Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Naruto and Sasuke were twisting their bodies into strange postures on the training grounds to avoid the volley of stones flying towards them.
One moment, they were lifting their arms and legs like acrobats, the next, they were twisting their necks and waists like clowns, causing Sakura and the others watching from the side to stifle their laughter.
Suddenly, SMACK!
While dodging a stone, Naruto's flailing hand accidentally slapped Sasuke across the face with a crisp, loud sound.
"Naruto!!"
Sasuke had been completely focused on dodging the stones and never imagined he would be struck by the person right next to him.
Considering Naruto was wearing 300-jin weighted wrist guards, the slap stunted him, and he nearly failed to dodge an incoming stone.
"Ah, my bad, my bad!!" Seeing that he had accidentally injured his teammate, Naruto quickly turned his head to apologise.
But he had clearly forgotten what he was in the middle of. In that moment of distraction, a stone struck him squarely in the stomach.
Thud!
"Waaah!! That hurts, that hurts!!" He clutched his stomach, the pain so intense that tears nearly streamed from his eyes.
"You can't get distracted during training, Naruto," said a certain someone from the front, the instigator of the attack, as he casually tossed a stone in his hand with a grin.
"Damn it! That was an accident! I definitely won't get hit again!" Naruto grumbled, his face scrunched up in a pout after the pain subsided.
Seeing this, Goku smiled to himself. 'Alright, they're warmed up. Time to increase the intensity.'
With that thought, he called out a warning. "Be careful, you two!"
As soon as he spoke, he flung the stone in his hand, his arm becoming a blur as he launched more than a dozen stones in just a few seconds.
"What is this?!" Naruto and Sasuke were startled, feeling that the stones were flying towards them much faster than before.
Faced with this significant increase in speed, their muscles tensed.
They had no time to think and could only rely on instinct, contorting their bodies into various evasive manoeuvres.
Scrape! Scrape!
When the volley of attacks was over, both had a fresh graze on their bodies.
"Damn it, I was so close!" Sasuke clenched his fist in frustration. He had been just one centimetre away from dodging that last stone.
But that one centimeter had felt like an insurmountable chasm.
He didn't know that Goku had already judged their current limits based on their earlier performance.
He deliberately made this attack a bit more intense to help them break through those limits. That was why he had been so close, unable to dodge it.
"Phew!" Naruto lifted his arm, blew on the scrape, and ignored the stinging pain.
"What do you say? Want to continue?" Goku asked with a smile.
"Of course! Goku-sensei!" they both replied with unwavering determination.
And so, under Goku's carefully controlled attacks, after every volley of stones they dodged, they would end up with one new scrape, no more, no less.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Scrape! Scrape!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!
Scrape! Scrape!
Before long, they were covered in more than a dozen new wounds. Their stamina was rapidly depleting due to the high intensity of the exercise.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
Now, both of them were bent over with their hands on their knees, panting heavily, sweat pouring from their bodies like a waterfall.
The sweat trickled into their wounds, causing their faces to twitch in pain, but neither of them mentioned giving up.
Across from them, Goku watched with a calm expression. He felt they had reached their physical limit and were unlikely to make a breakthrough.
He was about to tell them to rest and let Sakura and Rock Lee take their turn. But just as he was about to speak, Naruto seemed to sense what was coming.
He grinned and said, "Go-Goku-sensei, please, one more time. This time... this time I'll definitely dodge all of them!"
Beside him, Sasuke also looked up. "I... I think I've got the hang of it now, Goku-sensei. I won't get hit this time!"
Their voices were filled with intense determination and confidence, as if they truly believed they could dodge every stone perfectly in the next volley!
Hearing their spirited declarations, Goku raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Alright. One last time, then. After this, whether you succeed or not, you're both resting."
With that, he picked up a stack of stones from the ground, his eyes hardening. "Here it comes."
"Uh-huh!" Naruto and Sasuke nodded, their faces resolute.
Seeing this, Goku slowly picked up a stone. And then, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!
His arm moved in a blur, becoming a phantom. The stones in his other arm vanished at a visible rate, transforming into a hail of bullets that shot towards Naruto and Sasuke.
This time, upon seeing the flying stones, both Naruto and Sasuke, in perfect unison, kept their muscles relatively relaxed instead of tensing up.
Then, as the first stone reached them, they exploded with power, dodging it with the smallest possible movement.
If someone were watching up close, they would see the rocks grazing past their bodies, yet causing no harm.
The second stone, the third, all the way to the seventh, they dodged similarly. But it wasn't over yet.
After they dodged the seventh stone, the eighth and final stone hurtled towards them. Previously, this was the one that had always tripped them up.
After dodging the first seven, their centre of gravity would become unstable, making a perfect dodge impossible.
But this time, they managed to maintain control of their bodies.
As the final stone reached them, one sidestepped, the other leaned his head back, and they both perfectly avoided it.
"Yeah!!" Upon realising he had successfully dodged the final stone, Naruto was ecstatic.
But he failed to notice that the centre of gravity he had been struggling to maintain had finally given out, and so, in the next second, BAM!!
"Ouch!!"
Just like the day before, he fell flat on his face, letting out a cry of pain.
"Heh, heh... th-that idiot." Beside him, Sasuke had not let his excitement get the better of him.
As he also lost his balance, he used the last of his strength to steady himself before collapsing into a sitting position, completely exhausted.
"Sasuke! Naruto! You were amazing!"
"Naruto, Sasuke, your hard work is truly inspiring! I've decided! I'm going to work even harder than you later!"
Just then, Sakura and Rock Lee, who had been watching from the side, ran over to them, one with a look of admiration, the other moved and filled with fighting spirit.
"Ah~ Can someone give me a hand? I can't get up." Naruto was lying face down on the ground, trying to push himself up, only to find he had no strength.
Seeing this, Lee and Sakura quickly rushed forward and, working together, pulled him to his feet.
After they pulled him up, both stared at his forehead with a strange expression.
"What's wrong?" Seeing their odd looks, Naruto grew curious. Following their line of sight, he reached up and touched his own forehead.
In the next instant, "AAAAHH!! IT HURTS!! WHY IS THE BUMP ON MY HEAD EVEN BIGGER?!!"