itself. And when it came to Gai specifically... maybe effort was his talent.
As for what other people thought? Kitagawa had gotten used to that a long time ago.
"Gai, you got this! That's already 400 laps!"
Kitagawa jogged alongside him, constantly encouraging.
But Gai's legs felt like they were filled with lead. Every step felt like lifting a thousand pounds.
THUD.
Suddenly, Gai crashed to the ground.
"I'm sorry... Teacher Kitagawa... I failed again!"
Gai looked up, tears streaming down his face.
Kitagawa pulled him up and sat him down on the grass, smiling. "Yeah, you failed. But you also succeeded."
Gai looked confused. "Succeeded?"
Kitagawa nodded. "You're better than you were before. You're one step closer to your goal."
"Your effort wasn't wasted."
Gai's eyes lit up instantly.
Kitagawa smiled and handed him a flask of water. "Here—your teacher made this special for you. Take small sips."
"Thank you, Teacher Kitagawa!"
Gai grabbed the flask and chugged it.
"Huh? This tastes kinda different than regular water..."
Kitagawa grinned. "It's my secret recipe. Helps you recover energy faster."
Gai's eyes went huge. "A secret recipe? That's awesome!"
He carefully sipped more water, and sure enough, the fatigue in his body melted away. His energy was coming back.
It actually worked!
Gai got so excited he started crying.
(The "secret recipe" was actually just salt water that Kitagawa had whipped up using a clone. But Gai didn't need to know that.)
"Let's go again!"
After resting a bit, with Kitagawa's encouragement and support, Gai pushed on.
He failed again and again.
But each time, he got a little stronger. Each time, he got closer to 500 laps.
By noon, Dai showed up with lunch. Gai was down to his last 20 laps.
"Teacher Kitagawa, thank you so much—eat with us!"
Dai was grateful, but also a little embarrassed. The lunch boxes he'd bought were the cheapest kind—the upside was the portions were huge.
"Don't mind if I do!"
Kitagawa didn't hesitate. He sat right down and ate lunch with Gai and his dad.
The food wasn't bad—way better than those military ration pills, anyway.
Dai watched Kitagawa eat and thought quietly to himself: Teacher Kitagawa is the best teacher I've ever met...
Looking at his son wolfing down his food, Dai thought: Gai, you better not let Teacher Kitagawa down.
After lunch, Dai cleaned up and headed out. With Kitagawa there, Dai felt totally confident leaving his son in good hands. He went off to run some missions.
He believed that with Teacher Kitagawa's help, his son would definitely pull through.
Under the spring sun, with Kitagawa's voice urging him on, Gai pushed his legs forward toward his goal.
When Gai collapsed to the ground after completing his 500th lap, Kitagawa caught him smoothly and announced with a smile: "Gai, you did it!"
"I did it, Teacher Kitagawa! Did you see my determination?"
Gai asked through tears.
Kitagawa nodded. "I saw it. Your teacher believes that one day, you're going to be an excellent ninja."
Gai was overjoyed. "Waaah... I'm going to be an excellent ninja!"
Kitagawa helped the crying kid sit down. "Do you remember this feeling? This determination?"
Gai wiped his eyes and nodded hard.
Kitagawa said, "Good. Gai, when you feel lost in the future, think back to today. Think about your determination."
Gai shouted back, "Yes!"
Kitagawa stood up, smiling. "Alright, that's enough for today."
Gai scrambled to his feet and bowed formally to Kitagawa. "Teacher Kitagawa, thank you!"
Kitagawa chuckled. "If you want to thank me, how about you give your leg wraps to your teacher?"
Gai froze. Then he looked down at his wraps.
They were filthy. And really worn.
He looked back up, embarrassed. "Teacher, they're already super dirty and old. Why don't I use my allowance to buy you a brand-new pair just like them?"
Kitagawa shook his head, serious. "No, Gai. You're wrong."
"Your teacher doesn't care about the wraps themselves. What matters is what they represent—your effort, your sweat, the path you've walked."
"Your teacher thinks that's what makes them meaningful."
"They'll remind me that the sweat from hard work isn't wasted. And they'll remind me that even though effort doesn't always work... if you don't put in effort, then it definitely won't work."
"Your teacher's giving you that last part too."
Gai looked up at Kitagawa, and in the sunlight, his teacher looked like a god to him. "Even though effort doesn't always work... if you don't put in effort, then it definitely won't work..."
Repeating the words softly, tears streamed down Gai's face again.
He quickly pulled off his wraps and held them out solemnly. "Teacher Kitagawa, I'll remember this. I'll never forget!"
Kitagawa took the wraps and waved goodbye. "Gai, your teacher will be watching you!"
As his teacher walked away, Gai clenched his fists and shouted, "Teacher Kitagawa, I'm going to keep working hard too!"
...
In a quiet, empty grove, Kitagawa stared at the wraps in his hands with a huge smile.
Finally got my first piece of gear!
"Equip," he thought.
The wraps vanished from his hand and appeared in his mental equipment inventory—his golden ticket to power.
Equipment: Gai's Leg Wraps
Trait: Iron Body, Unbreakable Will, Triple Recovery Rate, Triple Damage Resistance
Note: Your tear ducts are overactive.
He looked at the description again. It was hard to tell if anything had changed just from looking.
So he sprang up, hung himself upside down from a tree branch, and cranked out 1,000 push-ups straight.
Sweat pouring down, he dropped to the ground and checked his body carefully.
The fatigue was melting away. His energy was coming back fast.
Compared to before, he could definitely tell his recovery speed had shot up.
"Let me test something else..."
Kitagawa tried to stay calm and pulled out a military ration pill, ate it.
A few moments later, he confirmed it: the triple recovery worked on digestion too. His body was processing everything way faster.
Wait.
Kitagawa touched his face and frowned. "Huh? Why am I... crying?"
He wiped his eyes. Still wet.
Kitagawa tilted his head back, and the tears just kept coming—he couldn't stop them.
So the note really is a side effect of the equipment.
Great. Now I'm like Gai.
But feeling his stamina bounce back so fast, Kitagawa figured he could live with an overactive tear duct.
He spent the next few hours testing the full range of the equipment's traits.
His method was simple: brutal training. Push himself to the limit.
From experience, overtraining usually meant getting hurt. But triple damage resistance? That meant his body could take a lot more punishment.
In short, he was tougher now.
Where he used to get some wear and tear around 1,000 push-ups, he could now do 3,000 with the same damage level.
Same with the triple recovery.
"This is basically... a heavenly ox-body cultivation technique!"
Once he had a solid grasp of what the gear did, Kitagawa couldn't help but look up in awe. And yeah, more tears spilled out.
This tear duct really is overdoing it.