In the early morning, Kakashi, after having breakfast, invited Nohara Rin to the place where they previously tested Milotic's abilities for cultivation.
Kakashi felt that both he and Rockruff needed some intense special training to enhance their strength.
Currently, Kakashi was in a middle ground; stronger than Obito and Shisui, but still quite a distance from Might Guy.
Chakra amount wasn't an issue that could be solved in a short period, but he could improve his skills to conserve, making every unit of Chakra spent more valuable.
As for Rockruff, Kakashi felt that with a bit more training, it might evolve.
After all, Feebas and Charmander, which hatched later, had evolved, so it was Rockruff's turn.
"I want to go too," Obito said immediately after hearing.
Kakashi and Nohara Rin training alone together was something he couldn't easily ignore.
What if Kakashi tried to show off in front of Nohara Rin while he wasn't there to win her favor?
"Are you sure? You have a match tomorrow, aren't you worried it might affect your performance?" Kakashi reminded him.
Obito wasn't stuck at any bottleneck; he was simply a bit behind in strength. Even a week of more training wouldn't help.
"Are you planning to use it as an excuse if you lose, citing poor condition?" Kakashi looked at Obito suspiciously.
"Kakashi, your thoughts are too dark!" Obito loudly rebuked, "The match isn't until tomorrow afternoon; training till tonight will still leave half a day to rest, so it won't have any impact."
"I was just saying casually." Kakashi replied lightly, with an expression as if saying there's no need to be upset.
Obito was infuriated but had no choice.
After all, if it came to a real fight, he most likely wouldn't be able to beat Kakashi.
"I'm heading to Guy's place." Shisui said goodbye to the group after finishing his meal.
Though Might Guy's injury this time wasn't as severe as when he opened the Sixth Gate, he still needed over a week to recuperate.
Since this wasn't Konoha's territory, they decided someone had to look after Might Guy every day, and Shisui drew number one, so it was his turn the first day.
Kakashi and the others waved in response, tidied up a bit, and went out of town together.
Upon reaching their destination, all three used the Summoning Technique to summon their respective Pokémon.
"Rock!"
As soon as Rockruff was summoned, it excitedly circled around Kakashi, rubbing its head against his body.
"Milo~"
Milotic lowered its head to touch cheeks with Nohara Rin, letting out a gentle cry.
The newly summoned Charmeleon, who hadn't fully woken up yet, initially planned to shoot a burst of early morning flames at Obito but lost the mood instantly upon spotting Milotic nearby, scampering over.
"Roar!" Charmeleon happily greeted Milotic good morning.
Obito: ...
"Can't you show some ambition, start by training properly? Look at your size, then at Milotic's," Obito couldn't help but say.
Lately, Obito had measured Charmeleon's height; he remembered vividly that Charmeleon was only 1.2 meters.
As for Milotic, even without measurements, a rough estimate would be five to six meters.
Even when resting on the ground, Milotic was still much taller than Charmeleon; Obito couldn't fathom where Charmeleon got the courage to try to impress Milotic — it was unlikely to be noticed.
Obito shook his head silently; though he raised Charmeleon, it didn't take after him at all.
Charmeleon was furious; wasn't this blatantly insinuating it was a small dragon?
In its rage, Charmeleon immediately erupted with Chakra and charged straight at Obito.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Obito knew Charmeleon well; he could even discern whether Charmeleon was about to breathe fire at him just by observing its mouth movements.
So in the very instant Charmeleon took its first step, Obito gathered Chakra in his leg and unleashed a Tornado Kick, knocking the charging Charmeleon down.
'Flamethrower!'
The indignant Charmeleon swiftly got up, amassed a huge amount of Chakra in its throat and expelled a flame column thicker than its head.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bomb!"
Obito concentrated the Breath of Flame intensively to enhance its Nature Transformation ability, then stepped back while forming Hand Seals, spitting out a wide area of flames.
The surging sea of fire neutralized Charmeleon's flame column and continuously surged towards Charmeleon.
Just as the flames were about to scorch Charmeleon, Obito ceased his Chakra output, and with Instant Body Jutsu, kicked Charmeleon away with a single stroke.
"Competing with me in flames, you're still too green," Obito shook his head and said.
"Roar!"
Unconvinced, Charmeleon stood up and loudly proclaimed the tide-turning wisdom of thirty years east, thirty years west, never underestimate a small dragon at its low point, then resumed its assault on Obito, only stopping to rest once thoroughly exhausted.
"This training method isn't bad either," Obito discovered a blind spot.
Whenever Charmeleon got angry, it would battle him until it was completely exhausted, so if he provoked Charmeleon with a few words once it was rested, wouldn't that mean Charmeleon would continually train?
All things considered, wouldn't that effectively mean Charmeleon trained to exhaustion every day under his encouragement?
Obito thought it seemed even more effective than Genjutsu, though Charmeleon might not grasp his well-intentioned efforts.
"I'll bear the blame of scolding Charmeleon for its own good," Obito resolved inwardly that even if Charmeleon didn't understand, he aimed to help it grow stronger.
After resting for a while, Charmeleon's inner fire gradually subsided.
Although, in its displeasure, it might spontaneously want to spew fire at Obito, Charmeleon also remembered Obito's kindness, such as the care and attention he received shortly after hatching when Obito looked after him well.