A New Show

Huff—huff—huff—

Akaseki, Inuzuka Tsume, and Kuromaru were all sprawled on the ground, utterly exhausted.

For over two hours, Akaseki, Tsume, and Kuromaru had been sparring in taijutsu.

Thanks to Akaseki setting the example, they had all tacitly agreed not to press an advantage once they had gained it.

After each round ended, they gave one another time to recover.

Otherwise, with their stamina and skill, they wouldn't have been able to fight for two hours straight. Akaseki's Sharingan alone couldn't have stayed active for that long; he had switched it on and off throughout the session.

"I never expected... Kuromaru to be this strong," Akaseki marveled.

"Are you praising yourself?" Tsume said, pursing her lips.

"You... called me a dog?" Something about that felt off to Akaseki.

"Dog isn't an insult!"

Woof—

Kuromaru tried to summon the strength to lunge at him and bite him again...

Tsume had genuinely meant to praise Akaseki. Over the past two hours, the two of them and Kuromaru had traded blows for more than thirty rounds, and Akaseki had won more often than he'd lost.

After all, this was when the Inuzuka Clan had its greatest advantage: the period just after graduation!

"You're pretty impressive, too. For quite a few of those rounds, I couldn't find an opening at all," Akaseki said, uncharacteristically modest.

Tsume shook her head. "Kuromaru's stronger than I am right now. If I use the Human-Beast Combination Technique to imitate his physique, we'll be even stronger together. Once we're past this peak, Ninja Dogs are usually weaker than their masters. Then I'll have Kuromaru imitate my physique instead..."

That was right. Inuzuka ninja were a "strong early-game" type. They were formidable from graduation until they became Chunin, but once they reached Jonin rank, they tended to fade into obscurity—or even fail to make Jonin at all.

Their strengths also shifted from close-quarters taijutsu to more supportive skills, such as scent tracking and sensory abilities.

Yet Akaseki could already keep Tsume on the defensive, despite having graduated only recently. That showed how far apart they were.

"Yeah, my Sharingan's only on the verge of becoming Two-Tomoe right now. I can still reach Two-Tomoe, then Three-Tomoe... Hahaha." The moment Tsume mentioned his clan's secret technique, Akaseki perked right up, his modesty gone.

That was right. If a member of the Uchiha Clan could awaken the Sharingan—especially if they could advance to Three-Tomoe—they could stay strong through the early, middle, and late stages alike.

Tsume: ...

"You guy..." Tsume bared her canines again, but she was too tired to keep it up. She quickly settled down and asked, "Forget it... Your squad will probably go straight into the Chunin Ninja Exams in two months, right? You're not holding them back anymore."

"The Chunin Ninja Exams?" Akaseki was taken aback, then it clicked. Wasn't July 1 the start of the Chunin Ninja Exams every year?

It wasn't that Akaseki had a bad memory and needed to be reminded of something so important. He simply hadn't considered it before.

His career plan had been to advance through clan recommendation, so he'd never thought about taking the Chunin Ninja Exams!

For one thing, the exams required a team, and most members of the Uchiha Clan didn't work well with others. For another, "clan-recommended Chunin" was basically a way to place clan members in the Military Police Force. The Uchiha Clan recommended more members than any other clan, and it was practically taken for granted that joining the Military Police Force was the standard path for an Uchiha to become Chunin.

But Tsume's reminder brought the annual July exams back to mind...

"I suppose... we'll take them." Akaseki had initially wanted to say they wouldn't. Taking the Chunin Ninja Exams right after graduation was even rarer than becoming Chunin immediately after graduation.

Geniuses who made Chunin straight out of the Academy were usually promoted through special approval or special assessment, not the regular exam process.

But on second thought, the three members of Akaseki Squad were more than strong enough to pass the Chunin exams. Strength wasn't the only thing the exams tested, of course, but it was a universal advantage—and the final, most important stage was bound to test their strength.

More importantly, Akaseki remembered that three days earlier, when Jiraiya had announced their three-day break, he'd said that afterward he would put the three of them through their paces again...

Looking back now, Akaseki realized they would probably be getting two months of intensive training before the Chunin Ninja Exams!

"Don't get cocky. I'm not going to lose, either!" Tsume said, flipping up to her feet like a dog. She and Kuromaru headed off together.

Akaseki: ???

"Who said I was competing with you..." Akaseki was completely baffled. I'm an Uchiha, strong from beginning to end. You're an Inuzuka, strong only at the beginning!

Fire Style range +1.

Proud of himself, Akaseki headed to the edge of the Forest of Death to continue training. He often stayed out all night these days. When he got the Massage Device or the Correction Device, he would practice taijutsu, which was usually quiet. But when he got the Eye Protection Device, he had to train ninjutsu, and doing that in the clan compound wasn't convenient.

As for the training grounds, he had to book them, and he couldn't hog one for long.

So Akaseki usually immersed himself at the edge of the Forest of Death...

The Forest of Death was another name for Training Ground 44. Unlike the other training grounds, it was an entire forest inhabited by countless wild beasts and even Ninja Beasts with chakra. It stood on the outskirts of Konoha. In theory, the forest was part of Konoha, and the village's barrier encompassed it.

But because dangerous beasts roamed the Forest of Death, it had its own wooden barrier. There was no risk of a beast getting out, and Akaseki didn't have to worry about being ambushed outside. There were few people living nearby, too, so he could practice ninjutsu without disturbing anyone.

Akaseki had also realized that once he'd mastered the movements for taijutsu, what he needed most was sparring, followed by basic conditioning. Repeating the stances over and over didn't help as much as sparring, and it did even less to build his stamina than conditioning did.

So, at night, Akaseki focused mainly on conditioning and Genjutsu training.

Only when he got the Correction Device did he practice taijutsu movements, refining his form and making his stances more precise.

When he got the Massage Device, he trained his stamina. When he got the Eye Protection Device, he used ninjutsu to expend the Dojutsu Power he'd recovered—making sure nothing went to waste.

Before immersing himself tonight, Akaseki had one other thing to do—choose a show!

He had already finished Family Happiness. The full run had lasted 180 hours—an actual two and a half years of subjective experience—and the events in the show had spanned more than twenty years, most of them fast-forwarded...

"Let's go with something shorter... That last one was intense..." Remembering what it had been like to immerse himself in Family Happiness, Akaseki shuddered. He was a little scared now.

[You may spend 9.98 yuan to select an immersive drama. Would you like to play one?]

Akaseki heard a new prompt. It was probably because he had a balance, so this time it hadn't played something at random. It was just...

"A whole set of custom ninja tools costs 150 ryo, but picking a show costs 9 ryo?" Akaseki habitually thought of money in units of ryo.

"No, this is still 10 ryo..." Akaseki cleverly saw through the decimal point's trick and immediately made his decision—random!

[Next, we'll randomly play the short drama You Call Me a Quack, So I'll Become a Veterinarian, Then. Duration: 1,000 hours. Non-members may watch for a total of 12 hours...]

This one was good! Only twelve hours!

But Akaseki didn't understand what "quack" or "veterinarian" meant, and he didn't dare let his attention wander now, because...

[You have been granted default control over the "hypothalamus." Control over the "hippocampus" and "amygdala" has been automatically enabled...]

[Declined!] Akaseki interrupted the default selection again.

In the blink of an eye, the immersive drama began...

"I saved your life, and you reported me for practicing medicine without a license?" Hong Yan roared at the ungrateful villagers as he was arrested.

Akaseki: ...

All right, all right. Here we go again?

Kai Chi!