Kirito and the others set out from Konoha. Although the journey ahead was long, the route itself was relatively safe, so Lee suggested that the team travel by running the entire way.
Guy immediately praised Lee's burning youth and agreed enthusiastically.
Neji didn't particularly care for Lee's passionate talk about youth, but he was also interested in improving his stamina, so he didn't object.
Tenten agreed as well.
As for Kirito—he simply didn't mind either way.
---
"Huff… huff…"
After running for quite a long time, the sound of heavy breathing began to echo within the group.
Guy's physical endurance had already reached an almost unbelievable level. Even running nonstop for an entire day and night wouldn't exhaust him.
For him, this level of exertion was nothing more than a warm-up.
From the very beginning, Lee had been running right behind Guy.
Neji stayed slightly farther back.
In terms of raw stamina, he couldn't compare to Lee's extreme training. However, his long practice with the Gentle Fist had cultivated a different kind of physical discipline.
His speed might not match Lee's.
His explosive stamina might not either.
But in a long-distance run, Neji could last longer.
The Gentle Fist emphasized using softness to overcome hardness, and Neji's movement style followed the same principle.
Running the same distance, the amount of energy Neji consumed was far less than Lee's.
While Lee relied on brutal training to improve his physical limits, Neji focused more on refining technique and conserving energy.
---
As for Tenten—
for a female ninja, reaching this level of endurance was already impressive.
Unfortunately, she happened to be part of a team filled with taijutsu specialists.
As a result, she gradually fell to the very back of the group.
---
What surprised everyone, however, was Kirito.
From the very beginning, he maintained the same pace as Lee, running directly behind Guy.
In truth, Kirito's stamina was far inferior to both Lee and Neji.
It was probably around the same level as Tenten's.
The reason he could maintain Guy's speed was the conceptual armament he wore—
the Boots of Swift Movement.
They increased his movement speed significantly, and in non-combat situations, the boost became even greater.
At maximum speed, Kirito could even rival Lee's full sprint before opening the Eight Gates.
Of course, that referred to Kirito's absolute top speed.
In a long-distance run like this marathon, no one would maintain their maximum pace.
Guy and Lee were the same.
In other words—
Kirito could keep up with Lee, who was running at about seventy percent of his full effort, while barely exerting himself.
However, before long—
Lee, who had been running at seventy percent effort, began to gradually run out of stamina and slowed down.
At that moment, Kirito's breathing also became slightly heavier.
Although maintaining this speed didn't require much effort thanks to his boots, his overall stamina was still lacking, so he eventually began slowing down as well.
Meanwhile—
Neji, who had been running behind them, didn't seem out of breath at all.
Step by step, every movement was light and controlled.
Years of Gentle Fist training had allowed him to develop a technique where breathing and movement were perfectly synchronized.
As for Tenten—
she was already gasping heavily, drenched in sweat.
To be honest, for a female ninja, being able to persist this long was already extremely impressive.
---
Eventually, the team slowed down.
Then they stopped on the spot to rest.
At this point—
the only person whose breathing remained perfectly steady was Guy.
Neji came next.
Kirito and Lee were both breathing heavily, though they still had some energy left.
Tenten, however, had completely reached her limit.
She collapsed onto the grass in a spread-eagle position, utterly exhausted.
For her, this was already the absolute limit.
---
During the break, everyone went to the nearby river to refill their water.
Kirito also filled a flask for Tenten while he was at it.
"Hey, your water's here," he said, handing the flask to the exhausted girl lying on the ground.
Tenten was still breathing rapidly.
Her cheeks were flushed from exertion, sweat covering her face and neck.
Her throat was so dry that she didn't even have the strength to speak.
She simply opened her mouth slightly and made a faint "mm" sound, signaling Kirito to pour the water for her.
Kirito couldn't help but chuckle.
Someone so carefree and unconcerned with maintaining a ladylike image—
that was definitely Tenten.
Yet it was precisely this straightforward personality that made Kirito feel comfortable around her.
He helped her sit up slightly, then carefully placed the mouth of the flask against her lips.
"Gulp… gulp… gulp…"
Tenten drank greedily, swallowing large mouthfuls of cool water without any attempt to hide the loud drinking sounds.
---
Not far away, Neji frowned slightly.
Coming from a prestigious clan, etiquette and refinement had been deeply ingrained in him since childhood.
Naturally, he found her behavior somewhat crude.
Guy and Lee, on the other hand, didn't notice anything strange at all.
After resting briefly—
the two of them suddenly started doing push-ups on the spot, as if they had nothing better to do.
---
After finishing an entire flask of water, Tenten finally recovered a bit.
She let out a long breath and slowly opened her eyes.
When she saw Kirito beside her, she spoke weakly.
"Kirito… you're way too sly."
"Guy-sensei, Neji, and Lee are one thing… but I didn't expect even you, someone who isn't even a genin yet, to keep up with them."
"Wait, that's not right… I remember your stamina isn't any better than mine."
Tenten spoke bluntly, mentioning the fact that Kirito wasn't even a genin.
Kirito didn't mind.
What she said was true.
His stamina really wasn't impressive.
The only reason he could keep up was because of the Boots of Swift Movement.
Maintaining that pace required almost no effort for him.
Later on, when he eventually slowed down faster than Neji, it was simply because his overall stamina was still his weakness.
Tenten, however, wasn't the type to obsess over such details.
After recovering some strength, she slowly stood up.
Then she walked toward the nearby forest and waved her hand.
"I'm going to change my clothes. I'll be back in a bit."
For a girl drenched in sweat—
having her body sticky and uncomfortable—
was truly unbearable.