11 Dog Versus Dolphin (1)

As a Tailed Beast who was stuffed inside a person's soul, Kokuo had a front-row seat to its Jinchuuriki's antics, which was getting more and more absurd every passing day.

Hey, you would snap too if you have to watch someone clawing at the sky for hours on end!

"Venerable One, please stop jumping around, you're distracting me."

Hikari, who was clawing at the sky as if she was trying to grope the heavens, complained.

"Whose fault do you think it is?!"

The Tailed Beast roared in response.

Aside from what she had called the Twelve Movements, there was also the Six Specially Mastered Skills, as well as the study of thirty-six points in a human's body that could induce the Touch of Death.

Their names were majestic, but in reality, the training process was more akin to dances conducted by drunken monkeys.

To make things worse, those weird movements actually... worked? The kid's chakra veins did develop at a faster rate, at least compared to what it had seen so far during its tenure as Iwagakure's hidden weapon.

It refused to accept. It definitely didn't want to accept!

Thus, it jumped around some more while making random dolphin noises.

"Lord Kokuo..."

She was about to complain again when she noticed a shadow standing on the edge of the Inuzuka's backyard.

"Eh? Kiba?"

That messy spiky hair, those feline-like eyes, that should be the Inuzuka boy.

Lately, he had managed to return from the training ground in a semi-conscious state, compared to those times when he immediately knocked himself out the moment he stepped back into the house. It seemed that he was getting the hang of Tsume's infernal training regimen.

The boy started walking over to her spot, so she stopped performing 'xuan nan gong' to see what he wanted.

Kiba was a harmless buffoon, so she usually had her guard down around him. She didn't expect that he would tackle her to the ground all of a sudden!

"Huh?!"

While her thought process was still in shambles, the boy leaned closer until the tip of their noses almost touched each other.

And then...

... he licked her cheek.

"..."

Ah, when she observed more closely, there was a white tail jutting out of his pants...

"Akamaru! What are you doing?!"

Kiba's voice rang above her as the weight pinning her down finally got lifted off.

"What the..."

She blinked in confusion.

In front of her stood two Kiba, their appearance almost identical down to the dust and creases of their clothing.

Almost, except that one of the twins had an obvious tail...

With a poof, the Kiba on the left disappeared. On its wake was left the white-furred partner of the real Kiba, Akamaru.

"Heheh, surprised?" Kiba gloated with a smug look. "This is the prized jutsu of our clan, the Beast-Human Clone!"

"Whoa..."

That technique... to be able to change physical appearance, qi manipulation must be involved, right?

She was genuinely impressed.

Animals capable of using qi was not a rarity in her old world. However, said animals had undergone years of cultivation, which would technically categorize them as magical beasts.

Akamaru, on the other hand, was a normal dog. A ninja dog, perhaps, but still a normal dog without any cultivation. For him to be able to perform such feat was nothing sort of miraculous.

"Why are you so shocked? All the ninja dogs in this house can do it, you know. Kuromaru's really good at it."

Kuromaru... that dog with an eyepatch?

Hmm, could it be that animals in this world were even more blessed by heavens? Maybe she should raise one too, it could be her disciple...

Ah, wrong, she got distracted.

"So, all the times you disappeared with Lady Tsume, it's for this?"

"Not really... somehow mom is very insistent in teaching me the clan's hiden. I have no idea why. Thanks to that, I have to go through this hell!"

He was still nine years old, damn it! Wasn't it a few years too early? Aah, he really wished that his mother would go out on a mission instead of dragging him around every single day!

Suddenly, a hand landed on top of his head, and then mercilessly squeezed it. Kiba winced in pain from the sudden attack.

"Hoo, so you think it's hell, huh? I guess I wasn't strict enough. Fine, I'll show you the real hell this time!"

"G-guh! M-mom?! I was just kidding! Just kidding! Aaagh!"

"..."

What a loving family scene... she would never get bored watching it~

If Kiba could hear her inner thoughts, he would have puked out blood. What loving family scene? More like slow torture!

"Girl, I got my son to spill the bean. Are you the one who taught him that method of circulating chakra?"

"...Yes."

She wasn't sure if admitting it would be a wise move, but in the end, she could only nod.

...Tsume's pressure was too intense, alright? It reminded her of her old master...

"You guys, have your lunch, and then meet me in the training ground."

She let go of Kiba before going back into the house.

"She said 'you guys'... am I included in there?" Hikari murmured.

"I guess," the boy knitted his eyebrows. "Let's hurry. Mom's scary when she's pissed."

The two finished their lunch at record speed before scurrying off to the training ground.

---

The Inuzuka clan's training ground was separated into two parts: the smaller outer yard and the bigger inner yard.

The outer yard was open to everyone, including visitors to the clan. The inner yard, however, was reserved only for clan members.

Hikari had only managed to enter this area twice. The first time was when Tsume showed her around the compound, and the second was when she was asked to assist the other members in cleaning up after a clan event.

On the far end of the training ground were practice targets for shurikenjutsu. There were also racks of dummy weapons made out of woods for each respective bukijutsu. Judging from how worn-out they were, the place was certainly well-utilized, as expected of a clan whose livelihood depended on martial expertise.

"For today's training, I want you to spar with this girl."

Tsume suddenly declared out of nowhere, rewarding her with blank looks from the kids.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not playing around."

"Mom?! But... she's not even a shinobi like us! How's that fair?"

"Silence, pup."

She glanced at the girl. If it was half a year ago, then she might agree with Kiba's evaluation. However, too many things had surprised her that she was forced to change her stance.

The most noticeable point was Kiba's sudden improvement.

Even though he skipped his classes, her son had managed to hang on just fine during examinations thanks to the Inuzuka clan's natural prowess in the physical department. She had thought that she would let him play around a little bit longer before she would force him to get serious.

The plan had to change after Hikari joined their house.

Kiba's physique and chakra capacity had tremendously improved all of a sudden, surpassing the average nine-years-old in the village. When she investigated a bit deeper, she noticed that her son had been doing this weird thing with his chakra. Instead of bursting them out through tenketsu to perform jutsu, he had been forcefully keeping the energy inside, circulating them around his chakra veins in a closed circuit.

It was a rather pointless move since chakra would naturally circulate even without him willing it. In a real fight, it would just distract him when he had to properly use his chakra. The academy wouldn't teach their students to do that.

So what gives? It turned out that the strange girl was the culprit.

She was about to snap him out of it when she noticed that this 'pointless' move had indeed played a part in her son's growth.

Since then, instead of getting angry, she had gotten interested in what the girl would do next. At the same time, she had thought of passing down their hiden to Kiba now that he had passed the initial requirement.

As for today's match, she planned to use it to measure the girl's potential.

"The format is best two out of three. You lose if you got tackled down or you give up. You can use anything that you have, weapon or jutsu, as long as you don't permanently injure your opponents. Kiba, as an additional restriction, you're forbidden from using Akamaru. For the loser... let's see..."

Tsume revealed a sadistic grin.

"How about skipping dinner tonight?"

"..."

"Ugh!"

Kiba quickly ran toward the sparring area. With dinner on the line, he had to give it his all!

"Listen, twerp! I'm not going easy on you just because you're a girl!"

He suddenly crouched down on all four, as if imitating a beast.

"...Whatever suits you."

Hikari was fine without dinner, but under Tsume's glare, she had no choice but to comply. Anyway, it was just a spar, right? It shouldn't be too bad. She could let Kiba win as well just to make him hap-

"?!"

While she was distracted by her own thoughts, a gust of wind suddenly flashed right in front of her eyes, followed by a strong force that pounced her down in an instant.

One hit, and she was down.

"Heh! Mom, I told you it won't be fair for her!"

That gust of wind was none other than Kiba. In a single leap, he returned to his initial position.

As quick as lightning, as explosive as a burning flame.

Bluish mist enveloped the crouching figure, a sign of chakra being released and used to enhance his physical abilities to the extreme.

"What was that?!"

"Heh! Revel in the magnificence of our clan's Four Legs Technique- Guheh!"

His yapping had earned him a smack in the head.

"What kind of idiot blabbered his jutsu to his opponent?!" Tsume yelled. "Anyway, that's one down. If you get knocked out once again, then it's your loss."

She was disappointed that the girl would topple down in just one hit. Perhaps her expectation was too high?

'It seemed that they're looking down at you.'

Kokuo harrumphed. For its Jinchuuriki to be struck down by a surprise attack… someone who had the blessing of a Tailed Beast shouldn't be that weak!

'Since the boy was using chakra, then This One shall assist you as well-'

'No, it's alright. Venerable One. Please don't interfere.'

Hikari shook her head as she got back up to her feet, feeling ashamed of herself.

Truth be told, she had also been looking down at the people in this new world. Her previous life as a peak cultivator had ingrained her with a degree of arrogance. She genuinely thought that her people had no equal, unwittingly making light of what the inhabitants of this world could do.

She was shortsighted.

Enclosing oneself in chakra, attacking with swift and decisive strike... was that inferior to her world's techniques? If it was, then why would she got knocked down so easily? Just because she hadn't cultivated long enough?

Such a pitiful excuse wouldn't fly.

She had undoubtedly underestimated her opponent, the worst taboo in a fight. Thankfully, it was just a spar between kids, not a life-or-death battle.

"Forgive me, I've been a fool."

Making amends, she gave the boy a slight bow as an apology. And then, her gaze turned sharp.

For a split second, it sent a shiver down his spine.

Her legs slightly moved apart, adopting the stance of Emei's unarmed combat techniques. One hand kept behind her back, while the other hand was extended toward her opponent, the palm facing toward the sky.

"Again."

With a flick of her wrist, she made an inviting gesture.

'The heck happened to her?'

Kiba was stunned with her sudden change of attitude. It was too serious for a sparring match, damn it! Did she hate missing dinner that badly?

'Aah, whatever! I'll just quickly get it over with!'

"Haah!"

He lunged forward once again with a speed that could rival the Body Flicker Technique.

This time, she was paying attention, her battle-honed senses capturing details of his movement. Just in time, she managed to catch a glimpse of his raised palm as it came barreling toward her.

'Right claw.'

Slightly lowering her posture, her right hand shot up from below, wrapping Kiba's wrist in a tight clutch.

And then, she yanked it hard.

Seizing the moment when he was thrown off-balance, she pivoted over one leg, letting his attack to slide past while at the same time her other hand launched forward, aiming straight at his chest.

With her legs firmly planted on the ground, her palm turned into a stiff pillar, returning the force of his own attack back to him.

"Gueh!"

When she let go of his wrist, he fell to his knees while clutching his chest in pain.

"It's a down... right?"

She stole a glance at Tsume, whose eyes had widened in surprise.

"One more round. Come."