Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Pills
The conversation happened after Neji Hyuga had left...
"Are we really gonna become a good and friendly team?"
Tenten asked while barely holding back a sad and long sigh behind closed lips.
"Guy-sensei believes in us, and I'm not going to disappoint him."
Rock replied calmly, rubbing his hands together and following the path down into the academy.
He wasn't suicidal like Neji who jumped down dramatically and might have broken some bones.
"That there won't be any more conflicts with Neji?"
Tenten quickly caught up to him and reached out to grab his kimono sleeve to stop him, but a sudden wave of embarrassment made her back off, and she decided not to do it.
"Well... I want to knock some sense into him, make him apologize, and respect us. I'm sorry, but talking alone isn't enough with someone like Neji Hyuga. He's behaving too selfishly and arrogantly. We simply have to fight each other like men!"
Lee said it firmly, his eyes burning with a determination that indicated that there would be no compromises to expect.
"Like men? Do you mean like barbarians and savages, right? Pff! Very typical of you... 'Men'..."
Tenten sarcastically retorted while rolling her beautiful brown eyes and mocking verbally such a cliché notion of masculinity.
"Huh?"
Lee raised his thick eyebrow expressively.
...
Rock and Tenten moved through the warmly colored hallways of the academy during the fifteen-minute break between classes for kids of different ages.
Rock smiled the whole time when remembering how hard and sometimes fun school was in the orphanage from his past life.
However, it was tolerable enough to end up dying rather foolishly and finding himself in a new world with a new body and new abilities.
There were many new things, but not all of them were for him.
"Hey, Naruto!"
Lee burst in with both legs and greeted his fox-like friend.
"Lee, you..."
Tenten was speechless and couldn't find the right words because Lee acted like a hooligan.
He drew too much attention for a real genin who was supposed to be sneaky by nature!
Lee had a very colorful appearance, and it was almost impossible for him to blend in.
"Oh! Rock! Tenten! Hey!"
Naruto jumped up from his seat by himself when he saw his friends standing in the doorway.
Then Naruto turned to his classmates and cheekily stuck out his tongue, continuing with pride and joy in his voice.
"Ha-ha! What did I tell you? You didn't believe me, fools! There's your proof!"
After that, Lee and Tenten showed surprise on their faces and were at a loss for words.
Moreover, Lee saw many pairs of eyes with admiration and respect turned to his figure and no one else.
"Huh? Is there something on my face, huh? Probably. Is it attractiveness? Or maybe courage? Brutality? Strength? Youth?"
Lee asked with a smile. He didn't know where his sudden fame had come from, but he enjoyed it to the fullest.
He looked at the young girls including Sakura, Ino, and Hinata without hiding his admiration.
"You're quite the talker nonetheless, Lee, and yet Neji Hyuga accused me of arrogance. Well, well, whose cow is mooing now..."
Tenten murmured to herself with a sullen face not knowing where to hide in such a situation, and continued to stand dumbly and quietly beside him.
...
However, Lee and Tenten got explanations from Naruto, who had escaped from his classroom under Iruka Umino.
Naruto informed them, or rather recounted that Rock suddenly became so famous among his classmates not without reason and not just out of thin air.
According to what happened, Lee was taking part in the Genin exam yesterday.
At that moment, he demonstrated the Rankyaku to the Hokage, Might Guy, and the other Chunins.
At the same time, Naruto was nearby on the same field, and he saw Lee doing everything he was doing at that moment, including his techniques and his Taijutsu stance.
Naruto couldn't pass up the opportunity to boast for the first time before someone and proudly revealed that they were acquainted and even friends.
However, who would believe Naruto, an orphan without parents and close relatives, lacked respect and didn't really want to talk with him?
That's the question...
"A magnificent reputation is a pleasant thing, I agree, but..."
Lee leaned his back against the cool wall in the corridor and scratched his cheek in a usual pause, then calmly smiled and stated.
"I don't want a crowd of fans and admirers. They'll only distract me from my training and exercises."
Lee was not kidding. It's fine to show off and play for the crowd, but it's not necessary.
It will only distract and hinder him.
It's worth understanding that a few seconds of happiness isn't worth the extra time that's available that is important.
That extra time could be used to do other things, like getting stronger and focusing instead of getting the same applause.
After all, there is a system.
...
'All right! The test with Might Guy is tomorrow! The Hokage prohibited me from using the Rankyaku in sparring, and I don't have any special unique techniques for a victory.'
'I suppose my right hand, right leg, and right stance are the only exceptions. That's just an extra thing I do to improve my Taijutsu. I've been delaying this moment for an exceptionally long time, but I seriously doubt it can continue in this way anymore...'
Lee was just as serious as ever when he was on the training ground by himself as if no one was sneaking around in the bushes.
The only thing someone would notice here if they came here is Lee practicing in a kimono while a soft evening breeze caresses his skin and rustles the leaves.
After all, the system interface is visible only to Rock himself.
[Name: Rock Lee]
[Shinobi Rank: Genin]
[Health: 100%]
[Stamina: 100%]
[Chakra: 100%]
[Taijutsu Rank: C+]
[Ninjutsu Rank: —]
[Genjutsu Rank: —]
[Inventory]
[Achievements]
[List of Hellish Exercises: 2]
"There have been no major changes."
Lee said to himself even deeper into the system and its digital tabs.
[List of Hellish Exercises]
[Do twenty squats with a stone on your back.]
[Reward: Bronze Chest]
[Do thirty pull-ups.]
[Reward: Bronze Chest]
"Ha, and where should I start?"
Lee expressed his interest, but he knew that his choice was probably random because the rewards were random and the exercises were already hard.
"Ah, well, I came up with a plan."
Lee shrugged, then turned his mental focus back to the system or the inventory.
He then took out a clean white tablet and a shiny kunai with a faint engraving of a snake on it that he received when he reached the rank of Genin.
Lee quickly and precisely moved the kunai so that it flew at the bark of the closest tree and went deep into the trunk without any trouble.
"Not bad in terms of sharpness! The system didn't lie!"
Lee remarked, feeling satisfied with his actions.
Next, he looked at the small white pill in his hand.
It was different from the black pills he usually got from bronze chests after taking painful blows from holographic clones.
[Hyōrōgan: A special-class military white pill that increases stamina and chakra reserves for some time without consequences unlike the black version, which leaves the user severely fatigued after a single use.]
Overall, it is a true treasure to allow him to tackle two different exercises from the system at once...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone