The Unrelenting Teacher (7)

"Repeat after me! My veins are having a rush of burning youth!" A boisterous and magnificent call wakes up many citizens living on the outskirts of Konoha before the sun has even fully risen.

"My veins are having a rush of burning youth!" A childish shout follows soon after filled to the brim with pure vigor of... Youth!

"My... veins are having a rush of burning youth..." Behind Guy, Obito and Rin have a significantly unenthusiastic response as they keep their head low and jog behind. Although the duo, like Guy, have already broken their sweat, they are in a better situation than the lagging team.

"Huff... w-what did he say? My heart's thumping into my ears..." Kurenai wheezes and gasps while barely walking straight.

"Don't speak..." Shizune whispers with her eyes barely open, "S-save your strength..."

With her tongue wagging out like a tired dog, Konan is no better but persists in her ways, "Sh-Shizune... you're speaking, too... shit... how the hell is just this much weight get so hard?"

"S-shut up, already..." Kurenai mumbles.

"Ah... it's night already..." Shizune is the first to fall face-front as Kurenai and Konan stop and rest their hands over their bent knees as they inhaled a mouthful of the morning air.

"Duy-san," Rin calls out, "Shizune passed out!" Of course, this is also done with the hope to stop this training this instant!

"Ah! What passion!" Duy has tears in his eyes, "To go all out and rest as quickly as possible! What youth! Young Obito, you shall pick Shizune until she wakes up!"

"Eh?" Obito's lips twitch as Duy continues with a broad grin, "The Hokage of the village must have a back broad enough to carry us all, no?"

"You know..." The boy rubs his nose, "I know you're goading me but... damn right my back is broad enough. What does it mean though?"

"Haha, you'll see when you carry Young Shizune on your back!" Duy encourages Obito as he walks upto the passed-out Shizune but when he starts moving her... she stops.

"She's... wearing ankle weights..." Obito looks back with a strange expression. Of course, by now, Rin and Obito knew why Team Kai is lagging so much. Of course, until this moment, Rin and Obito wondered why it was such a problem.

Guy wears them every single moment and moves quicker than most genins... surely, Team Kai had been exaggerating, right?

But Obito realizes how wrong he has been and when he finds Duy grinning broadly and tossing a thumbs-up his way, Obito decides to put his back into a pure grind for once.

Gritting, Obito kneels beside Shizune and pulls her on his back with Guy's enthusiastic assistance.

And... the training continues.

"Repeat after me! The Flames of Youth burn hotter than ever!"

"The flames of youth burn hotter than ever!" Guy grins. He's sweating more than before but he jogs without a moment of exhaustion dragging him down. This is the grind he has been working for more than a year now! And he knows there is a lot more to do!

"The... The flames of youth burn hotter than ever..." Rin blushes but repeats nonetheless, unwilling to have any form of insubordination marked in her reports.

"W-what the hell? She's heavy as heck... Burns of what? I didn't hear clearly..." Obito wheezes as he jogged with his back bent. A trail of sweat is left in his wake as his chin simply became the channel for his sweat to pour like a river!

"W- welcome to the club..." Konan groans out loud.

"Yeah... oh... this is what S-Shizune meant..." Kurenai hums with half-lidded eyes and soon collapses on the ground.

"Duy-san! Even Kurenai-san has passed out!" Rin informs with anticipation clear in her eyes. The training SHOULD stop now, right? But Duy looks deeply into Rin's doe-brown eyes and smiles.

"Ah, what youth! I can see it in your eyes, Young Rin!"

Rin's expression eases but it soon pales.

"I can see you want to help Young Obito! Good! You shall carry Young Kurenai on your back. I wanted Guy to carry her but he shall carry Konan once she passes out!"

Rin looks at the grinning man and realizes... he is serious. Too serious...

With a slouch on her shoulders, Rin carries Kurenai on her back with Guy's assistance and Rin is brought to the sheer weight others have been wearing for the longest time. The revelation would have been an eye-opener if Duy did give them a chance to reflect upon this discovery. Instead, they jog.

"Repeat after me! The flames of youth are burning brighter than the sun!"

Duy claims while jogging and Guy repeat soon after.

Yet, as Obito can barely jog and Rin is already having trouble adjusting to the weight, a bluenette cinnamon keeps chanting the same thing constantly!

'Don't pass out! Don't pass out! Don't pass out!'

Konan isn't even repulsed by the idea of Guy carrying her on his back. It would be a comfortable moment to rest.

But...

'There's no way I'm gonna fail—'

Her vision suddenly darkens as she feels weightless.

'Well... what?'

Her thoughts come to a still and she just stops.

---

"You're serious about this mission."

Team Kai and Tsume aren't the only ones awake this early. The former Team Hiruzen gathers in front of the gates of the village while equipped with green flak jackets over their outfits. At least, Orochi and Tsunade wear their flak jackets while Jiraiya has his ensemble of grey and red alongside a big ass scroll hanging on his back.

"Well, of course, I am," Orochimaru smiles and Jiraiya frowns before continuing, "Didn't peg you for the kind... to help me."

"Flattering yourself this early in the morning is simply obnoxious, Jiraiya," Orochi smirks, "Be like Tsunade and act like this only after a few vats of alcohol."

"Why drag me, too?" Tsunade rolls her eyes as Orochimaru shrugs.

"I've come to an understanding with Sensei. Takigakure has a sample I want to obtain. Sakumo's disappearance simply gives the village a good reason to gather shinobi of our caliber and finally interfere in this matter for a good reason."

"Politics again, eh?" Jiraiya scoffs.

"Someone had to pick up the slack for it. Even Tsunade gets it now," Orochi smiles and narrows her eyes, "When will you?"

"Hey, was it me brooding in front of an orphanage? Nah, it was you," Jiraiya shoots back.

"Do I need to lead this mission if you two are going to be like this?" Tsunade questions with a frown.

"No need," Orochimaru winks, "Follow my lead and we may just not have to kill the shinobi of Takigakure. We ARE, after all, their reinforcement."

"So... it's that kind of mission," Tsunade clicks her tongue but sighs and nods. Jiraiya looks no better and agrees. In the end, this mission also grants him a chance to investigate the site of Sakumo's disappearance directly.

---

"Oh? That's surprising?" Sitting beside the resting Tsume, Kai locates Duy returning with a mound of children on his back. It has been four hours since Duy took the two teams away and returned with everyone, including Guy, passed out.

"I may have overdone it but their enthusiasm encouraged my youth," Duy laughs as he kneels on one knee and starts setting the children down.

"I would, however, suggest, starting your team with lighter weights. Although chakra is a great equalizer, on the same level and entirely similar backgrounds, males and females have substantial differences that cannot be overcome in a day," Duy advises and looks at Team Kai with a rather appreciative look, "But... they did last long. Their youth was burning bright."

Walking upto the six sleeping genins, Kai crouches beside them. His hand is soon covered by a layer of substantial green chakra that soon restores the six of them by a great deal. But Duy looks confused and questions, "Isn't the mystical palms technique just effective in healing injuries? While muscle growth can be considered a process stemming from 'injury', healing them will reduce the expected results."

"I know that, of course. There's no way to beat natural improvement of the body unless you know almost everything about the subject," Grinning, Kai admits, "And I'm good at emulating natural improvement to a certain extent while knowing quite a bit about the subject, too." Of course, he isn't using Mystical Palms but Mystical Sage Palms. Not that Duy has any way to sense Nature's energy.

"This will get them ready for the missions," Kai sighs in relief.

Duy smiles and bends down to ruffle Guy's head who's already looking recovered to a great extent, "Well, as much as this parting hurts me... I shall meet my son in the evening!"

"Wait... I want to ask you something," Kai looks at Duy and questions, "Was... it worth it? By the time IT came to you... you were well aware of the reasons why it was forbidden. By not continuing in your predecessor's steps... you could have saved your son a lot of trouble. I'm all for focusing on power but I sincerely want to understand if limiting your children is a price worth it?"

Duy looks at Guy. Passion of 'Youth' no longer flickered in Duy's face as he stays silent for a few minutes and then he mutters, "When I have the answer... I shall relay it to you."

The man stands up and walks away while Kai sits back with a ponderous look.

'The hell? I don't think he understood my question completely... but then again, I should have expected it. The older you grow, the harder it is to give a straight answer.'

Looking at Kuromaru, Kai grows even more curious, 'Two cases of changes in the Eight Gates but significantly different results and costs. Of course, the same cannot be said for Cerberus whose Eight Gates have been tampered with by Kumo quite a bit. But... can it also be considered a Kekkei Genkai?'

Kai looks at the snoring Guy.

Many consider this father-son remnant of Might family unassuming and that is done so at Duy's request— that much Kai knew. But he also knows that Guy would not have entered Academy to graduate in any capacity if Hiruzen wasn't already aware of his true situation.

'So... affinities for seals and special chains and recovery chakra when it comes to Uzumaki. Dojutsus. Stronger bodies and chakra reserves. The ability to communicate with nature energy and achieve sage mode through physical modification. Unique elemental affinities. And now this— almost consistent Eight Gates... the border of Kekkei Genkai keeps on getting larger. Fuck, finding a purely simple Shinobi is harder to find. Sakumo, Kakashi, and even Minato should fall into this category... alongside Jiraiya and Bimborochi.'

Kai lies on the grass and calms a portion of his mind as his wood clones continue the grind.

He intended for his team to have some rest.

Although he did say they were only training today, plans change. The three teams will compete again starting tomorrow so the remaining time left for the day should be used to complete 2 D-rank missions, at least, right?

Else, why would he even spend senjutsu chakra to give his team a bit of boosted growth for the rest of the day?

Again, this kind of benefit is only harmful if their bodies get addicted to it after repeated use so this treat is rare even for Kai's team much less others.

***

Alternate Title: Repeat After Me!; A Broad Back; Konan Passed Out; The Ankle Weight Gang!; The Grind of Youth!; The War Behind Youth; Price of Forbidden Power; The Answer Lost to a Father; A Wee Bit O' Boost; Depths of Bloodline!

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A/N: So... yeah, Duy comes with the package of character exploration! I mean, he did take out four of the seven swordsmen and caused the other three to retreat with tails tucked in their rears, no? The more I get into these depths, the more I realize how many things aside from the Rikudo and Uzumaki lore can be explored... but damn it, I want to write smut, too, at this point! Maybe... Kushina?

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