'Pocket change!'
"Let's hurry and find Inoichi. I really have something urgent to discuss."
Seeing the situation "resolved," Minato awkwardly changed the subject.
Fortunately, Gaku Inuzuka didn't dwell on it - it takes two to tango, after all, and even his own dog had its flaws.
After that, there were no more opportunities for physical action, but farming Points doesn't always require violence.
Sometimes, a well-placed glare can earn you a few.
Of course, a simple intimidating look won't yield many Points, but it's better than nothing.
The Big Brown Dog was miserable.
It could feel a sword-like gaze piercing its back - the glare of a bully-like Ninja Cat.
That guy had started by spitting on it, and when the dog angrily confronted him, it turned out to be no match and got thoroughly beaten.
Just when it thought it could regain some dignity, "Big Mouthful" blasted it away with another torrent of saliva.
What stung most was being utterly outmatched by a cat.
In the end, it had slunk away to hide in the distance, too afraid to approach.
In all its life, it had never suffered such humiliation.
'No, I can't let this go. With my master here...'
"Brownie, stay focused! We need to hurry back to camp."
"Woof!"
The dog barked, then, its heart heavy, sprinted forward at full speed.
Raj narrowed his eyes slightly.
'That dog was definitely plotting something against me just now. It has to be!'
It wasn't telepathy; the System Panel had suddenly jumped by over a hundred Points.
Previously, it had only been increasing by ten or twenty Points at a time.
Such a sudden spike meant something was definitely up.
'That dumb dog still wants to mess with me.'
Raj made a mental note.
This meant the dog wasn't like the other simpletons of the Inuzuka Clan.
It had ambition and ideas, refusing to be demoralized by a single defeat.
There would still be opportunities to squeeze more Points out of it in the future.
But now wasn't the time.
Raj knew his limits.
Minato was currently preoccupied with important matters, and any rash move might invite severe consequences.
He followed along with the others, but Minato and Gaku Inuzuka were moving so quickly that they gradually pulled ahead, leaving the rest behind.
The Big Brown Dog glanced back and stuck its tongue out at Raj triumphantly.
'Why is he just handing over free kills?'
Black Cat paused for a moment, then swiftly accelerated.
Before long, he overtook Big Brown Dog and leaped onto Minato's shoulder.
Minato glanced at him briefly but didn't brush him off.
Since Minato was slightly faster than Gaku Inuzuka, he soon pulled ahead of the big dog.
As Big Brown Dog ran, he strained his neck to look up at his master, then glanced at his own massive frame...
Even though he wasn't particularly bright, he understood that Gaku Inuzuka couldn't carry him on his shoulder like Minato did.
This had nothing to do with friendship or camaraderie; it was simply because he was too big.
'Damn it, I've been outdone again.'
Dejected, he temporarily abandoned any thoughts of competing with Raj.
'Another point added to my score.'
'It's not much, but it's enough for half a bag of Ninja Cat Special Food.'
'Tsk...'
'Speaking of which, Haimaru also goes through periodic growth spurts.'
'Looking at it this way, ninja dogs are just like leeks - they keep getting harvested!'
Raj's thoughts leaped wildly from points to Big Brown Dog to Haimaru and finally to leeks.
With Minato carrying him, he didn't need to exert himself running.
The saved energy and stamina were essentially useless, so it was only natural that his mind wandered.
Soon, Minato reached the encampment.
"Raj, this belongs to Inoichi Yamanaka. Can you use your sense of smell to help me find him?"
Minato produced a small ornament.
"Meow~"
Raj stared at it for a moment, then sniffed it before leaping off Minato's shoulder and leading the way.
In just two or three minutes, he led Minato to a tent.
The scent was strongest here.
"Is this the place?"
Minato was about to enter the tent when a voice called out from behind:
"You guys are... Oh, Minato! You got here so quickly!"
The newcomer carried a massive iron staff.
He was an Akimichi Clan ninja, and judging by his physique and appearance, he was likely a younger version of Akimichi Choza.
'He looks exactly like a grown-up Choji!'
Raj turned to stare at the young, chubby man, secretly relieved that the energy for his Expansion Jutsu came primarily from Sage Art Chakra integrated into his flesh and the heat from food, rather than fat.
Otherwise, he might have to eat himself into a certain weight to use it.
'That would truly be... Hiss! Unthinkable!'
While Fat Orange was undeniably cute, Raj was a black cat.
If he got too fat, he'd look more like a wild boar than a plump feline, completely ruining his image.
"It's urgent. I need Inoichi to process a corpse quickly. Can he spare some time?"
"No problem," Akimichi Choza nodded, immediately leading him into the tent.
Raj followed.
The tent appeared small from the outside, but inside, a hidden mechanism revealed a secret underground passage.
Beyond the passage door lay the camp's most clandestine area.
This was the Yamanaka Clan's temporary headquarters, where Anbu ninja skilled in interrogation operated on the front lines.
For some reason, the moment Raj entered the cellar, a bone-chilling cold enveloped him.
He sensed that this place... felt unclean.
Looking around, he understood the source of the impurity.
The cellar was filled with either unconscious or dead ninja, resembling a hellish underworld or a demon's lair.
Most were Sunagakure ninja, but there were also some Konoha ninja who had died in battle.
These were spies who had been operating undercover in the Land of Wind and had recently been exposed during a large-scale purge.
Very few spies managed to escape to the border before dying; most perished within the Land of Wind, unable to bring back any intelligence.
"Inoichi."
"I have the body of a Rogue Ninja from Iwagakure here. See if you can extract anything useful from it quickly."
As Minato spoke, he formed hand seals and cast the Seal Release Technique, releasing the corpse from its sealed state.
Moments later, the Iwagakure Ninja's body lay before them.
A scratch marked the forehead protector.
This meant that even if Konoha presented the body to Onoki, the short-tempered old man would undoubtedly claim the deceased was a Rogue Ninja they had been hunting themselves, perhaps even thanking Konoha for eliminating the traitor and offering a token reward.
In short, the corpse's identity held no value whatsoever.
"Let me handle this."
Inoichi Yamanaka nodded slightly.