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Inside the Akimichi BBQ restaurant, Naruto and the others were chatting while grilling meat.
"Lee, do you really wear those 24 hours a day?" Sakura asked, her face a mask of shock, after Naruto mentioned the thousand-pound iron weights strapped to Rock Lee's legs.
She was well acquainted with the pain of weight training; in fact, she was intimately familiar with it.
For the past month, she had spent a significant amount of time every day on weighted exercises, and it had nearly killed her.
If that was already excruciating for her, how could Rock Lee possibly endure weighted training nearly 24 hours a day, every single day?
"Ah, well, not exactly," Rock Lee replied, rubbing his head shyly as he noticed Sakura's astonished expression. He corrected her, "I do have to take them off when I shower."
"..."
This statement was met with a stunned silence, not just from Sakura, who had asked the question, but from Naruto, Sasuke, and even Kakashi, whose mouths all twitched.
Listen to this guy. Is he even human?
How long does a shower take? Half an hour, at most! That meant he really did wear the weights for nearly 24 hours a day, and he did it every single day!
The only person at the table who didn't look shocked was Goku. He blinked, looking at everyone's expressions, a little confused as to why they were having such a big reaction.
Were a thousand pounds really that heavy?
Was wearing weights for 24 hours really that extreme?
A certain someone, who had once trained with a forty-ton load under ten times the force of gravity, found this very difficult to understand.
After a moment, Naruto broke the silence, slapping his hand on the table. "That settles it! I'm going to be just like thick-eyebrows and wear weights all the time too!"
On the way to the restaurant, he had made a bold declaration to Kakashi, saying that he would not only participate in the Chunin Exams but would also take first place.
Full of fighting spirit, upon hearing about this new training method, he had immediately decided to adopt it himself.
'Hehe, this month, I'm going to work harder than ever before. Not only will I make Kakashi-sensei's jaw drop, but I'll also make Sasuke and Sakura look at me with admiration.'
After making his declaration, he began to fantasise about the wonderful scene of himself shining in the Chunin Exams, being praised by everyone.
Across from him, Sasuke saw his silly grin, turned his head, and muttered, "Idiot." He then looked at Rock Lee. "Lee, where did you buy those weighted bands?"
Now that Naruto had brought it up, he had also decided that he would train like Rock Lee.
"Ah? I didn't buy them. They were a gift from my teacher," Rock Lee replied, a little embarrassed.
"So you don't know where to buy them, then?"
"Um, yes, that's right."
Just as Sasuke was wondering where he could buy such an item, Kakashi suddenly spoke up.
"I know a shop that sells those things. I imagine that's where Guy bought them. After we finish eating, I can take you there."
An hour later.
When everyone had eaten their fill, Goku rubbed his head and said with a simple-minded grin, "So, shall I begin?"
Kakashi and the three genin all nodded in unison. Only Rock Lee had a look of utter confusion on his face. Begin what?
He soon found out.
At some point, only a few tables in the restaurant were still occupied. The other tables, after their patrons had left, had not been seated with new customers.
On each of these empty tables, without exception, plates of raw meat were piled high.
Goku looked toward the kitchen and shouted, "Hey, mister! We can start now!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!
A dozen chefs with solemn expressions suddenly emerged from the kitchen. As if on a critical mission, they walked grimly to the empty tables.
Then, in one smooth, continuous motion, they lit the grills, oiled them, and laid down the meat.
"Let's go, everyone! Show me what you've got! Today, we have to make sure Mr Goku can't keep up with our speed!" A stout, middle-aged man followed the chefs out and roared at them.
"YES, SIR!!!" the chefs roared back in unison.
Seeing this, Rock Lee finally understood what Goku meant by "begin," but his confusion only grew. "What in the world is going on?"
Seeing his baffled expression, Naruto grinned and kindly explained, "You don't get it, do you, thick-eyebrows? Goku-sensei's appetite is huge."
"So huge that all of us combined can't even come close. The first time we came here for barbecue, after we were all full, the grilling speed was too slow, and Goku-sensei ate for three hours straight and still wasn't full."
"It was only after the owner found out that he had all the chefs use the other empty tables to help grill that Goku-sensei finally got enough to eat."
"So ever since then, every time we come here, the owner specially sets aside tables to help grill for Goku-sensei."
Hearing this, Rock Lee's mouth fell open, and he was completely stunned.
He had eaten here a few times before and had never seen the chefs help a customer grill their meat. He never knew the restaurant even offered such a service!
What he didn't know was that the restaurant, in fact, did not offer such a service at all.
The only reason they helped grill for Goku was because... the bill from a single one of his meals was equivalent to the restaurant's revenue for several days!
What followed was a spectacle where Rock Lee witnessed firsthand the lightning-fast grilling skills of the chefs and the terrifying appetite of Goku.
The dozen chefs moved like the wind, darting between the grills at their respective tables.
With one gloved hand, they filled the grills with slices of raw meat, leaving no space.
With the other, they held tongs, and the moment a piece of meat was cooked, they would swiftly flip it.
A short while later, at almost the same moment, they placed all the cooked meat onto plates and then systematically began the next round of grilling.
At that point, a server would rush the cooked meat over to Goku's table.
"Wahoo! Time to eat!"
Looking at the dozen plates piled high with fragrant barbecue, Goku ignored the heat, grabbed a plate, and began stuffing the meat into his mouth.
Munch, munch, munch!
Munch, munch, munch!
In just a few seconds, the entire plate of meat had been devoured. He then grabbed another plate and repeated the process, then another, and then
another. By the time he had finished all the barbecue in front of him, the next round was hot off the grill and delivered to him just in time.
Gulp~
Watching this war scene, Rock Lee couldn't help but swallow.
He looked at Naruto and the others, who were chatting amongst themselves as if this were the most normal thing in the world, and couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
He and the rest of the world had truly fallen behind the times!
At the same time, somewhere within the Land of Fire.
A young man, dressed in the same green jumpsuit and sporting the same bowl cut as Rock Lee, but with even thicker eyebrows, stared in the direction of Konoha and murmured to himself, "Lee, how has your training been? Have you been properly burning with the flames of youth? And Neji, Tenten, how are you two progressing?"
He was Kakashi's best friend and rival, Rock Lee's passionate teacher, the self-proclaimed "Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey"—Might Guy!
Just then, his teammate beside him said with a smile, "Guy, it's time to continue the mission! In a few more days, we'll be finished, and you can go back and see your students."
Hearing his comrade's words, Might Guy snapped back to attention, clenched his fist, and roared, "Ah, that's right! The mission is not yet complete! My youth must continue to burn! Lee, Neji, Tenten, once I finish this mission, I will be back to see you!!"
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach the top 100)
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