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Hoo—hoo—hoo—

Akaseki, Inuzuka Tsume, and Kuromaru were all lying on the ground, looking as exhausted as dogs.

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

Because of Akaseki's demonstration effect, both sides maintained a tacit understanding of "gaining the upper hand without pressing the attack."

Once a round determined a winner, they would give the other party time to rest and recover.

Otherwise, given their stamina and techniques, they wouldn't have been able to last for two hours. Just speaking of Akaseki's Sharingan, it would have been impossible to sustain for that long, as it had been toggling on and off throughout the session.

"I didn't expect... Kuromaru to be this strong," Akaseki remarked with emotion.

"Are you complimenting yourself?" Tsume curled her lip upon hearing this.

"Are you... calling me a dog?" Akaseki felt something was off.

"Dogs aren't used for name-calling!"

Woof—

Kuromaru tried to force himself up to bite him again...

That's right, Tsume was certainly offering a sincere compliment to Akaseki—over the past two hours, the two of them and the dog had fought more than thirty rounds, and Akaseki could generally be said to have won more than he lost.

One must realize that the period right after graduation is exactly when the Inuzuka Clan holds a major advantage!

"You're not bad either. There were quite a few times I couldn't find an opening at all," Akaseki said, being uncharacteristically humble.

Inuzuka Tsume shook her head. "The current Kuromaru is even stronger than I am. If I use the Human-Beast Combination Technique to simulate Kuromaru's physique, it's strength upon strength. Once this peak period passes, ninja dogs are usually weaker than their masters, and that's when Kuromaru will have to simulate my physique..."

That's right, ninjas of the Inuzuka Clan belong to the "early-game" type. From graduation to the Chunin level, their strength is extremely high, but by the Jonin stage, they often become obscure and may not even reach the rank of Jonin.

Their strengths also shift from Taijutsu brawling to auxiliary and reconnaissance-based olfactory perception.

However, Akaseki was able to suppress Inuzuka Tsume shortly after graduation, which showed the gap between them.

"Well, my Sharingan is only at the quasi-Two-Tomoe level right now, but later it can reach Two-Tomoe, Three-Tomoe... Hahaha." Hearing her mention her family's secret techniques, Akaseki was no longer sleepy, and his humility vanished instantly.

It was true; if members of the Uchiha Clan could awaken their eyes, especially if they could advance to the Three-Tomoe, they could be considered strong throughout the early, middle, and late stages.

Inuzuka Tsume: ...

"You guy..." Inuzuka Tsume bared her canine teeth again, but because she was too tired, she quickly calmed down and asked, "Forget it... two months from now, your team will probably participate directly in the Chunin Exams, right? After all, you're not exactly holding them back anymore."

"Chunin Exams?" Akaseki was stunned for a moment before he realized—wasn't that right? Every year on July 1st, the Konoha Chunin Exams began!

It wasn't that Akaseki had a bad memory and needed a reminder for such an important event; it was simply that he hadn't thought about it before.

After all, Akaseki's previous career plan was to rely on internal clan recommendations; he had never even considered participating in the Chunin Exams!

For one, the Chunin Exams required team participation, and most of the Uchiha Clan were not very sociable. For another, for the Uchiha Clan, an "internal promotion to Chunin" was a prerequisite for getting clan members into the Military Police Force. It could be said that they were the clan with the most internal recommendations, and it had even become an unspoken rule that joining the Military Police Force was the procedure for an Uchiha to become a Chunin.

But now, hearing Inuzuka Tsume mention it, Akaseki remembered that there was such a thing as the Chunin Exams every July...

"I suppose... we will participate." Akaseki originally wanted to say he probably wouldn't, as participating in the Chunin Exams right after graduation was even rarer than becoming a Chunin right after graduation.

Geniuses who became Chunin immediately upon graduation were usually specially approved or underwent special assessments, rather than going through the normal exam channels.

However, thinking about it carefully, the strength of the three members of Akaseki's team was more than enough to pass the Chunin Exams—although the Chunin Exams didn't just test strength, strength was indeed universal, and the most important final stage was inevitably a test of strength.

More importantly, Akaseki remembered that three days ago, when Jiraiya announced a three-day break, he had also said that after three days, he would train the three of them properly again...

Looking back at it now, it was very likely that they were going to undergo intensive training for two months before the Chunin Exams!

"Don't get cocky, I won't lose either!" Inuzuka Tsume said, rolling over and jumping up, leaving with Kuromaru.

Akaseki: ???

"Who said I was competing with you..." Akaseki was completely baffled—I am an Uchiha who has been dominant throughout, and you are just an Inuzuka who is strong in the early game!

Fire Style range +1.

Carrying a sense of pride, Akaseki arrived at the edge of the Forest of Death to continue his training—Akaseki often didn't return home at night now. After all, if he rolled a "Massage Device" or "Correction Device," he would practice Taijutsu, which didn't make much noise. But if he rolled an "Eye Protection Device," he had to practice Ninjutsu, which was inconvenient to do in the clan grounds.

However, the training grounds usually required reservations, and Akaseki didn't want to occupy them for long periods.

Therefore, Akaseki usually practiced his "Immersion" at the edge of the Forest of Death...

The Forest of Death was the nickname for Training Ground 44. Unlike other training grounds, it was an entire forest inhabited by countless wild beasts and even ninja beasts with Chakra. Located on the border of Konoha, it was theoretically part of the village, and the overall barrier of Konoha encompassed it.

However, because there were ferocious beasts in the Forest of Death, the forest itself had a wooden stake barrier, so there was no fear of beasts running out. Akaseki didn't worry about being ambushed while outside, and since no one lived nearby, he didn't have to worry about being noisy while practicing Ninjutsu.

Akaseki had also discovered that in terms of Taijutsu training, once those movements were fully mastered, what was needed most was actual combat practice, followed by this kind of basic physical training—as for standing in a fixed pose over and over again, the effect was not only inferior to sparring but also less effective for physical enhancement than actual physical training.

Therefore, at night, Akaseki focused primarily on physical training and Genjutsu training.

Only when he rolled a "Correction Device" would he practice Taijutsu movements to make his posture and state more standard.

If he rolled a "Massage Device," he would do physical training; if he rolled an "Eye Protection Device," he would use Ninjutsu to exhaust his restored Dojutsu Power—the main goal was not to waste anything.

Before starting his Immersion tonight, Akaseki had another matter to finish first—choosing a show!

He had already finished watching Family Happiness, a full 180 hours, which felt like two and a half years of real-time experience, with over twenty years of events in the show (most of the time was fast-forwarded)...

"Let's go with something shorter... that last one was too intense..." Akaseki recalled the sensation of the Family Happiness Immersion and couldn't help but shiver... he was getting a bit cold feet.

[You can spend 9.98 yuan to request an immersion drama. Do you wish to proceed?]

Akaseki heard the new prompt. It was likely because he had a remaining balance that it didn't just randomize it this time, but...

"A full set of custom ninja tools only costs 150 ryo, and a request costs 9 yuan?" Akaseki habitually referred to the currency unit as "ryo."

"Wait, no, this is actually 10 yuan..." Akaseki cleverly saw through the decimal point conspiracy and immediately made his decision—Randomize!

[Randomizing and playing the short drama "You Called Me a Quack, So I'll Just Be a Veterinarian," duration 1000 hours. Non-member total playback duration 12 hours...]

This is good, this is good, only 12 hours!

However, Akaseki didn't understand what all this talk about quacks and veterinarians was about, and he didn't dare to get distracted now, because...

[Default access to "Hypothalamus" control granted. Automatically enabling "Hippocampus" and "Amygdala" control permissions...]

[Refuse!] Akaseki interrupted the thing's default selection once again.

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

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

Akaseki:...

Fine, fine, fine, here we go again, right?

Kai Chi!