Ninja Cat Contract, Nindo

After eating at Obito's place and listening to him relay the precautions his beloved Minato-sensei had told him, Uchiha Ci took his leave.

Ci had gotten to know Uchiha Obito because Obito's grandmother lived next door and often came over to chat and say hello; after a while, they became familiar.

Unlike other characters from the Hokage world, Uchiha Ci could maintain a relationship with Obito without much worry.

After all, Will of Obito—those who know, know.

No matter how deep the bonds, it wouldn't stop him from stabbing you in the back after he went dark.

Leaving Obito's house, Uchiha Ci tucked his wallet away and strolled through the streets of Konoha.

At this time, the clouds of war hadn't fully spread among the civilian circles yet, and Konoha still presented a surface-level picture of peace and prosperity.

Still, some signs were already emerging.

Right then, Uchiha Ci pushed aside the curtain and walked into a ninja tool shop.

"Yo, young master Ci, here to buy Explosive Tags again?" the shopkeeper asked with a grin, his thick beard bristling.

"No, this time I'm here to buy shuriken."

"That's unfortunate. The prices for shuriken and kunai have both gone up by twenty percent, and Special Steel Wire by thirty percent. Still, I'd advise you to stock up. According to news from Cat Granny's side, these hard goods will only get more expensive."

"Alright then, give me six sets of tools with wire holes, two big rolls of silk thread, and one Sealing Scroll. Let me calculate... and another two hundred thousand—all of it into Explosive Tags." Uchiha Ci patted his wallet and grinned, not showing the slightest bit of reluctance.

D-rank missions usually had bounties between five thousand and ten thousand ryo, with some as low as a few hundred, but Uchiha Ci didn't take those. Plus, since he completed missions solo, there was no one to split the money with.

After a year of grinding hard, he had saved up a seven-figure sum.

And the money he'd saved was exactly for this moment.

"Ho, young master Ci, that's quite the expenditure!" The shopkeeper's eyes widened slightly. Uchiha Ci's spending power was more than a match for even some Special Jonin.

Uchiha Ci smiled faintly. He didn't have to support a family; he only needed to burn through his own savings.

Of course, that made him different from those ninja who pinched pennies to save for retirement.

The prices of ninja tools in the ninja world were polarized. Explosive Tags cost two thousand ryo each, shuriken were the cheapest at around fifty ryo, and kunai ranged from two hundred to thirty thousand ryo depending on quality—the price difference between throwing kunai and parrying kunai was enormous.

A set of high-quality ninja tools, including throwing weapons, melee weapons, and protective gear, cost nearly two hundred thousand ryo.

Katana and ninja swords were even more outrageous. The cheapest practice ninja sword started at three thousand ryo, and chakra metal tools were absurdly expensive—practically non-sale items. If they were sold, the price was often measured in Asumas.

As for why Uchiha Ci was buying so many tools and Explosive Tags?

The reason was simple.

Uchiha Ci was going to die, but he couldn't deliberately throw his life away.

It sounded a bit convoluted, but that was the logic.

Deliberate suicide would be judged by the Will of Heaven as insurance fraud. Not only would he get nothing, but his life would also be wasted for nothing.

But if, a ninja full of fighting spirit, betting all his savings and offering up the finest skills he'd trained to perfection, fought for a greater cause, and died in such a battle—who could say that wasn't a worthy death?

Wasn't this the ninja world's version of "the late emperor's enterprise was half-completed when he fell midway"?

I've burned myself dry to the last drop!

Won't you hand over my Medical Insurance Card with both hands?

Soon, the ninja tool shopkeeper came out carrying a clattering pile of goods. The weight of six sets of tools even had him sweating profusely.

With a thud, he set the tools on the counter.

Then, like dealing cards, he fanned out stacks of Explosive Tags in a neat arc for Uchiha Ci to count.

"Young master Ci, buying so many tools at once—are you planning to take on some very dangerous mission?"

At this point, the shopkeeper realized that Uchiha Ci wasn't buying all these tools just for fun.

Uchiha Ci looked up, furrowing his brow at the shopkeeper.

"Don't mind me asking. I know the ninja confidentiality rules, but I run this tool shop under Cat Granny, and I dabble in a bit of intelligence work on the side."

"The dangerous missions within the clan are nothing more than going to the Rain Country battlefield or the Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water." The shopkeeper's expression turned slightly serious.

"Neither of those is something someone of your strength should be involved in." The shopkeeper didn't beat around the bush and spoke bluntly.

Then, he frowned, looking at Uchiha Ci with some hesitation.

"Seeing as you've been a regular customer to the Ninja Cat Clan for so long, I'll throw in a little extra for you."

With that, the shopkeeper pulled out a piece of parchment and laid it in front of Uchiha Ci.

"This is a One-time Contract from the Ninja Cat Clan. Once you sign it, you can use the Summoning Technique to summon a Ninja Cat Messenger."

A Ninja Cat Messenger is an elite cat ninja from the Ninja Cat Clan.

They mostly operate in chaotic zones, their headquarters hidden in a ruined city known to few.

However, unlike traditional summoning beasts, Ninja Cats are highly individualistic creatures that can almost never be enslaved by ninja.

This clan runs a ninja tool business and maintains a very close cooperative relationship with the Uchiha, who excel at handling such tools.

Uchiha Ci knew that the head of the Ninja Cat Clan, Cat Granny, was very fond of children.

If possible, Cat Granny wouldn't hesitate to help a child, especially an Uchiha child.

Now, the shopkeeper pulling out this one-time summoning contract meant that, based on the information he'd gathered—

Uchiha Ci would very likely face a near-certain death in this mission.

The shopkeeper offered this Ninja Cat Contract, claiming it was to help Uchiha Ci, but in truth, he wanted to dissuade him.

To make him give up on this mission.

"You... understand what I mean, don't you?" The shopkeeper stared straight at Uchiha Ci, his pupils silently shifting into a pair of vertical slits.

His tone, too, became very heavy.

Uchiha Ci smiled and took the one-time contract from the other's hand.

The Ninja Cats were a neutral ninja clan; they wouldn't interfere in ninja conflicts unless they were paid enough.

So the contract's greatest use was actually to resupply survival goods and combat ninja tools on a chaotic battlefield—but that, too, cost money.

However, for Uchiha Ci, who had spent every last coin on him tonight, this was just a worthless scrap of paper. It wouldn't become an obstacle to his reasonable use of the insurance scam.

With that thought, he turned and walked straight out of the ninja tool shop.

Leaving behind only a soft remark:

"Old man, thanks."

"But I have something I must do. Even facing life and death, I won't be afraid."

"This... is my Nindo!"

After spouting all that fine talk, Uchiha Ci stepped out of the shop, squeezed his wallet to feel its remaining balance, then turned and ducked into Konoha's red-light district.

Tomorrow he would face the terror of death. When truly confronting it, Uchiha Ci's heart surged with excitement, but also a trace of fear.

So he decided to eliminate that one regret tonight.

Three minutes later—

Please collect, please follow, please give me anything you can give, bang bang bang!