Rock Lee stared at the cracked tree trunk in utter disbelief.
This…
This wasn't a normal punch.
"H-How did you do that?!"
"Perfect use of physical strength combined with chakra reinforcement," Souma replied.
That was exactly what he wanted to teach Lee.
The Eight Gates, in essence, were about unleashing the body's latent chakra to strengthen the flesh.
Those with strong bodies could endure the backlash.
Those without… Well, opening the Gates meant crippling yourself—or worse.
Souma didn't know the Eight Gates, but the principle was useful.
"Amazing!"
Lee's voice trembled—half excitement, half… despair?
Souma looked at him seriously.
"Lee, you and I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. But you have chakra. Otherwise, you couldn't walk on trees or run on water.
So you shouldn't only train your muscles—you need to use chakra as well."
Lee fell silent.
"I haven't taught anyone else yet," Souma continued. "So I don't know if this method works the same for everyone. I need you to help me test it."
"Th-Thank you, Souma! But I…"
Lee wasn't smart, but he wasn't stupid either.
Souma said it was 'for experimentation,'
but anyone could see he was trying to help Lee.
Ever since their Academy days, Souma was the only one who never looked down on him.
At first they bonded as fellow "failures"—
But later Lee realized something.
They weren't the same at all.
And now…
"If you don't want to learn for your own reasons, then don't," Souma said gently.
"Your nindō is proving that even someone without ninjutsu can become a great shinobi, right?"
Lee froze.
Then bowed his head deeply.
"…Yes!"
"Good. Do what I told you. I'll observe from the side."
"Yes!"
Lee shouted, then began practicing.
He wasn't smart.
But he didn't fear pain.
Again and again he gathered chakra, threw punches, and Souma adjusted his movements, corrected the direction of force, and observed the chakra flow with his enhanced perception.
Finally—
BOOM!
The tree trunk he had been training on split open from a single punch.
Lee stared at his trembling fist.
He… did it.
He really did it.
"Remember that feeling," Souma said.
"Yes!!"
Lee burst into tears again.
Of course.
Souma covered his face.
Guy and Lee were both incredible…
Except their emotions came like tidal waves.
"Oh right, how's your hand?"
"My hand? It's fine—AH! IT HURTS!"
Lee only now noticed the pain.
Souma used chakra to probe the injury, then wrote down a note:
This technique cannot be used if the user's physical strength is below a certain threshold.
"Come with me."
"Where to?"
"The Medical Division. You shouldn't treat this lightly. And this technique isn't only for punches. If you grasp its principles, every part of your body that can exert strength can use it."
As they walked, Souma analyzed silently.
This technique borrowed aspects from both Front Lotus and Tsunade's monstrous strength.
A cheap knockoff of both.
Its raw power was weaker than true monstrous strength,
but paired with taijutsu, it was still formidable.
The drawback, however, was closer to the Lotus:
Muscles would tear if used too much in a short time.
Improving it…
It was difficult.
Extreme techniques always had costs.
Even monstrous strength required very specific prerequisites—
Shizune followed Tsunade for decades and still never learned it.
Not because Tsunade refused to teach,
but because Shizune simply didn't meet the conditions.
Souma sighed.
"With my current knowledge, that's about as far as I can go."
Unless he met Tsunade and learned true monstrous strength, further refining would be impossible.
Lee didn't want to go to the hospital—
He said he'd heal naturally.
It was clearly because of money.
Souma was about to lecture him when—
WHAM!!
A kick from the side sent Lee flying.
A figure appeared.
"Lee! It seems you've grown complacent while I was away!"
"Ugh…"
Souma's mouth twitched.
With a sneak attack like that, who wouldn't get hit?
Though Lee… yeah.
"G-Guy-sensei! I… I'll train even harder!"
"That's the spirit!"
Might Guy beamed with blazing enthusiasm.
Then he turned toward Souma—then froze.
"Souma? Aren't you busy at the hospital?
How do you have time to train outside?"
"I'm only studying there, Guy-sensei. I'm not a medical ninja.
And after learning enough, of course I can't neglect taijutsu."
Souma sighed helplessly.
Why did everyone keep assuming he wanted to become a medical ninja?
He couldn't even use medical ninjutsu!
"But I heard your skills are amazing!" Guy said earnestly.
"Many medical-nin can't compare. If you don't use that talent to save people, isn't it a waste?"
Souma shook his head.
"I'm a special-appointed assistant.
If a surgery needs me, I'll help.
Otherwise I manage my own time."
"Ah, I see. Then—"
Guy suddenly clenched his fists.
"Souma!! LET US HAVE A HOT-BLOODED DUEL!!!"
"…Huh?"
Souma blinked.
He swept the surroundings with his perception.
Kakashi wasn't here.
"Guy-sensei… Kakashi-senpai isn't around."
"I know! I'm challenging YOU!"
Guy's eyes shone as he touched the cracked tree trunk.
He hadn't seen them fight,
but as a taijutsu master, he could read the force behind the blow.
Just from the markings, he knew exactly how powerful Souma's punch had been.
He couldn't resist anymore.
"If that's the case…
Please guide me, Guy-sensei."
Souma bowed.
Guy grinned.
"Boy—give me EVERYTHING you've got!"
Souma thought for a moment, then nodded.
He had originally wanted to demonstrate the technique to Guy.
Since Guy was finally here, this was perfect.
He formed the Seal of Confrontation.
Next second—
BOOM!!
Souma vanished with a burst of speed, fist swinging toward Guy.
Guy didn't dodge.
He met the blow head-on.
Fist collided with fist—
Souma slid back a step to disperse the force,
while Guy didn't budge at all.
Souma wasn't surprised.
Thanks to the Bodhi seed and his rigorous training,
his control over his body was incredibly refined—
almost like maintaining the "Opening Gate" state at all times.
A permanent pseudo-Gate.
But even so, he still had physical limits.
"No matter how much I reinforce it…
my raw physical strength still can't match yours, Guy-sensei."
Souma exhaled.
Guy grinned.
"You're only twelve.
Having this much strength already is terrifying."
He shook out his hand.
Even he felt the shock behind that punch.
"Again."
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