After training like this for more than a week, Lee felt himself getting stronger every single day.
His points had exceeded 10,000, but their secret training sessions were eventually discovered by Tenten.
[Vitality Points Balance: 11,250 points.]
Looking at the five-digit number displayed on his system panel, Rock Lee felt incredibly satisfied. He had enough accumulated points to risk his life in combat many more times.
'What's so special about Kakuzu's supposed immortality? That guy isn't even worthy of carrying my shoes.'
Ten thousand points. That was a significant milestone.
According to the system's explanation, this marked the beginning of a transformation from "quantitative change" to "qualitative change."
Although he hadn't had time to study exactly where this qualitative change would manifest, just looking at that number was like seeing his retirement beckoning him from the distance.
Moreover, he'd recently noticed that he was genuinely becoming stronger. The amount of Vitality Points he earned from taking hits was decreasing, which meant Guy-sensei needed to increase the intensity of their sparring sessions each time to maintain the same point accumulation rate.
For the past week or so, his "youthful training sessions" with Guy-sensei had become a daily routine that ran like clockwork.
Every day, he would push himself to complete exhaustion. Then Guy-sensei would carry him out for barbecue to celebrate another successful day of burning youth. On the way home, Lee would spend some points to repair his injuries to about seventy or eighty percent functionality, and then he'd continue the exact same process the next day.
His days were fulfilling, efficient, and he didn't even have to spend his own money on food. He was so poor that he was practically in the same financial situation as Naruto.
He was even a little addicted to this lifestyle.
Today, Guy-sensei had a mission assignment, so Lee could only practice the techniques enabled by the Eight Gates on his own.
"Eight Gates, Third Gate, Gate of Life! Open!"
BOOM!
Chakra surged outward from his body in visible waves, and his skin instantly became scalding hot to the touch.
'This feels amazing.'
He could now treat opening three gates as a normal, everyday occurrence.
The pain of torn muscles?
He was completely used to it by now.
For him, it was all a piece of cake. If the pain became too intense, he could just spend 50 Vitality Points to activate Pain Regulation. It wasn't particularly expensive, so he could use it however he wanted without worrying about his budget.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
He kicked hard at a thick training post that had been specially reinforced for durability.
SNAP!
The wooden post broke cleanly in half with a sharp cracking sound, and his calf also produced a slight snapping noise of its own.
It was just a minor fracture. He had special metal weights strapped to both his feet and hands, so it wasn't a big problem at all.
'Very good. Progress is being made.'
Rock Lee nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to attempt the technique again with even more force, a clear yet slightly trembling voice came from somewhere not far away.
"Lee!"
His entire body went rigid.
That voice...
He slowly turned his head and saw Tenten standing in the shade of a large tree.
The girl's hands were clenched tightly into fists at her sides. Her face showed an expression filled with disbelief and... fear.
'When did she arrive? How much did she see?'
Lee's mind raced at lightning speed, and a standard, innocent smile had already appeared on his face before he'd even finished processing the situation.
"Tenten! What brings you here? Are you here to share in the joys of youth with me?"
As he spoke, he subtly tried to hide his twisted leg behind his back, hoping she hadn't noticed the unnatural angle.
But Tenten had already rushed over in just a few quick steps.
She didn't say anything at first. She simply crouched down and looked at his leg, which was bent at an obviously wrong angle. Her eyes immediately turned red and began filling with tears.
"Are you... are you completely insane?"
Her voice was trembling, barely holding back from breaking into full sobs.
"This is training! Every single day I do this! To become stronger, this little bit of pain is absolutely nothing!" Rock Lee continued playing the role of a passionate, hot-blooded fool who didn't understand his own limits.
"Training?" Tenten suddenly raised her head, pointing to the bruises and welts covering his body that hadn't yet healed properly. "Who trains like you do? Are you actively trying to kill yourself?!"
She wasn't like Guy-sensei.
Guy-sensei could be ignited and inspired by words like "youth" and "passion" and "enlightenment."
But Tenten couldn't be distracted so easily, and she didn't know that Rock Lee possessed the ability to repair his injuries rapidly using his system.
All she could see was a reckless madman torturing himself in the most brutal way imaginable.
"I..." Rock Lee found himself speechless for a moment.
He'd forgotten that, besides Guy-sensei and Neji, there was another person in his team who genuinely cared about his wellbeing.
Seeing Tenten on the verge of breaking down in tears, he felt a strange mixture of irritation and... some other feeling he couldn't quite identify or put into words.
"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly—"
"How can I not worry!" Tenten interrupted him forcefully, her voice rising in pitch and volume. "Your injuries from the Chunin Exams haven't even fully healed yet! Don't you care about yourself at all?! Neji is working hard preparing for the tournament finals, and so am I. We're both training seriously, but nobody's doing what you're doing!"
She took a deep, steadying breath, seemingly trying to calm herself down and collect her thoughts.
After a long while, she spoke again much more softly, her tone almost pleading:
"Lee... how about taking a day off?"
"...What?"
"Don't train tomorrow." Tenten looked directly at him, her eyes filled with complete seriousness and genuine concern. "Let's... go out together. Just to... balance work and rest properly. Listen to me this one time, or I swear I'll beat you up myself."
Rock Lee felt completely stunned by the suggestion.
Go out and have fun? Take a day off just for leisure?
In his corporate slave dictionary from his previous life, this concept was practically equivalent to "wasting precious time and life."
During a full day off, how many Vitality Points could he have earned through training?
But looking at Tenten's bloodshot eyes and her small hands clenched into determined fists, he found that he just couldn't bring himself to refuse her request.
His heart, which had been hardened and calcified by years of 996 work culture in his past life, seemed to be gently poked by something soft and warm.
It felt a little itchy, and a little tender.
"...Okay."
He heard himself agree to her proposal.
The next day arrived with perfect weather and clear blue skies.
Rock Lee felt genuinely unaccustomed to his current situation.
No rivers of sweat pouring down his face. No broken bones requiring immediate attention. No satisfying notification sounds indicating that Vitality Points had been credited to his account.
He was dressed in casual civilian clothes instead of his green training suit, walking side by side with Tenten along the peaceful path that led toward the area behind the village.
Today, Tenten had changed out of her usual combat outfit and wore a light-colored dress instead. Her long hair was casually draped over her shoulders in a natural style, making her look completely different from how she normally appeared during training.
The atmosphere between them was very quiet and peaceful.
Neither of them spoke for quite a while.
Lee didn't know what he should say. In his past life, his interactions with female colleagues had been strictly limited to professional exchanges like "Can this project request be fulfilled today?" and "Request received and acknowledged."
Tenten also seemed somewhat nervous about the situation, fidgeting slightly as they walked.
"Um..." Tenten was the first to break the comfortable silence. "Does your leg... still hurt at all?"
"Hm? Oh, it doesn't hurt anymore! Guy-sensei's special medicine works really well!" Rock Lee replied quickly, afraid that she would recall the terrifying scene she'd witnessed yesterday and start worrying all over again.
"That's good to hear." Tenten visibly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. She pointed ahead toward a clear stream. "Let's go sit over there for a while and rest."
The stream water was incredibly clear and transparent. You could easily see the smooth, rounded pebbles covering the bottom, worn down by centuries of flowing water.
The two of them found a large, flat boulder and sat down together.
Tenten took off her sandals and dipped her bare toes into the cool stream, closing her eyes with a comfortable, contented expression on her face.
Looking at her peaceful profile, Lee felt his heart skip a strange beat for reasons he couldn't quite explain.
"Lee," Tenten said softly while gently swinging her feet back and forth in the water, causing small splashes that dampened his trouser legs, "Are you... under too much pressure lately?"
"What do you mean?"
"Because of your match with Gaara during the preliminaries... and because of Neji too," she said in a gentle voice. "You always have this obsession with 'hard work' constantly on your mind, as if not pushing yourself to your absolute limit every single moment is some kind of unforgivable sin."
Rock Lee fell silent, not knowing how to respond.
What could he possibly say to her?
Should he be honest and admit: "Actually, I'm just a lazy person who wants to retire as early as possible. I'm only working this hard right now so I can relax even more comfortably later on"?
He absolutely couldn't say something like that. She'd never understand.
"I just... want to prove that even the worst student in the Academy can surpass a natural genius through dedication alone." He fell back on his standard explanation, the same line he always used.
"But you're already a genius in my eyes."
Tenten turned her head and looked at him with complete seriousness, her gaze unwavering.
"In my heart, you've always been an incredibly talented person."
Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the tree leaves overhead, falling across her face in dappled patterns and making her eyes sparkle like precious gems.
For a brief moment, Rock Lee felt as if his entire mind had gone completely blank.
He looked at her pale, delicate ankles that were constantly being caressed by the cool stream water. He looked at the ends of her hair that danced and swayed gently in the breeze. He looked at her eyes, which were clearer and more beautiful than the stream itself.
His heart, which had grown weary and exhausted from the crushing weight of modern corporate life in his previous world, was struck hard by an unexpected emotional blow.
He suddenly realized something profound: occasionally "wasting" a single day like this, just existing peacefully with someone who cared about him, might actually not be such a terrible thing after all.
Perhaps his ideal retirement didn't necessarily have to mean living completely alone in isolation.
Perhaps having someone by his side wouldn't be so bad.
The thought surprised him, but he didn't push it away. Instead, he let it settle comfortably in his mind as they sat together by the stream, neither of them feeling any need to fill the peaceful silence with unnecessary words.
For the first time since his transmigration to this world, Rock Lee allowed himself to simply exist in a moment without calculating point gains, strategic advantages, or optimal training schedules.
And it felt... surprisingly good.
Tenten glanced at him from the corner of her eye, noticing the unusually relaxed expression on his face. A small, satisfied smile curved her lips before she turned her attention back to the gently flowing water.
They stayed there by the stream for a long time, just sitting together in comfortable silence, watching the sunlight dance across the surface of the water while the world continued turning around them.
Tomorrow, Lee would return to his brutal training regimen. Tomorrow, he would go back to accumulating Vitality Points and preparing for the challenges ahead.
But today? Today was just for this. For rest. For companionship. For remembering that life, even in a dangerous shinobi world, could sometimes be gentle and peaceful.
And maybe, just maybe, that was exactly what he needed.