Chapter 457: Pokémon Egg Hatching

When the fierce white light appeared, everyone except Muzuki was startled.

Obito instinctively shielded Rin Nohara behind him, Might Guy gathered a large amount of Chakra in his fingertips, ready to use Golden Skyline at any moment, and Kakashi almost couldn’t resist throwing the Pokémon Egg away.

If this Nin-Beast Egg hadn’t been given to him by Muzuki, Kakashi would have definitely thrown it away immediately.

He had never heard of a Nin-Beast Egg hatching with light; usually, that amount of light would come from a paper bomb trap with many paper bombs buried.

Muzuki looked as usual towards the center of the white light, which was rapidly fading, and a light brown puppy with a large white tail appeared in Kakashi’s arms.

Kakashi stared blankly at the puppy in his arms, feeling his worldview as a Ninja being challenged.

Why would a dog hatch from an egg? Aren’t dogs mammals?

And why was this dog so hairy right after birth? Shouldn’t it only have a bit of fetal hair when just born?

At this moment, Kakashi’s mind was full of questions. He didn’t know if he had read too few books or read the wrong ones.

Rockruff, sensing a kind gaze, looked back at Kakashi with its blue eyes. The man and the dog met each other’s gaze.

Although it was the first time Rockruff had seen Kakashi, perhaps because Kakashi had carried the Pokémon Egg with him for a long time to hatch it, Rockruff was not unfamiliar with him and felt very close.

“Rock!” Rockruff happily stuck out its tongue and licked Kakashi’s face.

Kakashi, caught off guard:…

Under normal circumstances, Kakashi would have dodged, but the shock of a dog hatching from an egg was too great, so Kakashi didn’t react in time.

“As expected of a Nin-Beast hatched by my best friend, the color of its tail fur is exactly the same as your hair, my best friend!” Might Guy dispersed the Chakra from his fingertips, rubbing his chin as he spoke.

Due to his relatively limited knowledge, Might Guy wasn’t as shocked; he just thought the white light was a bit unusual.

Kakashi felt a bit helpless to retort. What did the Nin-Beast’s fur have to do with him? It was purely a coincidence.

“By the way, did this dog just speak? It sounded like ‘Rock’? So Nin-Beasts can talk right after birth?” After seeing Kakashi’s Nin-Beast, Obito’s mood instantly improved significantly.

Because this Nin-Beast didn’t look powerful at all; to Obito, it just looked like a slightly strange-looking little local dog.

“Even if eight more of these Nin-Beasts came, they wouldn’t be a cause for concern, right?” Obito felt he could take on eight of them.

Kakashi gave Obito a speechless look. ‘Right after birth,’ my foot! Whether it’s a person or a Nin-Beast, they need to learn to speak; they can’t be born knowing how to talk.

Of course, theoretically that’s true, but in reality, Kakashi did indeed hear the dog in his arms say the word ‘Rock,’ though it wasn’t very clear.

“Rock, rock!” Rockruff barked happily and then rubbed its head against Kakashi’s chest.

Kakashi looked thoughtful. The puppy in his arms didn’t seem to be speaking, but rather its bark was different from a normal dog’s. A normal dog barks ‘Woof,’ while it barks ‘Rock.’

“So cute!” Rin Nohara clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the puppy in Kakashi’s arms.

Girls can’t resist cute things, and the current Rockruff made Rin Nohara feel utterly adorable.

“Hmph, what’s so cute about that? Its white tail doesn’t look good at all.” Seeing Rin Nohara’s attention entirely on Kakashi—or rather, the puppy in his arms—Obito couldn’t help but grumble.

He believed that people with white hair not due to age were not good people, like Kakashi, or Jiraiya, who challenged Minato-sensei to a one-on-one fight.

Thinking back to Senju Tobirama, who had tormented him for a while and also had white hair, Obito’s prejudice against white-haired people deepened.

As if it heard someone speaking ill of it, Rockruff turned its head to look at Obito, its originally innocent eyes becoming sharp.

Although Rockruff’s current size meant glaring only made it look cuter, Obito felt an inexplicable panic when he met Rockruff’s gaze.

Obito quickly recovered and wanted to beat Rockruff up, asking it, “What are you staring at?”

Seeing that glaring had no effect on Obito, and noticing Obito’s ill-intentioned expression, Rockruff instinctively shrank into Kakashi’s arms.

It was still a baby only a minute old and had no combat power.

“Obito, soften your expression, you’ll scare the puppy,” Rin Nohara said when she saw this.

Obito:…

He now wanted to beat that annoying white-tailed dog even more. Rin Nohara had never said such a thing to him before.

“What a mysterious Nin-Beast; it was born with rocks on its neck. Is this also part of its body?” Shisui noticed the details of Rockruff’s body.

Shisui had been silent until now, observing Rockruff. Nothing else; this was a Nin-Beast that was unusual from birth.

A dog hatching from an egg, then emitting white light—everything was so unusual.

Kakashi thought for a moment and reached out to touch Rockruff’s neck. The hard, sharp sensation of the rhomboid stone was transmitted back to Kakashi’s hand.

Rockruff didn’t resist, showing an expression of enjoyment and tilting its head slightly. Kakashi then scratched Rockruff’s chin, making Rockruff comfortably squint its eyes.

“It really is a stone,” Kakashi said, nodding to Shisui.

Kakashi also felt a bit magical in his heart, sensing that this Nin-Beast might have a significant background.

The unusual phenomenon at birth, coupled with Muzuki’s previous emphasis on its strong potential, made Kakashi believe that this Nin-Beast’s strength would definitely not be weak once it grew up.

Kakashi’s only remaining question was why Muzuki hadn’t mentioned information about the Nin-Beast. Given Muzuki’s behavior, he should have known something.

However, Kakashi didn’t dwell on it too much, as Muzuki must have been thinking of them, and there was a deeper meaning they couldn’t understand behind it.

Kakashi actually guessed wrong on this point; there was no deep meaning. Muzuki simply didn’t know much either.

Muzuki did know a lot about Pokemon, but the system would localize all rewards from worlds outside of Naruto, and Pokemon would certainly not be exactly the same as in their original world. So Muzuki simply didn’t say anything, because not saying anything meant not making a mistake.

“Kakashi, you should give it a name. It can’t go without a name,” Rin Nohara suggested.

Kakashi showed a thoughtful expression. A name was certainly important; otherwise, how would he refer to his Nin-Beast? He couldn’t just call it ‘dog,’ could he?

“Since this dog keeps saying ‘Rock, rock,’ why not just call it Rockruff?” Obito was the first to offer his idea.

Although naming a dog with ‘ruff’ in it was a bit strange, Obito felt his naming was reasonable and well-founded, with just a little bit of personal emotion.

“My best friend’s youth is so high-spirited right now, why not call it ‘Youthful Hound’!” Might Guy laughed loudly, giving Rockruff a thumbs-up.

But Rockruff couldn’t appreciate Might Guy’s naming aesthetic and showed a disdainful expression.

Might Guy’s eyes widened in disbelief. This was a good name in the name of youth, and someone actually rejected it!

Kakashi directly pretended not to hear. Giving a Nin-Beast such a name would not only embarrass the Nin-Beast but also him, the contractor.

Others use their Nin-Beasts like, “Come out, Manda!” “Please, Gamabunta.”

And he would say, “You’re the one, Youthful Hound!”

Kakashi felt it was even worse than Rockruff; at least his dog’s bark was actually ‘Rock.’

Although Obito and Might Guy’s suggestions didn’t sound great, they did ignite the naming atmosphere, and Rin Nohara immediately thought of several.

“I think’Sadaharu’ would be quite good. Of course, it’s ultimately up to you, Kakashi. If you really can’t think of anything, you can use names of flowers or plants, like ‘Lily of the Valley,’ which I think is also quite nice,” Rin Nohara said.

After all, it was Kakashi’s Nin-Beast, and while she liked it, Rin Nohara wouldn’t overstep her bounds.

Kakashi nodded slightly. Finally, someone reliable had come along. Compared to Might Guy and Obito’s naming, Rin Nohara’s naming was almost abnormally normal.

Normal as it was, Kakashi wasn’t entirely satisfied with the two names Rin Nohara provided.

Although they sounded nice and had a good feel to them, they had no connection to his Nin-Beast. Any other dog or even other types of pets could also be given those names.

“How about ‘White Rock’?” Shisui, seeing that everyone else had spoken, also thought of one.

Kakashi’s hair was white, Rockruff’s tail and the fur on its neck were white, and Rockruff’s bark was ‘Rock,’ and it was born with rocks on it.

He felt that such directly observable elements, even if simply combined and arranged, were still good for a name.

Kakashi instantly understood Shisui’s point. This was the name he was most satisfied with, but he still felt it was missing something.

“If you can’t think of one, there’s no need to rush. No one says you have to name it immediately,” Muzuki said with a smile.

He hadn’t expected Obito to accidentally guess Rockruff’s name, but this was the Naruto world, where species names usually weren’t used, and every Nin-Beast had its own name. So Muzuki didn’t say that the name Rockruff was good or anything.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. Rather than making a hasty decision, it was better to take the time to think carefully and seriously, as this was something that would accompany him for life.

“From now on, I’ll have to bring the Nin-Beast Egg with me when I train, so it hatches into a Nin-Beast that strives to train every day, just like me!” Might Guy showed an eager expression.

If a Nin-Beast that could train with him every day truly hatched, Might Guy would personally modify a green jumpsuit for it; even if it was a dog, he’d create a dog-wearable sports jumpsuit.

Muzuki thought to himself that this was indeed possible. Kakashi had hatched a Rock-type Rockruff, which indicated that the Pokémon Egg was likely related to the disciple’s abilities.

Given Might Guy’s characteristics, it was highly probable that it would be a Fighting-type Pokemon, and it was perfectly normal for Fighting-type Pokemon to train their bodies.

At that time, Might Guy would also be able to use taijutsu to have a satisfying, fist-to-fist fight with his Nin-Beast, an experience that other Ninjas would find very difficult to provide Might Guy.

Next, Muzuki gave some pointers to his disciples.

That evening, Orochimaru suddenly called another emergency meeting.

PS: I’ve been really tired lately, but thankfully, I’m almost done. It’s almost four in the morning, and I’m very sleepy. If there are any mistakes, please leave a comment on that paragraph, and I’ll correct it when I see it.