His eyes were nearly rolling back in his head.
'Why isn't Genma Shiranui stopping him?'
Raj thought, annoyed.
He glanced to the side and saw, to his surprise, that Genma was also being dragged along by Guy.
Genma fared slightly better than Ebisu; he could still run, though he looked dazed.
The only one full of energy was Guy.
"Stop!" Raj shouted immediately.
Hearing Raj's voice, Guy jolted awake, snapping to attention and standing ramrod straight.
"Yes, sir!"
Thump!
Guy stopped, but Genma Shiranui, his limbs weak, couldn't halt his momentum.
Released from Guy's grip, he stumbled forward and collapsed onto the ground.
'What's the point of all this...?'
Raj sighed softly, then waved his paw.
"Go get some water. Hurry. If you're too slow, I'll tie your legs together and make you run five hundred laps around Konoha upside down."
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Guy immediately dashed toward the nearest water source and bucket.
As a veteran member of the village's low-rank mission execution team, he was intimately familiar with the surrounding terrain.
Raj glanced sideways and sighed helplessly.
'Well, time to pay up.'
He produced a bag of special cat food, divided it in half, and first force-fed some to the severely dehydrated Ebisu, then to Genma Shiranui, who could still chew on his own.
But Ebisu was in much worse shape.
Barely conscious, Ebisu couldn't wait for distant water sources.
Raj had to use a Small Iron Cannonball to spray water into his mouth.
After drinking some water, eating the cat food, and having his face washed, Ebisu gradually regained consciousness.
"Did... did I run myself to death?"
Ebisu's first words upon waking made Raj want to laugh, while Genma Shiranui felt a pang of sympathy.
Heaven could testify that this was the longest and most strenuous exercise either of them had ever endured.
When Guy had dragged them along mid-run, Ebisu had genuinely thought he was going to die.
"With me around, you won't die, Meow!"
Raj licked his paw, then turned to Genma Shiranui, warning him not to reveal what kind of water Ebisu had just drunk.
Genma Shiranui knew better than to speak out of turn.
He had learned firsthand the consequences of loose lips; if he hadn't made that snide remark, he wouldn't be stuck training with them now.
But to be fair...
The running was exhausting, but it seemed effective.
Covering such a long distance would undoubtedly improve his physical stamina.
Plus, whatever he had eaten earlier seemed even more potent than a Soldier Pill.
He glanced curiously at Raj.
"Meow~ Special food. It rapidly restores stamina."
This cat wasn't just training blindly; he had come prepared.
Truly remarkable.
No wonder he had transformed from a kitten into a Jonin-level prodigy Ninja Cat in less than a year.
Genma Shiranui's admiration grew.
"Teacher Raj, I... I just..."
Ebisu stirred, his mind hazy.
He vaguely remembered a cat prying open his mouth and spitting a large quantity of liquid into it.
If he hadn't seen the cat's head, he would have sworn it was urine.
"Meow~ The water I made, and the food too, both help restore Chakra."
'Since he had been discovered... Well, I guess I'll just make something up.'
Raj didn't care much.
After all, Ebisu and Genma Shiranui were his subordinates, and he could do whatever he wanted with them.
Besides, he wasn't actually harming them.
Before long, Guy came sprinting from the distance, carrying a wooden bucket.
His speed was truly impressive.
The bucket, however, was a bit too large.
He could have used a smaller one...
Raj stared at him for a few seconds until Guy had run closer, then nodded approvingly.
"Good job, Meow. Drink up if you want, but we'll be running again soon."
"Running again?"
Genma Shiranui and Ebisu's faces paled instantly.
"Meow? Can you run as fast as Guy? He hasn't complained. Besides, Guy will be carrying the bucket later. Or would you rather carry it yourselves?"
Raj's gaze swept over them.
"No, no, no! We'll run! We'll run!"
Genma Shiranui immediately agreed, eager to avoid having to carry another water-filled bucket.
Guy, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.
He scratched the back of his head with a good-natured grin.
"This water isn't heavy at all. I can carry it just fine."
'What a monster!' Genma Shiranui sighed inwardly.
Without comparison, there's no harm.
He had never voiced it, but deep down, he had always looked down on Guy.
But after experiencing this training firsthand today, he was now completely humbled.
How could Guy endure such hellish training day after day and not become a Taijutsu master?
Raj's training philosophy for Guy's team was simple: push them to their absolute limits.
After all, the more he pushed them, the more Points Genma Shiranui and Ebisu would contribute.
He would then use a small portion of those Points to restore their stamina, and the cycle would continue.
This relentless loop never stopped.
The training methods couldn't be too monotonous.
If they only ran, they would quickly adapt to the hardship and stop complaining.
So...
The next day, Raj implemented a method he'd seen on TV: water-carrying!
Each team member had to fill two buckets with water, sprint from one end of the village to the other, and pour the water into the home of an elderly villager who had requested a mission.
They would repeat this until the villager's water storage was full.
This served as both physical training and a way to earn mission rewards - a true win-win.
After three or four days, Guy remained unfazed.
He trained like this regularly anyway, and Raj's addition of new variations actually made the training more interesting for him.
But Genma Shiranui and Ebisu felt differently.
Every day, the two felt like they were teetering on the brink of life and death, enduring the agony of near-death experiences.
Although their bodies had improved dramatically in just three or four days, the sensation remained excruciating.
Fortunately, they gradually grew accustomed to it.
A person's tolerance for pain gradually increases with habituation.
After three or four days, this torturous training yielded no further benefits.
Absolutely nothing more could be squeezed out.
The next morning, as Raj pondered introducing new training methods, the team gathered, and he noticed something off about their mental state.
"Teacher, are we still carrying water today?"
"I can't wait!"
"Awoo!"
The howl came from Guy, but if not for the distinct voice, Raj would have sworn all three sentences were spoken by him.
'Full-scale Guy-fication?'
"Raj, I think these buckets are too small. Switching to larger ones might be more effective."
Genma Shiranui and Ebisu, who had been howling moments ago, stared at Guy in stunned disbelief.
They had finally adjusted to the current bucket size, and now this traitor was selling out his comrades!
Seeing this, Raj felt reassured.