Chapter 16: The Imp

Rock, with a large stone on his back, performed squats at the command of the system, or more precisely, the first hellish exercise. Moreover, having ingested a white pill, which contained a multitude of nutrients and stimulants based on mysterious herbs, the burly guy literally began to change before his eyes in terms of appearance...

First, his black hair slightly lengthened, tousled, and his braid loosened, revealing hardened locks with iron tips. Next, the nails on his hands grew rapidly until real sharp claws appeared, as if from some forest creature, while a silvery pure aura began to form and envelop Rock's figure, seeping into his muscles and bones, significantly enhancing them. In this way, the guy felt a strength with which he could almost move mountains, metaphorically speaking.

However, he still didn't have a minute to just stand and resemble that aura, so Rock gathered his willpower and started training as if he wanted to challenge death itself, which was pretty much his usual routine!

But don't laugh, because Rock couldn't even deceive the system. Initially, he wanted to find some small stones to put on his back, but the machine for time travelers only generated a heavy boulder from thin air, which struck him forcefully on the back of his head and spine. Nevertheless, who was Rock to give up so easily? Never!

That's why an even stronger force, gravity itself, descended upon him. His legs wobbled and were ready to snap like twigs, but the guy managed to maintain his balance point, even though he almost sank into the loose soil, which didn't appreciate the games with the increased weight it suddenly had to bear.

However, did anyone ask the soil's opinion? Right, no one did. So Rock continued to desperately descend and ascend, repetition after repetition, with each crunch and each stretch, stretching his muscles and clenching his teeth, until sweat covered every inch of his body, including the coal-black hair on his head that had grown, shining with an unknown gloss, because that's the magic of a man's toughness and courage, something that no difficulty could deter!

"Come on?.. This pill... What is it even doing, hehe?.. Why do I feel... so good?.."

With this internal question, Rock's face displayed a fierce grin of pleasure, mocking himself. Yes, it was as if a laughing demon was breaking free from him, so much so that Rock's facial expression began to distort in tension. He even suddenly started to enjoy it, that euphoria born from the fact that his muscles, connected to his pelvic area, hips, thighs, shins, and feet, mercilessly ached and burned with the unrelenting flame of agony, along with his back.

"Hehe... Hehe... Ye-ah... And training under the influence of the pill... It's actually so cool!"

The guy's smile widened even further, stretching his expression to hell and back. Lost count, but for some reason, Lee's entire world seemed to be flipping upside down every second. How many squats did he even do? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Wait, was that too much? That's definitely more than necessary!

What did that white pill do to him?!

Notifications from the system kept popping up, almost attacking him, but Lee paid them little attention. Not now, certainly not now. Instinctively, Rock switched to pull-ups, the second hellish exercise, quickly adjusting his posture and tossing the large stone from his back, which had turned into digital dust in mid-air, scattering in the wind. A counterfeit.

Now, he felt as if he had become much stronger, and he wanted more, more, more, and more. He couldn't stop himself from the thirst to break his own body and build an unbreakable skeleton-palace from the shattered bones, like a creator - like the messiah of this personal, unique world. The image flashed before his eyes, but Lee didn't stop searching for an opportunity to grasp something and start exercising...

"Pull-ups... Pull-ups... Pull-ups..."

Next, Rock's thoughts emptied, as if leaving only a blank white canvas underneath. However, the silhouette of flesh continued to work even in such a subconscious state, following the dictates of the eternal mechanism, like a robot or a cyborg devoid of knowledge of its limits. Nonetheless, as he hung on any of the tree branches offered on the training ground, he couldn't help but be frustrated by the fact that each of them simply snapped under his weight due to the increased gravity.

So, the system again had to help him by constructing a sturdy high steel tourniquet in front, on which Lee jumped up lightning-fast, pushing himself off the surface, and hooked his palms into a stick with white eyes without pupils, and lifted his weight ...

Perhaps, it ended up like this in the end.

[Name: Rock Lee]

[Shinobi Rank: Genin]

[Health: ???%]

[Stamina: ???%]

[Chakra: ???%]

[Taijutsu Rank: C+]

[Ninjutsu Rank: —]

[Genjutsu Rank: —]

[Inventory]

[Achievements]

[List of Hellish Exercises: ???]

[Bronze Box Rewards]

[20,000 ryo]

[Fuma Shuriken]

[Healing Ointment]

[Rokusiki Style: Kami-e]

[Bronze Box Rewards]

[20,000 ryo]

[Steel Shield]

[White Pill]

[Impulse]

Lee fell, raising a cloud of dust and dirt behind him.

His body was now sprawled freely on the field, like a ragdoll with a flag of consciousness barely fluttering in the wind. It collided with something that it couldn't easily handle without preparation. In essence, a special class of pill turned out to be a curse, leaving behind only Lee's emaciated figure, as if he had withered away, with prominent hollows and dark bags under his eyes, begging anyone not for sleep but for a long, several-months-long respite, as far as Rock's perception went, having manipulated him into believing that there would be no terrible consequences...

"Haha, hahaha!" Lee laughed with a hoarse voice, finally regaining his sanity but lacking the strength to even sit up, let alone crawl on the ground like a snake.

"You make friends with a viper – befriend, but hold a stick in your hand," as they say... System, uh-huh, please, no more pills, I've had enough of this..." Lee somehow managed to catch his breath, turning over onto his stomach with great effort and beginning to concentrate the remaining chakra in his limbs. He was determined to prop himself up with his hands on the ground at least somehow.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't be foolish to admit that it's not as bad as it might seem, because although there was exhaustion, it wasn't like the exhaustion from the usual black stimulant pills. In other words, his initial plan had largely worked, and the exercises had been completed, but...

At what cost? His sanity, right? Terrible.

Taking healing ointments from his inventory, Rock exerted himself and tore them into pieces, rubbing the solution on his calloused palms, which then glided over his body, absorbing and creating a pleasant, refreshing warmth that slightly stimulated his nerves.

As night approached, Lee understood that if he wanted to learn new techniques from the system and make a reasonable impression during Guy's evaluation, he definitely wouldn't be able to get enough sleep, not unless he went home to freshen up. However, these were the risks and difficulties, there was no other way. The most important thing was that at this moment, he was back in his senses and no longer resembled a crazed, terrifying berserker who wanted nothing more than to crush others and himself. Horrible!

"White pills are terrible! Drugs are evil!" That was the conclusion of the owner of thick eyebrows, which now looked like small, tousled black fir trees on his dusty face. Ironically, but it's better not to focus on that, but rather on the fact that a cascade of memories of the precise training of Kami-e and Impulse quickly flooded Rock's brain.

Kami-e – a technique that allows the user to make their body agile enough during an opponent's attack to resemble a fluttering sheet of paper. It was a part of the Rokusiki style, and by the way, Rock already had quite a self-sufficient experience with it, the prime example being his successful and deadly Rankyaku, which was now forbidden by the Hokage and Might Guy due to its peculiar lethality.

Impulse involved a natural release of energy, meaning chakra from the tenketsu, quite a challenge for Rock, reminiscent of the Heavenly Spin used by the Hyuga clan members. However, the spinning aspect, which Rock had received from the system, was not mandatory for Impulse; with proper mastery, chakra could even be released from tenketsu in the hands, legs, and other parts of the body.

"It's useful, I can't deny that. However, I'm absolutely certain that I won't be able to learn the same Impulse mentioned earlier in one night, unlikely. After all, my tenketsu are not prepared at all, and without that, luck won't be on my side. Nevertheless, I'll try to figure out Kami-e. Why not? I think that the list of techniques from Rokusiki that I have now should be well within my capabilities," Lee chuckled to himself and immediately stood up when he felt that his muscles and his entire body had stopped hurting. This became particularly evident when he struck a tree and caused its leaves to fall quietly and smoothly from the branches without ever touching Rock's limb.

Kami-e and falling green leaves, inexorably avoiding obstacles and misfortunes, eventually landing peacefully on the ground.

Do you see the resemblance, right?