Nekomata's Training Plan

Ninja Cat Castle.

The overall atmosphere here was quite pleasant.

After his first visit, the ninja cats all recognized Chiba.

Once he tossed them a few sprigs of silvervine, their gazes grew even friendlier.

They were always delighted to welcome such generous, free-spending guests.

Not to mention Chiba's relationship with Nekomata.

Up in the attic, Chiba met Nekomata again.

His body was as imposing as ever.

But among summoning beasts, Nekomata was only average in size, perhaps even rather small.

Having visited Mount Myōboku, Chiba had naturally seen those enormous toads.

So to him, Nekomata's size was a little underwhelming.

"Have you already reached your full size?"

Chiba gestured along Nekomata's body, considering whether to put together a weight-gain meal plan.

Nekomata shook his head and said:

"I'm a member of a special race, the Two-Tails Cats."

"You can't judge our race by the size of ordinary ninja cats."

That immediately piqued Chiba's interest.

"Then how big can you grow?"

Nekomata thought for a moment before answering:

"About twenty meters, give or take?"

He offered a rough figure.

Yet Chiba looked utterly stunned when he heard it.

Even Gamabunta was only seventeen meters tall.

A Two-Tails Cat could actually grow to twenty meters?!

That seemed to defy the laws of nature!

But then he remembered that even toads could grow over ten meters tall.

Chiba decided there was no point worrying about the laws of nature.

"Then why are you this size right now?"

He made a rough measuring gesture. "A little over two meters tall?"

At Chiba's current size, even two meters counted as enormous.

Looking a little ashamed, Nekomata said:

"Our race grows in proportion to our chakra reserves."

"I haven't trained for very long, so I can only gain a little chakra by eating food."

Chiba looked Nekomata up and down.

In that case, he seemed to have tremendous room for improvement!

"That's also why you only used one genjutsu when you fought Sasuke."

Chiba offered his analysis.

Nekomata nodded and explained:

"That's the only genjutsu I know."

"It's an innate ability of the Two-Tails Cat race."

Chiba covered his face, speechless.

Sure enough, he couldn't expect too much from Nekomata.

"Here, this is a ninjutsu scroll."

"It contains some of the ninjutsu I've collected."

Chiba handed the ninjutsu scroll to Nekomata.

Because of Nekomata's huge size, this scroll was unusually large as well.

Nekomata's claws were remarkably dexterous, even capable of using specially made ninja tools such as cat kunai.

So leafing through a ninjutsu scroll wasn't particularly difficult for him.

"Fire Release, Water Release, Wind Release, and even taijutsu and genjutsu!"

The more Nekomata read, the more astonished he became.

Tears welled up in his enormous feline eyes.

"Meeooow, boss, you're too good to me!"

"In all my life, you're the first person who's ever been good to me, meow!"

Nekomata abruptly pulled Chiba into his arms and rubbed against him furiously.

Chiba barely managed to push him away, picking off the cat hair he'd shed.

"Enough of that nonsense."

"If you want to repay me, train hard."

"Just help shoulder some of the fighting in the future."

Nekomata nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Since I have some time right now, I can give you some guidance on your training."

Chiba was quite invested in his ninja cat.

After Nekomata demonstrated everything he knew.

Chiba made an unexpected discovery.

Nekomata's fighting ability was no worse than that of an average chunin.

If his combat instincts hadn't been a little lacking.

He could probably have entered the Chunin Ninja Exams himself.

"Since your strength is up to par, let's try some seven-day special training!"

Chiba gave Nekomata his first order.

"Learn three techniques before the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"Two ninjutsu and one taijutsu technique."

Nekomata already had his own genjutsu, so that could wait.

"On top of that, you'll need some physical conditioning."

"And training to strengthen your fighting spirit."

Chiba's next words made Nekomata feel a little afraid.

"When the time comes, I'll personally give you specialized one-on-one combat training."

"Hiss, meow!"

Nekomata ventured, "Wouldn't that be a bad idea?"

"If it gets in the way of your own training, boss, and something happens during the Chunin Ninja Exams..."

Before he could finish, Chiba interrupted him.

"Don't worry about me."

"I'll pass the Chunin Ninja Exams for sure."

His words brimmed with confidence.

Nekomata thought it over carefully, and that did seem to be true.

If Chiba weren't strong enough, why would Nekomata have signed a Summoning Contract with him?

"Also, I'll have some weights custom-made for you."

"You can wear them during training from now on."

Nekomata didn't give that much thought.

To him, weights were an essential part of training anyway.

After explaining some key points of ninjutsu training to him.

Chiba left Ninja Cat Castle.

Once he returned to Konoha, he headed straight for Tenten's Ninja Tool Shop.

Tenten owed him a favor after losing their wager, and Chiba had kept that firmly in mind.

Now it was time to put it to use.