"Kei-obasan, I'm here!"
In the evening, at the entrance to Akimichi Rou's house, Tatsuya pushed open the door and entered.
Woof! Woof!
As soon as the door opened, a large black shadow pounced on Tatsuya. The next moment, Tatsuya felt a tongue relentlessly licking his face.
"Cha-maru!"
With some difficulty, Tatsuya pushed the excited Cha-maru away and stood up, his face darkened slightly. He, a proud Chunin of Konoha, was repeatedly knocked over by his own ninja hound every time they met. It was utterly humiliating.
Thanks to Kyoko's ample provision of food, Cha-maru had not only grown to the size of an adult ninja dog, but his strength had also increased rapidly. In the confined space, Tatsuya had no chance to dodge its pounce.
Perhaps as a form of revenge for Tatsuya leaving him in Kyoko's care and neglecting him, tackling Tatsuya had become Cha-maru's standard greeting. Kyoko, on the other hand, utterly spoiled Cha-maru, essentially treating him like a pet, and never disciplined him for his behavior.
"Tatsuya-san..."
From behind the door, Kyoko emerged, blushing, and greeted him while leading Cha-maru away.
"Tatsuya, you're here! Come in, come in," Akimichi Kei called out from the doorway of the inner kitchen, a wide smile on her face after witnessing the scene. She then turned back to her cooking.
"Rou-oji-san."
Tatsuya entered the living room and saw that Akimichi Rou was also home.
"Hmm! You passed the Chunin Exam?" Akimichi Rou scanned Tatsuya and asked.
"Yes! I passed," Tatsuya nodded in response. He wasn't surprised that Akimichi Rou already knew about his participation in the special Chunin exam held separately by the village. He assumed that the clan's higher-ups had already been informed before the village decided to conduct the individual assessment.
"Good! At least you haven't disgraced your father. The elders were very pleased when they heard the news yesterday," Akimichi Rou said with a smile.
"I also owe a lot to Rou-oji-san's help," Tatsuya said with a grin, sitting down beside Akimichi Rou.
"The basics I taught you before are nothing significant. I can't take credit for your growth," Akimichi Rou waved his hand dismissively, not attributing Tatsuya's progress to himself.
After the laughter subsided, Akimichi Rou's expression became serious. He looked directly at Tatsuya and asked, "What's the deal with that ninja snake?"
"Rou-oji-san, I tamed that ninja snake more than six months ago. Back then, it was just an ordinary snake. I was busy improving my strength and taking on missions, so I didn't have time to manage it. I secretly released it into the Death Forest, not expecting it to grow to this extent in such a short time. If I hadn't happened to be training near the Death Forest yesterday, it probably would have been captured by the Hokage and the others," Tatsuya shrugged, indicating that he didn't know the specifics either.
Akimichi Rou remained noncommittal. He stared directly into Tatsuya's eyes and said, "Is that so? Cha-maru seemed to be your ninja beast previously, too, right?"
Tatsuya scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "Maybe it's because Kyoko is feeding him well!"
"Hehe, maybe! Regardless, having such a powerful summon is a great asset to both you and Kyoko," Akimichi Rou said, nodding after observing Tatsuya for a few seconds.
Judging by his expression, it was clear that Akimichi Rou didn't believe Tatsuya's explanation. While Tatsuya had been away, Kyoko had been taking care of Cha-maru, so Akimichi Rou and his wife were naturally familiar with the dog.
In just six months, Cha-maru's growth rate was far beyond that of an ordinary ninja dog. Although not as exaggerated as Seiryu's, it surpassed the growth of most ninja beasts. Because of this, Akimichi Rou's good friend, Inuzuka Ichiro, had repeatedly asked the clan to purchase Cha-maru, but Akimichi Rou had helped him refuse directly.
Both of Tatsuya's summons had such astonishing growth rates; this was definitely not a coincidence. He must have a secret related to it.
However, Akimichi Rou didn't intend to pry further. He and his wife considered Tatsuya as their nephew, and they felt only relief and happiness seeing his growth.
Hearing Tatsuya and Akimichi Rou's conversation, Kyoko sat obediently beside Tatsuya, her head lowered and her face flushed, like a shy young wife, remaining silent.
"Rou-oji-san, now that I'm a Chunin, is there any chance I could enter the clan's library to study?" Seeing that Akimichi Rou wasn't going to press the issue, Tatsuya quietly breathed a sigh of relief and changed the subject with a grin.
"You're still interested in that?" Akimichi Rou asked, surprised. He didn't understand why Tatsuya was so persistent about this!
"Yes, Rou-oji-san! After the past six months of training, my strength has hit a plateau. It will take a long time to improve further. I want to enter the library to study the training experiences of our clan's ancestors, to see if I can find a suitable solution. And, I also want to find out the reason for Kyoko's drastic changes in the past six months. If we could find a way to replicate it, it would be a great boon to our clan," Tatsuya said earnestly, his smile fading.
Tatsuya had long desired to incorporate the Akimichi clan's collected knowledge into his bio-chip's database.
Akimichi Rou fell silent. For a moment, the living room was filled with a brief quiet.
After a few moments, Akimichi Rou finally spoke, "Alright! I'll bring this up with the clan tomorrow. Whether or not it's approved will depend on the clan head's decision."
Tatsuya's request involved the core secret techniques of the Akimichi clan, so Akimichi Rou naturally couldn't agree directly. However, considering Tatsuya and Kyoko's changes over the past six months, Akimichi Rou was willing to give it a try.
Moreover, Tatsuya's last point had directly touched his heart. If Tatsuya could truly find a way to replicate Kyoko's transformation, it would be a monumental change for the entire Akimichi clan.
Maintaining rapid strength growth while also normalizing their body size was a long-cherished dream for the younger generation of the Akimichi clan. Aesthetics held a powerful allure for young people. Not everyone in the Akimichi clan enjoyed maintaining that gigantic physique for extended periods.
Seeing Akimichi Rou readily agree, a smile appeared on Tatsuya's face, and he began to steer the conversation towards more casual topics, chatting about everyday life.
Akimichi Kei prepared a lavish feast to welcome Tatsuya and Kyoko. Dinner continued in a joyful atmosphere until 9 p.m., when Tatsuya and Kyoko finally bid farewell to Akimichi Rou and Akimichi Kei and returned home.