19. The Power of Youth

"Secret?" repeated Aiko a bit intrigued.

"Yes, about the Power of Youth!!!" said Guy with a serious expression.

"Youth?" muttered Aiko slightly confused.

"Shortcomings can become strengths, Being repetitive is just being polite! To be loud is simply to be lively, Obstinacy is merely earnestness, Those who are selfish are like cats " said Guy loudly as if he was reciting poetry.

"These are the principles of youth!" he said reverently.

"O..Okay!" said Aiko, a bit overwhelmed by Guy's enthusiasm.

Guy nodded his head in satisfaction, mistaking Aiko's stuttering for excitement.

"Aiko-kun to increase your strength and stamina, there is a method I have been experimenting on, do you want to try it, but be aware this training method is not for everybody, to see the results you must persevere" he said earnestly looking at the boy.

"Yes, I want to try it" said Aiko, seriously looking at the black-haired boy in front of him.

"Okay, wait here," said Guy as he ran into his house and came out holding thick belts.

"Aiko-kun, to improve in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu you may need natural talent, but taijutsu is not like that as long as you are willing to work hard and train, you will definitely improve in Taijutsu," he said handing him the bands, Aiko who held them felt that they were heavy.

"Aiko-kun do you know why exercising makes our body stronger?" asked Guy as he motioned Aiko to wear the bands.

"Um.. because you train your muscles making them stronger?" said Aiko thinking for a bit as he wore the bands on his ankles and wrists and found that he had difficulty moving.

"Yes, and you also push them past their limits, so that when they recover they are stronger than before, now training with weights will intensify that process and once you get used to them you will be faster and stronger than before without them." he said giving a thumbs up and a smile.

"Now Aiko-kun let's start our training by running 100 laps around this district as a testament to our youth!!" said Guy excitedly seeing that Aiko had worn his weights.

Aiko also nodded his head and did some basic stretching, warming up his body.

So one black and one red haired kid could be seen running around some district in Konoha.

"Look..look, someone has joined that weird kid in his training" he heard whispers as he ran past shops.

"Thank you for your support!!" yelled Guy giving a thumbs up without breaking a stride.

'They are supporting us?' thought Aiko confused and nodded his head lightly towards them.

Aiko didn't feel much difference in the beginning, even though it felt a little bit heavy he quickly got used to it, but once he finished 30 laps from the next one, it felt like the weights he wore kept on increasing, surprising him.

'Why am I feeling more tired and heavy?' he thought as he ran beside Guy.

"Do the weights feel more heavy?" asked Guy as if expecting it, causing Aiko to nod his head in acknowledgement.

"That is because of fatigue, adding extra weight consumes more of your energy for the same movement and it increases fatigue and pushes your body to the limits" explained Guy, Aiko found that Guy was very knowledgeable when it came to physical training.

Soon, they reached the 90th lap and Aiko was breathing heavily, he also noticed that his stamina was almost gone and it was reducing quickly, but he just kept continuing, looking ahead.

'Most difficult is the next 10 laps, when your body will feel weakened by the accumulated fatigue making each step difficult, let's see if he can go on' thought Guy as he looked at the boy beside him.

Guy knew that Kakashi was training the boy everyday as Kakashi had mentioned about his mission to him and he was also able to notice the change in kakashi's behaviour in these few months, he didn't seem as gloomy and sad as before and Guy naturally attributed it to the boy who Kakashi met everyday and felt very grateful for him, that was also the reason guy readily agreed to train with him.

Aiko also felt that as he continued running, even though his stamina did not reduce, his body felt a lot heavier with every step he took.

After the 95th lap his speed slowed down and the thought of stopping to take a short rest kept coming to his mind with every step he took. Guy just silently ran beside him matching his speed.

'Should I use my calm mind or instinct manipulation skill?' thought Aiko trying to overcome this feeling as he looked at Guy who was running beside him with his breath steady.

'I want to do it by myself' he thought, recalling the feeling he felt when he used his instinct manipulation skill and tried to make his body move like he wanted it to.

'Just one step,...one more step,...one more step' he chanted in his mind as he kept moving forward forgetting everything else.

He didn't know how long he continued like this but he suddenly felt someone holding his shoulders as he heard a voice saying "Well done Aiko-kun, you have completed 100 laps" making him stop as he looked around and realised that they were standing at the point where they had started.

He looked around and saw Guy holding his shoulders, as if to support him and gave a small smile, he felt a sense of achievement no less than when he had levelled up as he was trying to bring his breathing back to normal, he heard system notification making him more happy.

'Ding! Host has levelled up

All attributes +1'

'Ding! Skill: instinct manipulation has levelled up'

He felt that the amount of stamina required to maintain the skill has reduced and he could maybe fight now with the skill active for 30 minutes.

Overall Aiko felt that this training session and the fatigue he is feeling was worth it.

And not only that but this session also gave him an idea on how to increase his combat strength, but he had to still test it out to know the effects.

"Guy-san, you are very intelligent and Knowledgeable, thank you for helping me" bowed Aiko in gratitude to Guy as this training session had helped him a lot.

"Aiko-kun, no need to thank me, it was because you comprehended the power of youth!!" said Guy, his eyes a little moist as Aiko was the second person to call him intelligent apart from his father.

..................…..

Aiko was heading towards home as the sun had already set and the sky was dark. Guy had let him keep the weights, telling that he had no use of them as he was using heavier ones and also advised that to get used to it quickly, he should wear them constantly.

So, Aiko decided that he would do all his training by wearing weights from today.

'Today there are two people' thought Aiko as he walked, he had noticed lately that whenever he went out alone there were always people following him, he first thought it was a coincidence as there were people everywhere, but after a few times the people tailing him consisted of same groups of people who took turns and their markings were all yellow in colour.

But, Aiko didn't do anything about it as they always kept their distance from him and had no hostility.

Meanwhile in the Hokage's residence, Minato who was sitting on the sofa of the living room, looked towards Kushina and said seriously, "Kushina-chan, I want to discuss something with you."