Little Puppy Akamaru's Fear

By the small river outside the village.

Naruto and a dark-faced Sakura arrived to find Sasuke repeatedly running up a large tree while Kakashi supervised nearby.

Naruto frowned slightly at the sight, because Sasuke's training method looked very much like tree-climbing practice.

Naruto had long since completed this kind of training, so he had no intention of wasting time here. At most, he would mooch off the Experience Points around Kakashi before leaving.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you planning to teach us?"

Sakura's curious voice rang out.

"First, I'll teach you a skill you must master: tree climbing!" Kakashi said calmly.

"So it really is tree climbing. If that's all, forget it. I'm leaving," Naruto said flatly.

"Why are you leaving? You don't want to learn? This is an important combat skill." Sasuke turned his head in confusion while training.

"I already know these skills." Naruto shrugged.

"You already know them?" Sasuke's heart tightened at those words, worried that Naruto had surpassed him again.

"Yeah. Such simple skills as tree climbing and water walking aren't easy to master?" Naruto blinked innocently.

"Easy to master?"

Sasuke froze. He thought of how he and Kakashi had come here early to train, yet after three hours of hard work, he still had not succeeded. He had done it all to get ahead of Naruto.

But Naruto already knew how to do it, and the important part was that Naruto made it sound so easy. It was infuriating.

Depressed, Sasuke asked again, "Did you really learn it? Can you even walk on water?"

"Of course. This is the sort of training children do. What's difficult about it?"

Naruto nodded without hesitation. Back when food was scarce, he often climbed trees to pick fruit and caught fish in the water. He had mastered these skills long ago.

On top of that, since he had no ninjutsu to study as a child, he had practiced precise Chakra control, Shape Transformation, and Nature Transformation in order to grow stronger.

He had wanted to use them to develop a Kekkei Genkai, but after the system activated, he changed his training path.

Though he had changed his training path, his foundation remained. There was no need to waste time here.

However, his words were indeed a blow to Sasuke. As the top student, Sasuke had always believed himself to be the best, but Naruto had surpassed him time and again. It felt awful.

"Naruto, demonstrate it. If you can easily walk on water and climb trees, you may move freely," Kakashi said seriously.

[Experience Points +2]

"Alright!"

Naruto nodded and walked toward the large tree beside them. Under Sasuke's tense gaze, he stepped up the trunk one step at a time until he reached the top, then walked back down step by step.

The entire process was remarkably smooth, as easy as walking on level ground.

After climbing the tree, Naruto headed for the nearby river. He then walked across the water's surface step by step, even running back and forth without stopping.

This ironclad proof showed that everything Naruto had said was true, dealing Sasuke another blow.

"I didn't expect you to have really mastered it."

Sasuke spoke dejectedly, clearly deeply affected. Then, he suddenly remembered the Bald Training Method Naruto had mentioned and hurriedly asked.

"Naruto, is the Bald Training Method you mentioned before really effective?"

"Of course it's effective. Whether you succeed depends on your luck, though. If you go bald, that proves you succeeded."

Naruto finished with a faint smile, then waved his hand. "You two keep going. I'm leaving to find my Hinata."

With that said.

Naruto quickly headed southeast. According to his senses, Hinata's team was also training in the forest, so he could go mooch off some Experience Points.

Thud, thud, thud!

Watching Naruto run away, Sasuke clenched his fists and silently made up his mind to train according to the Bald Training Method.

"Ahem, Sasuke, what exactly is this Bald Training Method you mentioned?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Sensei, I know. It's a training method Naruto talked about." Sakura quickly raised her hand and explained.

"Naruto said to do one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run every day. Eat some bananas, don't use air conditioning, and after three years, you might become super strong."

"Hm? What kind of training method is that? This intensity would be difficult for ordinary people, but it isn't difficult for us ninja." Kakashi said skeptically.

"I don't know, but Naruto has improved greatly. Could it be related to this training method?" Sasuke finally voiced the thought he had kept in his heart. He had long suspected as much.

"I... don't know. You can add it to your training. You can handle the intensity anyway," Kakashi said after thinking it over.

"Alright!"

Sasuke nodded, his face filled with determination.

But Sakura beside him seemed to want to say something, because she imagined Sasuke bald. She instantly shuddered.

Elsewhere.

Kurenai was leading Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka through training in the forest, testing their combat methods.

"Not bad, not bad. Kiba Inuzuka, your little dog Akamaru is excellent. His sense of smell is sharp, and he can sense an enemy's Chakra level and the degree of danger. He's quite an impressive ninja dog."

Kurenai looked at Kiba Inuzuka with praise and attached great importance to the ninja dog he raised.

"Of course. Akamaru's scouting ability has helped me a great deal. He's incredibly reliable." Kiba Inuzuka said as he held his little dog.

"Woof!"

Akamaru barked, seeming quite pleased.

"By the way, there's something I'm curious about. When Akamaru senses danger, does he get frightened? How are his fighting instincts?" Kurenai asked curiously.

"Don't worry. Akamaru is extremely battle-hungry. Even if he senses danger at the Jonin level, he won't be afraid and will still dare to fight it." Kiba Inuzuka said proudly.

"That really is impressive. I didn't expect Akamaru to be so remarkable." Kurenai nodded in praise.

"Of course. He's a ninja dog from the Inuzuka Clan, naturally battle-hungry, especially with a master like me."

Kiba Inuzuka raised his head high, his face full of confidence and pride.

But just as he was feeling so confident and proud, while they were talking, a figure ran over from the distance. Everyone looked and found that it was Naruto.

"Woof!"

Akamaru suddenly barked, then his trembling body curled up as he stared at Naruto's position in terror.

Seeing Akamaru's reaction and recalling Kiba Inuzuka's smugness just moments ago, everyone collectively turned skeptical gazes toward him.

"Kiba Inuzuka, didn't you say Akamaru wouldn't be afraid even if he saw a Jonin? Why is he afraid of even Naruto?" Shino Aburame said.

"Yeah, is your ninja dog really as impressive as you claimed?"

"I..."

Kiba Inuzuka's expression turned somewhat ugly. He had just bragged that Akamaru was unafraid even of Jonin-level danger, yet some random person had frightened Akamaru like this. It was far too embarrassing.

Depressed, Kiba Inuzuka said to Akamaru, "Akamaru, this is too embarrassing. You're afraid of even a Genin. Can't you show a little backbone?"

"Woof!" Akamaru sensed something and became even more terrified.

Whoosh!

Naruto's figure flashed past, arriving beside everyone.

"Woof!"

Akamaru cried out in terror, then suddenly leaped to the ground and fled into the distance with his tail between his legs.

"This..."

The entire group fell silent, staring blankly at the scene. Kiba Inuzuka himself stood frozen in place.

"Damn it, Akamaru! Get back here!"

[Experience Points +1]

[Experience Points +1]

[Experience Points +2]