Cannot Fail

The vaulting horse stood before him. He took a running start and propelled himself into the air, flipping over the top and landing on the mat behind it.

As he progressed through the series of obstacles, he could feel the blood pumping more through his veins. And with each passing movement, the sweat poured from him as a reminder of the effort he was putting forth.

After completing the course, he stood in the center of the room, panting heavily.

'Five percent is only… manageable," he thought to himself, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

He looked around the facility, considering the challenges he still needed to face. While this warm-up left him drenched in sweat, he knew it was only a prelude to what lay ahead. As such, he moved to the control panel once more and cranked the gravity settings up to ten percent.

Immediately, he felt the change. Every step felt like he was wading through a swamp. It was enough to make him grunt as he tried to shake off the sudden heaviness that enveloped him. It felt like his muscles were covered in lead, and even just walking presented an arduous challenge.

This was not good. If he couldn't even handle ten percent, one hundred would put him in the hospital.

He turned to the dumbbells lined up against the wall and picked up a pair of two hundred pounds (approximately 91 kg). This shouldn't be too difficult for him, but as soon as he gripped the first one, he felt the weight bearing down on him like an avalanche.

It was so heavy that he gritted his teeth as he attempted to lift one. Straining against the added gravity, the dumbbell barely moved.

This was frustrating now, so he dropped the weights and decided to switch his focus to the bench press, a machine he had used countless times before on earth.

He loaded six plates on each side and lay on the bench, ready to test his strength. As he brought the barbell down, it felt heavier than any lead he'd come across. He pushed with all the strength he could muster, managing to get it up five times before the weight pinned him down for a moment.

'Five reps at ten percent?' he noted, lying back on the bench.

That was most certainly not good for a man like him. Without the gravity in place, he could have done twenty reps in one set!

Determined to test not only his physical limits but also the adjustments he made to the gravity settings, Arthur shifted his resolve and cranked the dial to twenty percent.

The change was instantaneous. The room seemed to tilt for a moment, as though the very gravity of the situation had changed. He braced himself, but the weight settling over him was nothing short of punishing.

Just standing up was now a formidable task. He struggled to get to his feet, each limb feeling clumsy and unresponsive. Not even performing the healing technique could soothe this level of pain he was feeling.

He attempted to walk toward the pull-up bar, the effort feeling monumental as every step felt like dragging a boulder forty times his size.

He grabbed the bar, hanging there with an immense weight on his body. With every muscle screaming in protest, he tried to pull himself up—but his body refused to obey. He managed two half-hearted attempts before his arms finally gave out, and he dropped back down.

Looking up at the bar, he couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat creeping in. He had to adapt.

After taking a moment to center himself, he gathered his focus and flowed within him and toward his muscles. The fatigue was still there, pressing heavily against him, but now he had some leverage to work with.

He approached the bench press once more, this time ready to give it another shot. He lay down, gripped the bar with determination, and attempted to lift. The initial push was a struggle, but he focused the chakra to power his muscles and managed to bring the barbell up for three reps this time before the sheer weight bore down on him again.

With a breathless groan, he released the bar, letting it crash onto the supports. Panting, he lay back and stared at the ceiling with beads of sweat dripping down his face.

Training in heavier gravity was like trying to run in deep mud. Only the mud was actually lead, and one's body was at the very bottom. Truly, every movement required more effort and determination, making progress feel extremely exhausting.

Deciding not to surrender to the intense challenge, he propped himself up and shifted back toward the pull-up bar. This time without cheating with chakra.

He grabbed the bar again, feeling more stable this time, and focused. With a grunt, he pulled up again and managed to push through the strain, completing four reps before he was rendered motionless.

Once more, he fell back, breathing heavily. He had never felt this level of training before. And he was only using twenty percent of the machine!

Instead of giving up, he pushed himself up and refocused. He repositioned himself for some agility drills, crawling under low-hanging obstacles while sprinting through the course he'd set up. This was with the antigravitational pull intensifying the demands placed on his body.

Oxygen became a luxury as he gasped heavily for it. But he pivoted between drills, driven by the knowledge that he cannot fail.

The next day, Tayuya decided to visit the training facility after not hearing from him in quite a while.

As she approached it, she felt a sense of trepidation. The room was devoid of windows. From the outside, it looked like a fortress designed to contain the intensity of its occupant's ambitions.

While yes, everyone understood that Arthur had spent time building this room, he had never once told anyone its true purpose.

Tayuya pushed the heavy door open and crossed the threshold. The moment she stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted. A thick shroud of gravitational pressure slammed into her, leaving her momentarily breathless.

It was as if she had stepped into a different world—one where the air was heavier, thicker, and more demanding.

As her eyes adjusted to the red light, she took a moment to gather herself. All she could see was Arthur in the form of Kaito, moving fluidly yet powerfully. He appeared to be hopping in place, his eyes closed, completely immersed in whatever he was doing.

"Excuse me, lord Arthur!" she called out in a strained voice against the weight of the environment.

He didn't respond. The only sound that filled the room was the rhythmic thumping of his feet against the ground, coupled with a strange whirring in the air.

Intrigued, she moved closer to gain a better view. And as she approached, she finally saw it: he wasn't just hopping—he was jump roping. The rope swung so fast it was practically invisible.

She wanted to get closer, to touch him, to break this trance that seemed to engulf him. With each step, however, she felt the oxygen being siphoned from her lungs like a nagging tightness expanding in her chest.

The sensation was unbearable, like trying to gasp for breath underwater. Just what was this, she thought to herself? No, surely the once-proud elite bodyguard of a Sannin could survive in this environment.

Just as she forced her legs to carry her forward, dizziness quickly flooded her mind.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath.

Her voice was barely audible against the pounding sounds of his workout. With her utmost effort, she closed the distance, struggling against the suffocating gravity that made every step feel like a marathon.

Finally, within arm's reach, she stretched her hand out, desperate to get his attention. But as her fingers brushed against the taut, moving rope, she felt an electric shock course through her arm. Pain shot through her as she recoiled, gasping with wide eyes.

That was nothing like she had ever felt before—those speedy rotations of the rope were not merely physical training; they possessed an unsettling ferocity that no normal ninja could possibly produce.

At that moment, Arthur slowly opened his eyes, but they remained focused ahead, glued to something only he could see. The intensity reflected back at her was jarring—his gaze penetrated, cutting through the heavy air like a shard of glass.

It was then that she not just felt but also saw a physical aura radiating from him, an overwhelming weight that threatened to drag her down into an ocean of despair. The air thickened even further, and it felt like the walls were closing in.

Tayuya was about to have a heart attack. All thoughts of concern evaporated in the face of raw, unadulterated fear. She couldn't be there another second.

Without even thinking twice, she pivoted and bolted back toward the door, despite the ground beneath her feeling like quicksand. It was more as if she had scrambled out than run.

And the moment she burst through the entrance, she took the deepest breath she ever had. The fresh air flooded her lungs, filling her with energy she had no longer wished to neglect. Her heart was pounding furiously.

It was then that Koko appeared, as if right on cue.

"You shouldn't bother daddy while he's training," the monkey girl chided.

"Training?" Tayuya's voice trembled at the word, the enormity of her experience tightening around her like a vise. She shot Koko a frantic look. "What... what do you mean? That was not training. What he's doing in there is… I don't know what to call that!"

Koko stared at her for a beat, then shrugged slightly. "It's called training, and daddy's always doing that. It makes him stronger."

There was a depth of conviction in Arthur's methods that made Tayuya swallow hard. How could any ninja survive even ten minutes in there?

"Stronger? Koko, he was—" Tayuya struggled to find the words, visions of fervent red lights and the intensity of Arthur's presence flooding her mind. "It almost felt like... like I was being consumed by something."

Koko shook her head. "No, you're just weak."

"Weak?!" Tayuya murmured. It was truly Koko's blunt way of saying that, which made her a tad upset. "I'm not weak, but—"

She couldn't get the words out. The memory of that overwhelming gravity still clung to her, and dread gripped her that Arthur might push himself too far, risking his very essence.

Before she could dare muster another word, the rhythmic sounds of his feet bouncing off the ground echoed through the halls.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just what was he? Or rather, who would push a man so far? Even through the red lights, both Koko and Tayuya could see his muscles shredding under the intense pressure.

"H—how long has he been in there?" Tayuya dared to ask.

"Umm," Koko thoughtfully said, placing a hand on her chin while gesturing up. "I dunno… I think it's been twenty-three hours now."

No average ninja could even survive an hour in there. They'd dehydrate faster than they could reach the other side.

The pressure and the pace Arthur was training under eluded them. There was no shot that he wasn't utilizing chakra to remain inside. And that's just what he was doing. That room was his own personal gym, a gym that bodybuilders would drool to have as their own.

The only issues were that food and water were improbable to consume inside. Without chakra, even the toughest men on earth would find the environment unsustainable—they'd drop to their knees and beg to be released before even warming up.

As Arthur's eyes slowly closed to return to his meditative exercise, the doors finally shut. Only one thing registered in Tayuya's mind, and that's if she had remained just a second longer inside, she would have surely died.