Chapter 92 Daily Training

"Summoned beasts?" Kakashi said slowly, raising one eyebrow, looking at his three favorite students in disbelief. "I was only away for two days, and you got a summoned beast?"

"Well, technically we've always had the scroll, we just chose to use it now," Sakura explained.

"Summoning beasts is no joke. For the three of you, signing the contract means that part of your ninja career has officially begun. Take it seriously."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." The three answered in unison.

At this moment, they were sitting in the middle of the No. 3 training ground, enjoying the short leisure time after the morning training. Recently, they had made great progress in basic skills, which were the basis of ninja fighting skills.

"Don't practice until you get it right," Gai always said, "practice until you can't get it wrong!" Although this sentence came from Gai, Kakashi has always attached great importance to the ability to adapt to changes and various unexpected situations.

He discovered that the best way to keep these three energetic kids focused and get the most out of each training session was to turn it into a game.

So he took some of the teamwork training techniques he had designed for Chuunin-level ninjas, (these techniques were originally designed for higher-level ninjas, as Genin wouldn't find them challenging at all), and used competition, confrontation, and rewards to motivate them.

This method worked surprisingly well, so he began to use these techniques as often as possible, and almost every morning training began with ninja hide and seek. He would play with them until the little ghosts were exhausted and gave up, but they performed better and better each time, and got closer and closer to catching him.

This helped keep Kakashi alert, at least he thought so.

It was obvious that just a few days of living together had brought about some significant changes in Team 7, even though there were only three of them. They were getting more and more in tune with each other in teamwork, and Sakura also integrated into the atmosphere between her, Naruto and Sasuke.

All that's left is to iron out some minor kinks and teach them new skills and formations.

In addition, there are some more obvious changes - for example, Sakura will often "take away" Naruto's orange sweatpants, and some of the T-shirts that Sasuke wears when he comes to training will inexplicably have orange spiral patterns on the back.

The same is true in reverse. If Kakashi caught a glimpse of the Uchiha clan's crest on Naruto's collar, he would not be surprised at all.

Kakashi reached into his pocket, closed Intimate Paradise, and put it back into his ninja tool bag.

"Okay, change of plans. Let's play three monkeys and then start today's summon training."

"What?" Sasuke asked, already standing up.

Lately, they had rarely questioned Kakashi's decisions, and this submissive attitude made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Of course, they would still joke with him as before, from the content of morning training to what to eat at noon, but they would ultimately obey his arrangements - this was true in battle, and this was true at most other times.

He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

These three children, and their great strength and drive, made him feel both comforted and uneasy.

When he mentioned this to Iruka, he just laughed and told him he was overthinking it.

He had no idea what Captain Yamato would think, or worse, what Kai would say, so he decided to keep the doubt to himself.

"Playing 'disadvantage' today." Kakashi replied.

Hearing these words, the three little ghosts howled in unison.

"Alright, stop complaining." He scolded in a serious tone. "This is to enable you to adapt to various emergencies. Summoned beasts are a very important part of the battle. You must learn how to fight alongside them and form unique combat connections and formations. Alright, I've said everything I need to say, let's get started."

The game, called "Three Monkeys", was designed by Kakashi based on the sensory deprivation training he received as a young ANBU, and it combines defensive and adaptive training.

During the game, the three ghosts will be deprived of the ability to speak, hear or see respectively, and the goal is to get from point A to point B without being "killed" or marked by Kakashi. There are two main modes of the game, one is "advantage" and the other is "disadvantage". The "disadvantage" mode will deprive them of their strongest senses, while the "advantage" mode will deprive other senses to exercise their dominant senses.

"I hate playing this mode the most. It's too stressful." Naruto complained, and as he spoke, he made a seal, which was equivalent to noise-isolating earplugs for ninjas.

"Yeah." Sasuke agreed, then closed his eyes and made a sealing seal.

Sakura didn't say anything, but after she completed the seal, she tapped her throat gently to signal Kakashi that her jutsu was ready.

Kakashi began the countdown. He counted loudly and bent his fingers. The three little ghosts were ready to start.

They had three safe areas to choose from: Iruka's apartment, the ninja school classroom where Iruka was, and Ichiraku Ramen. These three locations almost formed an equilateral triangle, right on the edge of the Hokage Building and the Administrative Building.

Each location has its own advantages - Ichiraku Ramen is always crowded, and the little devils can hide in the crowd more easily;

Iruka's apartment roof was open, and there were plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in;

The Ninja School has a lot of traffic and narrow corridors, making it difficult to track the target. The last option is the most obvious, but also the farthest away.

When the last finger was bent, Kakashi unclenched his fist. He wanted to know who would win this time, but then he thought, it didn't matter, anyway, he was the winner.

***

"Hey, Shikamaru, we've only been training for a few hours!"

"Forget about him, Ino. Let's take a break, shall we?" Choji complained, looking at Asuma pitifully.

Their teacher sighed, his eyes moving back and forth between the angry blonde girl, the hungry fat boy, and the young man from the Nara clan who was sleeping soundly under the shade of the tree.

"Okay, let's take a break." He finally compromised.

"But, Asuma-sensei, how can we become stronger if we don't train well?"

"You mean, how can I catch up with Sakura?" Shikamaru said lazily and listlessly.

Ino's face suddenly turned red.

"Why are you talking about this now?"

"Well, there's no need for you to compete with her anyway," Shikamaru muttered quietly before turning over, facing away from them, and going back to sleep.

Ino was stunned for a moment, obviously shocked by his words, but she quickly came back to her senses, looked at Shikamaru's back with a confused smile, and said half-jokingly:

"Can't you just speak properly? Why do you have to make compliments sound like put-downs?"

"I wasn't complimenting you." The voice came in a daze, followed by a long yawn. "I was just stating the facts."

Before Ino could figure out how to refute, a slight rustling sound was heard in the woods behind her, as if someone was approaching.

Asuma raised his head alertly, looked at the uninvited guest, and raised his eyebrows.

"Genjian? Why are you here?" Asuma asked. Ino turned around and saw a tall figure standing in the shadow of the elm tree. It was Genjian.