Chapter 583: Hard Work Is Also a Talent

"How could this happen..." Li, lying on the ground, stared blankly at Neji, who had been declared the winner.

"He defeated me with just one move, one move..." Li’s face was filled with disbelief.

Before the battle, although he did not dare say that he could defeat Neji with one hundred percent certainty, he felt that there was still a possibility of winning. After all, he had improved so much.

He had not expected Neji to instantly defeat him with overwhelming force.

The two’s strength was completely on different levels. The gap was simply too large.

The people around them did not show surprised or shocked expressions when they saw Li get instantly defeated by Neji, because in their understanding, Neji was a genius who was good at everything, while Li was just an ordinary person.

It was only natural for an ordinary person to be unable to defeat a genius.

Li stood dejectedly to the side, watching one battle after another end. In the end, Neji easily took first place. No one had been able to last more than two moves against him.

Looking at Neji, who had taken first place and was smiling as the teacher praised him while still maintaining his calm expression, Li felt somewhat lost.

’Could it be that no matter how hard an ordinary person like me works, I still can’t surpass a genius like Neji?’

After training hard for half a semester in hopes of making a stunning performance in the midterm exam, only to be defeated by Neji with one move, Li felt somewhat disheartened at this moment, feeling that his efforts seemed to have lost their meaning.

What was the use of training so hard? He got up early and went to bed late, enduring hardships to train, yet Neji defeated him with one move.

Meanwhile, his classmates who played around all day, did not study, and rarely exercised were also defeated by Neji with one move. So what exactly was the difference between them?

Oh, the difference was that those classmates at least got to play and have fun.

After returning home, Li finished his meal and rested for a while before instinctively heading to the nearby training ground as usual to train, striking the wooden post.

But after hitting it twice, Li suddenly stopped.

"Is training like this really useful?" Li asked with a confused expression.

"If no matter how hard I work I still can’t catch up to a genius like Neji, wouldn’t it be better to make my life a little more comfortable? Like them, as long as I pass, I can just enjoy myself for the rest..."

"But do you really think you would be happy that way?"

Suddenly, a man wearing a green jumpsuit with a bowl-cut hairstyle and thick eyebrows jumped down from a tree and asked Li solemnly.

"Everyone has their own way of living. Some people choose to burn their youth chasing an unreachable dream, while others choose to live an ordinary and uneventful life. But what exactly is the choice in your heart? Could it be that you don’t know?"

"The way I want to live..." Li silently repeated.

Of course he knew. He wanted to become a great shinobi, even if he could only use Taijutsu.

"I want to become a great shinobi, but that’s impossible, because I don’t have the talent of a genius." Li said somewhat dejectedly.

"No matter how hard an ordinary person works, they can’t catch up to those geniuses."

"Then why are you still training?" Might Guy burst into laughter, revealing his shining white teeth.

Only then did Li realize that he had unknowingly started training again.

"A genius is not impossible to surpass. It’s just extremely difficult to surpass one! You must work hard with the determination to surpass everyone!" Might Guy’s expression became serious again.

"Do you know Hatake Kakashi?" Might Guy asked.

Rock Lee nodded. Kakashi was quite famous in Konoha.

"Without a doubt, Kakashi is a genius, and now the score in our battles is forty-two wins and forty losses!"

"I won’t say what will happen in the future, but at this stage, I can say that my strength has surpassed Kakashi’s!" Might Guy puffed out his chest and raised his head, revealing a smile, his two rows of white teeth especially dazzling.

"Could you be that Lord Might Guy, the one who uses Taijutsu?" Li looked at the man in the green jumpsuit before him in surprise.

Although Might Guy did not yet have enough battle achievements to become widely renowned, his powerful Taijutsu had also shone brilliantly on the Iwagakure battlefield. Although his fame was certainly not comparable to Kakashi’s, he was still somewhat famous in Konoha.

"That’s right, I am Konoha’s proud Blue Beast, Might Guy!" Might Guy nodded.

"Actually, I’m really quite similar to you. You know, at the beginning, I almost couldn’t enter the Ninja Academy because of my talent." Might Guy began telling Li about his past.

"A strong person like you almost couldn’t enter the Ninja Academy because of your talent?" Li was shocked.

Although he knew that there was a Jonin like Might Guy who was powerful in Taijutsu, he truly did not know that Might Guy had such a past.

"That’s right." Might Guy nodded.

"At the Ninja Academy, I met Kakashi, the rival of my entire life. He was a true genius. He was really strong back then. The first time I fought him, he defeated me cleanly with just one move." Might Guy recounted how he had met Kakashi.

Li did not know how to describe his current feelings.

They were so similar, far too similar. Because of his poor talent, his teacher had told him he might as well attend an ordinary school. Might Guy had almost been unable to enroll because of his talent. He had trained hard for half a semester only to be instantly defeated by Neji with one move, while Might Guy had also been instantly defeated by Kakashi with one move.

"But how could you give up on your dream because of one failure? Failure is also an important part of youth! I trained hard. If five hundred push-ups weren’t enough, then one thousand. If I couldn’t do that, I would run a hundred laps around the village. In the end, I chose to surpass Kakashi."

"Li, I’ve been observing you for some time. You are very similar to the person I used to be, ordinary but hardworking. Don’t deny yourself because of one failure." Might Guy said seriously.

"Hard work is also a talent. We are geniuses of hard work!"

Li’s heart was violently shaken. Might Guy’s words made his blood boil, and he even wanted to train through the night.

"Are you willing to become my disciple? We’ll work hard together, surpass all the geniuses, and become the strongest through Taijutsu!" Might Guy smiled and revealed his white teeth, extending his hand toward Li.

"Teacher Guy, I’m willing!" Li said excitedly in a loud voice.

After learning about Might Guy’s experiences, Might Guy directly became Li’s idol.

Because Might Guy had an experience similar to Li’s, yet he had already become the kind of person Li wanted to become, a powerhouse who used only Taijutsu.

How could Li not admire and look up to someone like Might Guy?

"Good! That’s the spirit." Hearing Li directly call him teacher, Might Guy nodded in satisfaction.

"Then let’s first run ten laps around Konoha to warm up, and then begin training!"

"Yes, Teacher Guy!" The confusion on Li’s face had completely disappeared, replaced only by enthusiasm for training.

From then on, Konoha gained another Taijutsu shinobi wearing a green jumpsuit and sporting a bowl-cut hairstyle.