Shinobi World's Magical Creatures

It took about three hours, and the mission was completed before noon, but it wasn't entirely satisfactory.

Inside the oversized metal cage, nineteen adult cats of various colors were crammed in, roughly equal numbers of males and females. It seemed these intelligent Hachimi were pretty similar to humans—apparently, the urge to wander around recklessly wasn't limited by gender.

Higashino Makoto and Hayate Gekko came out unscathed, while Uzuki Yugao had a fair number of scratch marks on her hands and face. Still, since these were Ninja Cats and not strays, they held back.

Though she wasn't as strong as her two teammates, she wasn't weak either. It just went to show that those little creatures with Chakra were really a handful.

A green glow of Chakra emanated from Higashino Makoto's hand. As Uzuki Yugao appreciated the benefits of having a Medical Ninja on the team, she asked curiously, "Teacher, is catching just nineteen enough? Won't the village judge our mission a failure? I don't want my first mission as a ninja to end badly."

Yugao Gekko didn't answer her but looked at Higashino Makoto instead. "Makoto, are you sure we've checked every place in Konoha that has cats?"

"Yes, Teacher, I'm sure. It actually took us less than two hours to finish. The rest of the time was spent double-checking whether any pet cats in residents' homes were missed."

Yugao Gekko nodded. "Then it's fine. The mission requirement is to capture all Ninja Cats in Konoha that aren't contracted with a ninja. No one can guarantee they're all in the village.

Remember, they're Ninja Cats—they're fast. There are other towns and villages around Konoha. The few remaining ones might have wandered off somewhere else."

Since the Leading Jonin said so, what could the three of them say? You're the boss, you call the shots.

It was understandable, really. The real world isn't a game; mission targets don't just sit around waiting to be caught. Ordinary cats are already notorious street roamers, let alone these troublesome Ninja Cats with intelligence no different from humans.

Just look at how these bastards acted.

If the Third Squad were a stray cat adoption center from the Previous Life, and these captured ones were ordinary cats, the only thing they'd do is hiss like old folks.

But unfortunately, this was the Shinobi World, and the cage was full of Ninja Cats.

As Higashino Makoto and Hayate Gekko each carried one side of the cage to the mission office to turn it in, the little creatures inside all glared at the four of them with resentful, displeased looks.

As if to say, this isn't over—once I get out, I'm scratching your faces off.

What a bizarre Shinobi World.

What's it like when a bunch of intelligent Hachimi stare at you with human-like expressions?

Higashino Makoto thought, How strange. Are these guys really not monsters?

The main thing was, a few of them could even speak human language.

A black Hachimi near Higashino Makoto kept chattering nonstop: "Damn humans, unforgivable. You ruined my date, Bastard. I was this close to mounting that pretty little cutie. It's all you, all you. I'm so mad. My love—over before it even began."

With that, it extended its claws, trying to leave a few bloody marks on Higashino Makoto's hand.

"Shut up, will you? That's not love—you're just lusting after her body. You're despicable!"

"So what if I lust after her body? What's wrong with that?"

Higashino Makoto was seeing for the first time that a cat could be this shameless. "Come on, you're Ninja Cats, aren't you? Looking at those ordinary cats, isn't it the same as us humans looking at Monkeys? You can still go for that?"

"That's different. We look the same, have the same aesthetic, and there's no reproductive barrier. But can you and a female Monkey make little Monkeys together?"

"Huh? Huh, huh? That makes sense! You're actually pretty damn smart."

"See, see? Makes sense, right? So hurry up and let me out."

"Dream on."

"Bastard!"

"Keep yapping, and I'll neuter you. All of you, too. Anyone who disagrees, I'll take you straight to the hospital. I'll pay for the surgery!"

That line hit them like a Tailed Beast Bomb exploding in their minds, instantly silencing every Ninja Cat in fear.

Hayate Gekko and Uzuki Yugao: Noted, noted. We'll use that trick on Ninja Cats from now on. Works like a charm.

A strange world.

Not only were there Ninja Cats with human-like minds, but also smart dogs, talking toads, snakes, slugs, lizards, and so on.

Unfortunately, cats and dogs—the best pets—once they gained intelligence, weren't too keen on being pets anymore.

They considered themselves equal to humans. Want to fight together? Sign a contract first.

Ninja Dogs mostly came from Konoha's Inuzuka Clan. They saw Ninja Dogs as combat partners for ninjas. If you dared treat them like pets, those dogs would really go back to their families and tattle.

Then you'd have a bunch of people and dogs coming after you.

The Ninja Cat Clan was even more ridiculous. They were independent, incredibly tsundere, living a carefree life in the Empty Area, ignoring everyone. Only the equally tsundere Uchiha could put up with them.

Too bad.

Higashino Makoto shook his head inwardly.

These guys were intelligent, could talk after training, but unfortunately couldn't transform.

Otherwise, he'd get to see legendary Cat Ear Girls and Dog Ear Girls.

Furry Fans would be ecstatic.

Of course, Higashino Makoto was a proper ninja, so naturally he wasn't some so-called Furry Fan. Don't misunderstand—he was just curious, inexperienced, and wanted to see what it was like.

Actually, Higashino Makoto did know where to find Humanoid Ninja Beasts.

They were all inside Ryūchi Cave. There were four of them. Aside from that old hag, the other three Divine Princesses were all Beauties, with very appealing features.

Unfortunately, Higashino Makoto had no interest in that. The moment he imagined everyone bonding deeply and the other party suddenly revealing their true form, he feared he'd never get it up again.

This world had snake demons, but he wasn't Xu Xian.

Walking at the back, Uzuki Yugao noticed Makoto occasionally glancing at the caged Ninja Cats in the cage. Somehow, her early-warning radar kicked in: "Makoto, I feel like you're thinking about something bad."

"Huh?" Makoto froze for a second, then immediately denied it: "How could that be? What bad thing would I be thinking about?"

"Really? I don't believe you!"

"Of course it's true. I just thought the Ninja Cats were pretty cute. If they could transform into human form but keep their ears and tails, don't you think they'd be even cuter?"

The Moonlight Father and Son exchanged a glance, and suddenly an image popped into their heads: That actually sounds interesting. No wonder Makoto's a genius—even his thoughts are so ahead of the curve, huh?

The Tomcats had no clue what was going on.

Uzuki Yugao and the Queen Cat: Pervert!

In the end, the mission was completed, and the Third Squad's first D-Rank Mission didn't end in failure.

The staff at the mission assignment office didn't say anything. They'd probably expected this outcome, or maybe the Empty Area's request hadn't demanded catching all the cats.

After that, the three of them finished three other commissions, wrapping up the day's workload.

Yugao Gekko was right—he'd handpicked the missions. Today was all about testing their intelligence gathering and tracking abilities.

Of course, Makoto's Sensing was factored in too.

The next day, all four missions were the same: repair four small-to-medium Training Grounds around the village. This included leveling the ground, cutting down and hauling away dead branches and broken twigs, replacing the thick tree stumps used for punching practice, and tying on brand-new coarse hemp ropes.

The trickiest part was updating the wooden targets scattered throughout the woods and clearing out some abandoned traps, recovering the Steel Wire and Hidden Weapons.

The requirement was no jumping—they had to walk only on the trees. Clearly, it was a test of the squad's Chakra Control. Fortunately, for the three who'd already started training, it wasn't much of a challenge.

On the third day, again four identical missions: clean up trash from four sections of rivers within Konoha's territory. Each section was a fixed length, counting as one D-Rank Mission.

Again, it was about training Chakra Control—they needed to walk on water.

Yugao Gekko's mission selection was highly targeted. Or rather, Konoha releasing these basic ninja skill-building tasks as D-Rank Missions was intentionally designed to let Genin complete simple work while training themselves, earn some money on the side, and improve Konoha's environment.

Killing multiple birds with one stone—perfect.

As for why someone later leading the Seventh Squad didn't guide Naruto and the other two through these basics? Well, let's just say someone was slacking off, spending all day reading his little royal uncle's book.

Who was slacking off? I'm not saying.