"You need to speed up, or else everyone's training tasks will be doubled later."
On the outskirts of the Forest of Death, Shinji looked up at the sun and said to the disciples running at his feet.
Hearing this, Naruto and Shikamaru's expressions changed, and they quickly picked up their heavy steps and accelerated their running.
Compared to the others, Naruto, as the only one carrying weights, made his request. "Sensei, I request to remove my weights."
Shinji lightly jumped onto a tree branch in front of him and then refused Naruto's request. "No, the others don't carry weights because they don't need to right now. But if you don't carry weights, this kind of training won't allow you to break through your limits at all."
Hearing this, Naruto took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and caught up to the distance he had fallen behind while speaking.
Shinji kept pace with his disciples' running speed and said, "By the way, Naruto, if you can be the first to reach the destination today, and your time is faster than last time, your homework after returning home will be given to Shikamaru and the others to complete."
Shinji's light words fell into the ears of Shikamaru and the others, like a devil's whisper.
"Oh! I want to be first! As long as I can be first, I won't have to do homework when I go home today!"
Naruto, hearing this reward, was filled with motivation. More Chakra condensed under his feet. With an acceleration, he instantly overtook Sasuke, who was blocking his way.
Sasuke, who had completed the water-standing training and was already able to strengthen his Chakra control, watched as the distance between him and Naruto vastly increased.
"Damn Naruto, he looked like he was about to run out of stamina just now."
Sasuke, feeling that Naruto was toying with him, gritted his teeth and was about to strengthen his Chakra to further accelerate.
However, Shikamaru and Choji, who were originally behind him, suddenly sped up as if they had taken drugs, and quickly overtook him.
"I absolutely cannot be the last one." Shikamaru, who hated trouble, was also giving his all at this moment, his eyes almost red.
Shikamaru, who knew his teacher's temperament well, was clearly aware that if it was as Shinji said, then the last person would definitely bear the most homework.
And Choji had learned his lesson, believing that as long as it was something Shikamaru did, following him would definitely not result in a loss. This was also the essence Choji had learned during Shinji's training arrangements over the past few months.
"These guys!"
Sasuke, feeling that he had been deceived, broke down.
They had just talked about exhaustion, each claiming to be extremely tired, but it turned out they were all so cunning.
Just like that, with Shinji following, Naruto and the others ran with all their might, quickly approaching the training ground they usually stayed at. That was the finish line.
They could see Ino standing at the entrance of the training ground, waving her hands.
This was not because Shinji favored Ino, but rather due to considering the differences in their physical fitness.
Naruto and the others needed long-distance trekking to break through their limits, while Ino just needed to do dozens of laps around the training ground.
Seeing Ino's figure, Naruto knew they were almost at the finish line. At this moment, he felt as if his whole body was burning.
Whoosh—
Ino, standing at the entrance of the training ground, felt a gust of wind blow past, and then saw Naruto jumping and cheering inside the training ground.
Shikamaru, who was originally running alongside Choji, was about to reach the finish line and had just let out a sigh of relief when he saw Choji beside him suddenly speed up. Immediately after, he entered the training ground in second place.
Shikamaru entered the training ground in third place. Without time to rest, he rushed over and grabbed Choji's collar.
"Choji! You actually backstabbed me!"
He hadn't expected that the seemingly honest Choji had held back. This caused him to go down to third place. Couldn't they have been second together?
Choji, being grabbed, had a guilty expression, not daring to look at Shikamaru at all. "Shikamaru, you know, I'm not good at homework and the like."
Naruto covered his stomach and laughed heartily, never expecting Shikamaru, who always relied on his brains, would one day be dealt with by Choji.
"Hmph… Haaa… You… you bastards!"
Sasuke, breathing heavily, arrived last, gritting his teeth and looking at the cunning individuals in front of him. He shouted angrily.
Before Sasuke could even get angry, he was interrupted by Shinji's words.
Shinji slowly walked into the training ground, stating each person's results, "Naruto is first, and two seconds faster than last time. You don't have to do homework today."
"Choji is second, half a second faster than last time. Your own homework is reduced by five problems, but you need to complete Naruto's share, so the total number of problems remains unchanged."
"Shikamaru is third, about the same as last time. Your homework is not reduced, but you need to complete one-third of Naruto's share."
"Sasuke is fourth, two seconds slower than Naruto's previous time. Your homework is increased by twenty problems, and you also need to complete Naruto's remaining share."
Naruto, hearing that he didn't have to do homework, laughed happily, jumping up to celebrate.
Choji, on the other hand, squatted on the spot, full of self-doubt. He had even backstabbed Shikamaru, yet he still had to complete the original amount of homework.
Shikamaru nodded with satisfaction. Although his share increased, Choji was suffering now, and as the one who was backstabbed, he was very happy.
Sasuke, who received the most punishment, had his anger interrupted by Shinji and lost his spirit. He was now sitting on the ground, exhausted.
Shinji walked over, pulled Sasuke up, and handed him a bottle of water.
After distributing the remaining water to Naruto and Shikamaru, he slowly said, "Drink some water and rest."
"Sasuke, your subsequent training volume will increase, and you will also need to start carrying weights."
"Shikamaru, your mistake this time serves as a lesson. Even among companions, there is competition. So your future training will also be increased."
"Choji, although understanding how to use tactics is commendable, your progress speed is average, so your training will also be increased later."
"Naruto, your weights will be increased by 2.5 kilogram (5.5 pounds)."
"Yes, sensei."
Naruto and the others knew that Shinji was indirectly increasing their burden based on their training results, so they could only nod in agreement.
Shinji nodded with satisfaction upon hearing their response.
As his disciples, they couldn't be lazy, otherwise, how would their master become stronger?
For the sake of their master's grand path, they needed to work harder to become stronger.
— — —
In the Hokage Building, Hiruzen leaned back in his office chair after finishing his work.
Although his eyes were closed, he was contemplating the situation Kakashi had reported to him not long ago.
Male, wearing a mask, possessing space-time jutsu. He had a deep understanding of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.
For some reason, Hiruzen thought of the Nine-Tails incident. He had heard Minato say that someone had controlled Nine-Tails, but he didn't know who it was.
All along, Hiruzen had been guessing whether it might be someone from the Uchiha clan. However, when Fugaku reached an agreement with him, this question had already been asked.
Fugaku had also given a response: no.
Minato was a key to salvation for the Uchiha clan at that time. Fugaku would be crazy to do such a thing.