Besides, more tears she'd in training meant less blood spilled in battle.
'He was doing it for their own good, right?'
Raj thought to himself with a clear conscience.
The grand Mountain Rat hunt began.
They had to catch the Mountain Rats in the forest while wearing massive weights, forbidden from using Chakra-enhanced tree-climbing or mountain-climbing techniques.
It was all about Taijutsu!
But before all that...
"Woof woof!"
"Kakashi, why did you call us all out? Is there a mission?"
The eight Ninja Dogs were summoned.
Pakkun, the "brain of the pack," stepped forward to ask the question, but Kakashi found himself unable to answer his surprisingly simple query.
He hesitated, carefully considering how to explain.
After a long pause, Rin bowed apologetically.
"I'm sorry. We wanted your help finding a rat."
The eight hounds were stunned.
A rat? Isn't that the kind of job Ninja Dogs are supposed to handle?
Besides, aren't there more qualified creatures right next to you?
Why use eight dogs when you have a cat?
Are you out of your mind?!
Though the words remained unspoken, the hounds' expressions conveyed their disbelief perfectly.
"Here's the thing..." Kakashi's face flushed crimson, the blush reaching all the way to his forehead, even visible beneath his mask.
If he could've used a cat, he wouldn't have summoned the dogs.
But Raj had blocked Rin's attempts to enlist Matatabi's help, making the idea of using dogs to catch a rat seem utterly absurd.
"Woof!" Pakkun leaped up, snapping his jaws at Kakashi's hand.
'This is an insult to dogs!'
But just then...
"Meow~ Just to clarify, you're only finding the rats, not catching them. That's their job. Any objections?"
Raj used the Expansion Jutsu, his body doubling in size to become twice as large as the biggest of the eight dogs.
His sheer size was intimidating, and his eyes were downright terrifying to canines.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Calm down, calm down... If we're just finding them, we have no objections."
Pakkun quickly backed down.
He dared to talk tough to Kakashi, but he wouldn't dream of crossing this cat.
He also didn't want his teammates to speak up, knowing the cat somehow understood feline language...
"Meow!" Raj nodded, reverting to his original size with a flick of his paw, signaling them to begin their training.
Pakkun initially found the task humiliating for dogs, but later realized it wasn't as bad as he'd feared.
While it was undeniably disrespectful to canines, Kakashi - wearing weighted gear and unable to use Chakra - was simply too easy to bully.
Even a slight increase in speed could leave Kakashi a block behind.
This was a joy Pakkun had never experienced before.
Possessed by the spirit of a black cat, Pakkun began to act recklessly, pushing his luck to the extreme.
Raj watched from the sidelines, amused.
'He deserves whatever's coming to him.'
But this time, it wasn't Raj who would pay the price - it was Kakashi.
The essence of reckless behavior lies in knowing when to push your luck and when to hold back.
Take Raj himself, for example.
He rarely acted recklessly around Orochimaru, because that man had no respect for life, let alone any concern for a cat's well-being.
Acting up in front of him was like dancing with Death itself.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, was a good man, albeit a lecherous one.
But he was genuinely a good person.
With someone like him, Raj knew he wouldn't be killed for his antics - at worst, he'd get a bath.
Or, at the very worst, she'd a layer of skin.
'What's so precious about a black pelt anyway?' Raj thought philosophically.
He was adaptable and capable of recovery.
But Pakkun... He's probably doomed.
In his heart, Raj lit a candle for the doomed dog, then quietly trailed behind the trio, observing the situation.
Although Raj let Rin and the others choose their own training methods, all three pushed themselves to their absolute limits.
Obito even exceeded his, deliberately challenging himself.
This was a good start.
Even if it was difficult at first, as Obito continued to train and surpass his limits, he might be able to unlock his second gate.
Of course, catching rats was just Taijutsu training.
They would inevitably have Ninjutsu training later, but that wasn't Raj's concern.
He only focused on physical training.
Asking him to teach Ninjutsu...
'Hah, that would be torturing himself.'
"Kakashi, I spotted one! Chase it down!"
Obito's shout echoed from afar.
Despite their excitement, their weighted gear made their movements sluggish.
They struggled to catch Mountain Rats even on flat ground, let alone in the rugged terrain.
Rin faced the same challenge.
The
The weighted gear affected everyone equally, and Rin had even pushed herself slightly beyond her limit.
Training beyond one's limits could damage the body, but as a Medical Ninja, she could provide immediate treatment after training, preventing any lingering injuries.
"I can't... I really can't go on anymore."
Obito collapsed onto the ground, clutching a Mountain Rat in his hand.
He had used the Gate of Opening and his Sharingan to catch the slippery rodent, but the exertion, combined with the weights he was carrying, had finally exhausted him completely.
"..."
Kakashi panted heavily, also unable to run any further.
Yet he refused to give up, having failed to catch a single Mountain Rat so far, while Obito had already caught one.
So he pressed on, chasing after the remaining rats.
Without using Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate his body, his speed was only slightly faster than Obito's normal pace.
Once Obito activated the Gate of Opening, he became significantly faster.
Kakashi realized he wasn't strong enough.
Even without Chakra, he was inferior to Obito.
During a break, before Raj could even provoke him, he bowed deeply and said, "Thank you."
"Thank you," he repeated.
Next, Rin and Obito also bowed their thanks.
Though exhausted, they recognized the value of the training.
More importantly, Raj's methods had snapped them out of the arrogance that came with their recent promotion to Chunin.
This reaction completely baffled Raj.
It had prepared itself to berate Obito and Kakashi, but instead, they gave it this?
As for Rin... Raj wasn't worried about Rin getting upset.
She only showed mild resentment when she had to take the blame for its mistakes.
When it came to training and learning, she was remarkably enthusiastic.
Rin had a good temperament and worked hard.
She had also often taken the blame for Raj's misdeeds, which was crucial.
If Obito had been its owner, he likely wouldn't have been willing to take the blame so readily.
That's why Raj had initially been quite invested in figuring out how to help Rin.
But after half a day, it realized it didn't need to help at all.
Rin worked tirelessly.