Matatabi Metis

Facing Sengoku's questioning, Senga thought for a moment and came up with the most concise answer. Covering his right eye, he said to Sengoku,

"I'm fine, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Thanks for your concern. You can understand this absorption method as my eye having eaten a Devil Fruit."

Senga was not afraid that revealing this secret would result in the World Government dragging him off for human experimentation. Sengoku, Zephyr, and the others protected him well within the Navy, and his own strength was enough to keep himself safe.

Whether it was Flying Thunder God, the Door-Door Fruit, or Yomotsu Hirasaka, all of them gave Senga complete confidence. It could be said that if he wanted to leave, very few people could stop him.

"?"

However, Sengoku's face instantly filled with question marks at that answer. He thought, Eyes can eat Devil Fruits too? Does that mean ears, noses, and stuff can eat them as well? So people who can only eat with their mouths got the short end of the stick and can only eat one?

Knowing Sengoku would react this way, Senga added,

"Only my Rinnegan can!"

Fine. At this point, Sengoku could only accept this strange premise. Still, acceptance aside, he could not help marveling inwardly at just how outrageous Senga's clan had been. He had heard Senga was the only one left. Could it be that even heaven could no longer stand them?

"Alright, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Something feels wrong with my right eye. I'll go back and rest for a while, so I'll take my leave first."

The abnormal sensation in his right eye was growing stronger and stronger. Senga no longer wanted to stay and planned to find somewhere secluded to investigate it.

"Alright. If it gets bad, make sure you go to the infirmary, understood?"

"Mm, understood."

With that, Senga vanished. He had left one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai in the wasteland behind Training Camp. After all, he was not as proficient with Flying Thunder God as the Fourth Hokage and could not leave Flying Thunder God markings on objects whenever he pleased. Still, it worked very well for fixed-point teleportation like this.

The wasteland behind Training Camp.

Whoosh! Senga appeared beside the Flying Thunder God Kunai. The instant he arrived, a mature woman's voice sounded in his mind.

"Master, let me out!"

Senga was startled. This feeling was far too bizarre. He tried communicating with the voice in his mind.

"Who are you? How are you inside my body??"

The mature woman's voice rang out again.

"According to what that human said just now, I am Matatabi. You created me!"

What? Senga was completely dumbfounded. Could Zoan Fruits do something like this? But the immediate problem was getting this Matatabi out. Having a voice constantly in his head was truly too strange.

"How do I let you out?"

"I don't know either. I'm trapped inside your eye. There are also a three-headed dog, a chameleon, and other things beside me."

Weren't those the summoned beasts of the Rinnegan's Animal Path? Since awakening the Rinnegan, Senga had never used the Animal Path's abilities and had nearly forgotten about that path.

The main reason was that he had never really needed it. Animals' size advantage was not especially pronounced in the Pirate World, while a chameleon's invisibility was completely countered by Observation Haki. Besides, he had no desire to crawl into a chameleon's mouth.

Matatabi had actually been born within his Animal Path. That made things easy. Senga bit his finger and slammed his hand onto the ground.

"Summoning Technique!"

Boom! A huge cloud of smoke appeared, then instantly dispersed amid a piercing cat's cry. A gigantic demonic cat, entirely black and with Black Flame flickering along her back, appeared before Senga. It was Matatabi.

The moment Matatabi saw Senga, she lowered her head and affectionately rubbed her enormous head against him. Her fur was sleek and smooth, carrying a faint coolness. When she rubbed against him like that, Senga could not help shuddering.

He reached out and stroked Matatabi's head, and she immediately showed an expression of enjoyment. Looking at the giant Matatabi before him, Senga had already confirmed that this Matatabi was a completely different creature from the tailed beast Matatabi in Naruto.

After thinking it over, Senga asked the two questions he cared about most.

"Do you have any special abilities? Also, if you come out of my eye, can I still use your abilities?"

Matatabi answered respectfully,

"The Black Flame I produce has an extremely low temperature and can freeze targets. I can also use Black Flame to control corpses. Corpses infused with my Black Flame can exert fifty percent of their original strength. And please rest assured, Master: even if I am outside, you can still use all my abilities, including Zoan transformation!"

Hearing Matatabi's answer, Senga nodded in satisfaction. Setting aside Black Flame's offensive power, the ability to control corpses alone was extremely practical. It was absolutely better than Impure World Reincarnation without a White Zetsu body.

Although he could also use Black Rods to control corpses, the effect was far inferior to Matatabi's Black Flame. Not to mention that Matatabi herself could serve as a powerful summoned beast and help him fight.

All in all, Senga gave this examination reward a direct five-star review!

In a good mood, Senga found Matatabi more and more pleasing to look at. But it was getting late, and he was preparing to return to the dormitory. He could not exactly bring such a huge Matatabi back with him like this, could he?

As if she had seen through his thoughts, Matatabi's mature voice sounded in Senga's mind.

"Master, I can change my size. Tonight, I'll sleep beside you! That space in your eye is really uncomfortable. Can I, Master?"

As she spoke, Matatabi somehow made a pitiful expression with her cat face. There was even a hint of... seductiveness?

Looking at Matatabi like this, how could anyone bear to refuse her? Senga agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Having received her master's permission, Matatabi let out a happy meow. Her body then gradually shrank until she became an ordinary-sized black cat. She jumped onto Senga's shoulder and affectionately licked his cheek.

Senga stroked from Matatabi's head down to her tail. When he touched her tail, her fur puffed up slightly, but she did not resist. Interestingly, though Matatabi was a black cat, one could still somehow tell that her face had turned red.

Senga only felt that she was incredibly pleasant to touch, like sticking a clawed hand out the window on a highway and feeling as though he were gripping something. What Senga did not know was that when that thought crossed his mind, Matatabi's face turned even redder, and she secretly rolled her eyes at him.

With the Rinnegan issue dealt with, Senga prepared to return to the dormitory. Before leaving, he gave Matatabi a name: Metis.

Matatabi liked the name very much. She stretched out her two little paws and tightly hugged Senga's neck. The silhouette of one man and one cat beneath the setting sun looked so harmonious and beautiful.