Chapter 514: First Pokémon Battle

Kakashi wore a thoughtful expression.

How could he not know Obito’s little scheme? It was clear he wanted to win more matches while Charmeleon had an evolutionary advantage.

“I think it’s fine,” Kakashi said after some thought.

Although Obito’s intentions weren’t pure, it genuinely benefited the Nin-Beasts’ training, so Kakashi saw no issue.

Rin Nohara withdrew Feebas from participation.

Feebas was simply unable to fight at the moment; it could bump things with its body in water, but on land, it had no combat ability whatsoever.

Rin Nohara would never force Feebas into a meaningless fight just for the sake of appearances.

The other disciples nodded; this was indeed unavoidable.

“Youth is about fighting a lot!” Might Guy believed combat could also be a part of training.

“Zorua has no problem,” Shisui also nodded.

“Then that’s exactly four, we can just use the rules we normally practice fighting with,” Obito said excitedly, already somewhat impatient.

The other disciples had no objections.

The draw results were quickly out: Charmeleon was number one, Zorua number two, Rockruff number three, and Riolu number four.

Obito felt a slight regret; he had wanted Charmeleon to thrash Rockruff in the first round.

“Whatever you do, don’t lose to Riolu,” Obito secretly cheered for Rockruff in his heart.

If it lost in the first round, Charmeleon wouldn’t be able to encounter Rockruff in the second round.

If it couldn’t defeat Rockruff, even if Charmeleon became the strongest Nin-Beast among the disciples, Obito would still have regrets, because then Kakashi would have an excuse.

Riolu gave Obito a rather speechless look.

“This is our bond!” Might Guy laughed loudly at Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled helplessly; there were only four Nin-Beasts in total, wasn’t it normal for them to face each other?

“First match, Charmeleon versus Zorua,” Kakashi acted as the combat referee.

Upon hearing the call, both Charmeleon and Zorua immediately walked towards the combat arena.

“Char,” Charmeleon sighed slightly.

Charmeleon and Zorua had a good relationship; not only did Zorua help translate for it to Obito, but the two Nin-Beasts also often chatted.

Now having to fight its best translator, Charmeleon found it hard to strike.

“Let’s both go all out. If we hold back, winning won’t mean anything, and we won’t gain much,” Zorua said, taking it in stride.

Although Charmeleon had evolved once, Zorua was not afraid of Charmeleon.

Because in Zorua’s eyes, both Charmeleon and Obito were quite dull, and it was uncertain who would win or lose when they fought.

“Char,” Charmeleon nodded.

“Begin!” Seeing both Nin-Beasts ready, Kakashi shouted.

As soon as Kakashi’s voice fell, Zorua immediately condensed Chakra to use genjutsu, its appearance instantly changing in the eyes of others.

Obito looked at “himself” appearing in the combat arena, a question mark rising in his heart—what the hell was this, why turn into him?

Zorua’s figure disappeared, leaving only “Obito” and Charmeleon on the field.

Shisui shook his head, believing Zorua’s strategy was flawed.

If it were other pairings, such a strategy would be fine, whether it was Kakashi and Rockruff or Might Guy and Riolu.

But Obito and Charmeleon were truly not suitable, because not only would it fail to distract Charmeleon, it might even make Charmeleon more excited.

“Char!” Charmeleon immediately rushed out.

Originally, it had intended to hold back its strength, but with Zorua turning into Obito, it wouldn’t be polite anymore.

Thick, dark smoke was spewed out by Charmeleon, enveloping its own figure and Zorua’s.

“Obito, why are you so weak? Charmeleon isn’t afraid of you at all!” Zorua’s exasperated voice rang out in everyone’s minds.

Obito: …

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or to frown.

Zorua, who was disrespectful to him, was being beaten up by Charmeleon, but it seemed Charmeleon genuinely wanted to beat him up too.

The smoke quickly dissipated, revealing a bruised and swollen Zorua inside.

“Darn Charmeleon, now I’m getting serious!” Zorua activated its genjutsu again, returning to its original form, then opened its mouth and spat out a large burst of flames that surged towards Charmeleon.

Seeing the fierce flames, Charmeleon immediately retreated, then the sea of fire split into several streams of flames, surrounding it. Charmeleon couldn’t dodge in time and immediately spewed flames, wanting to resist as much as possible.

But something Charmeleon hadn’t expected happened: the flames surging towards it seemed to be on a different layer, as if they theoretically should have collided, but in reality, Charmeleon’s flames passed right through them.

Zorua gave a sly smile, raised its paw from the side, and swiped at Charmeleon’s body, causing Charmeleon to stumble back three steps.

“Charmeleon, are you even capable? You’re not going to lose to an unevolved Zorua, are you?” Seeing Charmeleon repelled by Zorua, Obito couldn’t help but try to motivate it.

The flames on Charmeleon’s tail instantly intensified a few points; it couldn’t even imagine how unpleasant Obito’s words would be if it really lost.

Zorua repeated its trick, spitting out fireballs one after another at Charmeleon, just like Shisui performing Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

In Charmeleon’s eyes, those fireballs burned fiercely; it could even see the air distorting from the heat. These fireballs were as real as could be.

“Roar!”

Charmeleon suppressed its urge to dodge, opened its mouth, condensed most of its Chakra in its throat, then converted it into Fire Release and exhaled it in one breath.

A pillar of fire, roughly the thickness of an adult’s thigh, spewed from Charmeleon’s mouth directly towards Zorua, and even as Zorua’s fireballs were about to hit Charmeleon, Charmeleon didn’t move an inch.

“Ah, it’s hot, Shisui, save me!” Zorua, burned by the flames, cried out to Shisui for help.

Just now, it was betting that Charmeleon would dodge, so it had been maintaining the genjutsu with Chakra and hadn’t used Chakra to protect its body.

“Rin, I’ll trouble you for a moment,” Shisui said to Rin Nohara.

As Shisui spoke, Rin Nohara was already forming hand signs. She extinguished the lingering flames on Zorua, then used Mystical Palm Technique to heal Zorua.

“It’s a pity Zorua has only just mastered Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation; a mix of true and false would be better,” Shisui shook his head.

Zorua’s offensive capabilities were severely lacking at the moment. Shisui had been teaching Zorua Fire Release, but Zorua had not yet mastered Fire Release Ninjutsu, only having initially learned Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

“Charmeleon wins!” Kakashi announced the end of the battle.

Obito puffed out his chest and walked over to Charmeleon, patting its shoulder and saying, “Very good, not bad at all. As expected of one trained by my own hands.”

“Char!” Charmeleon couldn’t resist spitting flames at Obito.

But Obito was so familiar with Charmeleon that he dodged the flames with a mere tilt of his head, then looked at Charmeleon with a benevolent expression.

“Char~” Charmeleon pointed at Zorua, then raised both hands in a French salute.

It felt it could explain: the reason it spat fire at Obito was because Zorua had transformed into Obito during the battle, and it hadn’t recovered from the fight yet, which led to the misunderstanding. It definitely wasn’t holding a grudge against Obito.

“You go on, I’m listening,” Obito entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and condensed flames in his hand.

“Obito, don’t hog the arena; there’s still a battle left in the first round,” Kakashi interrupted Obito, reminding him.

Obito dispersed the flames, exited Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, and walked out of the arena with Charmeleon.

He was just playing around with Charmeleon; he wouldn’t actually fight Charmeleon. If he were to fight, it would have to be under the guise of combat training.

Charmeleon looked gratefully at Kakashi; at this moment, Kakashi was the best referee in its heart.

Shisui held the healed Zorua to the side, talking to it about its mistakes in the recent battle.

“Shisui, why didn’t you say anything just now? Otherwise, I might have won,” Zorua couldn’t help but lightly bump Shisui with its head.

“After all, it’s your battle. As a spectator, it’s not good to speak out,” Shisui replied.

“But we’re going to fight together in the future, aren’t we? Will you not remind me during future battles, Shisui?” Zorua asked, widening its eyes at Shisui.

“Of course not,” Shisui shook his head.

Shisui thought carefully and realized it was true; Nin-Beast versus Nin-Beast battles couldn’t entirely follow the rules of their internal sparring. As contractors, they should be able to give commands and hints.

However, one battle had already passed, so Shisui didn’t voice this thought, planning to discuss it with Kakashi and the others after the matches concluded.

Rockruff and Riolu walked into the combat arena together, looking at each other with full fighting spirit.

They both wanted to win and not disappoint their contractors.

“Begin!” Kakashi shouted.

“Shadow Clone!”

Rockruff activated the Chakra in its body to create five Shadow Clones, each identical to the original. The six Rockruff ran in intersecting patterns, making it impossible for Riolu to find the real Rockruff with its naked eye for a moment.

Riolu took a deep breath, concentrated, and used the power of Aura to sense.

This is its innate Aura, which allows it to sense others’ emotions and, to some extent, gauge their strength.

Under the influence of Aura, Riolu ignored the illusions, locked onto the true Rockruff, and concentrated Chakra on its body, dashing out at extreme speed.

“Flash!”

Riolu’s rapidly charging figure violently knocked down the running Rockruff, sending it tumbling backward several times.

“Does it have sensory abilities?” Kakashi thought to himself, watching Riolu strike Rockruff’s main body.

Although Rockruff’s clones were not physical Shadow Clones, they were highly accurate in appearance, making them very difficult to distinguish under normal circumstances.

“Woof!” Rockruff quickly got up; that last attack hadn’t caused it much harm.

After its clone tactic failed, Rockruff quickly changed strategies. It ran to evade the incoming Riolu while concentrating Chakra for Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

Just as Riolu charged forward again, Rockruff spun in a circle, spraying sand. Riolu’s eyes instantly filled with sand, causing it to close them in discomfort before reopening them to a blurry vision.

Rockruff unceremoniously concentrated Chakra and knocked Riolu down. Immediately after, it gathered a large amount of Chakra above Riolu to create a one-meter-tall rock, which it then hurled towards Riolu.

Sensing the rapidly falling boulder, Riolu ignored its uncomfortable eyes and gathered Chakra, swinging its palm upwards.

The mere 0.7-meter-tall Riolu appeared somewhat delicate beneath the one-meter boulder. Under Rin Nohara’s slightly worried gaze, Riolu’s small blue paw collided with the giant rock.

Bang!

Accompanied by a loud bang, the one-meter-tall boulder developed several large cracks and shattered directly.

“Might Guy’s Nin-Beast is so strong,” Obito gasped.

If Obito were to hit such a large rock, he wouldn’t be able to shatter it so cleanly with a single punch.

“Mere rocks are no match for our bodies, which we train day and night!” Might Guy laughed, giving Riolu a thumbs-up.

Riolu’s immense strength didn’t scare Rockruff. It knew that Riolu’s eyes must be very uncomfortable right now and that it couldn’t see clearly.

So Rockruff used Flash to swiftly get behind Riolu and struck Riolu’s back.

With its eyes in pain and the dust from the shattered rock, Riolu took the full force of the impact and fell forward.

Zzzzt!!

Rockruff seized this opportunity, opening its large mouth. The Chakra in its mouth rapidly underwent Nature Transformation, converting into Lightning Release Chakra, which coated its fangs with lightning. It then bit down hard on Riolu’s leg.

Although Riolu gathered Chakra to defend itself at the last moment, it was still inevitably injured. The silver lining was that Rockruff’s Lightning Release was mediocre, failing to paralyze Riolu; only the bitten leg felt a strong tingling sensation.

“As expected of Kakashi’s Nin-Beast, just as cunning as he is,” Obito couldn’t help but mutter.

In a real battle, if a leg is injured and one cannot move, it’s essentially over.

“Rockruff can already use Ninjutsu of other Nature Transformations,” Shisui said, somewhat surprised, thinking that it was indeed the earliest hatched Nin-Beast and certainly had something special.

“Metal Claw!”

Riolu gritted its teeth and swiftly raised its metallic-glowing claw, striking towards Rockruff.

Rockruff hadn’t expected Riolu, while being bitten by Lightning Fang, to still be able to gather Chakra and counterattack. Caught off guard, it was directly sent flying and slammed hard onto the ground.

Riolu’s attack caused more damage to Rockruff than it had anticipated, nearly making it faint. Rockruff gathered all its strength and barely managed to stumble to its feet.

Kakashi noticed this and frowned slightly.

Riolu’s taijutsu power was somewhat beyond his imagination. Rockruff’s physique was already quite good, yet it was almost unable to get up after being hit by Riolu’s single claw.

Muzuki, observing the battle, showed a thoughtful expression.

If Pokémon can use Chakra, then they must have been localized by the system.

However, Pokémon not only have elemental weaknesses but also many more types than the Chakra natures in the Naruto world. Muzuki’s previous guess was that types similar to Naruto’s Water, Fire, Earth, and Lightning would remain, while types not present in Naruto, like Steel or Dragon, would disappear.

But judging from the current situation, elemental weaknesses are actually retained, in a very special way.

Every Ninja has Chakra, but everyone’s Chakra is slightly different. Strong enough sensory Ninja can identify people through Chakra, and those of Kaguya’s level can even determine past lives through Chakra.

Additionally, some people’s Chakra has special effects. For example, Kushina’s Chakra can suppress Tailed Beasts, which is why she was chosen as a Jinchuriki.

After the system’s localization, all Pokémon types belong to a unique kind of Chakra. This unique Chakra inherits the elemental weaknesses from the Pokémon world. That’s why Riolu’s Fighting-type Chakra punch shattered Rockruff’s falling rock, and a single Metal Claw nearly finished off Rockruff.

Because both Fighting and Steel types are super effective against Rock.

“Only in battles between Pokémon will the original world’s elemental weaknesses apply. In battles against native Naruto Nin-Beasts and Ninja, only the Naruto world’s Chakra elemental weaknesses apply,” Muzuki concluded.

Muzuki felt this wouldn’t have much impact. Elemental weaknesses are generally important in games; in reality, it’s about training and developing abilities.

Rockruff slowly walked towards Riolu. Its range for using falling rocks wasn’t large, so it needed to get closer.

Riolu propped itself up with its hands, barely managing to stand, and watched the approaching Rockruff warily.

Everyone stared at the two beasts. Undoubtedly, this battle had entered its final stage.

Rockruff unhesitatingly used Chakra to transform the earth into sand, then splashed it towards the immobile Riolu.

Compared to the more Chakra-consuming falling rock, splashing sand was definitely more cost-effective. It was better to interfere with its state first.

Riolu hadn’t expected Rockruff to use this move again, and its eyes were injured once more, caught off guard.

“Flash!”

Bang!

Rockruff used its last bit of strength to charge at Riolu, knocking Riolu to the ground.

Just as Obito and Shisui thought the battle was over, Riolu, in terrible condition, surprisingly hadn’t completely lost its fighting ability. It suddenly swung its metallic-glowing claw at Rockruff.

But that claw could only stop three centimeters before Rockruff, then it slammed onto the ground in front of Rockruff.

Rockruff, having reacted, quickly created a small rock and smashed it into Riolu’s head, completely incapacitating it.

Shisui shook his head with a look of regret. If Riolu’s arm had been a bit longer, it could have turned the tide. Losing mobility was too fatal.

Rin Nohara and Muzuki treated one Pokémon each, while Kakashi and Might Guy quickly went forward to check on the Pokémon’s condition.

“What a youthful and passionate battle!” Might Guy shed tears of emotion for Riolu.

He didn’t mind Riolu losing the battle.

Riolu nearly turned the tables twice and never gave up in despair. In Might Guy’s eyes, such a Riolu would eventually win, just as he had defeated Kakashi through his efforts.

Feeling Might Guy’s sincere emotions, the treated Riolu showed a slight smile. That’s why it had to work so hard to defeat Rockruff. As Might Guy’s contractor, it was no worse than any other Pokémon.

“You performed perfectly, even I was a bit surprised,” Kakashi said with a smile, stroking Rockruff’s head.

Because Rockruff had shown impressive intelligence, Kakashi not only taught Rockruff how to train but also tactics. Rockruff’s spinning sand splash was Kakashi’s idea.

“Woof!” Rockruff barked happily.

At that moment, being praised by Kakashi, Rockruff instantly felt that the hardships of the battle were nothing.

Watching Kakashi and Might Guy both being incredibly harmonious with their Pokémon, Obito looked at Charmeleon and fell into thought.

Why did his side feel like the art style was different? Whose problem was it?

“Anyway, Charmeleon should still have an advantage,” Obito recalled the results of his power tests on Charmeleon and felt that Charmeleon could win.

PS: I originally wanted to finish it in one go, but it’s too late.