Naruto: Paws and Whiskers

Rin's curiosity was piqued. "Takeshi, what did Tsunade-sama ask you to do?" she inquired, her voice laced with interest.

"I refused her for apprenticeship," Takeshi said proudly, a hint of smugness in his voice. "She wanted to take me as her apprentice, but I wasn't interested."

Obito snorted derisively. "Can't you at least make your lies slightly believable?" He didn't believe a word of the black-hearted cat's boast.

'If the Great Tsunade-sama wanted, she could take a medical ninja like Rin as her apprentice and not to mention Rin is so beautiful just like Tsunade-sama, why would she take a cat like Takeshi?'

Takeshi glanced at Obito and Kakashi, his whiskers twitching. They really didn't believe him at all, and Rin obviously didn't take it seriously, covering her mouth and giggling softly.

'Ha! Foolish hoomans! Just wait until I learn the Super Strength Jutsu, and you will know the reality, that cats are the superior species!' Takeshi thought to himself, a mischievous glint in his eye. He didn't refute the skepticism; on the contrary, it fueled his determination.

The border camp was temporarily taken over by Tsunade, who had taken charge after Jiraiya's defeat. The usually boisterous toad sage was now confined to his tent, nursing his broken bones and wounded pride.

The only consolation was the special soldier food pills made by Tsunade herself. Though they tasted awful, they at least provided some sustenance.

But Jiraiya couldn't understand why he was the one beaten and locked in a tent, while that damn cat seemed to be getting away with everything, escaping punishment, and sleeping soundly in a proper bed. 'That damn cat must have lied to Tsunade-hime, and betrayed me, otherwise how could Tsunade-hime find me so quickly and ruthlessly beat me up! This was a betrayal of the highest order!

As a summoner of Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya had numerous hidden techniques at his disposal, such as the Hiding in Toad Jutsu.

Takeshi was sleeping, but suddenly jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat, a bad feeling washing over him. He sensed a faint chakra signature nearby. It was subtle, but he recognized the nature of the chakra; a toad from Mount Myoboku! 

He had felt similar chakra on Gamabunta, and the only person in the camp who could summon a toad besides Minato was Jiraiya... 'Did he summon a toad for taking revenge on me?' Takeshi's eyes narrowed. 

Leaving a water clone marked with a Flying Thunder God seal in his place, he quietly hid beside Obito's sleeping bag, observing silently. His small stature and black fur made him practically invisible in the shadows. Only if Jiraiya wasn't actively searching for him in this direction.

After a moment, a toad jumped into the tent. 'Just a toad? No, there's something suspicious going on!' Takeshi quickly recalled Jiraiya's ninjutsu in his mind, and soon found the Hiding in Toad jutsu - so Jiraiya's body or clone should be inside this toad.

'Hehehe, if you had come directly, I would've been worried, but a toad...' Takeshi's tension eased. The water clone rushed forward. The toad opened its mouth wide, and a hand reached out from within, but before it could fully extend, Takeshi shot forward, his hind legs slamming the hand back into the toad's mouth.

"Gukh!", The poor toad choked, its eyes bulging, and rolled out of the tent in pain.

Takeshi and the water clone followed behind and began to slap the toad with their paws.

*Smack!*

*Smack!*

He didn't kill it, otherwise with the sharpness of his claws, a small toad would've become chopped into tiny pieces. But that didn't mean that toad wasn't suffering.

The toad was kicked around like a ball by Takeshi and his Clone, the Jiraiya shadow clone trapped inside tumbling like a tumbleweed in a hurricane. 

After being toyed with for what seemed like an eternity, the toad, unable to endure any more, returned to Mount Myoboku, no doubt ready to complain to the elders. Jiraiya's shadow clone popped, the toad refusing to carry the clone back.

Back in Jiraiya's prison tent, he rubbed his hands together in anticipation, awaiting good news from the shadow clone. 

"Ow!" he suddenly received memories of phantom pain on his hand, accompanied by a dizzying vertigo. He struggled to regain his balance as the world spun.

It took him a few seconds to steady himself. As the phantom pain subsided, he cursed the black cat with a guttural growl. 

'This cat isn't from Holy Land like Toads, he is definitely from Hell!' Jiraiya gritted his teeth. He shouldn't have given such a strong recommendation to the Third Hokage to teach Flying Thunder God to that cat; it just made it even harder to catch him. 

'I am the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku! There's no way I'll let this go unanswered. It's the middle of the night; no one should notice if I sneak out.' He crept out of his tent, only to find Tsunade standing right outside, while Takeshi was a little further back, casually looking around.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade's voice was dangerously calm, "I didn't give you permission to use chakra while in solitary confinement. And you dare bully little Takeshi? You seem to have gotten much braver since we last met!"

'What the hell, Tsunade-hime! I'm the one being bullied by this cat! Why aren't you defending me?' Jiraiya internally screamed, but wisely suppressed his thoughts. He did not wish to commit suicide by voicing them.

"Takeshi will train ninjutsu with me tomorrow. Rest is important for him. Don't bother him anymore, understood?" Tsunade cracked her knuckles as she spoke, the unspoken threat clear in her tone.

'Life of Jiraiya the Gallant Sage is so difficult!' Jiraiya kept silent and returned inside the tent, watching Tsunade leave.

"Meow~" Before the tent flap closed, he vaguely heard a cat's cry. Takeshi, in the distance, gave him a smug wave. Jiraiya could feel the smugness oozing out of the cat, even in the darkness.

'Thank you, Jiraiya, for contributing over 1,000 points.' Takeshi put his paws together, offering a silent and devout prayer of gratitude, and then returned to his tent to continue sleeping.

The commotion usually didn't wake Obito and Rin. Only Kakashi seemed to stir, but he remained completely unconcerned inside his sleeping bag.

Takeshi lay down, fully prepared for a good night's rest. Tsunade's support was unexpected, but even without her, he wasn't afraid of Jiraiya. Though powerful, Takeshi knew he could evade Jiraiya using Flying Thunder God. With his wide range of ninjutsu and almost 20,000 points in reserve, Jiraiya had little chance of catching him. 

But the wheels of time continued turning; war was inevitable. Things were about to get very chaotic.

Given the nature of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, how could they abandon their offensive against Konoha? Even if Kusagakure didn't change sides, Iwagakure would still attack. Their goal would likely shift from striking the Land of Fire directly to capturing the Land of Grass, using it as a staging point for attacks on the Land of Fire. 

When the Land of Grass is targeted, Konoha would still have to commit manpower. Konoha would be stretched thin, facing assaults from Sunagakure and Iwagakure simultaneously.

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