I started a cult in Naruto Chapter 10

Chapter 11 - Mere Testing, Hands Are Enough

After completing a lap around the Third Training Ground, Tatsuma and Minato mutually reduced their pace from sprinting to jogging, easing their breathing. The flat-topped young man slowed down for a moment before realizing the change and switched to jogging as well.

Again, after another lap around the Third Training Ground, all three of them stopped. Minato and Tatsuma looked at the middle-aged man beside them, who wasn't even sweating much. Minato exclaimed:

"Shinobi-san, you must be quite skilled in Taijutsu, right?"

Hearing someone call him "Shinobi-san" for the first time, Might Duy paused, somewhat embarrassedly scratching his flat top. He said, "Ahaha~ I'm just a mere Genin. My talent isn't great, so I couldn't learn Ninjutsu. I could only focus on training my body. Don't call me 'san' though, just call me Might Duy!"

Tatsuma also assessed this representative of Konoha's Genin. He had taught the man who almost kicked out the final villain, Might Guy, the Eight Gates, and the art of self-restraint.

A ninja, after all, was someone who could endure what ordinary people couldn't. Might Duy, who lived his life by practicing self-restraint, was undoubtedly one of the best representations of a ninja.

However, Might Duy wasn't as powerful as some people boasted, like the future Might Guy. He just hadn't encountered stronger opponents. To Tatsuma, kicking all seven of the Swordsmen of the Mist down to just three was probably Duy's limit.

This was evident from a young Might Guy. Both father and son had trained together before. Once, during a running exercise, Might Duy had collapsed after completing 1500 laps.

However, young Might Guy managed to complete a whopping 5000 laps. And Duy focused on physical arts because he could only learn those. Guy chose to specialize in it.

Guy had dual chakra nature transformation in wind and lightning, and he could fill his chakra levels to the brim. One could say that Guy, in order to practice his father's self-restraint, inherit his ninja way and dream, had discarded other paths.

Of course, whether Might Duy or Might Guy, compared to Tatsuma, who barely reached the level of a Genin even now, they were both extremely powerful ninjas.

So, facing this eccentric "uncle," Tatsuma said with a bright smile, "Uncle Duy, you're the most diligent ninja I've seen. I often see you training at the Hokage Tower."

Tatsuma hadn't finished speaking when he stopped, because he saw a stiffened Might Duy, almost petrified. After a moment, Might Duy said, "Uncle? But I'm only 18 years old."

18 years old? What the hell, he's 18? Minato and Tatsuma were both covered in question marks as they looked at the middle-aged and haggard Might Duy with a thick beard. They fell into silence.

After a while, Tatsuma suddenly realized that Might Duy died at age 35 during the Third Great Ninja War, so he was 18 now. That made sense.

"So, exercising Taijutsu helps people mature faster, huh? Minato, it seems we need to exercise more in the future!"

Finally, unable to bear the weird silence, Tatsuma broke it. After all, he had started this whole thing. Hearing this, Minato also quickly nodded and said:

"Yeah, only by maturing can we gain the trust of others!"

"Y'all. Did you mean... this?"

Might Duy suddenly burst into tears, looking at the two. Then he felt deeply remorseful and said, "I thought you were calling me old. It seems... I haven't fully embraced youth yet! I actually doubted youth!

Alright then, tonight I'll run around the training ground 100 times before sleeping. If I can't complete it, I'll do 5000 fingertip push-ups!"

With that, Might Duy ignored Minato and Tatsuma, running on his own under the night sky, continuing to pour out his sweat and enthusiasm.

Watching Duy vanish into the distance, Tatsuma glanced at his own speed attribute that had surpassed 1000 points, then turned to Minato and said, "Minato, you can go back first. I want to train a bit more tonight."

"Is it to catch up with Big Brother Duy's pace? Impressive, Tatsuma! Count me in too. I'll last longer than you!"

Seeing Minato using his own words against him, Tatsuma flashed that infectiously charismatic smile, dashed off, and chased after Duy's figure.

Under the night sky, two boys indulging in the same antics.

As a result, the next day during the final exams, both Minato and Tatsuma had dark circles under their eyes, bloodshot eyes, unsteady steps, and were supporting each other as they arrived at the ninja academy.

Minato's appearance was somewhat decent, but Tatsuma looked worse. His messy hair, due to not washing it, now puffed up like the trendy explosion hairstyles older women sport. This was the trouble with his hair!

"You two."

Seeing their appearances, Sarutobi Heppu opened his mouth but hesitated before asking, "Can you still take the exam? Do you want to rest for a while and be arranged in another class for the exam in the afternoon?"

"I'm okay! But Minato has great potential, so maybe he should take the exam in the afternoon?"

Being someone who always wanted to excel, Tatsuma politely declined Sarutobi Heppu's suggestion. Upon hearing this, Minato, who had lost to Tatsuma by two laps last night, clenched his teeth and let his competitive spirit surface. He said:

"It's alright, sensei. I can take it too! And my score will be better than Tatsuma's!"

If it were his usual state, perhaps an annoyed Minato would have boasted about taking the top position in the class, but now his condition was too poor. He could only say that he'd surpass Tatsuma.

Sarutobi Heppu looked at the two students. He knew that Tatsuma had a strong competitive spirit, and he anticipated Tatsuma rejecting his suggestion. However, he hadn't expected that the good-natured Minato would also be influenced.

However, he respected their choices and allowed them to wait for the exam in the designated area. There, they saw someone whose situation was similar to theirs—Nara Shikaku.

"Hey~ Shikaku, did you also stay up all night training yesterday?"

Tatsuma plopped down next to Shikaku and asked, seeing his haggard appearance. Shikaku weakly replied, "Found a tough shogi puzzle last night. Stayed up all night trying to solve it."

"Did you solve it?"

Seeing Shikaku's appearance worse than a dead man's, Minato asked curiously. Shikaku's face turned utterly grim, even revealing the paleness typical of a corpse. After a moment, he regained some vitality and muttered:

"Give me another day, just one more day, and I'll solve it right away. Why do we have to take the exam? It's a waste of time."

Tatsuma looked at Minato, who perhaps still didn't know about Shikaku's internal dilemma , then turned to Shikaku and asked, "Why didn't you apply to take the exam in the afternoon?"

"Waste half a day again?"

Shikaku rolled his eyes and replied. Tatsuma tugged at the corner of his mouth, uttering his catchphrase, "Impressive, as always."

For the first round of the final exams, they had to project their ninjutsu tools, but the distance was extended to ten meters. They had to use shuriken and kunai, and they could choose to use their Senbon, which was a bonus item.

Soon, it was Shikaku's turn. But when he stepped forward, he executed Jiraiya's signature technique—Shuriken Whatever Jutsu, and none of them hit the target. Under Sarutobi Heppu's gaze, which could almost kill, Shikaku returned to Tatsuma's side, sitting down.

"Tatsuma! Minato! You two better perform well."

Sarutobi Heppu gritted his teeth and looked at Tatsuma and Minato. Tatsuma smiled slightly, purposefully adopting a proud expression, and said, "Mere ninjutsu tool projection? Hands are enough!"

However, as he picked up a kunai and held it tightly, his right hand suddenly cramped up. He fell to the ground, left hand covering his right, and cried out in pain, "Ah! Ouch, ouch~"