"Alright, let today's youthful special training begin!"
Might Duy brought the two tiny five-year-olds to an open area on the edge of Konoha. There were several thick wooden posts there, a few massive rocks, and a small stream running through the clearing.
Shin-chan looked around. "Mister, doesn't the training place have any swings?"
"Swings?" Might Duy froze for a second, then threw his head back and laughed. "Today's youth doesn't need swings. What it needs is the challenge of pushing past your limits!"
With a flip, Duy planted himself upside down on the ground.
"First, the most basic of basics: handstands. Hold it until you can't anymore. Guy, you go first."
"Yes, Father." Guy immediately dropped down, kicked up into a handstand, and wobbled there with his tiny body shaking.
"Shin-chan, your turn too." Duy gave him a big thumbs-up.
Shin-chan tilted his head as he looked at Guy. "Why do we have to do handstands?"
"To train the muscles of your whole body and your sense of balance."
"But..." Shin-chan thought about it. "When you're upside down, won't all the blood rush to your brain?"
Might Duy's movement paused.
"Well... a little."
"Then won't your brain break?"
"It won't. The hot blood of youth will make your mind even clearer!"
Shin-chan was only half convinced, but he copied Guy anyway. He planted his hands on the ground and lifted his legs.
Thud.
He landed on his butt.
He tried again.
Thud.
Down again.
By now, Guy had stabilized himself. Watching Shin-chan fall over and over, he couldn't help laughing. "Shin-chan, you need to use your core."
"My core?" Shin-chan lay flat on the ground. "My core says it doesn't want to move."
"Youth does not allow laziness!" Might Duy grabbed Shin-chan's legs and helped prop him up. "Hold it!"
Shin-chan was upside down now, his face turning bright red.
"Mister... I feel like... the blood really is going to my brain..."
"Hold on!"
"But... I think I see lots of stars..."
"That is the light of youth!"
Shin-chan was instantly speechless.
After a while, Guy was the first to give out. His arms went weak, and he dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Father, I've reached my limit."
"Good." Might Duy's eyes filled with tears. "Break through it. Let your youth burn brighter!"
Guy gritted his teeth and pushed himself back up.
Shin-chan was still upside down, swaying all over the place, but somehow he still hadn't fallen.
Duy looked at him in surprise.
This kid... it was his first time doing a handstand, and he could already hold it this long?
"Shin-chan, are you alright?"
"Mister," Shin-chan said in a muffled voice, "I think I just saw the First Hokage."
"What?"
"He was waving at me and saying, 'Shin-chan, come down and play...'"
Duy nearly jumped out of his skin and hurriedly pulled him upright.
Shin-chan sat on the ground, eyes unfocused for two seconds, then returned to normal.
"Huh? The First Hokage is gone."
Guy hand-walked his way over upside down and asked with concern, "Shin-chan, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Shin-chan blinked. "I think I just took a quick trip to heaven."
Duy wiped the sweat off his forehead. This kid's physical constitution was definitely... a little unusual.
"Alright, next exercise: push-ups. One hundred of them."
"One hundred?" Shin-chan's eyes went wide. "Mister, I'm only five."
"Youth has no age limit. Come on, I'll count for you."
Guy immediately dropped down and started doing them one after another.
"One, two, three, four..."
Shin-chan got down beside him and did the first one.
"One... whew... so tired..."
Halfway through the second one, he just collapsed flat on the ground.
"Mister, I think I've reached my limit."
Duy walked over and looked at him. "Really at your limit?"
Shin-chan buried his face in the dirt and gave a muffled "Mm."
Duy fell silent for two seconds.
This kid had been fine holding a handstand forever, and now two push-ups was his limit?
"Shin-chan, try again."
"No."
"Youth—"
"Even youth can't make me do a hundred push-ups." Shin-chan rolled onto his back and stared at the sky. "Mister, you're just like my mom. You always say 'try again,' but grown-ups don't even know that us kids are really tired."
Might Duy froze.
Guy also stopped and looked at Shin-chan.
Shin-chan went on, "And besides, I don't even want to do push-ups. So why do I have to?"
"Don't you want to become a ninja?" Guy asked in surprise. In his mind, this kind of training was just basic preparation for becoming a ninja.
Shin-chan thought about it. "Being a ninja would be okay, I guess. But first I want to become Teacher Asagi's boyfriend."
Duy: "..."
Guy: "..."
"Shin-chan." Duy crouched down and looked at him seriously. "Do you know what matters most for a ninja? Not strength. It's willpower. That's what gives you the drive to become stronger."
Shin-chan blinked.
"Just like how you promised you'd come train, and so you came. That is willpower."
Shin-chan thought about it. That did seem to make sense.
"Then if I give up now, does that mean I don't have willpower?"
"Youth does not allow giving up!" Duy declared, raising his thumb high.
Shin-chan sighed and slowly climbed back up.
"Alright, then I'll do a few more and burn a little youth, even though I still don't really know what youth is..."
After that, Might Duy had them do squats, frog jumps, and tree climbing.
For every single exercise, Guy pushed himself to the limit, then broke through it under Duy's encouragement.
And Shin-chan did every exercise too, but always gave off the feeling that he could still do more.
Duy watched all of this, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.
Did this child even have a limit at all?
The sun had completely set.
"Alright, that's enough training for today!" Duy announced.
Guy dropped straight onto the ground, drenched in sweat and breathing hard.
Shin-chan also sat down on the ground, but his breathing was much steadier. His clothes were just a little dirty.
"Father, I broke through my limits six times today," Guy said weakly.
"Well done, Guy." Duy gave him a thumbs-up.
Then he turned to Shin-chan.
"And you, Shin-chan? Did you break through your limits?"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it. "What exactly is a limit?"
"It's when you feel like you can't keep going anymore, but grit your teeth and keep going anyway."
Shin-chan seriously thought it over.
"Mister, I don't really get it," he said honestly. "Every time, I feel like I could probably still move a little more... but I don't want to, because moving is tiring."
Might Duy fell silent.
This child's limit ran far deeper than Guy's. Maybe he hadn't even come close to touching it yet.
"Shin-chan." Duy crouched down and looked at him seriously. "Will you come again tomorrow?"
Before Shin-chan could answer, Guy had already struggled back up.
He looked at Shin-chan with watery eyes, his expression full of hope and unease.
"Shin-chan... will you come again?"
Shin-chan opened his mouth, about to say, "No, I'm not coming back. It's too tiring."
But then he saw Guy's tearful eyes and that pitiful little face.
He looked even more pathetic than Shiro did sometimes.
Shin-chan kept his mouth open for a second. The word "no" made one full turn in his throat... and then got swallowed back down.
"Uh... well..."
Tears were already starting to pool in Guy's eyes.
Shin-chan let out a sigh. "Alright, alright. Honestly, I just can't do anything with you."
Guy's eyes lit up instantly. "Really?"
"Yeah, really." Shin-chan nodded. "But we can't do this much every day. I'll die of exhaustion."
"Okay, then we'll do a little less tomorrow!" Guy jumped happily, even though his legs were still trembling.
Might Duy looked at the scene before him, tears spilling right out of his eyes.
"Youth! This is the youth of friendship!"
He pulled both little boys into a huge hug, laughing and crying at the same time.