Chereads / Naruto: Paws and Whiskers / Chapter 147 - Chapter 147

Chapter 147 - Chapter 147

As they reached the camp, Asuma, still visibly puzzled, pulled Kakashi aside. "Did Takeshi really become a Special Jonin?" he asked, his tone edged with doubt and his brows furrowed in concern.

Although Kakashi had grown emotionally distant since his father's passing, there had been a time when he was more approachable. Because of this, his relationship with Asuma wasn't strained but wasn't particularly close either.

Kakashi nodded faintly, his face impassive, though his gaze seemed to drift elsewhere, lost in thought. His mind lingered on the intricate problem of high-speed turning, a skill few ninjas had mastered. Immediately, his thoughts turned to his sensei, Minato Namikaze, whose speed and agility were legendary.

Though Minato had yet to earn the title "Yellow Flash," his mastery of the Flying Thunder God technique had already made him a name in Konoha. Having spent considerable time under his mentorship, Kakashi understood that Minato's true strength lay not just in the technique but in his sharp perception and unparalleled reflexes, qualities that elevated him to the level of an Elite Jonin.

Minato often utilized his speed to eliminate even experienced Jonin with ease. In contrast, while Kakashi could push himself to defeat lower-ranked Jonin or Special Jonin, he was keenly aware that his lack of high-speed maneuverability made him vulnerable to more perceptive opponents. Determined not to leave such a glaring weakness unaddressed, Kakashi resolved to work on this flaw.

Later that evening, during dinner, Kakashi sat beside Minato and cautiously brought up the issue. From across the tent, Takeshi's sharp feline eyes tracked the two, though his primary focus drifted to the tempting aroma of food wafting through the air.

Meanwhile, Kurenai leaned closer to Rin, her eyes alight with curiosity. "What kind of training are you doing with Takeshi? What's the focus? I want to be prepared mentally," she asked eagerly.

Raido Namiashi, however, sat quietly at a distance, saying nothing. Coming from a civilian family with no personal connections to the others, he seemed resigned to simply following orders and training with whatever was offered. He had little choice but to adapt.

Nearby, Takeshi idly scratched behind his ear with a hind claw before padding over to Jiraiya, his ears perked in interest. 

Despite the uneasy truce between them, Takeshi and Jiraiya rarely saw eye to eye. Though Takeshi respected Asuma's team as a solid Genin squad, he viewed them as woefully unprepared for the harsh realities of battle.

Even Obito, with his famously rocky start as a ninja, could easily outmatch Asuma, the team's strongest member. Takeshi couldn't help but muse that while Asuma had promising talent, no one would dare send the Third Hokage's son or the cherished daughter of Jonin Shinku Yuhi into true battlefield danger so early in their careers.

Jiraiya, meanwhile, appeared to be lost in thought, likely brainstorming ideas for his next story. He chewed his food absentmindedly until a faint sound pulled him from his reverie. 

Takeshi approached quietly, his paws making barely a sound. "Huh?" As soon as he approached, Jiraiya woke up instantly, as if he had a "Takeshi alert" installed in his mind. 

Narrowing his gaze, Jiraiya gripped his meal protectively and resumed eating. After a few bites, he finally asked, "What do you want?"

Takeshi's tail twitched in irritation. "Meow, do you think I'm after your scraps?" His disdain was evident, his thoughts shouting, 'Why would I want your half-eaten food?' There was plenty in his own storage space. 

Jiraiya snorted, pretending to ignore the jab. Still, his guarded expression lingered, as if to say, 'Try me, and I'll put you in your place.'

Jumping onto Jiraiya's shoulder, Takeshi leaned in and whispered, "About Asuma's team... Are you going to dump their training on me too?"

Around them, the camp bustled with activity, but sharp-eared Jonin were always listening. Despite their professionalism, boredom often made them worse gossips than ordinary ninjas.

"..."

Jiraiya hesitated, his lips pressing into a thin line. When it came to Asuma, even he felt exasperated. As an insider, he understood why Asuma was so eager to join the battlefield: the promotion of Obito to Chunin.

Obito is a member of the Uchiha clan, and he used to be a well-known loser in the class. No one except Rin cared about him. However, not long after he was on the battlefield, he became a Chunin.

Little monkey thinks that he is more talented than Obito, so he is unwilling to fall behind. Of course, if it were just that, Jiraiya would not have such a headache. Another reason for his headache is that this child is far too reckless and messed up thought process.

For example, Asuma often argued with others about their interpretation of the Will of Fire, trying to apply it to everything he saw.

With the Third Hokage preoccupied by his duties, Asuma's behavior had grown increasingly erratic in a bid for attention. Only Kurenai seemed capable of keeping him in check.

Then again, there was one other force capable of handling him: Takeshi. This insight had come from the Third Hokage himself, conveyed in a letter to Jiraiya. 

"Meow? Oi! Say something already!" Takeshi growled, his tail lashing impatiently. 'Why are you dragging this out? Just spit it out!'

Jiraiya scratched his chin, pretending to deliberate. Finally, he murmured, "Take him off my hands for a while. You're not on any pressing missions anyway."

"I still haven't 'repaid' you for throwing my team's special training on me, meow!, Takeshi's ears flattened as his claws extended menacingly

"Ahem, fine. I'll give you an extra 10% of the royalties once I publish," Jiraiya offered, trying to placate the irritated feline.

"Meow! Oh right! You didn't tell me how the royalties are divided!" Takeshi had indeed forgotten about this.

The last time he asked Jiraiya about the royalties, this guy was too vague and threw technical jargon at him, and Takeshi had forgotten about it afterward because of training his team. Fortunately, he brought it up. Not to mention the threat of being transfered to Orochimaru was still on the air.

Caught off guard, Jiraiya held up three fingers with some embarrassment and annoyance, before reluctantly adding a fourth under Takeshi's withering glare.

"No more! I'm the one writing!"

"Meow, that's fair. But don't think you're adding Asuma to my workload without proper compensation," Takeshi declared, his sharp eyes daring Jiraiya to argue

Jiraiya was speechless. 'You are getting far too greedy, little kitten! Isn't an extra 10% of the royalties enough? Don't you know how popular this book will be in the future?'

An extra 10% was already a huge benefit. It's not like this cat had anything to spend the money on, anyway. This cat didn't understand the value of money.

As he cursed this cat in his heart, Jiraiya's brain was also thinking about how to make Takeshi take over Asuma's training willingly. After a few minutes, he felt that this matter was very difficult to handle.

The main reason was that he didn't know what Takeshi actually wanted. After thinking about it, he simply asked, "What do you want, then?"

Takeshi responded immediately. "Meow, get me an assistant—preferably one who can handle Asuma."

Jiraiya gave him a flat stare. 'If I had someone who could deal with Asuma, do you think I'd be asking you?'

Takeshi noticed the contempt in Jiraiya's expression but leaned closer whispering. "Meow, pass the responsibility to Shinku Yuhi. You think he'd trust a cat with his daughter's training?"

"..." 

At that moment, Jiraiya's gaze shifted to Shinku, whose narrowed eyes and stiff posture suggested he was already aware of their conversation. A Genjutsu master like Shinku would have little difficulty piecing together fragments of a hushed discussion. 

Jiraiya nodded whispering, "Why don't you tell Shinku yourself?"

'Hmm?' Takeshi looked up and met Shinku's eyes, who was a bit further away. 'Hmm... there's something weird about his body, that I can't put my paw on...'

The Genjutsu master nodded with a look of indifference, and his body melted like wax. Takeshi noticed another Shinku standing relatively closer.

'Tsk, his Genjutsu is quite high level.' Takeshi didn't even realize he was in genjutsu until a second before Shinku canceled it. 'So he also knew when I became aware of his genjutsu?'

"Yuhi-san, I'll ask you to look after him for a while. As for Asuma... you don't need to bother much with him. It doesn't matter if he spends time doing his own training. Just give him some advice," Jiraiya said while looking at another corner of the room.

After getting his orders, Shinku canceled the genjutsu, and Takeshi couldn't help but sigh after seeing this at being caught in double layered Genjutsu, before realizing why his genjutsu body felt off, its scent was strange.

'He doesn't look happy about this, but which father has a good impression of the guy who is chasing after his daughter?' Especially Asuma, whose recent behavior was quite reckless and careless. Pulling his team to the battlefield and risking his daughter's life.

Forget teaching Asuma; he would be lucky if he didn't get beaten up by Shinku. But since Shinku agreed to assist Takeshi, the cat gave a sigh of relief. 'This is good news.'

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