The Rat Puppet shrieked, slipping from Raj's paw and darting away.
Kakashi and Obito froze, dumbfounded.
'Is this the same half-dead rat from before? What a deception!'
"This, this..." Obito stammered, turning to Kakashi.
'Our teammate's going to chase it on one leg?'
"Chase it! What are you waiting for?!"
Rin reacted fastest, leaping into action with the Body Flicker Technique.
But her speed was too slow to catch up.
"I, I..."
"Chase it!" Obito sprinted forward, knowing that if they didn't act fast, the Rat would vanish completely.
Kakashi stammered a few uncertain "I..."s before finally joining the chase.
Before they started running, everyone had assumed the Rat was crippled, but as soon as it moved, they realized it was King-Rank.
The most infuriating part was...
"Someone promised to hop on one foot, didn't they?"
Raj had been keeping pace with Kakashi the entire time, its speed perfectly matched to his.
'This is definitely deliberate!'
Kakashi seethed inwardly.
If he could take it back, he would never have made that boast.
Now, he couldn't even think about keeping his promise to hop on one foot; even running on both legs, he was struggling to keep up, let alone on one.
His only option was to shake off the cat first.
He channeled Chakra to stimulate his body, doubling his speed in a sudden burst forward.
But almost immediately, he realized...
'The damn cat was still right behind him. Is it made of taffy?!'
"Aren't you supposed to summon your dogs? Can you still track the Rat?" Raj asked with mock concern.
"I can find it!"
Though Kakashi's expression was hidden by his mask, the way his jaw clenched beneath the fabric suggested he was gritting his teeth.
He was now running with desperate intensity, pushing himself to his absolute limit.
Even Raj, without opening the first Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, couldn't keep up.
'Thank goodness for the Flying Thunder God Technique.'
Kakashi was full of bluster, but he had no chance of finding the Rat Puppet.
He wasn't a cat or a dog, so he lacked the keen sense of smell needed.
The Rat Puppet had long since vanished, its exact location known only to Raj.
Of course, Raj knew exactly where it was.
The Rat Puppet was essentially a toy.
It would run a short distance and stop, only resuming its flight when someone approached.
But its speed was overwhelming.
Even if Kakashi knew its location, he couldn't possibly catch it.
Raj stopped following him and instead observed Rin and Obito from behind.
Obito was fast, barely lagging behind
Kakashi.
Rin's Taijutsu, however, was clearly the weakest among the three, leaving her far behind Obito.
Overall... Their teamwork was nonexistent, their strategy nonexistent.
This was to be expected.
Even Raj hadn't anticipated the Rat Puppet's speed last night, let alone Kakashi and his team.
For now, he'd let them experience its full-speed mode.
Later, they'd have to find ordinary mountain rats in the forest on their own.
Once they managed to catch the mountain rats, they could return to capture the Rat Puppet.
This was Raj's training plan.
For now, the Rat Puppet's Chakra alone would keep them occupied for a while.
It was virtually impossible for the three of them to catch it in the short term.
When the Rat Puppet's Chakra dwindled and its speed noticeably decreased, Raj would decisively call a halt.
A perfect plan!
"Stop!" Raj shouted decisively.
The Rat Puppet's speed had already dropped to half its original pace.
Although Kakashi, Obito, and Rin still hadn't found it, continuing the chase would inevitably lead to the puppet being caught once its "battery ran out."
Black Cat pinned down the Rat Puppet, switching it to its inactive state.
Kakashi, who had been pushing himself to the limit and was now exhausted, dragged his weary body back.
Obito was in even worse shape - he had opened the Gate of Opening and then stubbornly continued the chase for far too long, and his fatigue hadn't yet subsided.
Rin was in the best condition, because... well, she lacked any explosive techniques and relied solely on her Taijutsu speed, which wasn't particularly outstanding.
Of course, as a Support Player, her Taijutsu was still considered above average.
Among the female classmates, only Hana Inuzuka, who walked her dog daily, and Kurenai, raised by a strict father, could avoid Rin.
But in front of Kakashi and Obito, her Taijutsu was at a junior level.
If Kakashi and Obito couldn't even catch a dead rat, she stood no chance.
The three stood before Raj.
Whatever they had thought before, at this moment, they believed Raj possessed the ability to torment them and force them to improve.
"Meow~ How was it?" Raj shook his head and lifted the Rat Puppet.
Kakashi and Obito had performed admirably this round, contributing nearly a thousand points combined.
As Chunin, this score represented their absolute limit.
"I... I give up," Obito gasped, breathless from exhaustion.
The rat had been too slippery.
Even when he and Kakashi managed to track it down, they couldn't catch it.
Worse, it would deliberately stop running after a short distance, displaying the same infuriatingly cunning nature as Raj himself.
"Meow~ What about you, Kakashi?" Raj had no intention of letting him off the hook.
This was a golden opportunity to farm points, with high returns and no risk of retaliation.
Kakashi remained silent, his hand twitching toward his blade.
If he could use his sword, he could've easily slain the Rat Puppet earlier.
But he couldn't.
He took a deep breath and said, "I apologize for my earlier arrogance."
At that moment, Rin raised her hand.
Raj tilted his head and nodded slightly, signaling her to speak.
"Our strength is insufficient. My Taijutsu is the weakest, but I need to at least keep up with the Rat Puppet. Kakashi and Obito need to surpass its speed and form a triangular formation with me. Only then will we have a chance to capture it."
Rin clearly understood her limitations, so she positioned herself in the easiest role within the plan.
Of course, even that would be extremely challenging for her.
No matter how fast Kakashi and Obito were, they were still just three people.
If the distance between them was too great, the Rat Puppet could slip through the gap.
"Alright, let's start training, meow~ First, we'll add weights. Do you have any prepared?"
The three shook their heads in unison.
They hadn't prepared for long-term training at all.
They'd assumed they would simply demonstrate their skills and return.
Who could've imagined Raj would be such a devilish taskmaster?
"It's fine, meow! I have the Flying Thunder God Technique."
'...I know you have the Flying Thunder God Technique, but please stop showing off!'
Kakashi and Obito gritted their teeth, barely managing to suppress their bitter tears.
This cat was just too much.
After a long while, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to deliver a pile of weighted ninja tools.
Raj treated everyone equally, letting them choose their own weights.
Slacking off was fine - they'd just have to train harder later if they couldn't catch the Rat.
Plus, then he could mock them...
'After half a month of training, you still can't even catch a Rat!'
When it came to Points, even Rin wasn't spared.