Naruto: Paws and Whiskers

"Alright, stop!" Takeshi's voice rang out, signaling an end to the relentless pursuit. The once-blazing speed of the mouse puppet had dwindled to a sluggish half of its original pace.

Despite their best efforts, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin had yet to capture the elusive puppet. They were close, so close enough that they might suceed in next couple attempts, but Takeshi decided it was time for a break.

The trio stumbled back, sweat pouring down their faces. Takeshi pressed his paw on the mouse puppet, deactivating it with a deliberate tap. Kakashi, always stoic, looked utterly spent, his breath ragged as he dragged his weary frame forward.

Obito, on the other hand, was in far worse shape. He had pushed himself beyond his limits, opening the Gate of Opening from the Eight Inner Gates technique in desperation, yet he had still failed. Now, his muscles screamed in protest, and his body teetered on the brink of collapse.

Rin, though visibly tired, was the least exhausted of the three. Unlike her teammates, she lacked an immediate-boost technique like the Eight Inner Gates. Her endurance came from consistent physical conditioning rather than sudden bursts of strength. 

As a medical ninja, her physical prowess was exceptional compared to most kunoichi in her age group, rivaled only by Hana Inuzuka, whose rigorous training with her ninken was unmatched, and Kurenai, molded by her stern Jonin father. But when compared to Kakashi and Obito, her physical strength clearly fell short.

No amount of effort or clever tactics had been enough to catch the mouse puppet. Even with Kakashi's calculated movements and Obito's sheer determination, the puppet's agility rendered their attempts futile. Rin hadn't stood a chance.

As the trio gathered before Takeshi, their gazes reflected a mixture of frustration and grudging admiration. It was undeniable—this peculiar, mischievous cat had an uncanny ability to push them to their limits. 

Whatever doubts they had about Takeshi's unconventional training methods had been momentarily silenced by the reality of their own inadequacies.

"Meow~ How was it?" Takeshi asked, picking up the mouse puppet.

Kakashi and Obito had contributed a lot today, nearly a thousand points in total. As Chunins, this number was definitely their best effort.

Obito collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. "I... I give up..." he panted, shaking his head in defeat. His frustration was evident, and the sight of the puppet only fueled his exasperation. "That mouse is just as mean as you, Takeshi!"

"Meow~ What do you have to say, Kakashi?" Takeshi didn't plan to let him go, as this was a good opportunity to grab points. With Takeshi's high rank, there was no need to worry about retaliation. 

Kakashi took a deep breath and said, "I apologize for my arrogance before."

Kakashi clenched his jaw, his gloved hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though he might destroy the puppet in a fit of rage. But reason prevailed. 

He loosened his grip and exhaled deeply, forcing himself to speak with measured calm. "I apologize for my earlier arrogance."

Takeshi smirked, clearly enjoying the sight of Kakashi swallowing his pride. Before the conversation could continue, Rin raised her hand tentatively. 

Takeshi turned to her, nodding his head in a gesture of acknowledgment.

"We're not strong enough," Rin admitted, her voice steady despite the weight of her confession. "I'm the weakest when it comes to physical capabilities. But if we're going to catch that puppet, we need a proper strategy. Kakashi and Obito need to focus on speed and coordination, while I take a support role to block escape routes. If we work together, we can corner it."

Her proposal was practical, rooted in an honest assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. Takeshi's whiskers twitched in approval. 

No matter how fast Kakashi and Obito were, they were still only three people. If the distance between them was too large, the mouse puppet could slip through.

"Then, let's continue training, meow~. First of all, you all need to carry weights. Are you prepared?" The three of them shook their heads in unison. 

Before the training started, they would just come here, display their skills, and return within a couple of hours. They underestimated the intensity of Takeshi's training.

"It's okay, meow, I know the Flying Thunder God," Takeshi said.

"..." 'I know you know the Flying Thunder God, please don't keep bragging about it!' Kakashi and Obito couldn't helpAfter some time, Minato sent a bunch of wrist and ankle weights, along with weighted vests, using the Flying Thunder God.

After some time, Minato sent a bunch of wrist, ankle weights, along with weighted vest with Flying Thunder God.

Takeshi gave them the choice to decide how much weight they wanted to carry. If they decided to be lazy, then they would only prolong their training, and he could mock them more...

'Besides, more tears in peacetime mean less blood in war. This is for their own good,' Takeshi thought, rationalizing the suffering he was about to put them through.

The vigorous training of catching forest rats began. They had to keep the weights on at all times during this training and were not allowed to use chakra to climb trees. They had to rely on their physical capabilities!

As the training started, 'puff!' smoke surrounded Kakashi.

"Woof woof!"

As the training resumed, Kakashi formed a hand seal and summoned his eight ninja dogs in a puff of smoke. Pakkun, the leader of the pack, tilted his head quizzically. "Kakashi, what's the emergency?"

Kakashi hesitated, unsure of how to explain their predicament. Before he could respond, Rin stepped forward and bowed. "We need your help to locate forest rats," she said politely.

"???" The eight dogs were all confused. 'Find rats? We are ninja dogs, you have someone more capable for handling this beside you! You don't need eight ninja dogs when there is this black cat.' While no words were spoken, their body language and expressions were clear.

"So this is what happened..." Kakashi's face started blushing from shame, and even his mask couldn't completely hide it, as even his forehead gained a red tint. While he would've preferred to use a cat for this, Takeshi had banned Rin from summoning Nekomata, so they were stuck relying on the ninja dogs for this task.

However, before he could reach Kakashi... "Meow~ Let me tell you, you are just looking for rats, not catching them. Catching them is their task. Do you have any objection?" Takeshi used the Multi-Size jutsu to intimidate and scare them into agreeing.

"Woof!" The dogs froze, their tails drooping under Takeshi's imposing gaze. "No objections," Pakkun said quickly, shooting a warning glance at his siblings. "We'll do it."

"Woof!"

"Woof! woof!"

"Calm down, this... if we are just looking for them, we have no objection," Pakkun quickly agreed before his hotheaded siblings could do something rash. He didn't dare to be rude to this cat, speaking before his siblings could badmouth him, as Pakkun had a strong hunch that this cat could somehow understand their canine language...

"Meow!" Takeshi nodded, returned to his original size, and waved his paws, indicating they could start training. 

While Pakkun was afraid this job would be degrading, as the training began, he felt that this task wasn't that bad.

Although it was indeed quite disrespectful to dogs, Kakashi, who was wearing weights and could not use chakra, was too easy for them to bully. If they ran a little faster, they could leave Kakashi behind. This was a happiness he had never felt before.

So, Pakkun, following Takeshi's lead, started messing with Kakashi by always staying *just* out of his reach, causing him to keep running ahead. Takeshi watched with joy, thinking that Pakkun deserved to be rewarded, but this poor dog didn't realize that Kakashi was onto his act.

The more Pakkun messed with him, the greater the revenge he would suffer after Kakashi completed this special training. The essence of bullying is realizing who you can mess with and who you cannot. Takeshi isn't dumb enough to bite the hand that feeds him; he doesn't bully Rin.

There's also example of Orochimaru, while Takeshi knows which people he can play with, if he messed with Orochimaru or his experiments, then Takeshi will become Snake Sannin's next experiment. Messing with him is just asking to be killed.

Jiraiya is a good man. Although he was lustful, he was indeed a good man. With such a person, Takeshi didn't need to worry that Jiraiya would kill him if angered enough. At most, he would just dunk this cat into water. At worst, he would give this cat a couple of beatings.

Takeshi has thought long and hard on how to proceed with his goals after he gained the system and had the ability to save himself, but Pakkun... He was probably going to die. In his heart, Takeshi decided which flowers to send to Pakkun's grave, and then quietly followed his team to observe their progress.

Although the team was allowed to choose how much weight they wanted to carry, the three of them still decided to carry as much weight as they could handle. 

Obito's weight was beyond his limit—he was deliberately challenging himself. This was a good start. Even if it was difficult at the beginning, as Obito continued to train and surpassed his current limits, perhaps this could help him in his Eight Inner Gates technique.

Their current task of catching rats was just a special training in physical skills, and there would definitely be special training in ninjutsu as well.

"Kakashi, I found one, it's behind that tree!" Obito shouted in the distance. The two were quite excited, but their steps were extremely heavy with the weights on.

Forget catching forest rats; they might not be able to catch any rats even on plain ground. It was the same for Rin, who also added enough weight to push her limits.

While training beyond the limit could damage the body to a certain extent, as a medical ninja, Rin could treat everyone in time after training without leaving any hidden injuries.

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