The next day, in the forest where Naruto and the others usually trained.
"Hey, Naruto, why is your head wrapped in bandages?" Rock Lee asked, his face full of surprise as he looked at the bandage circling Naruto's forehead.
He had been perfectly fine when they parted ways yesterday, so how had he suddenly gotten injured?
"Ahem, thick-eyebrows, you don't need to worry about that," Naruto replied, his eyes darting away evasively.
Was he supposed to admit that he had lost his balance while walking and been flattened by his own training weights, resulting in a giant goose egg on his forehead?
To prevent Lee from asking any more questions, he quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, thick-eyebrows, why did you leave yesterday before buying the weighted vest and wrist guards with us?"
He had found it strange that Lee had suddenly made an excuse and left while they were about to buy the weights.
"Oh, it was nothing, really. I just had a feeling I didn't have enough money to buy them, so I went home to check. It turned out I really didn't have enough, hahaha!"
Rock Lee was not at all shy about his lack of funds, laughing as he rubbed his head.
Although few people bought these weighted items, they were incredibly expensive.
Leaving aside the 1,000 kg weighted vest, just one of the 250-jin wrist guards cost 4,000 ryo, meaning a pair was 8,000 ryo.
For a commoner like him whose parents had passed away, this was a massive expense.
He had gone home and counted all his savings, only to find he had less than seven thousand ryo, not even enough for one full set of wrist guards!
"Oh, is that so?" Naruto said, scratching his head. Truthfully, his own savings hadn't been enough to buy the full set either.
Kakashi-sensei had paid for a large portion of it, telling him he could pay him back later when he had earned more money.
"Hey, Naruto, Lee, what are you two doing? It's time to train!" Just then, a clear voice interrupted their conversation.
Not far away, Sakura, already wearing her weights, was shouting at them.
Yesterday, after Lee and the others had exchanged training methods, they discovered that their approaches were quite similar, so they decided to train together from now on.
"Coming!" Naruto waved a hand with some effort, then began walking over with heavy, yet noticeably lighter, steps than the day before.
After yesterday's painful experience, he had decided not to wear the 1,000 kg weighted vest today, opting instead for the leg bands and wrist guards.
These two items combined weighed only 1,500 kg, a much more suitable weight for his current training level.
It was worth mentioning that Sasuke had also made the same decision that morning; it was as if they were on the same wavelength.
After everyone had gathered, Naruto asked Goku, "Hey, Goku-sensei, what are we training first today?"
Their daily training schedule was never fixed; sometimes they started with one exercise, sometimes another, and new exercises could be added at any time.
Goku stroked his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, his eyes lit up. "Hmm... I've got it! We'll practice this!"
BOOM!!
In front of a five-meter-tall boulder, Goku slowly retracted his fist.
A few seconds later.
CRUMBLE!!
The massive boulder suddenly shattered, breaking apart into countless egg-sized stones.
"Such terrifying power!" Rock Lee, witnessing Goku's strength for the first time, exclaimed in shock.
"No, what's terrifying isn't his power, but his control over that power," Kakashi, who had come to observe their training, said from the side, his expression grave.
Many strong people could shatter a boulder of that size.
But to shatter it into perfectly uniform, egg-sized pieces was something very few could ever hope to achieve.
In Kakashi's memory, not even Lady Tsunade, who was renowned for her monstrous strength, possessed that level of control.
After the boulder had completely crumbled, Goku picked up one of the stones and turned to look at Naruto and the others. "Today, we're practising this."
As soon as he spoke, his gaze sharpened, and he suddenly whipped his arm forward!
SWOOSH!!
The stone that had been in his hand shot towards them like a cannonball fired from a cannon, kicking up a fierce gust of wind.
Naruto and the others had no time to react. All they saw was a black shadow flash before their eyes, followed by a blast of wind hitting their faces.
THUD, THUD, THUD!!
The stone pierced through several large trees before it finally stopped. Only then did the genin belatedly react.
They all turned their heads mechanically, their mouths agape as they stared at the holes in the trees.
Gulp~
After a long moment, the sound of someone swallowing broke the silence, rousing everyone from their stupor.
"Go-Goku-sensei, when you said we're practising 'this,' you meant we're supposed to... throw stones?" Sakura was the first to recover, asking tentatively.
She actually had another theory in mind, but that theory was so horrifying that she had dismissed it without a second thought.
After all, Goku-sensei was such a nice person; how could he possibly make them train like that!
However, her worst fears were about to come true.
Goku stood with his hands on his hips and a wide grin. "Nope! I'll be the one throwing the stones, and you'll be the ones dodging."
?!!!
At these words, everyone's eyes widened in unison.
Dodging? Them??
"Goku-sensei, you've got to be kidding! There's no way we can dodge the stones you throw!" Naruto said, his entire body frozen stiff.
At that speed, forget dodging; he'd be lucky if he could even move a finger.
If a stone moving that fast were to hit him, wouldn't he be pierced right through, just like those trees?
At this thought, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his body grew even more rigid.
Beside him, Sakura and Rock Lee were nodding frantically. Even Sasuke, who usually maintained a cool demeanour, gave a quick nod, clearly in agreement with Naruto.
Kakashi did not nod. He was, after all, just here for the show; dodging had nothing to do with him.
But even he couldn't help but feel a bead of sweat form on his forehead as he asked himself, Could I even dodge that?
Seeing their reactions, Goku rubbed his nose and laughed. "Haha, don't worry, I'll control the speed."
That first throw had just been a little prank to tease them. He would never use that kind of speed in a normal training session.
Phew!!
Hearing Goku's answer, Naruto and the others let out a collective sigh of relief. They also realised what had just happened.
That's right, how could Goku-sensei be so reckless? But if he wasn't being careless, did that mean that the first throw was just a joke?
At this thought, both Naruto and Sakura's faces turned red with frustration. "Goku-sensei, is it fun to mess with us like that?!" they yelled, exasperated.
After the commotion died down, Naruto and the others calmed down. Goku picked up a stack of stones and said to them in a serious tone, "Alright, I will now throw these stones at a speed tailored to each of your abilities."
"Your job is to dodge them. During this process, you can only rely on your physical strength; you cannot use any other powers. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!!" x4
"Alright, then let's begin!"