Chapter 10: Detour
Kiba sat on the floor of his room, silent. Akamaru and Yun slept in the yard, worn out from the intense training Tsume had put them through earlier.
He looked down at his own hands, where sharp claws were exposed, reflecting.
'I thought I'd mastered Beast Mimicry, but something's missing.'
He closed his eyes.
'Unlike my mom's imitation, mine feels like just a copy — it doesn't boost my power at all.'
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Flashback – First activation of Beast Mimicry
Weeks ago…
Kiba had tried to activate the technique several times without success. After yet another failure, he sat down on the floor, frustrated.
'It's not just about spreading chakra…'
He closed his eyes and pictured Tsume's ninken — its claws, its wild energy, its predator's stance.
Suddenly, he felt a shift.
His canine teeth lengthened slightly. Thin, sharp nails grew at his fingertips. His body felt lighter, sharper.
He opened his eyes and looked at his own hands.
'It worked…'
But at the same time, he sensed something was missing.
The transformation was purely physical. It didn't boost his actual power the way it did for Tsume. There was none of that surge in strength, speed, and instinct that he saw in his mother.
'Something's missing…'
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Back to the present
Kiba went out to the yard. Tsume wasn't home. He was alone with Akamaru and Yun.
He approached Tsume's massive ninken (the one-eyed dog) and, in silence, focused chakra into his nose and probed the animal.
This time, he didn't just probe the physical body. He also probed the wild chakra radiating from it.
Immediately — perhaps thanks to his exceptional chakra control — Kiba felt a much deeper connection: a raw, instinctive, ferocious energy. It was as if he could "read" the ninken's chakra.
'This… this is different.'
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Flashback – Iruka's class
A few weeks earlier, at the Academy…
Iruka was explaining to the class:
"Every living thing has chakra. Animals, plants, insects… everything that's alive carries some amount of chakra, even if it's small."
At the time, Kiba had paid attention, but hadn't thought much of it.
Now, probing Tsume's ninken and feeling its wild chakra, Iruka's words came rushing back to him.
'Every living thing has chakra…'
His eyes went wide.
'That's what was missing.'
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Kiba ran back to his room. He shut the door and stayed alone with his two ninken.
He stood in the center of the room, closed his eyes, and pictured Tsume's ninken again — not just the body, but its wild energy, its raw, instinctive chakra.
He activated Beast Mimicry.
This time, something different happened.
A feral aura swept over his body and settled over the room. The air grew thicker, sharper. His senses sharpened dramatically. His muscles seemed to gain real strength. His reflexes grew faster. His instincts flared up like a flame.
Kiba opened his eyes and looked at his hands. The claws were longer and sharper than the first time.
'Now… now that's more like it.'
He felt real power.
But after a few long minutes, the transformation began to fade. The feral aura dissipated, and his body started returning to normal.
Kiba sat down on the floor, breathing hard, but with eyes shining.
'There's a time limit…'
'Or my body just isn't used to this technique yet.'
Feeling his chakra reserves (double that of a normal genin) run dry, Kiba reflected:
'Maybe my chakra reserves still aren't enough to sustain it for long.'
'That was 30 minutes in this form. In the future, once I get used to it, that time will probably increase.'
He stayed silent for a long moment, thinking.
'If I can master this technique perfectly… and modify it down the line…'
He looked up at the ceiling, his expression serious and ambitious.
'The original Kiba's style depends almost entirely on the ninken. I don't want to follow that path.'
He closed his eyes.
'I want to create something that's mine alone. Something I can grow together with.'
'If I can sense and mimic the chakra and physiology of any living being…'
'Then I wouldn't be limited to imitating beasts alone…'
'I could mimic anything.'
He clenched his fists.
'It wouldn't be Beast Mimicry anymore.'
'It would be… Mimicry of All Living Things.'
'Maybe that's the key I need to take my first steps in this world.'
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End of Chapter 10
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