Chapter 10: First Blood!
The plan began flawlessly...
Riku bounded off through the undergrowth with puppy-like enthusiasm, his black and tan coat quickly disappearing into the forest shadows. Within minutes, the sound of his distraction reached them—a series of sharp barks and the unmistakable crash of someone crashing through branches in pursuit.
"There goes one of them," Tatsuma whispered, grinning as they heard a chunin's frustrated voice echoing from the northeast.
"Come on, you little—get back here!"
Kōzaru felt a flutter of amusement through his bond with Riku. The puppy was enjoying himself immensely, leading his pursuer on a merry chase through the densest part of the forest after snatching his headband.
Meanwhile, Yuki had located their target. Through their empathic link, Kōzaru could sense her position about three hundred meters to the southwest, near what felt like a large tree. The scent she'd detected—metallic and foreign—was definitely their objective.
"This way," he whispered, leading his teammates through the forest toward Yuki's location, being able to smell her now with his heightened senses.
They moved carefully, using the trees for cover and keeping their footsteps as quiet as possible. Kōzaru's heightened senses, enhanced by his connection with Yuki, allowed him to navigate the forest more effectively than his teammates, helping to lead them through.
As they approached the target area, Yuki came trotting back to them, her small tail wagging with success. Through their bond, Kōzaru received a clearer picture of what they were facing—a large oak tree with gnarled roots, something red hidden among them, and the lingering scent of someone nearby.
"She says there's definitely someone still guarding it," he reported quietly. "But only one person now."
"Good," Aotaka said, checking his kunai. His hand briefly glowed with a faint electrical charge as he tested his chakra flow technique. "Three-on-one odds are much better than three-on-two."
"Wow, how did you do that?" Tatsuma asked, seeing the small spark with his eyes.
"Remember that system we all got? I used my skill points to unlock 'Chakra Flow Enhancement,' remember?" Aotaka explained with a grin. "It lets me channel my lightning nature through weapons more efficiently without the training I guess."
"Ahhh no way, that's so cool!" Tatsuma said in awe before he turned his attention back to the mission.
"Should we try to sneak past?" Tatsuma asked as he looked back to Kōzaru, though his eager expression suggested he was hoping for the opposite answer.
"Probably not possible," Kōzaru replied. "If they're guarding it properly, they'll have positioned themselves to spot anyone approaching the scroll."
They crept forward until they could see their target through the trees. Just as Yuki had indicated, there was a large oak tree with a distinctive twisted trunk and exposed root system. Nestled among the roots was a bright red container, clearly visible against the dark earth.
And standing casually against the tree trunk, arms crossed and looking completely relaxed, was a chunin with short brown hair and the kind of confident smirk that suggested he'd been expecting them all along.
"Well, well," the chunin called out as soon as they came into view. "Instructor Koji said you three might be clever enough to get this far. I'm Takeshi, and I'll be your opponent for this exercise."
Kōzaru's heart rate spiked as their cover was blown completely. Through his enhanced hearing, he could detect the subtle shift in Takeshi's breathing—the chunin was more alert than he appeared.
"So much for stealth," Tatsuma muttered, but he was already reaching for his kunai pouch.
"Spread out," Aotaka ordered, taking charge of the situation. "Don't let him focus on just one of us."
The three boys moved to form a rough triangle around Takeshi, who watched their positioning with amused interest.
"Not bad," the chunin commented. "You've got decent instincts. But let's see how you handle real combat pressure."
Without warning, Takeshi pushed off from the tree and launched himself toward Kōzaru, moving with the fluid speed of an experienced ninja. But Kōzaru's heightened senses caught the minute tensing of Takeshi's muscles a split second before he moved. He threw himself to the side as a kunai whistled past his ear, close enough that he could smell the metal and feel the displaced air.
His heart was pounding, but his enhanced reflexes had saved him from what could have been a decisive strike.
"Kōzaru!" Tatsuma shouted, his hands already forming the familiar cross-shaped seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled.
I've always wanted to say that!!! He thought in excitement.
Four identical copies of Tatsuma materialized in puffs of smoke—more than he'd managed the night before having practiced. His Uzumaki chakra reserves were naturally deep, allowing him to create and maintain more clones than should be possible for someone his age. Although he could see that each clone cost him 25 points of chakra, seeing the display in the corner of his eye.
[Tatsuma - Chakra: 128/128 → 28/128] - Shadow clone cost 25 chakra per clone.
Kōzaru watched the display in amazement while simultaneously feeling his own chakra slowly regenerating from their earlier preparations. The natural recovery was subtle but constant—approximately one point every thirty seconds or so. It wasn't fast enough to rely on during active combat, but over the course of a longer mission, it could make the difference between victory and chakra exhaustion.
[Kōzaru - Chakra: 94/109 → 95/109] - Natural chakra regeneration...
The clones immediately rushed toward Takeshi from different angles, coordinating their attack with practiced precision.
The chunin's eyes widened significantly. "Four clones? That's chunin-level chakra control!"
Takeshi deflected the first clone's kunai strike, but the second landed a solid punch to his ribs before he could counter. He spun to dispel it with a powerful backhand, only to find the third clone already behind him with a kunai aimed at his spine.
"Impressive," Takeshi grunted, barely managing to twist away from the blade. He caught the clone's wrist and threw it into the fourth, dispelling both in a tangle of limbs. "But you're burning through chakra fast!"
Tatsuma grimaced as he felt the chakra drain from maintaining the remaining clones. Each technique came with a cost, and even with his massive reserves, he couldn't afford to be reckless. The system interface helpfully reminded him that jutsu weren't just about knowing the hand seals—they required careful chakra management, especially in extended battles.
"My turn," Aotaka announced, chakra flowing into the kunai in his hand. The weapon crackled with electrical energy as he channelled his Lightning Style through it, the blue sparks dancing across the metal surface.
[Aotaka - Chakra: 108/108 → 98/108] - Chakra Flow Enhancement cost 10 chakra.
Aotaka launched forward with explosive speed, his Senju-enhanced strength propelling him faster than a normal academy student should move. The physical enhancement and strength he had gained from picking the Senju clan, turning him into a powerhouse that could match chunin-level physical capability. The electrified kunai aimed at Takeshi's centre mass struck with enough force to crack stone.
The chunin was forced to take the attack seriously, catching Aotaka's wrist with both hands. Even then, the raw power behind the strike made Takeshi's feet slide backward across the forest floor, leaving furrows in the dirt.
"Lightning Style already? And this strength..." Takeshi grunted as he wrestled with the enhanced weapon, his muscles straining against Aotaka's surprising power. "You're definitely a descendant of the Senju clan. No wonder you can handle that kind of chakra flow."
The electrical energy from Aotaka's kunai was making Takeshi's muscles spasm, but the chunin's experience showed as he used leverage to redirect the strike rather than matching strength directly. Still, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead from the effort.
Kōzaru's enhanced senses picked up the subtle shift in air currents that preceded Takeshi's next move. He could feel his chakra continuing its slow but steady recovery—a natural process that every ninja learned to monitor carefully. The chunin was about to break the grapple and counter-attack. The enhanced senses he had gained with being an Inuzuka was proving invaluable—he could read an opponent's intentions through the slightest changes in breathing, muscle tension, even scent.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!" Kōzaru called out, having formed the seals, already knowing them in his mind like it was second nature. While tracking expression on Takeshi's face as he watched for an opening.
[Kōzaru - Chakra: 95/109 → 85/109] - Gale Palm cost 10 chakra.
A powerful gust of wind erupted from his palms with perfect timing, catching Takeshi just as he committed to his counter. The chunin was knocked completely off balance, stumbling backward as the wind technique disrupted both his footing and his breathing.
"Excellent timing!" Takeshi called out, genuine respect in his voice despite being winded. "You read my intentions perfectly. That's true Inuzuka instinct right there."
But even as he complimented them, Takeshi was already adapting. He suddenly grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it toward Tatsuma's eyes with pinpoint accuracy, then used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Kōzaru in a blur of movement.
Kōzaru's heightened hearing caught the displacement of air behind him. His senses working overtime, allowing him to process multiple sensory inputs simultaneously in what felt like slow motion. He spun around, his enhanced reflexes—boosted further by his heritage allowing him to see Takeshi's fist heading toward his face with crystal clarity. His own Body Flicker activated instinctively, chakra flooding his system as he barely managed to dodge the strike, feeling the wind from the punch ruffle his hair.
[Kōzaru - Chakra: 85/109 → 75/109] - Body Flicker cost 10 chakra.
"Incredible speed," Takeshi observed with genuine approval, his fist still extended where Kōzaru's head had been moments before. "What I would expect of the Inuzuka clan, but how long can you keep that up with your chakra reserves?"
The question hit home. Kōzaru could smell his own sweat, taste the metallic tang of adrenaline, and feel his chakra reserves depleting faster than they were regenerating. Even with the natural recovery process, he was using techniques faster than his body could replenish the energy. It was a delicate balance that separated experienced ninja from academy students—knowing when to push forward and when to conserve strength.
Yuki, who had been watching the battle from a safe distance, suddenly barked a sharp warning. Through their empathic link, Kōzaru felt her alarm like a spike of ice—someone else was approaching fast, and their scent was filled with irritation and determination.
"Guys!" he called out to his teammates, his sensitive nose picking up traces of the approaching chunin on the wind. "Riku's lost his tail—another chunin is coming this way!"
"How long?" Aotaka demanded, still trading lightning-enhanced strikes with Takeshi, each clash sending sparks flying. He could feel his own chakra slowly ticking back up, but not nearly fast enough to offset the continuous drain of his enhanced techniques.
Through his connection with both puppies, Kōzaru could sense Riku bounding toward them at full speed, with a very annoyed chunin in pursuit. His enhanced senses painted a clear picture of their rapid approach.
"Maybe two minutes," he estimated, tracking their scent and the sound of breaking branches.
"Then we end this now," Tatsuma declared, his massive chakra reserves flaring as he prepared his most advanced technique. Despite the earlier drain, his Uzumaki heritage meant his chakra pool was recovering more quickly than his teammates', though still not fast enough to be careless. "Shadow Clone Shuriken!"
[Tatsuma - Chakra: 61/128 → 41/128] - Shadow clone Shuriken cost 20 chakra.
This time, instead of just one clone, Tatsuma created three clones simultaneously—a feat that made even Takeshi pause in surprise. Each clone threw a shuriken at the exact same moment Tatsuma did, and in mid-air, with Tatsuma creating another hand sign, all four projectiles transformed into dozens of copies, creating a deadly storm of spinning metal that filled the air like a metallic blizzard.
Takeshi's eyes went wide as he realized the scope of the attack. "Not only multiple shadow clones, but shadow clone shuriken from each one simultaneously, and you're not even a genin yet!" he shouted over the whistling of the projectiles. "That's beyond creative—that's genius!"
The chunin moved like water, his experienced body flowing between the majority of the shuriken with advanced footwork that spoke of years of combat training. His kunai became a blur as he deflected projectile after projectile with precise, economical movements.
But even his skill couldn't account for the sheer volume. Three shuriken found their mark—one grazing his shoulder, another scoring a line across his thigh, and the third embedding itself in his forearm with a meaty thunk.
Blood flowed freely from the wounds, the first real damage they'd managed to inflict.
"First blood to the academy team," Takeshi announced with a fierce grin, yanking the shuriken from his arm without flinching. "But now you've made it personal. Time to show you what a real chunin can do."
His hands flew through a complex series of seals so fast they blurred together, and suddenly the air around him began to shimmer with intense heat that made the forest feel like a furnace. The boys could see this wasn't a technique that could be performed cheaply—the amount of chakra Takeshi was pouring into it was evident from the way the very air distorted around him.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
Multiple fireballs—each the size of a person's head—erupted from his mouth in rapid succession. Unlike simple projectiles, these flames seemed to have a mind of their own, tracking toward each boy with guided precision while setting the surrounding foliage ablaze.
The boys scattered desperately, diving for cover behind trees and rocks as the fireballs exploded around them with concussive force. The heat was so intense that Kōzaru could smell his own hair singeing as he rolled behind a boulder, the stone already warming from the ambient temperature.
"He's not holding back anymore!" Aotaka called out from behind his own cover, his gi smoking from a near miss that had set the fabric smouldering. He could feel his chakra slowly regenerating, but at this rate of combat, every point mattered.
"Neither are we," Kōzaru replied, his enhanced senses working overtime to track Takeshi's position through the smoke and heat distortion. His mind raced through their options—they were burning chakra fast, their natural regeneration couldn't keep up with the intensive jutsu usage, and they were about to be outnumbered. But they also had advantages Takeshi didn't fully understand.
[Kōzaru - Chakra: 75/109 → 76/109] - Natural regeneration continues even during combat.
Through his bond with Riku, he could feel the puppy approaching their location with purpose, still leading his pursuer but now with a specific destination in mind. The plan forming in Kōzaru's head would require perfect timing and careful chakra management—one more major technique might leave him dangerously depleted.
"Guys," Kōzaru called out, his voice carrying clearly through the smoky air thanks to his enhanced projection. "I think I know how we can win this. But we need to coordinate perfectly, and we're all running low on chakra."
"What do you have in mind?" Tatsuma asked, wiping soot and sweat from his face, his breathing heavy from the massive chakra expenditure. Even with his superior reserves, he could feel the drain accumulating. The slow regeneration helped, but it was like trying to fill a bucket with a small trickle while pouring water out by the cupful.
"Trust me," Kōzaru replied, then reached out through his empathic links to both his ninja hounds, sending them complex instructions that went far beyond simple commands. This would require no additional chakra from him—just perfect coordination and timing.
It was time to show these chunin what real pack coordination looked like—and what happened when you underestimated the bond between an Inuzuka and his partners. Sometimes the most effective techniques weren't the ones that cost the most chakra, but the ones that used strategy and teamwork instead of raw power.
The battle was about to reach its climax.