Ajie’s treatment continued throughout the night. While simple repairs usually didn’t require this much time, Ajie needed to ensure no latent spores in Lee’s body. He certainly didn’t want his only disciple’s vulnerabilities in the hands of others.
Ajie noticed something amiss outside as he opened the door early in the morning; the atmosphere was tense.
“Peeping Tom! How dare you come to the hospital!” Alice shouted at Jiraiya loudly.
Guy turned to look at the slightly embarrassed Jiraiya, feeling helpless and wondering how the Third Hokage ever trained him. His three disciples had issues with gambling, drugs, and other vices—not something just anyone could handle.
The hallway nurse also displayed a look of disdain on time. When the Fourth Hokage was selected, Jiraiya wasn’t a mainstream candidate precisely because of his sleazy hobbies.
“The leader of the Leaf Village can’t be an author who writes adult literature. That would be a laughing stock for other villages,” Alice scolded, pulling at Tony a bit as he seemed overly shocked at seeing Jiraiya.
“You don’t understand! This guy was spying on the women’s bath!” Alice accused.
“Isn’t that something every man has fantasized about… Plus, I was just gathering material…” Jiraiya muttered in defense.
“You dare say! Are other men like you?” Alice glared at him.
Jiraiya silently looked towards Tony, who was studying the ceiling. Although he’d never indulged nor needed to, he couldn’t deny that he’d thought about such things.
Alice’s frustration was palpable, marked by the symbolic three black lines on her forehead.
“Why spy on the women’s bath?” Ajie chimed in, “Is there some high-level martial arts technique there? Or maybe powerful female warriors?”
Ajie’s comments brought an abrupt chill to the conversation.
After Ajie’s interruption, Alice cooled down a bit and turned away.
Men…
Ajie looked around, unsure what the fuss was about.
Naruto popped up behind Jiraiya, “Mr. Guy, I came to see Lee. Is he in the hospital room?”
As he spoke, Naruto waved the daffodil in his hand.
“Naruto, you should focus on preparing for the upcoming battles. There is no need to visit me,” Lee said as he casually walked out of the hospital room.
“You’re better!” Naruto was pleasantly surprised, “That’s great!”
“Hehehe,” Lee chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
Jiraiya watched Lee silently; Naruto might not have seen it, but he knew Lee no longer had chakra reactions.
“Ajie, Lee is okay now, right?” Guy asked with concern.
Thump, thump, thump, Lee pounded his chest muscles, “Mr. Guy, I’m fine now!”
“That’s good, that’s good,” Guy replied, holding Lee’s hand in silence.
Although he was mentally prepared, seeing Lee lose so much of what he’d worked so hard for over the years was still painful for Guy.
“Alright, let’s not block the way here. We still have the training to do,” Ajie patted Lee on the shoulder, “If you’re interested, come and watch.”
Ten minutes later, at the training ground outside the city walls.
Ajie stripped off his shirt, revealing his well-defined muscles.
“Lee, pay attention. The martial artist’s way is similar to your previous fighting methods, but remember, our weapon is always our robust muscles—every single one of them!” Ajie waved to Alice, signaling her to coordinate with him.
Alice crossed her arms, and the ground around them began to tremble.
Trees from the forest flew out one by one, hurtling towards Ajie at high speed.
Ajie roared, his energy bursting forth.
Elbow, shoulder, fist, knee—every part was Ajie’s most potent weapon. The trees were quickly shattered, and under Alice’s control, the fragments danced in the air.
Ajie didn’t use special techniques; he defended against all the fragments’ attacks with ordinary strikes.
Moments later, more than ten large trees were reduced to fine pieces on the ground.
Ajie exhaled a long breath, stirring up the dust all around.
Jiraiya and Naruto were both stunned by the display. Still, they knew this attack style wasn’t suitable for them as they primarily relied on ninjutsu, with physical combat as only a secondary skill.
In contrast, Guy and Lee grew more enthused as they watched; they were ninjas who relied the least on chakra, with close combat as their primary attack method.
Suddenly, a masked man dressed in black jumped from the forest to Jiraiya’s side and whispered something in his ear.
Jiraiya frowned and waved the masked man away, signaling him to leave.
The man was a member of the Anbu. He reported that the body of the second examiner of the Chunin Exam had been found on the roof, and they suspected Ajie and his group might be involved.
However, Tony and his group had been with Guy all of last night. The only one who could have acted was Ajie, who had been treating Lee. They had come to bring Ajie in for questioning.
But Ajie’s displayed combat power made the Anbu wary; they feared they couldn’t “invite” him so easily.
That’s why they came out to ask Jiraiya for help.
Jiraiya decisively refused the Anbu’s request. Given the current group, it was unlikely any of them had killed the Chunin, besides the alibi that they were not present at the scene. More importantly, Jiraiya trusted Guy’s judgment.
Despite seeming all muscle, Guy was no fool; anyone thinking to deceive him was sorely mistaken.
“Ajie sensei, how should I train?” Lee asked eagerly, his body burning with excitement.
Ajie returned his shirt and looked at Lee, “Your body is weak, but it’s at a basic threshold now.”
Body weak? Naruto looked at Lee, wondering about his strength.
“Now, the first step is to let you sense the energy. Are you ready?” Ajie said, looking towards Jiraiya.
Jiraiya, bursting with enthusiasm, started to lead an unwilling Naruto away.
“I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving,” Naruto protested, waving his hands.
“Stop fussing,” Jiraiya smacked Naruto on the head. Naruto might not understand, but he needed to.
Such secret techniques were not for outsiders to see.
Tony stood aside, his components from Jarvis heating up like fire, the computational power needed to analyze Ajie’s movements alarmingly high, pushing Jarvis to overload.
After Jiraiya left, Guy prepared to go, but Ajie stopped him.
“Guy, you don’t have to go. Let’s spar and improve together,” Ajie said with a smile.
Guy paused, surprised that he didn’t need to avoid any appearances. Under Ajie’s sincere gaze, Guy halted.
After Jiraiya called away the surrounding Anbu, Alice landed satisfied on the ground, and the plan was successful. Sometimes, it’s necessary to show one’s strength to be effective.
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