Chapter 564: The Big-Belly Training Suit

"That's right. Lord Orochimaru said that for taijutsu specialists, your own body weight is the only kind of load that puts constant, uninterrupted pressure on you from every angle."

Kimimaro nodded in agreement.

"There's another sealing formula here. Release."

Kakashi formed a hand seal, and a strange-looking set of equipment emerged from the scroll.

"What's this?"

Lee stared at it curiously.

Why did it look like an oversized version of a bodysuit?

"This is an Akimichi-inspired biomechanical training suit Lord Orochimaru developed. Once you put it on, it imitates the physical experience of having an Akimichi physique as closely as possible.

"You could consider it another form of weight training."

Kimimaro explained its purpose.

"There's something this good?!"

Lee's eyes immediately lit up.

If there was one thing he loved, it was weights.

Before anyone else could say anything, Lee grabbed one of the suits.

"Wait, these are meant for Guy-sensei and me, right?"

At least Lee still remembered his manners.

He knew better than to take something without asking.

"Yes. Please try it."

Kimimaro nodded.

"My Shikotsumyaku already gives me exceptionally strong bones, so I don't need this kind of skeletal conditioning."

"Alright!"

Lee excitedly began putting the suit on.

"Lee, maybe you should, uh…"

Kakashi had originally intended to tell him not to change clothes in front of everyone.

Then he realized Lee had merely removed his training weights.

He did not take off the green bodysuit at all.

Instead, he tried stuffing himself into the new suit while still wearing it underneath.

Wasn't that unbearably hot?

"It would be better not to wear other clothes underneath it," Kimimaro reminded him. "If you do wear anything else, it should go over the training suit. Otherwise it won't simulate the intended pressure properly."

"Oh. Is that so?"

Halfway through putting it on, Lee scratched his head.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Kakashi thoughtfully raised a wall of earth on the otherwise open beach, instantly creating a makeshift changing room.

As for Kakashi's own tent?

Absolutely not.

No borrowing allowed.

Lee disappeared behind the wall and changed into the Big-Belly Training Suit, then pulled his green bodysuit back over it before stepping outside again.

One had to admit that the bodysuits Guy provided were absurdly high quality.

Lee now looked like he could legally change his surname to Akimichi, yet the bodysuit still stretched perfectly around his enlarged figure.

Even the enormous artificial belly was completely covered.

And somehow the fabric did not look painfully tight at all.

"So this is what the world feels like for the Akimichi clan…"

Lee took a few experimental steps with the massive belly protruding in front of him.

"This really is strange. Guy-sensei, it actually works!"

The sensation was noticeably different from ordinary external weights.

The total weight itself was insignificant compared with what Lee normally trained under, but this pressure surrounded his entire body.

It never stopped.

It was like being hunted forever by an immortal snail that never rested.

"The bodysuits already looked weird enough. Now he's got that giant belly too."

Sakura quietly whispered to Ino.

"This is even more ridiculous."

"Yeah. It's seriously unsettling."

Ino hugged her arms and shuddered.

"Thank you both for the compliments!"

The girls had forgotten that they had just been treating Guy, meaning he was still lying right beside them.

The moment he heard them commenting on Lee, Guy instinctively flashed his gleaming white teeth and gave them a thumbs-up.

Passive ability activated.

Then Guy turned eagerly toward his student.

"Lee! Hurry and help me up! I want to put one on too!"

"Wait, Guy."

Kakashi hurriedly tried to stop him.

"Your injuries were only just treated. You really shouldn't—"

"Exactly. Based on your condition, you should avoid strenuous activity for at least three days…"

Ino had not even finished speaking before Guy sat upright.

He immediately started windmilling both arms at full speed and looked approvingly at the two girls.

"As expected of Lady Tsunade's students! Your medical ninjutsu is incredible! I'm already completely healed!"

"…"

Ino had no words.

"I just told you not to move for three days. Are your ears broken?"

Sakura clenched a fist, grinding her teeth.

After spending too much time working as an outpatient medic, Sakura's mentality had gradually begun to change.

She had discovered there was a very clear difference between battlefield medicine and ordinary clinic work.

On a battlefield, injured shinobi desperately described every single wound they had.

Sometimes they even exaggerated their symptoms, forcing her to evaluate everything herself.

Not that Sakura had actually treated that many battlefield casualties yet.

At the clinic, however, things were somehow worse.

Patients came specifically because they wanted treatment, yet Sakura constantly had to pry information out of them.

They would hide symptoms.

Downplay injuries.

And sometimes deliberately ignore medical instructions.

It made her blood pressure rise every day.

Even so, when dealing with strangers or people she barely knew, Sakura had always restrained herself.

Guy's behavior finally became the last straw.

Ino had literally just said not to move for three days.

Guy immediately turned his arms into windmills and demanded that Lee help him stand.

Once Lee pulled him upright, Guy continued praising their medical skills while rotating his waist like an invisible hula hoop, writhing around like some enormous green worm.

Sakura finally snapped.

"GO TO HELL!"

She punched Big-Belly Lee and sent him flying.

Shocking!

Sakura had actually improved!

This time, she did not punch the injured patient.

She punched Lee instead!

In the old days, just like in the original anime, if Naruto refused to rest properly after getting injured, Sakura would simply punch him again and make the injury worse so he would finally stay put.

Big-Belly Lee flew through the air and crashed onto the ground belly-first.

The oversized stomach hit first—

Then bounced.

Seeing Sakura suddenly explode, Guy shivered and looked pleadingly toward Kakashi.

"Kakashi, control your subordinate! I—"

Before Guy could finish the sentence, a syringe plunged into his backside.

The needle went straight through the bodysuit and delivered the injection.

"Guy-sensei, that's an anesthetic."

Sakura calmly withdrew the syringe.

"To make sure you don't move around for the next three days and worsen your injuries, we'll have to keep you sedated.

"Lee can take care of your daily needs during that time. It'll also help him get accustomed to moving around with his new training weight."

Sakura expressionlessly pulled out a scroll and released a stretcher from it.

As the anesthetic took effect and Guy collapsed, she slid him neatly onto it.

Then she produced an entire box filled with anesthetic and handed it to Lee, who had already gotten back up and returned.

"Rock Lee."

Sakura stared at him seriously.

"If you don't want your teacher's condition to get worse, give him one injection before every meal for the next three days.

"Keep him properly sedated."

"Understood, Sakura!"

Lee accepted the box with a solemn expression.

For Guy-sensei's sake, Lee would naturally carry out the responsibility.

But then…

Lee's expression suddenly changed.

He seemed to remember something.

"If we do that, though… Guy-sensei's safety…"

Lee hesitated.

"Maybe we should just trust Guy-sensei not to move around?"

"What do you mean?"

Sakura looked confused.

"What's wrong with his safety? This isn't a battlefield, and we're not on a dangerous mission.

"What could possibly happen to him here?"