His feet led him toward the entrance of the infamous Training Ground Forty-Four, more commonly known as the Forest of Death. This particular training ground was created by Hashirama himself with sole purpose making it as dangerous as possible.
With a silent nod toward the black-haired Chunin guarding the heavy iron gates, Hidetada stepped inside. Being the male heir of the Senju Clan carried undeniable benefits, especially now that the village leadership had finally ceased their efforts to guard the knowledge of his existence.
Stopping a few feet past the threshold, he paused for a moment, admiring the nature around him. His brown eyes flicked from one towering trunk to another, taking in the scale of the flora. The trees his grandfather had raised here were remarkably robust and thick, not only in a physical sense but in a chakra-metaphysical one as well. The saturated energy of the land had made it possible for the local creatures to grow to monstrous, terrifying proportions. Hence it had aptly being named as the Forest of Death.
Overall however, the creatures themselves were not that dangerous for any decent Chunin, unless they co-ordinated and ganged up on the shinobi, but that rarely happened. On the other hand, this place this place did not pose any threat to a Jonin.
And by the looks of it, there was another soul in the depths of the training ground today. Raising an eyebrow at the peculiar chakra signature he sensed, Hidetada leaped onto a low-hanging branch and began moving swiftly toward the source of the presence.
Jumping from one branch to another was a thrilling, tactile experience, one of the many things that made this world far superior to his previous one. On Earth, such a feat would have been physically impossible; without the anchoring power of chakra, the bones and muscles would have simply shattered upon impact with the wood.
Thunk, thunk, thunk...
The harsh, rhythmic sound of something heavy crashing into a solid object intensified, vibrating through the soles of his feet as he drew closer to the mysterious figure. Within a few seconds, the sound grew louder, as he reached closer to the area where it was coming from.
Soon, Hidetada was standing directly across from the target, perched upon a thick, moss-covered branch. Standing below him was a man in a very peculiar attire. He wore a dark green, form-fitting jumpsuit that clung to his powerful frame like a second skin. Around his neck, a tan scarf was knotted loosely, fluttering slightly as it caught the wind and the sheer kinetic energy generated by his fists impacting the trunk of a massive tree.
His lower legs and wrists were encased in thick, orange-colored leg warmers. Hidetada paused, his brow furrowing. Wait, why was he wearing leg warmers on his hands?
'What a... comical sight.'
Hidetada was momentarily lost for words as he looked down at the man, who continued punching the tree with never-ending vigor. Even as muffled, painful grunts escaped his mouth with every strike, his pace never slackened.
'Is that Might Guy?' The thought flashed through his mind as he observed the man standing below him, yet the conclusion he had reached was simply impossible. Might Guy shouldn't even be born yet, let alone be an adult. The stray thought that his own reincarnation had done irreversible damage to the timeline passed through his head before he discarded it with disdain; that was even more ridiculous.
Moreover, this guy—get it?—had an entirely different hairstyle and facial structure compared to the Might Guy he remembered from the anime. Hidetada paused, digging through his memories to recall who this man could be. Just as he grasped the knowledge, his train of thought was interrupted by a boisterous shout from the spandex-clad figure below.
"Yosh! It is good to see another soul with the flame of youth burning brightly within them!" Might Duy called out, his voice thick with passion. He pumped a fist toward the canopy, looking directly at Hidetada. Realizing he had been caught spying, Hidetada jumped down, landing softly on the damp forest floor with an amiable smile.
Might Duy's enthusiasm reached new, blinding heights. A wide smile, showcasing a row of sparkling, pearly white teeth, stretched across his face. Within a literal second, he had bridged the distance between them, standing directly in Hidetada's personal space with an arm extended for a handshake. "It is a magnificent sight to behold you, my fellow pursuer of the burning crimson vigor of YOUTH! I am the man known as MIGHT DUY! The Green Beast of Konoha! And tell me, young man, what name do you carry on your glorious journey toward the SECOND SPRING?!"
The sound of leaves rustling in the breeze was the only thing that filled the air as Hidetada stood awkwardly before him, momentarily stunned by the sheer volume of the man's words.
Not wanting to upset the eccentric ninja, he grasped the extended hand and shook it. The grip was firm, though It wasn't entirely a surprise considering the intensity of his training, but it was impressive nonetheless. Also, Hidetada couldn't help but wonder, what was all that nonsense about second spring and shit?
Forcing a somewhat strained smile onto his face, Hidetada finally managed to release Duy's hand. The man pulled back instantly, his face splitting into a grin so blindingly white that the teeth seemed to catch the light even beneath the thick, dark forest canopy. Seriously, what kind of toothpaste did this man even use? He punctuated the expression with a rock-solid, confident thumbs-up.
"It's good to meet you as well, Might Duy. I am Hidetada Senju."
The introduction had a weird, instantaneous effect on Duy. His grin dimmed, not out of sadness but sudden reverence that made Hidetada feel uncomfortable. His entire posture shifted; the goofy, bouncing energy vanished, replaced by a serious expression that looked almost alien on his usually funny face. Without a word of warning, Duy snapped his heels together and performed a tight, perfectly executed ninety-degree bow. He moved with such mechanical precision that his back was a flat table, perfectly parallel to the dirt.
"I did not know I was in the presence of the Prince of the Senju Clan!" Duy's voice boomed toward the forest floor, muffled by his position but still vibrating with intense vigor. "I see now that I was mistaken! Forgive my previous lack of decorum, Hidetada-sama!"
For the second time in five minutes, Hidetada found himself standing in a state of awkward silence, a loss for words trapping the air in his lungs.
The meta-knowledge he possessed of Duy's future self-sacrifice clashed violently with the sight of this nineteen-year-old mountain of muscle treating him like royalty. Hidetada reached up and scratched his cheek with a stray finger, his voice wavering with a hint of uncertainty. "Uh, you really do not need to bow to me, Duy. Please. I am not that special... I'm just a... student of the path of spring or something. Yup, same as you."
Yet, despite his insistence, the muscular young man did not budge an inch. Duy remained locked in that subservient angle, his spine a rigid line of uncompromising respect. It left Hidetada in an increasingly difficult position, standing in the silence of the Forest of Death.
This was not the reaction he had expected, nor was it the one he wanted. The thought of not being able to talk normally to people simply because of his clan status irked him to his core.
Finally, Duy decided he had shown sufficient respect and stood up straight, staring at Hidetada with unadulterated admiration. The moment of stillness gave Hidetada the time to examine the man's chakra again, and he found the same anomaly he had sensed upon entering the training ground.
In a normal ninja, chakra flows like water through smooth, wide pipes, easily exiting through the Tenketsu to be molded into jutsu. However, Duy's system was different.
His internal 'pipes' were massive and carried a staggering volume of energy, but the his Tenketsu, were naturally tiny and constricted. It was almost as if they were rusted shut because of some rare genetic mutation. Because the chakra had nowhere to go. It was like a high-pressure boiler with no release. Every time Duy tried to use chakra for a traditional technique, the energy would simply ground against the walls of his own coils, most probably causing him immense pain and preventing the execution of any Ninjutsu or chakra control exercises.
Hidetada rubbed his chin as he connected the dots. Might Duy's intense physical training was the only thing that had prevented him from getting blown up into bits.
Was this what Might Guy suffered through as well? No, Guy had clearly been able to use chakra for basic things like summoning or walking on water in the future. This condition felt more similar to Rock Lee's, but then again, maybe not? He could not really remember what Rock Lee's condition was exactly.
The respect Hidetada held toward Duy deepened. He stopped rubbing his chin and offered a genuine grin to the absolute unit of a man standing in front of him. "What do you think, Might Duy, I have nothing better to do today, so how about we train together?"
Literal flames seemed to burst inside Duy's eyes as he pumped his fist into the air, "Indeed, that is a splendid idea, Hidetada-sama! Through camaraderie alone can the FLAMES OF YOUTH be stoked and pushed to their absolute limits! Let us train until our spirits burn even brighter!"
Turning around, Duy beckoned for Hidetada to follow. "First, we shall run a hundred laps around the Forest of Death! Then, we shall run a hundred more on our HANDS! YOUTH!"
Not waiting for a response, Might Duy dashed forward into the dense treeline. Hidetada immediately kicked off, keeping pace with the man. He couldn't afford to lose a race now, could he?
And so they dashed toward the edge of the forest, competing with every stride. Hidetada was mildly surprised by Duy's raw speed, but it made sense considering the inhuman intensity of his training. Soon they had reached the inner borders of the training ground and began running at full speed around the perimeter, each silently competing to see who could finish the first hundred laps.
The Senju heir darted between two ancient oaks and tucked under a low branch. Using a thick trunk as a pivot point to propel himself forward, he turned to his right with a grin, seeing Might Duy jump over a massive, protruding root to stay right beside him.
Seeing the matching grin on the face of the Taijutsu master, Hidetada spoke with a curious tone, "Say, Duy, do you know anything by the name of the 'Eight Gates'?"
He swerved to the left sharply, barely missing a tree he almost crashed into. Jumping forward slightly, he was back at Duy's shoulder to listen for a response.
Might Duy furrowed his thick eyebrows in deep thought before shaking his head. "No, Hidetada-sama, I don't think I have ever heard of anything like that!"
Increasing his pace without relying on his chakra, Hidetada jumped forward swiftly, momentarily leaving Duy in his wake. Duy, in turn, grunted with effort and increased his own pace to close the gap.
'Hmm, so he still hasn't discovered the Eight Gates yet,' Hidetada mused internally, pursing his lips. If he hadn't, how did he do so in the original timeline? It was a mystery. As for himself, Hidetada hadn't read anything remotely similar to the Gates in the Senju archives, but perhaps he had simply missed them? It was not like he was actively searching for it before.
Maybe Duy would discover it himself in the future? That was a possibility. But since Hidetada was already here, why not help accelerate the process? He made a mental note to ask his grandmother if the Uzumaki or Senju archives held any records related to the Eight Inner Gates.
Sensing a cluster of strange, aggressive chakra signatures ahead, he called out, "Duy, watch out! There are some creatures roughly a hundred meters ahead of us. Be prepared for an ambush!" Throwing a glance back at the spandex-clad man to ensure he had heard the warning, Hidetada accelerated.
The chakra signatures grew closer with every leap. Soon enough, Hidetada was directly above the source. Seizing a perfect opportunity while the Senju was mid-air during a jump, a ten-meter-long monstrosity of chitinous armor and nightmare made flesh launched itself from the undergrowth. The creature looked remotely similar to a centipede as it clicked its massive mandibles aggressively.
Unfortunately for the beast, Hidetada was not caught by surprise. Twisting violently in mid-air, he brought his heel down with a force that seemed to tear the air around it apart. His foot connected with the head of the ginormous centipede with a sickening, wet crunch. The impact obliterated the creature's head into a spray of dark blood and grey matter.
The momentum of the kick carried him all the way to the forest floor. Hidetada landed gracefully in a crouch, the massive, twitching body of the centipede crashing behind him with a resounding thud.
'Wait... where is Duy?'
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Word Count: 2216.
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