Yuya wore a pained expression, feeling as if he had just been dealt a heavy blow. Even though his talent for ninjutsu was poor, he was still leagues away from being a freeloader!
With a simmering frustration, he returned to his room, refusing to rest. Instead, he launched into a grueling training session.
"One hundred twenty-six, one hundred twenty-seven…"
"Two hundred thirty-one, two hundred thirty-two…"
He counted silently in his mind, sweat pouring down his body like a waterfall. The floor beneath him was slick with his perspiration, forming a small puddle.
His arms grew increasingly stiff and heavy, as if they were lead weights, making it nearly impossible to support his body any longer.
Yet, in his mind, he envisioned the scenes of the Ninja World War, and the memories of his past life, where he had lived a mundane existence and met an untimely end.
His arms had gone numb, devoid of sensation.
Now, it was sheer willpower that drove him to push his body beyond its limits, to shatter the barriers of his physical capabilities.
Last time, he had managed a maximum of two hundred seventy-six.
This time, gritting his teeth, he forced himself to reach three hundred twenty.
But by then, his arms had completely lost feeling.
He struggled to push for three hundred fifty, but ultimately collapsed at three hundred forty-five.
He fell to the ground, gasping for breath, his body limp.
Yet this time, Yuya had surpassed his previous record by a significant margin.
He had broken through a physical limit.
"Good... Next goal: increase by one hundred more... If I don't train like this, I'll never catch up to the likes of Guy in the original story."
Though his arms felt nearly paralyzed, there was no hint of despair in Yuya's eyes; instead, they shone with determination.
After a brief rest, he forced himself to rise and began his squats.
"I need to do one hundred more squats than last time!"
Setting this goal for himself, Yuya started squatting repeatedly, rising and falling.
He lost track of how much sweat he had shed.
In the end, he managed to do one hundred sixty more squats than before, surpassing his own target.
Finally, utterly drained of energy, Yuya stood one last time before collapsing onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep.
The next day arrived.
Due to his frequent extreme training, even after a tiring day, he could recover by the next morning.
After all, this was a world of ninjas. Even if Yuya struggled to refine chakra and had poor talent for ninjutsu, he still possessed chakra within him.
"Looks like after breaking through two limits yesterday, my physique has improved a bit."
Yuya clenched his fist, feeling a slight increase in his strength, a smile creeping onto his face.
If only he could break through those limits every day.
Of course, it was also possible that after recently obtaining the Shock-Shock Fruit and gaining the Shock Release Bloodline Limit, this bloodline had a certain feedback effect on his physical strength.
The power of the Shock Release Bloodline Limit allowed him to harness shockwave energy, creating air shocks with his fists, or earthquakes that could shake the ground and tsunamis that could rise from the sea.
"Let's test the power of the air shock again."
A hint of excitement flickered in Yuya's eyes as he tightened his fist, bending his arm and suddenly striking out to the side.
Buzz!!
A slightly brighter white light flared up, then suddenly exploded in the air.
Yuya's punch struck the empty space, but it felt as if he had hammered against a solid wall.
Crack!!
The 'wall' shattered, creating the illusion that space itself had been shattered by his punch.
However, the cracks were not very pronounced; they only spread slightly outward, forming a few thin fissures before coming to a halt.
"Indeed, the power of the air shock has increased."
Yuya retracted his fist, a satisfied expression on his face.
Now, it seemed that the shockwaves generated by his punches could stop anything that didn't have chakra-enhanced properties, like kunai or shuriken.
"Unfortunately, the range is still limited."
What left Yuya feeling somewhat unsatisfied was that the range of the air shock he unleashed was still too short, barely reaching a meter.
Of course, this was also related to its power.
If the power of his air shock increased further, the attack range would extend as well.
For now, however, his punches could only serve as close-range attacks.
But when it came to ranged attacks, Yuya had his tricks.
He pulled out a kunai, gripping it tightly in his fist.
Buzz!!
A faint white light appeared around the tip of the kunai.
Then, with a swift motion, Yuya hurled the kunai toward a distant tree.
Crack!!
The kunai embedded itself firmly into the tree trunk, and the shockwave erupted, slightly spreading outwards and shattering a layer of bark.
"Using this method for ranged attacks does cost some shockwave power, but it's still effective."
"Most genin and chunin can't even add chakra nature transformation to their kunai to enhance their piercing power."
Walking over to retrieve the kunai, Yuya examined the damage it had caused.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Remembering that he had a practical exam today, Yuya decided against an early morning training session and opted to conserve his energy instead.
After a quick meal, he made his way to the ninja school.
The ninja school, established by the Second Hokage, was an institution for training ninjas. It had only been around for about ten years, so many aspects were far from the polished state seen in the original story.
At this time, the Senju clan was just beginning to decline, not yet completely extinct.
The Uchiha clan was in its prime.
As for the Hyuga clan, they were now relegated to the sidelines.
Regardless of the clan, Yuya could only observe from a distance. Not only was he an outsider, but even if he were born in Konoha, facing the colossal legacies of the Senju, Uchiha, and even Hyuga clans, he could only look up in awe.
"Yuya, you're here!"
As soon as he stepped into the classroom, Yuya spotted Kushina waving at him.
She was probably the only one willing to greet him.
The other students either ignored him entirely or shot him a disdainful glance before turning away without a second thought.
"Yeah."
Yuya smiled back at Kushina and took his seat.
Kushina looked at him with a hint of surprise. "Didn't you bring the ointment I gave you last night?"
"Uh... I think I forgot it."
"Why are you so careless? What if you get hurt later?"
Kushina puffed out her cheeks, looking a bit annoyed as she glared at Yuya.
Yuya could only respond with a blank stare.
Pfft!
Why did it seem like everyone expected him to get hurt?!
Couldn't they have a little more faith in him?!