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No doubt about it—without systematic training or someone guiding you, the whole process of mastering your skills is seriously tough.
At least for Hayato, that's how it was. He had to figure out his own way to train. Because of that, this guy who started off as a proper ninja ended up basically training like a warrior instead.
After finishing his rounds with the wooden training dummy, Hayato came up to a huge boulder. He stared at the giant rock, took a deep breath, grabbed its base with both hands, and started pulling with all his might.
Orochimaru was watching Hayato in this state, his interest not fading—in fact, it seemed to grow stronger. Meanwhile, the Konoha ninja standing nearby and watching Hayato's training couldn't help but smirk.
Without a master's guidance, Hayato's training methods were way too rough. Even though the wooden dummy looked okay, it was still just wood — its attack patterns were fixed long ago. Now this guy was trying to wrestle a massive boulder? No way anyone could lift that kind of stone alone.
The Konoha ninja around Orochimaru didn't really know much about Hayato anyway.
Most of the village's higher-ups knew of him, but the average ninja didn't. So when they saw Hayato, with his big muscles and seemingly strong frame, they still couldn't believe a single man could lift a boulder that was nearly half the size of a small house.
Suddenly, Hayato let out a loud shout — booming like thunder. It nearly made the Konoha ninja gasp, but Orochimaru quickly stopped them before anyone disturbed Hayato.
With that shout, Hayato's already noticeable muscles seemed to bulge even more. His arms, already thick, suddenly grew even thicker, almost as big as a normal person's thigh.
Then, under Orochimaru's keen gaze and the other ninjas' shocked eyes, that massive boulder that hadn't moved an inch before slowly began to lift — bit by bit, Hayato was actually raising it.
Watching the rock inch upward, the Konoha ninja almost couldn't hold back their surprise, but they managed to keep quiet, remembering they were shinobi first.
Under the stunned stares of the Konoha ninja, Hayato slung the giant boulder onto his back and started running with the heavy load. At first, his pace was slow, but as time passed, he gradually sped up. And this kind of weighted run went on for two or three hours straight.
That kind of strength and endurance made the Konoha ninja whisper "monster" behind their breaths.
As for Orochimaru, his eyes grew sharper and brighter watching Hayato — there was a faint hint of greed in his gaze.
With Orochimaru's level of insight, he could clearly see Hayato's body was incredibly powerful, and his recovery ability was beyond normal.
Hayato's performance, his unique constitution, made Orochimaru want to capture him and study him thoroughly.
"....."