Taijutsu Sparring

At Training Ground Six, Akaseki and Inuzuka Tsume, along with Kuromaru, had already taken their positions on opposite sides. However, after Inuzuka Tsume said something to him, Kuromaru whimpered and reluctantly retreated a few steps.

Although Akaseki had told Inuzuka Tsume and Kuromaru to "come at me together," Inuzuka Tsume had no intention of letting Kuromaru join in once she confirmed they were "only sparring in taijutsu."

The two sides then performed the Seal of Confrontation as a gesture of sparring etiquette, and at the same time...

"Sharingan, activate!" Akaseki opened his eyes first as a courtesy.

Noticing the change in Akaseki's eyes, Inuzuka Tsume was first serious, then immediately... surprised!

"Your left eye..." Inuzuka Tsume said in shock.

She certainly knew that Akaseki had awakened his eyes—after all, she hadn't been absent from the graduation ceremony!

In particular, the timing of Akaseki's awakening was something Inuzuka Tsume remembered vividly...

But it had only been a month and a half, and Akaseki already had another tomoe?

"Is this already a Two-Tomoe?" Inuzuka Tsume asked, suspicious and amazed.

"This is called a Two-Tomoe..." Akaseki corrected her.

Kuromaru, who had originally sat down, stood back up, but Inuzuka Tsume calmed him and sent him back again.

"You can both come at me. The Inuzuka clan's Human-Beast Combination Technique can't be used without a ninja dog, right?" Akaseki said as a matter of course.

"Not necessary. Your eyes have only evolved, which doesn't provide much help for taijutsu," Tsume said, knowing well—the general strength of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan was not exactly a secret in Konoha.

Hearing this, Akaseki didn't say anything more. He simply assumed the starting stance of Uchiha Style Taijutsu: his center of gravity lowered but his footing light, left hand with a sunken elbow and palm extended forward, right palm facing backward as if supporting his lower back, ready to dodge, parry, and counterattack.

Inuzuka Tsume knew the characteristics of the Uchiha clan's taijutsu, so she didn't offer any false modesty. Instead, she crouched down and braced her hands against the ground...

Under the stimulation of chakra, her fingernails elongated into sharp claws, and her knuckles became more prominent.

Because the Inuzuka clan wore sandals for generations, one could see that her toes, which were only slightly slender before, had also undergone changes like the claws of a beast.

"Four-Legs Technique!"

"Oh?" Akaseki was slightly surprised.

At the same time, if one looked closely, they would find that the most important thing wasn't these small, obvious details, but that her overall body proportions had changed!

Otherwise, Inuzuka Tsume wouldn't be able to stand on all fours so naturally...

Back at the ninja academy, Inuzuka Tsume hadn't been able to mimic a beast like this. At the very least, her overall posture hadn't changed so significantly, and her hands wouldn't have rested on the ground so naturally; they would have just hung down.

"Congratulations on being able to support yourself."

Although Akaseki was paying a compliment, the sarcastic tone made Inuzuka Tsume snort coldly. Her figure flashed and vanished; she had used the Body Flicker Technique, enhanced by the beast-like posture of the Four-Legs Technique, to instantly appear behind Akaseki...

Just as her sharp claws struck toward Akaseki's waist, and it looked as if her nails were about to tear through his clothes... Akaseki moved!

In an instant, he shifted from his starting stance into a twisting, parrying motion, actually swatting away Inuzuka Tsume's preemptive strike.

Akaseki swatted away her claw with his left hand, and his right index and middle fingers poked toward her face like a spear, though unfortunately, Inuzuka Tsume dodged it by leaping away.

After Akaseki infused his fingers with chakra, the sharp poke only managed to cut off two strands of her hair—if it had landed, she would have at least ended up with a black eye!

Moreover, if this had been the Inuzuka Tsume from a month and a half ago, she wouldn't have been able to dodge it...

Whenever an opponent's taijutsu was weaker, Akaseki's "parry" would actually succeed. However, the stronger the opponent's taijutsu, the less room there was for error in timing, whether for parrying or dodging.

"Not bad." The wild look on Tsume's face grew more intense.

Seeing that her progress was greater than he had imagined, Akaseki didn't dare to be careless and assumed the Uchiha Style starting stance again.

Inuzuka Tsume realized that with the Sharingan's dynamic vision, using the Body Flicker Technique to flank him was a complete waste of effort. It would be better to...

This time, Inuzuka Tsume charged head-on, running on all fours and launching a relentless assault. Facing the lunging Inuzuka Tsume, Akaseki only leaned back slightly to dodge. He only took a step back when she took a step forward. Once he found an opening after dodging another attack, he launched a precise counterattack, striking Inuzuka Tsume in the face with a curled-finger tiger palm!

Inuzuka Tsume's face was knocked to the side, her mouth opened, and her saliva sprayed out like a mist...

Seeing Inuzuka Tsume scrambling backward, Akaseki calmly resumed his starting stance without pursuing her—after all, he was looking for a "sparring partner," not trying to win at all costs.

Woof, woof, woof—

Seeing his master in such a sorry state, Kuromaru couldn't help but bark.

"You've improved a lot." Inuzuka Tsume said, wiping her wrist across her face and the corner of her mouth.

Then...

"Kuromaru!" Inuzuka Tsume, who was always ready to advance or retreat, immediately called Kuromaru into the fray.

Kuromaru had a coat of gray-blue fur, and his shoulder height reached Inuzuka Tsume's chest, making him look quite formidable. As he arrived at her side, Tsume, who had just been at a disadvantage, immediately regained her confidence.

Tsume quickly formed hand seals: "Human-Beast Combination Technique!"

The next moment...

Poof—

After a burst of smoke, Inuzuka Tsume vanished, and in her place was... Kuromaru number two.

The Inuzuka clan had always been famous for raising ninja dogs, and their secret techniques were all based on coordination with them.

Ninja dogs, or "dogs," had been domesticated by humans to assist them for a long time, even... longer than the existence of "ninjas."

Ninja dogs were also typical "ninja beasts." They were animals that began to cultivate chakra alongside humans and gradually acquired it. The difference between them and the "Summoning Beasts" from various secret realms was that these Summoning Beasts had mastered chakra, or even special powers distinct from chakra, long before humans did. Theoretically, they were the same type of beings as the Demon Gods destroyed by the Sage of Six Paths...

The ninja dogs of the Inuzuka clan are all raised by the family themselves. From the moment they acquire a ninja dog, the strength of an Inuzuka ninja increases significantly, to the point where a genin with a dog is equivalent to a chunin.

As for the secret techniques of the Inuzuka clan, there are generally two main schools: one where the human turns into a dog, and another where the dog turns into a human. What Inuzuka Tsume is doing now is undoubtedly the human-to-dog transformation.

This is not a simple Transformation Technique, but one that truly allows the ninja to briefly possess the physical constitution of their partner ninja dog!

The next moment, two Kuromaru charged toward Akaseki, performing a "double dog play with the pearl" maneuver...

Akaseki could no longer hold his composure. He hunched over faster than usual, but because he dodged prematurely, his rhythm was completely ruined, and he was nearly bitten on the hand by the other Kuromaru.

Akaseki hurriedly used a Substitution Technique to retreat further back, putting some distance between them—although it was a taijutsu spar, it was generally understood that such auxiliary ninjutsu were permitted, just as Tsume had used the Four-Claw Technique and the Human-Beast Combination Technique.

"Tsume, could you please mind your image?" Akaseki glared at the Kuromaru that had just attempted to snatch the pearl.

The other Kuromaru, now annoyed and embarrassed, spoke up: "That's Kuromaru! I was biting your hand!"