Chapter 461: The Swamp Space
Time trickled away.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside Konoha's Taijutsu Training System.
The Gravity Space.
"Hah! Take my Iron Fist!"
Chocho Akimichi was hard at work training her taijutsu under the oppressive strain of intense heavy gravity.
Beside her, several other students were putting in their own training as well.
Among them were prodigies from the second year, the third year, and the fourth year.
"So frustrating! My taijutsu is already right near the top of the whole class, but just because my chakra control wasn't good enough, I'm only getting to come in here and train now."
She had already felt the incredible benefits of the Gravity Space.
If she had managed to enter earlier, she could have grown even stronger.
Inojin Yamanaka sighed. "I came in a whole year earlier than you, and I'm still stuck lingering in the Gravity Space too. Besides, you didn't work so hard to get in here early just to train, did you? You came for that mountain of food over there, didn't you?"
He pointed toward a chef busy preparing food inside the Gravity Space in the distance.
A massive sign reading Kitchen towered right there.
The most important part was that it was entirely free.
All students who came in to learn got their food completely free of charge.
This was a special welfare perk Konoha provided for the Academy students.
Naturally, from the very moment Chocho Akimichi set foot inside, her eyes had locked onto that kitchen.
Whenever she got hungry from training, she had the perfect excuse to go over and devour a massive spread of food.
As for whether all that eating would hinder her training, Chocho couldn't care less.
As long as it didn't get in the way of her eating, everything was fine.
Shikadai remarked, "The training here really is a holy ground for taijutsu, an essential trial every shinobi must go through if they want to get stronger. No wonder Boruto, Mitsuki, and Tonbo Hyuga all ended up with ridiculously overpowered taijutsu after coming in here."
He marveled in his heart.
Even for a shinobi like him whose main focus wasn't taijutsu, after just a single month of training, he could clearly feel his physical body making rapid leaps forward.
And best of all, it wouldn't stunt or harm their physical growth.
That was because this place was backed by Konoha's most advanced medical technology.
Staff members were stationed here twenty-four hours a day.
Or rather, puppets were stationed here.
In the distance, several robot-like figures stood on standby at all times.
Word had it that Tonbo Tobitake had used his jutsu to manufacture them, endowing them with vast stores of memory and formidable capabilities.
They even carried the distinct feel of human intelligence.
However, Shikadai had already deduced that these puppets merely possessed pre-programmed memories and experience rather than actual life.
Even so, he inferred that to a certain extent, their intellect was far superior to that of the Academy students.
Their accumulated experience was simply too vast.
He had no idea how Senior Tonbo had managed to pull off such a feat.
"I heard the second level of the trials doesn't have any food at all above. I wonder what they're eating up there," Chocho said, drooling as she stared longingly at the distant kitchen.
She had no desire to advance to the second level, because according to Boruto, there was zero real food inside.
There were only basic life-support essentials.
BANG!
Just then, from a tremendous distance within the space, a brilliant golden light erupted.
Along the far horizon, a horizontal wheel of golden radiance suddenly flared into existence.
Immediately after, a thunderous roar echoed through the air.
"What is that?" Chocho stopped her movements and looked toward the distance, a puzzled expression on her face.
BOOM!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
At that moment, a powerful gale swept over from afar, sending their hair flying wildly in all directions.
"Haha! That's my dad's ultimate move—Golden Horizon! I heard him say he wants this move to surpass Master Guy's Night Guy!"
A green-clad figure appeared right beside them.
A proud smile touched Metal Lee's lips.
"Golden Horizon? Night Guy? What are those?"
The group looked on, completely clueless.
Metal Lee declared proudly, "Those are the ultimate taijutsu moves belonging to my dad and Master Guy—they're incredibly powerful! I heard Master Guy's Night Guy can kick right through space itself, and my dad's Golden Horizon can rip space apart, though the physical toll is pretty huge."
"You heard? What do you mean 'you heard'? Aren't you his son? Why are you relying on hearsay?" Shikadai questioned.
Metal Lee explained, "Because executing the exact same move under different states produces completely different levels of power. Right now is just my dad's routine daily training—he isn't using his most powerful state. The same goes for Master Guy.
So I've never seen their absolute peak power either.
I've only heard them talk about it."
"That's seriously impressive. You'll probably be just as amazing in the future—your natural talent for taijutsu is genuinely great," Shikadai said, looking at the green-clad youth.
Metal Lee possessed the strongest taijutsu among all of them.
Especially after entering the Gravity Space, his natural talent had become even more clearly manifest.
Had the Academy not recognized his talent and granted him an exception for early admission, Shikadai wouldn't even have realized just how gifted he was in taijutsu.
Hearing that, Metal Lee pouted with dissatisfaction. "It's not natural talent! It's the result of my endless, non-stop hard work day and night, straining to catch up to my dad! How can you insult me by calling it talent?!"
"Alright, alright. Everything is the result of your hard work."
Inojin Yamanaka mused, "I really wonder how Boruto and the others are training up on the second level. I heard it's way more absurd than the Gravity Space, requiring them to survive in all kinds of harsh environments.
And it's not just for half a day or a single day either—once you go in, you have to survive in there for at least a full week before you can come out."
"Who knows? Just thinking about having to survive for that long in a desolate, silent space makes me feel like Boruto and the others are seriously impressive," Shikadai remarked.
Impressive indeed. According to his analysis, if he were forced to stay inside a place like that for a while, no matter how much he enjoyed zoning out or avoiding trouble, he would undoubtedly fall into a deeply miserable state of mind.
"Alright, my tummy is hungry! Time to go eat!"
Chocho rubbed her stomach, suddenly bursting into a happy smile as she strode off toward the distant kitchen.
...
Contrary to what Shikadai and the others imagined...
The second level of the trial: The Swamp Space.
BANG!
A figure was currently resisting the intense force draining their chakra away, straining with all their might to maintain control so their chakra wouldn't be sucked clean.
Across the boundless swamp, a massive collapsing force rippled continuously.
Anything existing in the form of energy was forced to sink down slowly from within the body, just like a person sinking into quicksand.
"Curse it! In a space like this, just controlling chakra is extremely difficult! How are we supposed to actually release ninjutsu?!"
HUMMM!
In Boruto's hand, he attempted to form a Rasengan, only to watch it lose control and disperse the moment it manifested.
Beside him, Mitsuki activated his Sage Mode, but his green chakra showed signs of instability as well.
This was a struggle he hadn't experienced in a very long time since his birth.
"Yeah... To think it can even affect Sage Mode. The chakra control techniques taught at the Academy are really just the bare basics. Trying to control chakra and cast ninjutsu inside a space like this feels almost impossible!"
They had already been inside for several days.
The guardian had made the purpose of this space clear: it was a location designed to forge far superior chakra control techniques.
Not only did they have to hone those skills here, but under normal circumstances, no one would provide them with food or supplies.
They were forced to use advanced chakra control techniques to cast the ninjutsu taught to them, searching through the boundless swamp to find absorbable organic matter and extract sustenance from it.
"Aah~ It smells so awful! If I had known, I never would have come in here! We even have to eat disgusting stuff..."
Beside them, Sarada looked like she was on the verge of tears.
The swamp stank to high heaven, and the guardian wouldn't step in to rescue them unless they were on the absolute brink of death.
Which meant that for these seven whole days, they were forced to consume plants growing in the marsh or even raw soil.
Just thinking about it was repulsive.
Why did I even follow them in here? Seriously! Sarada's face turned completely pale green.
She should have just stayed in the Gravity Space to train.
At least there was delicious food over there.
And it didn't stink!
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