Chapter 20: Rock Lee's Problem

In Natsuwari's memories, Rock Lee didn't seem to have any moments of depression. He tried to recall, but most of his memories were of Rock Lee after graduation, and he didn't seem to have any about his childhood.

So, did the original work not mention anything about his childhood? Or did he skip over it and not read it? Natsuwari felt a bit of a headache. He would continue reading tomorrow. It seemed Might Guy had already caught up. If Rock Lee was still depressed tomorrow, he would ask what was going on.

If he could help, Natsuwari still wanted to help. After all, a free sparring partner was quite important. Although he was also Rock Lee's sparring partner, there weren't many people who could keep up with Natsuwari, even in taijutsu.

Even though taijutsu wasn't his main attack method in his plan, it didn't mean he thought taijutsu wasn't important. It was just that he couldn't reach the required level in taijutsu within the limited time.

After making his decision, Natsuwari didn't continue to waste time. Although he had been exploring the state of stillness and seemed to be training, he had actually been resting in all aspects. Today, in order to break through, he didn't use the Shadow Clone, and he still had a lot of chakra left, so he could practice shape transformation for a while longer.

However, the next day, Rock Lee's situation didn't improve but became even worse. He even stopped training early and sat there in a daze.

"Lee, did something happen? Why are you so downcast? It's not like you at all." Seeing this, Natsuwari went straight to him. He couldn't let his sparring partner give up like this!

"Natsuwari..." Rock Lee looked up at Natsuwari, his expression full of dejection. "Natsuwari, it seems like I can't become a ninja."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Natsuwari frowned.

"Sensei has already taught us the Three Body Techniques, but I still can't sense any chakra changes, let alone use them. Even if I practice no matter how hard, I don't see any progress at all." Rock Lee said, then looked at Natsuwari with envy in his eyes.

"You can use them perfectly, but I, as someone in the same grade, can't even see a glimmer of hope of getting started."

Instantly, Natsuwari understood. So that was it. He seemed to remember this scene, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. In that case, was he the culprit?

Natsuwari quickly dismissed that thought. Even without him, Rock Lee would have eventually encountered this problem. It was just that his own proficient use of the Three Body Techniques gave Rock Lee a comparison, so the problem erupted earlier.

Also, something didn't seem right. When did he and Rock Lee become classmates?

Natsuwari looked at Rock Lee, thought for a moment, and then nodded, probably figuring out why. Rock Lee was... Rock Lee, he probably didn't pay much attention to things at school.

And Natsuwari was relatively well-developed and could use the Three Body Techniques, so it seemed normal for Rock Lee to consider him a classmate...

But Natsuwari still wanted to complain. They had been together for so many years, and he didn't even gather this basic information. He could only say, as expected of Rock Lee. And it was also fortunate that his team leader was Neji Hyuga.

"I see." Knowing that Rock Lee couldn't use ninjutsu, Natsuwari naturally wouldn't advise him to practice more. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then, Lee, do you know that even if you can't learn ninjutsu, you can still become a ninja?"

"Really?" Rock Lee stared intently at Natsuwari. Under his thick eyebrows, his dark eyes were filled with deep anticipation, as if he had found some hope.

"It's true. I read in the library that there was once a '万年下忍' (eternal Genin) taijutsu ninja in our village. He was actually very powerful. In one mission, to rescue a Konoha team, he rushed a thousand miles alone and killed all seven members of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen."

"Also, you probably don't know about the Mist's Seven Swordsmen, right? Let me tell you..."

Actually, Natsuwari didn't know the specific details. He wasn't even sure if all seven of them were killed. He had only glanced at this information while reading about Might Guy. Anyway, it was fine to exaggerate a bit at this time.

After Natsuwari finished speaking, he saw Rock Lee staring at him with bright eyes.

Hmm, it should have worked. Natsuwari thought for a moment and continued,

"Also, did you know? I remember there's a ninja in our village right now who isn't very good at using ninjutsu, but he still became a Jonin!"

"Jonin?! Really?!?" Rock Lee couldn't help but exclaim after hearing this. The weight of the title "Jonin" was too significant for him.

"Of course it's true!" Natsuwari nodded and looked at Rock Lee, saying, "So even if you only practice taijutsu, you can still become a Jonin. But this path will be very tiring."

"I'm not afraid of being tired!" Rock Lee shouted loudly.

"It will also be very bitter."

"I'm not afraid of bitterness!"

"It's even harder to persevere."

"I will persevere until I become the strongest taijutsu ninja." Rock Lee's eyes seemed to burst into flames.

"Then, keep working hard. Don't be discouraged anymore." Natsuwari encouraged him.

"Oh! My youth, keep burning!" With a shout, Rock Lee returned to his usual state, even more dedicated than before.

Seeing this, Natsuwari finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was Rock Lee, who didn't overthink things and was relatively easy to persuade.

However, Natsuwari then sighed again. Actually, there was one more difference between Rock Lee and Might Guy. Might Guy just had difficulty using ninjutsu; he could still use some simpler ninjutsu.

But Rock Lee was different. In his memory, Rock Lee seemed to be completely unable to use ninjutsu. With Might Guy's guarantee, graduating shouldn't be a problem, but his future development would be very difficult to surpass Might Guy's.

But he would worry about the future later. Natsuwari wasn't qualified to worry about others. He hadn't even cleared his own path yet, and before he did, he wasn't even sure if this path was viable.

Might Guy, hiding in the shadows, also breathed a sigh of relief. He was originally planning to use his own methods to investigate, but he didn't expect Natsuwari to have already comforted Rock Lee.

Moreover, Might Guy was very familiar with the eternal Genin and the taijutsu Jonin that Natsuwari mentioned. Well, after all, they were his father and himself. Natsuwari using them as examples also made Might Guy feel a sense of closeness.

However, he still needed to observe Rock Lee's situation carefully. Although taijutsu could lead to becoming a Jonin, no one knew the hardships involved better than Might Guy.

And more importantly, even taijutsu-type ninjas didn't completely abandon ninjutsu. Even Might Guy wouldn't teach that way. That would definitely be misleading!

What Might Guy didn't know was that Natsuwari didn't advise Rock Lee to continue practicing ninjutsu because he knew from the original work that Rock Lee couldn't use ninjutsu, so he didn't want Rock Lee to waste his time on that.

While Might Guy was thinking, Natsuwari suddenly approached him. Well, Might Guy was used to it. He had been discovered before, and being discovered again now was fine.

"I went back and asked. You're the taijutsu Jonin of the village, Might Guy, right? Can you teach us some taijutsu?" Natsuwari asked directly. He thought Might Guy's personality would likely agree, especially with Rock Lee there.

"No."

However, to Natsuwari's surprise, Might Guy directly refused.

"It's against the rules, and taijutsu training isn't something you can do at your age."

Instantly, Natsuwari understood. It seemed like he had phrased his request incorrectly. He hurriedly said, "I don't want to learn taijutsu. I just want to ask you to help us check our training methods, such as the suitable intensity and the ideal level to train to."

"Is that so?" Might Guy hesitated after hearing this. Just providing training guidance wasn't a problem. Then, Might Guy looked at Rock Lee, who was still training hard. He seemed to see his childhood self, the same thick eyebrows, the same lack of ninjutsu talent, and the same diligence...

At this moment, Might Guy seemed to have thought of many things and finally agreed.

This made Natsuwari's eyes light up. Although the other party probably agreed because of Rock Lee, wasn't he with Rock Lee? It was good to benefit from it too.

This way, with Might Guy's guidance, physical training would no longer be a problem.