Naruto: Paws and Whiskers

"Control and guide your chakra like a flowing river, letting it course through your hands," Tsunade instructed, her gaze sharp yet encouraging. "Then, condense the chakra and reinforce it with Wind Release."

"Meow! I'll get it!" Takeshi exclaimed, his tail twitching with determination. He was focused on mastering the jutsu, even if it meant sacrificing playtime with Obito, Kakashi, and the others.

For them, this was far more frustrating than Takeshi directly antagonizing them. The once-mischievous demon cat had seemingly become Tsunade's underboss, learning directly from the legendary Sannin.

"This can't be happening!" Obito and Kakashi muttered in disbelief. Even Asuma, who had only just arrived, found the situation difficult to comprehend. 

However, they had no idea what ninjutsu Takeshi was learning, only that it seemed to be a secret jutsu of Senju clan...

'Damn, I'm so jealous!' Kakashi seethed internally, the frustration simmering beneath the surface. Driven by envy, he increased the intensity of his own training, turning his irritation into motivation of relentless effort.

This had a knock-on effect, making life even harder for Asuma and the others. As this upped the pace and difficulty of their training, the forest rats were almost wiped out. Later, they caught the few terrified rats that had been released before. So they were cycling through same rats.

In the middle of the training ground, Takeshi stopped to take a short rest and secretly looked at the price on the system panel.

5,500 points.

In just two days, the cost had decreased from 9,000 points to 5,500. 'Very good,' he thought. 'Just abit longer…'

"You're getting the hang of it," Tsunade said with some pride. "It seems you'll be able to properly utilize the Super Strength Jutsu in a couple of weeks. But you must remember not to use too much force at the beginning. Gradually increase it after getting familiar with it." She mentally added, 'This cat has a real talent. With dedication, he could utilize this jutsu in combat within a few months.'

But Takeshi wasn't satisfied with that pace, as the war was impending and he wanted to rush towards learning more jutsu's. Takeshi decided to utilize whatever time he can to keep training.

Tsunade patted Takeshi's head. "Don't worry, this jutsu is not difficult for people with strong chakra control, but you can't rush it. Be patient so you don't–"

*BOOM!*

Takeshi slapped the ground with his paw. The combination of chakra, Wind Release, and his innate strength created a devastating shockwave, shattering the earth and leaving a massive crack. "It won't take that long!" he announced confidently.

"This..." Tsunade opened her mouth and didn't know how to respond for a moment. She was shocked by how quickly Takeshi was progressing, surpassing her estimation by a wide margin.

"What's going on?" Gekko Naoki hurried over from the forest holding the handle of his blade, as is looked around for potential enemies, his eyes widening as he took in the damage on the ground. His gaze dropped to the faintly visible cat paw prints on the ground, and he suddenly fell silent. 

'This cat is even stronger now... I wouldn't even be able to injure him if he went all out. Tsunade-sama, how are we ever supposed to catch up to him?!' Naoki buried his face in his hands, despairing as he returned to his duties, keeping a watchful eye on the struggling genin.

"What are you staring at? Keep monitoring them!" Takeshi growled, his voice laced with irritation. "If they can't catch the mouse puppet by the end of the day, they wouldn't be returning to camp and training throughout the night!"

'Their annoyance fuels my happiness,' Takeshi mused. He had just spent 5,500 points and had already gained over 1,000 back from the reactions.

"Okay, next step: Try it with your hind legs. After that, we'll work on incorporating your whole body," Tsunade instructed, moving onto the next stage of his training.

"This will be a piece of cake for this Cat-sama! Meow!" Takeshi declared. He flicked his tail lightly, channeling chakra into the Multi-Size Jutsu. His tail was suddenly larger. Combining it with the Super Strength, the ground cracked with a thunderous *Bang!*

"..."

'Alright,' Tsunade thought, touching her chin. 'I didn't know you could use the tail like that, but then again, past users have always been human.' She shook her head, clearing the errant thoughts from her mind, and fell into a new wave of contemplation. 

'What species of cat is this? He was struggling in beginning but could suddenly use it expertly. Learning ninjutsu for him is like a joke.'

After considering it for a moment, she asked, "How long did it take you to learn the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?"

"Meow~ That one was easy to grasp. Took me a day to sense and create the spatial mark, and then I could teleport to it." Takeshi replied, leaving a spatial mark on the ground with his paw for emphasis.

'When did the Flying Thunder God become so easy?' Tsunade thought she must have misheard him. She sat down cross-legged, resting her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

After staring at Takeshi for a long time, she picked him up and examined him with growing impatience, then finally put him down with a sigh. 'It still doesn't make sense, his biology isn't that different from the summoning beasts.'

Takeshi was confused by her behavior, but the soaring points on his system panel excited him... He had gained another 1,000 points from her confusion.

The only problem is that Tsunade is probably a little sad and will take some time to stabilize.

At this moment, Takeshi doesn't know what she is thinking, but he decided to not let her wallow in her thoughts any further and distract her by asking, "Do you want to celebrate this accomplishment?"

"Yeah exactly! Your training for now is done, Let's celebrate your mastery of the Super Strength Jutsu by drinking!" Tsunade declared, jumping to her feet and instantly becoming energetic.

Takeshi had a bad premonition and quickly refused, saying, "Meow~ I'm just a small cat, I don't drink!"

"What are you afraid of? Alcohol is something that everyone must experience. If you can't even drink alcohol, it will be embarrassing for me. Let's go!", Tsunade pulled him up, dragging him towards the camp.

'That opinion is biased coming from an alcoholic!', Takeshi grumbled mentally but didn't resist and let her carry him along. But they walked he noticed she was subtly trying to find storage seal on his body, feeling danger to his wallet he started struggling in futility.

There were no alcohol bars in the camp, let alone taverns. Of course, the real reason she was dragging Takeshi along was that she had no money,so she had to bring someone to pay. 

She had found out that Takeshi had started managing his own money since arriving in camp. There was nothing to spend it on at the front lines, so he was bound to have a hefty savings.

It was a good time to satisfy her hunger and thirst and vent the frustrations in her heart.

"Meow! Meow!" Takeshi struggled, the mental image of his shrinking wallet filling him with dread. But he didn't teleport away, not after Tsunade had taught him a valuable clan jutsu.

In the forest, Naoki sighed again, his worries multiplying. Initially, he had hoped that Takeshi would become an obedient cat under Tsunade's tutelage. Now, he knew that was a pipe dream. He just hoped that the cat wouldn't learn to drink and gamble.

'Hmm, Takeshi has good relationship with Jiraiya-sama and helps him in writing novel with ended up with Jiraiya-sama taking harsh beating and now he will learn drinking and gambling from Tsunade-sama, will this cat learn all the vices of the three Sanins? The future of Konoha might be bleak.' Naoki silently prayed for the future of Konoha.

-------------------

Dear Readers and Fans,

For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further. 

https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8

(no space)

You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.