Qingwu withdrew his gaze.
He looked toward the Training Ground.
He found them by following a series of rather irritable whines, in the most secluded corner of the Training Ground.
Inuzuka Kiba was baring his teeth at an ancient tree so thick it would take two people to encircle it, a low sound rumbling in his throat.
He was imitating a wolf's threatening growl.
The Inuzuka clan's Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu.
Coordinated combat required their teamwork and mental states to be in sync.
When they merged into the Two-Headed Wolf.
They needed even deeper coordination and mental resonance.
"Hah! I don't want to lose to them."
He was drenched in sweat, a large patch on the back of his gray robe soaked through. His normally energetic, spiky hair drooped listlessly, much like Akamaru atop his head.
He had just finished watching Sasuke's fight.
Now he was training even harder. Getting taken down in a single move would be humiliating.
"Woof, woof!"
Akamaru lay beside his feet.
His tongue hung far out as he panted heavily, his white fur covered in bits of grass and dust.
The sight.
It reminded Qingwu of something he had happened to overhear a few days earlier: a wager over another tracking contest between Kiba and Shino.
He walked slowly over.
With a faint, knowing chuckle, he asked, "What happened? Lost to Shino at tracking again?"
His voice was quiet.
Yet it was like a pebble dropped into still water.
"How did you know?!"
Kiba whipped his head around, his face still carrying lingering anger and a trace of embarrassment at being found out.
Qingwu was speechless. (ー_ー)!!
"With you looking like that, only an idiot wouldn't notice."
"Fine, I admit I lost. Completely. I couldn't beat him out in the field, either. Lost that too."
Kiba's