Chapter 146

Kakashi's voice was tinged with a mix of sadness and anger. "You're controlling it, aren't you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

They were on their way back to camp, the setting sun casting a warm orange glow over the dusty trail. 

Kakashi, however, refused to admit defeat. His frustration and desperation churned in his chest as he glared at Takeshi. After thinking about it, he still felt that Takeshi had done something sneaky.

Takeshi, meanwhile, maintained an indifferent expression, giving Kakashi a single unimpressed glance before lifting his paw. 

*Whack!* The sound of his paw striking Kakashi's head echoed through the quiet air. 

Kakashi didn't flinch in pain, but his narrowed eyes glinted with irritation as he stared back at the smug ninja cat. Obito felt a twinge of sadness for his friend. "Kakashi, you still don't get it?"

"Why would it even matter if I was controlling it?" Takeshi replied, his whiskers twitching with thinly veiled amusement. 'It's just that when you hit your max speed, you're stuck going straight—no sharp turns. If you'd adjusted faster, you would have caught it. You're not keeping up because of a control issue; it's a turning issue.'

Yet Takeshi held back from voicing the thought aloud. There were some things better left unsaid, especially after tonight's exercise had exposed the glaring gaps in their training. He'd been just as stunned as Kakashi when the mouse puppet maneuvered with great dexterity and agility, effortlessly evading Kakashi's attempts to catch it. The tiny, fast-moving legs of the puppet mouse had slipped out of sight, leaving Kakashi stumbling in its wake.

Only Takeshi, through careful use of the Gate of Opening, managed to close the gap, but it still required significant effort.

After five days of training, the speed increase wasn't obvious, but the difference was clear now. The puppet was running at 50% of its max speed, and Kakashi was still struggling to catch it.

"Did you control it?" Kakashi pressed again, his brows knitting in frustration, unwilling to let the topic drop.

Takeshi released a long-suffering sigh and produced the small mouse puppet from his pouch. "Its design is simple: it's functioned to flee when it senses a threat nearby," he explained patiently. "You and Obito ran at it head-on, so it naturally switched directions to avoid you."

"This is ridiculous," Obito couldn't suppress a snicker, "Kakashi, it's obvious. You couldn't turn fast enough to catch up. Instead of blaming Takeshi's puppet, maybe try acknowledging your own... 'limitations,' BakaKakashi!" (Baka + Kakashi)

In fact, he thought that if he had taken Kakashi's position in formation, he might have caught it tonight. It's not that his speed is significantly faster than Kakashi's, rather, after opening Gate of Opening, he can perfectly control his body to turn at high speeds, whereas Kakashi cannot.

"You damn loser, are you blaming me?" Kakashi gritted his teeth and was in a bad mood, his eyes almost turned red with anger. He was already in a bad mood, yet Obito was provoking him.

However sadly, he knew that what Obito said was right. His speed was fast, but he seemed to be unable to turn at high speed.

This was just a mouse puppet. What if it were a person? Kakashi's stubbornness was clear, but his intelligence couldn't be denied. He wouldn't admit it, but this was a glaring weakness. If this happened on the battlefield, the results could be disastrous. 'What if I need to dodge a direct attack?'

"Okay, let's go, stop arguing." Rin was feeling tired. Her voice was laced with exhaustion as she gazed at her team.

Physically, Rin was just as exhausted as her teammates, if not more so. She not only trained alongside them but had to tend to their injuries after each session, expending precious chakra to keep everyone in top form. Their recovery depended on her abilities, but her stamina had its limits.

Takeshi, leading the way, lifted his nose and sniffed the air. Just as they reached the camp's outskirts, he caught an unfamiliar scent mingled with faint traces of chakra in the distance. Ahead, several figures moved swiftly, barely visible through the twilight.

The four exchanged a confused glance. Obito squinted into the distance, as if doubting his own eyes. "Wait, am I... hallucinating?" he muttered, genuinely puzzled.

Without waiting for a response, Takeshi darted forward, sniffing at the ground where the newcomers had passed. After a moment, his ears twitched in recognition. "It's Asuma's team," he murmured, following the scent. "Asuma, Kurenai... and someone else. It seems familiar."

A flicker of realization crossed Takeshi's mind. The additional scent belonged to Kura Uchiha, someone Takeshi had encountered before, a Jonin of notable skill. 

At the border, Minato's team had been immobilized after encountering two Kirigakure ninjas. Takeshi had asked Kura for help. 

An Uchiha jonin, son of the Third Hokage, and daughter of a jonin, such a combination was confusing. 

Takeshi couldn't help but doubt the Third Hokage's motives. What did it mean to transfer the four of them to the border camp together?

"Let's catch up with them." Takeshi said, breaking his musings.

"Okay, it's still a good time to exercise. I'll go," Obito said, running forward quickly. The special training for the day was over, so he had weights on his body but could utilize chakra, increasing his speed significantly.

The three struggled to keep up, while Takeshi remained the most relaxed. Without weights, he could adjust his speed as needed. If he wanted to go faster, he would. If he wanted to go slower, he would sit on Obito's shoulders and rest. Both approaches had their pros and cons. Obito was used to it.

The advantage is that Takeshi doesn't need to worry about Obito's resistance, and the disadvantage is that he can't get points. Due to being exhausted, so it's useless to mess with him for now.

Despite the weights, Kakashi and Obito could still keep up with the pace in front of them if they sprinted at full speed. This was the result of several days of training. Special training had indeed been useful for them.

Although the speed did not improve significantly, with the combination of cat food and soldier food pills, and a day of training without much rest, their physical capabilities obviously increased a lot.

When they saw the four people ahead, Takeshi quickly jumped off Obito and chased after them. With Obito's current speed, they would get further away.

"Stop meow~"

Kura was aware of the pursuit as soon as Rin's team started following. However, it wasn't until Takeshi and the others caught up that he signaled the team to stop and turned to look at them.

Kurenai's face lit up with recognition when she spotted Takeshi. "Takeshi! What are you doing out here?" she asked, her voice warm with curiosity. Her eyes sparkled, and a genuine smile played on her lips.

Asuma, on the other hand, looked as though he'd swallowed a fly, his expression darkening when he noticed Takeshi. The last time they'd met, Takeshi had made quite the nuisance of himself, something Asuma clearly hadn't forgotten. 

Raido Namiashi, the fourth member of Asuma's team, stood nearby with a neutral expression. He and Takeshi had little interaction, so he simply observed with detached curiosity.

"Meow~" Takeshi responded, leaping onto Kura's shoulder without saying anything more.

Kura Uchiha was easygoing, not arrogant like other Uchihas, and was willing to get close. "Takeshi, it's been too long! I heard you've been promoted to Special Jonin. That's quite the feat! I think you might be the first ninja cat to ever achieve such a rank."

"What? This cat is a Special jonin?" While Kura smiled, rubbing Takeshi's paw as a greeting, but Asuma was quite shocked to hear the news. "How could this damn cat be a Special jonin!?"

Asuma's disbelief stemmed from a resentment. To him, Takeshi was nothing more than a bothersome, overambitious feline, someone who had managed to turn every encounter into a trial of patience. This news only aggravated his sense of unfairness.

Kurenai, however, was nothing but supportive, her admiration genuine. "Wow, Takeshi, that's really impressive!" she said, offering a smile free of any bitterness.

Kura, still grinning, stroked Takeshi's head gently. "I thought you'd been informed, Asuma. The Hokage-sama assigned me to bring our teams together for joint training." He looked over at the three exhausted teens standing beside Takeshi, a glint of amusement in his eye.

"What?" This time, it wasn't just Asuma who was confused. Kurenai and Raido were also puzzled.

'Training? I get to train them too!?' Takeshi was excited at the prospect of more victims.

"Yeah, hahahaha, no wonder you're surprised, but you're all classmates, and you'll be training partners soon, so you don't have to worry too much. It seems Team 7 is very effective," Kura waved his hand.

"Hello, Kura-san." Obito, Kakashi, and Rin landed and immediately bowed and saluted.

Obito then looked at Asuma provocatively and gloatingly, nodding to them slightly. They shared a bond of common suffering under the demon cat.

"Very good, let's go to the camp together," Kura nodded with a smile, but Takeshi thought there might be some hidden play here.

Kura was responsible for patrolling and protecting the east side of the Land of Fire. Now, he brought Asuma and the others here, which was enough to show he had returned to the village before. Therefore, the head guard of the east line might have been replaced. Would it be an Uchiha clan or Hyuga clan?

As Takeshi got confused, thinking about the undercurrents at play, he shook his head. 'What does this have to do with me?'

The main problem was that the village had thrown three more soldiers into the war machine. What did it mean? Especially with Asuma here.

'Well, I guess we'll get answers in the future. Though they would also likely train under me, it seems.' Takeshi was a little confused when he thought of this.

With his identity as a Special jonin, he was barely qualified to be the leader of the team, but Konoha was not without capable people.

'They might have me train to keep them busy? But with Asuma here... will their special training be combat experience on the battlefield? Was there some intel on an attack?'

'I blame Asuma for this!' Despite knowing rationally it was not his fault, Takeshi needed some reason to rationalize the suffering he would put Asuma through.

Because of Takeshi, Asuma was still a preferred target, especially after hearing the news of Takeshi's promotion, he contributed around 200 points to Takeshi's frustration.

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