The wind on the training ground was a bit chilly.
Three small, tender hands clasped together.
Tokuma's hands were rough, covered in calluses from all the fist training.
Yakumo's hands were small, very soft, and a bit cold.
Roy's hands were neither hot nor cold, steady in a way that was reassuring.
"Ready."
Their teacher, Minato, called out lazily from beneath a tree.
"Go."
Tokuma moved first.
Gritting his teeth, he took off at a run.
Roy and Yakumo, pulled along by him, began to run as well.
The weighted vests were truly heavy.
With every step, it felt like a large rock was slamming against their backs.
After just half a lap, Yakumo's breathing grew ragged.
Her stamina was the worst of the three.
"Hey, can you do this?" Tokuma asked, frowning as he turned his head.
His tone wasn't great, but his grip on Yakumo's hand tightened.
He was sharing her burden.
"I… I can still do it…" Yakumo bit her lip, her small face turning bright red.
Roy didn't say a word.
He simply adjusted his stride, syncing with the rhythm of the two others.
His breathing was steady, as if the dozens of kilograms of weights on his back didn't exist at all.
The first lap was finished.
The fifth lap was finished.
The tenth lap.
Yakumo's pace had slowed to almost a walk.
She was practically being dragged along by Tokuma and Roy.
Sweat dripped down her hair; her eyes could barely stay open.
"Damn it…" Tokuma cursed.
He wasn't cursing Yakumo.
He was cursing himself.
He was using all his strength, but he was still struggling.
The team's pace was getting slower and slower.
Their teacher, Minato, leaned against the tree and turned a page in his book.
He didn't even glance their way.
As if he couldn't care less about his students' struggle.
Roy's mind was racing.
This wouldn't work.
Yakumo's lack of stamina was a fundamental weakness; she'd hit her limit soon.
Tokuma's energy was also depleting quickly; he was bearing most of Yakumo's weight.
They had to change their approach.
The efficiency was too low.
The twentieth lap.
Yakumo's legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees.
She couldn't run anymore.
"I'm sorry…"
Her voice was choked with tears.
"I'm sorry… it's all my fault… don't mind me, just go…"
Tokuma stopped, his chest heaving.
He looked at Yakumo kneeling on the ground, then at their teacher under the distant tree.
He wanted to lash out, but he didn't know who to direct it at.
"Give up?"
Roy suddenly spoke.
His voice was calm, betraying no emotion.
Tokuma and Yakumo froze, looking up at him.
"I don't want to give up," Tokuma said through gritted teeth.
"I… I don't want to either…" Yakumo said tearfully.
"Alright then."
Roy let go of Yakumo's hand.
He walked over to Tokuma.
"Tokuma."
"What?"
"You carry her."
Tokuma blinked in surprise.
"Me?"
"Yes." Roy nodded. "Your taijutsu is best, and you have the most endurance. Carrying her will be more efficient than the three of us dragging along."
Tokuma was silent.
He looked at Yakumo, her face wet with tears.
Then, without a word, he walked over to her and crouched down.
"Get on."
His voice was a bit gruff.
Yakumo lay on Tokuma's back, her face buried against his shoulder, not daring to speak.
Tokuma stood up.
A muffled grunt escaped him as he felt the extra weight.
"Alright, let's—"
He was about to step forward when Roy spoke again.
"Wait."
Roy walked up to him, and without a word, pulled off Tokuma's weighted vest.
Then he went over to the vest Yakumo had dropped on the ground and picked that one up too.
He put both vests on himself.
Adding to the one he was already wearing.
That made three.
Over a hundred kilograms of weight.
Tokuma and Yakumo stared in disbelief.
"You… have you lost your mind?" Tokuma stammered.
Roy didn't answer.
He just shifted his shoulders, feeling the weight.
It was heavy.
Like carrying a small mountain.
"That makes it fair," he said, looking at Tokuma. "You carry the person, I carry the weight. We'll both help her finish together."
Tokuma looked at Roy.
Roy's expression was calm, as if he wasn't the one wearing three weighted vests.
Tokuma suddenly felt that his old jealousy and resentment towards this guy seemed a bit ridiculous now.
"Alright!" He let out a loud yell, and with Yakumo on his back, started running again.
Roy ran beside him.
Each step he took sank deep into the ground, leaving clear footprints.
Their pace was faster than before.
In the distance, Teacher Minato finally looked up from his book.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The fiftieth lap.
Tokuma's steps grew unsteady, sweat stinging his eyes.
The sixtieth lap.
Roy's breathing started to grow heavy too.
The seventieth lap.
Both of them were running purely on instinct now.
Yakumo lay on Tokuma's back, unable to cry anymore.
She used her own sleeve, over and over, to wipe the sweat from Tokuma's face.
The eightieth lap.
Roy felt like his bones were creaking.
The ninetieth lap.
Tokuma's Byakugan had deactivated from sheer exhaustion.
The final lap.
They practically supported each other, shuffling step by step to the finish line.
The moment they crossed it, all three collapsed onto the ground like piles of mud.
None of them could speak.
Only the sound of heavy, ragged breathing.
The training ground fell silent, the only sound the wind.
Teacher Minato closed his novel and walked over to them.
He looked down at his three disheveled, exhausted students who were lying close together.
"Good work."
"Training ends here today."
"All of you pass."