Chapter 38: Power of Youth!

That day, after finishing his bowl of ramen, Naruto immediately left, realizing he still had to find Jiraiya and hold him accountable for what he had done to Ebisu.

Tsuna then told Teuchi he wanted to work for him for free, saying he wished to learn how to make good ramen from the legend himself.

This made Teuchi look at Tsuna in a new light before allowing him to do so, even giving him lodging in their place since they had a spare room unused.

A few days had passed, and Tsuna's daily routine had changed to resemble that of an intern at Ichiraku Ramen.

Every night, he helped prepare the broth for the next day, as it took 8 hours to become rich in flavor. He also had to wake up early to prepare the chashu pork, which took 2 hours to be perfect.

"Are you going out for a run again?"

Teuchi's voice echoed from the small ramen shop as Tsuna stepped outside, smiling, "Yeah, I'll be back in a while."

"Alright!"

With that, Tsuna headed to the training ground to start his morning routine.

At this early hour, the training ground was mostly empty. By the end of his session, ninjas from all levels would start to arrive for their training.

"Hmm... they're still watching me, huh?"

Tsuna murmured as he closed his eyes, sensing a figure quietly observing him from a distance.

The observer was clearly well-trained, as Tsuna could barely detect their presence.

He opened his eyes, which gleamed with a cold light, and chuckled. "Seems like I attracted unnecessary attention from a tricky guy..."

Tsuna didn't know who was watching him.

"Is it Anbu, or..." 

Tsuna's eyes flickered with doubts.

He had initially thought they were following Naruto and would leave once Naruto did.

But even after Naruto left, one of them stayed, quietly observing him.

"I guess I can only train my metal bending today," Tsuna muttered to himself.

If he didn't have earthbending and the ability to sense the figure watching him from afar, he might have exposed his bending abilities by training openly.

He shook his head in pity as he secretly took out a ball of metal, covering it with both hands.

"Phew..."

Tsuna took a deep breath as he adopted a tai chi stance, holding the metal ball in his hand.

As he began moving, his breath synchronized with his movements.

He slowly channeled a ripple of energy through the ball, then opened his hand while stepping forward.

The ball of metal was slowly transforming into a pair of chopsticks that he now held in both hands, completely hidden from whoever was watching him.

He moved slowly and steadily.

Unlike earth, which was more malleable, metal required more stamina and concentration to bend.

Tsuna's movements were deliberate and precise.

His breath followed his movements, maintaining a fluidity as he shifted his weight structurally.

Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as he continued.

"...What the hell is that guy doing?"

The ROOT member could only watch with a speechless expression beneath his mask. They were trained to be emotionless, but even he had his limits after seeing such a bizarre spectacle.

He had been wondering why Tsuna was doing that for hours as he mumbled, "And he's sweating doing that? I just don't understand..."

The ROOT member didn't realize Tsuna was changing the metal in his hand repeatedly with each motion, so to him, Tsuna's actions seemed pointless and absurd.

Seeing Tsuna finally finish after a few hours, the ROOT member unconsciously sighed, "Finally... Huh? Ah, never mind..."

However, midway through his sentence, the ROOT member swallowed hard as he saw someone approaching Tsuna.

"What a youthful way to start the day, Tsuna-kun!"

"Oh, Guy-san. You're early as usual."

Tsuna opened his eyes and smiled at the tall man with thick eyebrows and a bowl haircut.

"He sweated a lot, and seeing his trembling hand..."

Guy silently observed Tsuna's drenched figure, nodding in respect as he felt like he was seeing his younger self, training to his limit every day.

He couldn't help but tear up slightly at the sight, giving Tsuna a thumbs up.

"You're a lot earlier than I am. To think that I've met someone with such spirit. I, Might Guy, respect that!"

Guy gave him the brightest smile Tsuna had ever seen, accompanied by a thumbs up that seemed to shine along with that smile.

"...You're as energetic as always."

Tsuna felt a slight twitch to his lips in speechlessness.

They had met a few days ago when Tsuna was running around the village.

Guy had suddenly appeared beside him, remarking that he had never met anyone else who ran like he and his disciple, Lee.

Unfortunately, Lee was hospitalized, which left Guy feeling a bit lonely.

Seeing Tsuna pushing through his exhaustion, Guy's eyes had lit up at the sight, and they had been getting along quite well since then as they became a running buddy.

"Here's what I promised," Guy spoke as he pulled out two heavy-looking bands from his ninja bag. "This is ankle weight, and this is for your upper body..."

"Oh, right, you mentioned those before..."

Tsuna's eyes lit up at the sight of the sturdy straps and buckles.

Guy had promised Tsuna to give it as a way to help him train after seeing how Tsuna had always been determined to push his limits every day.

"Haha, these were what I had when I was a kid, so you can't adjust the weight like you can with the current weights in the market. I call them the Weight of Guts for the ankles and the Weight of Determination for the upper body..."

"Thanks, Guy-san. Let's give them a try," Tsuna replied eagerly.

"Immediately!?"

Guy's eyes shone at this as he exclaimed, "Such a youthful spirit! I like that!"

With Guy's help, Tsuna fastened the weights in place.

However, as the heaviness washed over him, Tsuna widened his eyes, almost falling forward as he struggled to maintain his balance.

"Urgh..."

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to regain his footing.

Still, he couldn't help but ask, "What the hell? How heavy is this?"

"Hmm, it's about 100 kg in total."

"...You wore these when you were a kid?"

"Hahaha, yes, I used them when I was in the academy!"

Guy spoke with a nostalgic tone in his voice, as if recalling fond memories from his academy days.

Tsuna looked at him with a bit of shock in his heart, "Damn, seems like I've been overestimating my strength too much..."

Still, that didn't falter his determination to get stronger since he wanted to go on more adventures, to explore new worlds without the fear of dying.

"Well, I haven't even reached my peak from my previous life yet anyway," he muttered, his eyes flaring with determination.

Guy sensed the youthful energy emanating from Tsuna as he smirked, "Let's do this, friend!"

Then...

Tsuna continued his morning routine, which was to run for the next two hours alongside Guy. Each step felt like an eternity with the weights dragging him down, and he felt like he could pass out at any second.

"Tsuna, we can take a....!?"

Guy also noticed this, about to ask him to stop.

However...

A crazed glint seemed to appear in Tsuna's eyes as he shouted, "You don't know me, son!"

"...!"

Guy seemed touched at the sight, placing his hand over his mouth as tears streamed down his eyes.

He muttered, "Sorry for doubting your youthful spirit, Tsuna!"

The ROOT member who was watching from a far distance also couldn't hold his tears running down his eyes.

But...

"Danzo-sama, I want to go home..."

...for a different reason, though.

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