From that day on, Ryusei started training alongside Duy and Guy, and the three of them quickly grew friendly.
Now there was one more "crazy" figure baffling the rest of the shinobi in those training grounds.
The only difference was that Ryusei looked sharper, more composed, and didn't wear Duy's eccentric clothes.
Together, they pushed each other further every day.
Ryusei wasn't worried that anyone in Konoha would find this suspicious.
After all, the village had no idea what kind of monster they'd let remain a genin for so long.
Duy, who didn't see anything special in his methods, was surprisingly open.
He answered Ryusei's every question, treating decades of experience as if it were common sense.
The training wasn't just endless running, as many believed.
That was only the surface.
They swam upstream in the river until their muscles screamed, hammered their bodies with explosive strength drills, taijutsu repetitions to failure, flexibility training that bent joints to the breaking point, bone and tendon conditioning that left them aching, mental-sensory exercises to sharpen reactions, and sparring sessions that went on until collapse.
And then, after the smallest recovery, they did it all again. Ryusei threw himself into every part of it.
One day, his curiosity drifted toward the Eight Gates.
He expected silence, but Duy spoke about them without hesitation.
It confirmed what Ryusei already suspected: there was no real secret.
The more one trained, the stronger the mind-muscle connection became, and the clearer those hidden doors revealed themselves.
Although some of Duy's pointers, backed by decades of experience, would definitely shave a few years off the process on their own, so Ryusei was genuinely grateful.
Ryusei also realized he could maybe cut a few corners also with his sensory perception, at that time, and if he ever obtained a Byakugan, it would be a game-changer, something that might shorten the process by even decades compared to Duy's path, perhaps, when added together with his bloodline.
But Ryusei wasn't only taking; he gave back too.
After their mini sessions ended in total exhaustion, he used the Mystic Palm to heal micro-tears and shorten recovery for all of them.
Thanks to his Senju vitality, he always bounced back faster, so he could spare chakra for others.
This one contribution alone multiplied the number of "reps" they could grind through in a day, making every session more brutal than the last.
Still, Ryusei almost slipped once. After several days of inhuman effort, even though he only joined them for a third of their volume, his enthusiasm faltered a bit.
He thought himself clever, suppressing his body's agony with Yang Palm to get through the training.
That was when Duy, usually smiling and gentle, grew serious for the first time. His voice carried no warmth.
"If you do that, your body will still grow, but your spirit won't. This is not the way of youth."
Ryusei still remembered how wide his eyes went at those words, rare for him. He had almost let himself stray, trying to be "smart" at the cost of something deeper.
He gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
Duy only looked him in the eye and added quietly, "Pain is proof you're fighting the limits. Don't run from it. Embrace it, and your soul will grow stronger than your body ever can."
From that day, Ryusei never tried to numb his training again. He knew the truth of it: if he cheated, his body and physical energy might grow, but his will, his spirit, and his very soul would not.
***
After a few weeks, nearly two months had passed since Ryusei transmigrated into this world.
Yesterday, a mission notice arrived by post, time to meet his teammates again for another C-rank today.
Because of that, he didn't have time for his usual full-day training.
Instead, he joined Duy and Guy for their early morning session, the one they always held near the Academy before Guy's first class.
Normally, Ryusei showed up later in the afternoons, but today he wanted to see them off, explain his situation, and squeeze in one last round before heading to the Hokage's building.
This time, they didn't trek deep into the forest.
Instead, they trained at the village-side grounds within the walls, a wide clearing lined with wooden posts and beaten dirt tracks where genin teams sometimes sparred.
The three of them went through a shorter set of drills, an endless amount of pushups done in sync, then endless squats, and finally a round of sprint intervals back and forth across the grounds.
By the end, Guy's shirt clung to him with sweat, but his voice was still full of fire.
"Father! Ryusei! If we keep this up, even the sunrise won't be able to outshine our youth!"
Ryusei chuckled through his breath. "You really don't hold back even in the mornings, do you?"
"Of course not!" Duy boomed, striking a pose even with his clothes damp from sweat. "Youth is not something that sleeps late!"
Ryusei wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve. "Unfortunately, I can't keep up for the whole day. The village assigned me another C-rank. I'll be meeting my team later this morning in front of the Hokage's building."
Guy's face fell for a second before bouncing back with a grin. "Then you'll return even stronger! Missions are just another kind of training!"
Duy nodded, still smiling. "Indeed. Every step outside is a chance to temper the body and spirit. Make the most of it, young Ryusei!"
Ryusei inclined his head politely. "I intend to. I'll come back in one piece, don't worry."
As they picked up their things, Duy mentioned his own work. "I've got my own… duties today. Another fence repair job near the south district. The villagers always need strong arms for such things."
Ryusei glanced at him, sensing what he already knew from their talks these past weeks—Duy's "missions" were little more than grunt work. But the man never complained, not once.
Duy's missions were almost always the lowest of D-rank.
On paper, he was still just a weak genin, and because every team he'd ever been placed with had reported him as a "burden" who dragged them down, he'd long since been pulled from squad assignments.
Too old to remain in the Academy, yet with taijutsu skill clearly above academy level, he became one of the rare genin without a team, and probably even amongst the oldest ones in the village.
"Mission" in his case usually meant the kind of tasks a one-man team could handle without leaving the village.
Manual labor, odd jobs, the dirty work nobody else wanted.
Fixing fences, hauling crates, cleaning rubble, sometimes humiliating, always exhausting.
Yet, Duy never once complained.
Those small pay packets were what funded his and Guy's training, nutrients, basic gear, and even Guy's school expenses.
So by the time Guy was in the Academy every morning, Duy was out in the village in those odd clothes, doing chores under the sneers of others, just to earn enough coin.
His physique was good, so he did the jobs fast, then freed up the rest of his day to meet Guy again and train after classes.
And before the Academy bell rang each morning, the two of them always squeezed in a short "pre-session" in the training grounds, waking up before dawn like it was second nature, honing body and spirit (their youth) long before the rest of the village stirred.
Ryusei had learned all of this over the weeks spent with them, training and talking side by side.
"You take on all those chores every day," Ryusei said evenly. "It's not glamorous, but it keeps things moving, doesn't it?"
Duy laughed heartily. "Ha! If the village needs me to carry crates, I'll carry them with the full power of my youth! Besides, it puts food on the table and keeps Guy in school. That's more than enough for me."
Guy pumped his fist. "And when I graduate, Father won't have to carry crates anymore! I'll carry them all myself, and then some!"
Ryusei smiled faintly. "With that kind of drive, you'll be carrying a lot more than crates soon. Let's go together, since we are all going in the same direction."
Soon, they agreed, and the three of them jogged at an easy pace through the village streets, cooling down from the morning's run.
The Academy was first on their path.
It stood between the Training Grounds and the Hokage's Building, so naturally, they would drop Guy there before continuing on.
"The Academy's on the way," Duy said cheerfully. "We'll drop Guy off first. He's got a full day ahead of him."
Guy puffed out his chest. "Yosh! Even in class, I'll burn with the flames of youth!"
Ryusei chuckled softly, his narrow-eyed smile in place. "I don't doubt it. No textbook will survive your enthusiasm."
Guy grinned wider, not catching the slight jab.
Soon, the Academy came into view.
Ryusei's eyes lingered on the structure.
This was the famous heart of Konoha's education, the place that had shaped generations of shinobi.
It wasn't a single hall like he'd once imagined, but a sprawling campus of multiple wings, each housing different years. It wasn't just for one class of prodigies, but many groups across ages.
Most here were clan heirs or the most gifted civilians.
The rest, the less talented, were sent to smaller satellite schools scattered around Konoha, staffed by lesser teachers, probably not Chunins like shown in the original series.
"This is the central Academy," Duy explained proudly, as if it were his son's stage. "Where the best teachers and the strongest students gather."
Ryusei nodded. "I see. And Guy was admitted here thanks to his physique, right?"
Duy laughed heartily. "Exactly! His body's been trained since before the Academy could shape him. They couldn't deny him entry! Also, his work ethic and discipline are the best in the entire village. We moved the higher-ups together back then, with our passion, and they finally allowed him to be admitted."
Guy pumped a fist. "Father's training is the best! Even if others laugh, I'll prove it!"
As they approached, Ryusei's gaze swept across the yard.
Young students gathered in groups, talking, laughing, or showing off their small tricks.
His senses brushed over them almost absentmindedly, but recognition hit him one face after another.
They had once been nothing more than characters in a story. Now they were real, living, younger versions of themselves.
Sarutobi Asuma, younger and cockier, already carried himself like privilege was his right.
Kurenai, calm and sharp-eyed, from a bloodline of Elite Jonin.
Genma idly chewing his senbon, Ebisu with his uptight air, both familiar footnotes from the story he once knew.
Those were Guy's future teammates, and many other such lesser-known characters that appeared in the original series were also present.
Then, further off, Obito and Rin. Ten years old, walking together.
Rin smiled as she spoke, gentle and attentive. Obito tripped over his own eagerness, desperate to keep up.
His gaze lingered longer than he meant it to.
'So this is where it starts. The boy who'll break the world, and the girl who'll light the match. Right now, you're just another lovestruck fool and a kind-hearted medic. Forgettable. And still, within a few years, you'll be the perfect puppet for the masked men in shadows.'
'And all because of weakness. Because you can't protect what you love. Because the world loves using pawns like you...'
'I wonder… would you still stumble down that same road even if I never raise a finger? Probably. Fate here is stubborn like that. I doubt that the ripple effect I inadvertently create would be so widespread in such a few short years.'
He chuckled faintly to himself, inaudible under the noise of the Academy gates.
'Minato's fake student -reduced to a tool of others. And Rin, the catalyst, the girl too fragile to survive this world. I almost pity you both. Almost. But pity isn't my currency. Usefulness is.'
Ryusei's eyes lingered. His smile never shifted, but inside…
Meanwhile, Duy clapped a hand on Guy's shoulder, snapping Ryusei's focus back.
"Study well, my son! The flames of youth shine even at a desk!"
Guy, undeterred by the stares beginning to gather, raised his voice.
"Yosh! I'll make this the most youthful day of class ever!"
Several students turned to look. Some laughed outright.
Others whispered behind their hands.
Even the so-called "losers" like Obito sneered a little.
Ryusei noted it all.
It was as expected. Guy had no real friends here.
Kakashi had been more rival and an acquaintance than a friend at this point, and he had already graduated early, years ahead of schedule.
Guy sprinted toward the gate, shouting, "YOUTH!" loud enough to echo across the yard.
Rin smiled faintly at his energy. Obito rolled his eyes. Others snickered.
Ryusei chuckled a bit and simply kept walking.
Duy, as always, waved with pride. "That's my boy!" he boomed.
Then he turned to Ryusei, beaming.
"Well then, young friend, shall we? The Hokage Building awaits!"
Ryusei nodded. "Yes. My team should already be gathering there."
Then Guy ran off into the Academy yard, and the crowd dispersed.
Duy and Ryusei turned away from the scene and resumed their walk.
Ahead was the Hokage's Building. Duy, as always, would head there to receive his day's "mission", of the day, in truth, little more than labor assignments, the kind of work no team wanted and only a lone genin like him would accept.
Ryusei, meanwhile, had his own team to meet for their C-rank mission, though he knew well enough their intentions toward him were never exactly 'clean'.
In a way, he almost envied Duy.
Better to be dismissed and left alone than surrounded by allies who were really waiting for you to slip.