Kakashi tried to stand several times, but the pain was too intense.
It was only after a long while, with Obito's help, that he finally managed to get to his feet.
"Raj, you've gone too far! I'm going to find Rin..."
"No, don't! Hiss~ I'm not hurt."
Kakashi cried out in pain, then sat down to rest for a long time before continuing, "Its attacks look fierce, but the point of contact is actually soft and spongy. The real damage... the real damage came from being struck by the wooden stick."
"Good thing you're okay, good thing you're okay," Obito sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Kakashi had been about to ask if it was Obito's turn next, but seeing how worried Obito was, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Meow~ Let's still call Rin over to check for injuries before letting Obito go," Raj mused, deciding to summon Rin first.
Kakashi froze, torn between suggesting Obito take his turn and feeling a pang of annoyance at Raj's decision to call Rin first.
'Is this guy using me as a guinea pig?!'
'What if I'd gotten seriously hurt?!'
'Besides, why should Obito get off scot-free? That's completely unfair!'
'So going first means you're guaranteed to get the short end of the stick?!'
Finding Rin was easy; they hadn't gone far.
Even without using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Raj quickly located her.
After she examined Kakashi, everyone except Obito breathed a sigh of relief.
"Apart from some bruising on his back, he's perfectly fine."
"I told you I was fine. Now, Obito, it's your turn."
Kakashi stood up.
The pain would only last a little while; it would pass soon enough.
But he couldn't truly vent his frustration until he saw Obito get his comeuppance.
Gulp.
Obito swallowed hard, standing nervously before the punching bag.
Meanwhile, Raj's points panel showed his score rapidly increasing.
He grinned and trotted over to ask, "Want to change its appearance?"
"Yes! Of course! Make it look like that stinky Kakashi - and make it talk too!" Obito gritted his teeth.
'And here I was, worrying about Kakashi. What a waste of concern! How could a menace like him ever get hurt?'
"No problem, meow..."
Kakashi's earlier scream had been recorded, confirming that the recording function was working perfectly.
Next, Kakashi savored the sensation of being "beaten up."
To put it mildly... the experience was utterly unpleasant.
The tumbler was identical to a real person in both appearance and voice.
After being struck, it would even display injuries.
Obito's previous attempt had left the tumbler battered and bruised, a truly pitiful sight.
Now it was Kakashi's turn.
Learning from Kakashi's mistake, Obito abandoned the knife and opted for his fists.
He found the tumbler fascinating; the impact felt incredibly real, like every punch landed with bone-jarring force.
The only downside was...
Thud!
Thump~
The first sound was the tumbler hitting the ground and bouncing back up.
The second was Obito being sent flying.
Raj lowered his head, somewhat stunned by Obito's antics.
'If you'd gone first and gotten knocked out, I could understand. But Kakashi managed to evade for so long before getting hit. How the hell did you get flattened on your first strike?'
After staring down for a few seconds, Raj asked, exasperated, "What's this, a scam?"
"S-sorry, I was too nervous," Obito said, scratching his head.
He had wanted to dodge, but in that instant, the image of Kakashi being sent flying flashed through his mind, freezing him in place.
"Heh, a loser's a loser," Kakashi sneered, offering his "blessing."
"Shut up! I'm not a loser! I just got nervous for a second!"
Obito retorted, then stood before the punching bag.
Remembering Kakashi's taunts, a surge of anger welled up inside him.
'So what if I'
'Get hit? What's there to be afraid of? I'll keep going until I've had enough!'
Activating his Sharingan, Obito threw a punch, then a kick.
At first, his clumsy Taijutsu left him vulnerable to counterattacks, but he gradually refined his movements.
His attacks became less reckless, incorporating subtle variations.
Thump, thump, thump!
The rhythmic sounds echoed through the forest.
Kakashi initially grinned, but his smile slowly faded as he realized Obito was improving rapidly.
After each blow, Obito quickly adjusted his mistakes, correcting his movements to avoid being hit again.
As time went on, Obito was hit less and less.
Eventually, he could dodge attacks as quickly as Kakashi himself, seamlessly blending Taijutsu offense with rapid evasion.
Kakashi was astonished.
'Is he improving too fast?'
'This progress is practically cheating!'
His amazement didn't last long.
With a thud, Obito was sent flying.
Fortunately, he managed to adjust his trajectory mid-air, avoiding a collision with a tree - a slight improvement over Kakashi's earlier performance.
"Meow~ Scary, isn't it? The one you used to look down on has already progressed this far," Raj whispered from the sidelines.
Kakashi wanted to retort.
'I never looked down on Obito!'
He might have called Obito a "dead last" to his face, but it was just talk...
"Next, meow~," Raj transformed the tumbler doll into Obito's likeness, infused it with Chakra, and leaped onto a tree branch, signaling Kakashi to continue his assault.
'Why do I have to recharge the Chakra every time?'
He felt targeted.
'This bastard is definitely doing this on purpose!'
Kakashi was now more fun to play with than Obito.
Obito had already been "broken" by their training; he was like a lump of rotten meat, completely unresponsive to any attacks.
He might occasionally glance up, even wondering why the blows weren't stronger.
For example, just earlier:
'How dare you doubt my methods, you fool?'
'Can't you see Kakashi is on high alert?'
Obito adapted quickly.
By the second round, he could fly out with even more grace than Kakashi.
Kakashi, however, lacked this ability and suffered miserably from every counterattack.
It wasn't that Obito was stronger; his Sharingan gave him superior reaction speed.
That's what you call a cheat.
Kakashi struggled, but he was hooked.
He believed this training could develop instantaneous reflexes, making him invulnerable to attacks even at high speeds.
As a result, Raj found it increasingly difficult to earn Points.
'Without Points, what's the point?'
After squatting for a while, Raj went to check on Asuma.
Kakashi and Obito didn't need supervision; they were friends and rivals.
Left to their own devices, they might slack off, but when training together, their mutual oversight ensured peak performance.
The other four were scattered throughout the surrounding mountains.
After the training sessions earlier in the week, the Mountain Rat population had dwindled significantly, making tracking and capturing them exponentially more difficult.