"Yeah, Shiki's actually super strong."
"How can you accept such defeatist talk?" Shiki looked at Shikamaru seriously and said, "Rest assured. I won't be defeated."
Chapter 57: Traversing Through Darkness
Shikamaru paused, surprised by how stubborn Shiki turned out to be.
Hinata, normally too shy to speak up, would only remind Shiki if it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, Shikamaru could guess that Shiki's injuries had reached a critical state. Fighting at this moment was definitely impossible.
But looking at Shiki's faint smile, Shikamaru didn't know how to respond. He decided to wait until after the meal and then ask Hinata in detail.
Everyone soon forgot about the little incident thanks to the amazing taste of the Momiji Hotpot and the warm, cozy atmosphere.
Early the next morning, Shiki woke up unusually early. However, he no longer lived together with Naruto—they were both ten years old now. Continuing to squeeze together in such a tiny room had become somewhat inconvenient.
At Sena Hoshino's house, there was an extra room available for Shiki.
Leaning on his crutch, he stepped out of his room and found Sena-chan already preparing breakfast.
Since they were at home, Sena dressed very casually—her long black hair draped over her shoulders, wearing a light pink jacket. Though plain, she radiated a comforting and attractive presence.
Actually, Sena Hoshino was naturally delicate and beautiful. In Shiki's mind, maybe only the daughter of the Ichiraku Ramen owner could rival her.
After exchanging a few words with Sena and finishing breakfast, Shiki went to the forest for training as usual.
Only this time, he carried a crutch with him.
Very few people ventured outside during winter mornings, especially so early.
Snowy footprints followed one after another along the path where Shiki had walked.
Shiki furrowed his brows slightly, feeling annoyed. "Like this, I can't even run properly. There's hardly anything left for me to train with."
For Shiki, right now there was only one thing on his mind—getting stronger.
While thinking about his next martial practice, Shiki soon arrived at his familiar forest.
"Four hundred ninety-seven, four hundred ninety-eight, four hundred ninety-nine, five hundred!" With a deep, heavy shout, Lee flipped backward and landed steadily.
"Five hundred push-ups done! Next, one thousand kicks!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hearing those sounds, Shiki couldn't help but admire Lee's discipline.
"There must be no one else besides Lee who trains this hard—even on holidays."
After this brief reflection, Shiki began his own martial practice.
However, due to his body not being in its usual condition, Shiki didn't immediately start high-intensity exercises. Instead, he began massaging his legs.
Compared to training, Shiki prioritized recovery at this point. Although he had yet to discover any solution for the depletion of his inner channels,
But at least he could give his legs a recovery massage to help them heal faster.
"Good thing regular massages don't require much skill, otherwise I'd be relying on Sena forever."
Shiki couldn't help but recall how Sena Hoshino had spent a full hour massaging him yesterday and patiently teaching him all the necessary precautions and techniques.
"Probably only someone as gentle and caring as Sena would do something like this."
After letting out a slight sigh, Shiki redirected his focus back to his legs.
A soft green glow of Healing Chakra rose from his hands as he continuously worked it across his injured limbs.
Only medical ninjas could achieve something so miraculous—actually being able to heal people using just chakra flow and stimulation.
Lee cast a distracted glance toward Shiki and asked, "Shiki, I heard from Master Guy that you were seriously injured."
Shiki simply nodded in agreement.
Lee was taken aback. He thought Master Guy had exaggerated to push him into training under Shiki.
"So... will you really never be able to use ninjutsu again?"
Shiki thought to himself: How could that be possible? There were still many options available in this world—not even Tsunade, the greatest medical ninja, had weighed in yet.
Plus, with [Sage Mode]'s regenerative power combined with his natural Uzumaki clan healing abilities, maybe he could recover completely.
However, saying that now was still premature, so Shiki simply nodded once more.
Then Lee, clearly struggling to believe it, asked, "Then does that mean you can't even use the [Eight Gates] anymore?"
Shiki wondered if Lee was intentionally trying to provoke him.
Helplessly, he answered, "Yeah, my chakra pathways are too fragile right now to handle the impact from the Eight Gates."
"How... how could things come to this?"
Looking surprised, Shiki saw Lee asking question after question with genuine confusion.
"Why is it," Lee continued, "that despite your talent and hard work, you might still never get the chance to become a strong ninja? Is this fate? Is it predetermined destiny?
Like Neji, a genius fated to become a powerful ninja, while the rest of us keep chasing after a lie—forever remaining the weakest kind of people."
Shiki suddenly realized, this kid sure had a pessimistic side.
What's worse, not only did he fail to believe in himself, but he also cursed Shiki to suffer the same weak fate.
Looks like Shiki needed to give Lee some extra training under Might Guy's guidance.
"You really think life's been unfair to you?" Shiki stared directly into Lee's eyes and asked.
Lee hesitated—he had actually been trying to stand up for Shiki earlier, but hadn't realized these questions revealed his true inner thoughts.
Unlike his usual efforts, sometimes Lee truly felt helpless.
Just like when he became disabled in canon, nearly giving up hope entirely.
Now, faced with Shiki's question, he wasn't quite sure what to say. Was life unfair? Of course it was. His talent was terrible—was that fair to him?
Shiki sat there, staring up at the sky.
"When I came into this world, I was already on the run. You might not know about the Uzumaki clan—we once stood alongside the Senju and Uchiha as equals. But during the wars, the nations around our homeland, the Whirlpool Country, began to fear the Uzumaki's strength. So they banded together and launched a surprise attack on our clan."
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