The Lost Summoning Scroll

"Insights into Fire Release and Wind Release—those must have come from Pakura, right?" Shiba Seika wondered to himself.

If he remembered correctly, Scorch Release was a Kekkei Genkai formed by combining Fire and Wind.

As for the Summoning Technique he'd been rewarded with afterward, he wasn't sure whether it came from the Ajisai he'd saved or from stabilizing Hanzo the Salamander.

Both of them were quite skilled at the Summoning Technique.

Still, Shiba Seika wasn't too concerned about where the rewards came from. What made him more curious was this: the system had said the Lost Summoning Scroll would be given to him later as part of an event. How would that work?

His question didn't linger for long.

Just two days later, the event arrived.

That day, a member of the Akatsuki Organization came to tell Shiba Seika:

"Seika, did you hear? We've got new members!"

"Some ninja who fled here from the border have joined us. Apparently, they're all from a small, fallen Ninja Clan. They were moved by Leader Yahiko's ideals, and not only joined us but also contributed every ninjutsu scroll their clan had treasured!"

Shiba Seika asked, "What kind of ninjutsu scrolls are there?"

"There's quite a variety. I heard there's even a treasured Summoning Technique scroll, one they never made a contract with themselves."

So that was it. Hearing this, Shiba Seika immediately realized the event the system had mentioned had arrived.

It seemed his system probably couldn't create physical objects out of thin air. Otherwise, it wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths to give him a reward.

It had followed the conservation of mass and energy in such a strange way. How was that accidentally so scientific?

Afterward, Shiba Seika went with the Akatsuki Organization members to meet the new ninja.

At that moment, they were gathered around Yahiko, listening to him speak.

As expected, the theme was once again something like, "I have a dream—a world where people understand one another."

Shiba Seika didn't interrupt. Instead, he smiled and remarked from the side, "Leader Yahiko really does have a unique kind of charm."

It was a good thing he hadn't rushed to push Yahiko out. The man was practically born to be a preacher or a charlatan—a natural-born master of speechmaking.

If it had been Shiba Seika, he could have tricked people into losing everything they owned, but he never could have persuaded them to join and then willingly give everything up like Yahiko did.

Someone like Yahiko wasn't suited to being a leader, but he was still excellent at recruiting new members and handling the organization's ideological work.

They just had to keep him away from command.

Shiba Seika stopped paying attention to the indoctrination of the fallen Ninja Clan's members and asked the person beside him, "Where are the scrolls they contributed?"

"Right here. Come with me, Captain Seika."

The scrolls had now become public property of the Akatsuki Organization.

Soon, Shiba Seika found the Lost Summoning Scroll in the warehouse for important supplies.

"Do you know what kind of Summoning Beast this is?" Shiba Seika asked.

The Akatsuki Organization member beside him shook his head and replied, "Not really. Those ninja said that years ago, one of their clan elders did something terrible to a Summoning Beast while fleeing. As a result, the Summoning Beasts of that species refused to serve their clan anymore."

"Those young ninja don't even know what the Summoning Beasts on the scroll look like now."

So that was why the system had called it the Lost Summoning Scroll, Shiba Seika thought.

It felt like opening a mystery box.

Trusting the system, Shiba Seika didn't hesitate for long. Under the astonished eyes of the other members, he promptly unfurled the scroll, signed his name at the end, and pressed his thumbprint onto it.

"Captain Seika, are you sure you don't want to think it over?"

"It's fine. I'll think of it as scouting the way for the organization." Shiba Seika smiled freely.

Then he formed Hand Seals.

Pig—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram!

"Ninja Art: Summoning Technique!"

With the insights he'd received in his dream, Shiba Seika successfully completed the summoning on his first try.

With a "poof," white smoke burst open, and what appeared in the Akatsuki Organization's warehouse was—

A cute, pure-white kitten.

"A cat?"

One Akatsuki Organization member found the white cat so pretty that he couldn't help reaching out to pet it.

But just as his hand was about to touch the cat's head—

The white cat's eyes instantly sharpened!

A flash of cold light!

"Ah!" The Akatsuki Organization member stumbled backward in fright, nearly thinking his hand had been sliced off.

"The cat stood up?! Oh my god, is this a Ninja Cat?"

The other Akatsuki Organization members also cried out in astonishment, their voices full of envy and excitement.

In this era, powerful, intelligent Summoning Beasts were monopolized by the great ninja villages.

Even a ninja like Ajisai, who specialized in the Summoning Technique, could usually summon only unintelligent birds and beasts because she came from a small country.

Even in the future, when she became the Animal Path Pain, the beasts she summoned would still be mindless. They would simply be much larger.

Ninja Cats, Ninja Dogs, Ninja Frogs—these had all been out of reach for ninja from small villages.

Yet now, they had actually witnessed Captain Shiba Seika make a contract with a Ninja Cat!

How enviable!

At that moment, the pure-white Ninja Cat, now standing upright and no longer pretending, waved a paw impatiently.

"Don't make such a fuss, meow. You humans are so ignorant, meow."

"Which one of you summoned me? Step forward, meow! Let me see if you're qualified to become the new employer of Cat Country!"

Intelligent Summoning Beasts chose their own masters. Signing your name on a scroll wasn't enough to settle everything.

In the original story, Naruto had been tested by Gamabunta. In the anime, they'd spent an entire day at it.

Shiba Seika watched the little cat in front of him with interest.

The other's voice was bright and high-pitched, with an energetic, girlish feel to it. It was surprisingly pleasant to hear.

"I'm the one who summoned you. How should I address you?" Shiba Seika asked.

The white cat looked Shiba Seika up and down. As time passed, its initially scrutinizing gaze quickly softened.

"Not bad, meow. Your Chakra is pretty impressive, and you're in good shape, meow. Plus, you don't have the bloodline of that treacherous person."

"Then our contract is settled, meow. Young man, do you crave power?"

Shiba Seika's eyes lit up.

"You can see a ninja's Chakra? And you can tell people's bloodlines apart?"

Those two abilities alone were enough to make this Ninja Cat a useful scouting partner.

But the pretty little white cat had even more surprises in store for him.

"Of course, meow~ The Ninja Cats of Cat Country have been working as ninja partners for decades, meow. That kind of expertise is just the basics for us, meow~"

"What else can you do?"

"Tama is good at Taijutsu and claw attacks. She can throw things, use simple Sealing Technique, perform the Body Flicker Technique, use Sensory Ninjutsu, and do a little Medical Ninjutsu. Oh, right, I can also read your ninja script, meow~"

What a treasure of a cat!

Shiba Seika smiled happily. "So your name is Tama. I'm Shiba Seika. I look forward to working with you."

"Sure, sure~ But just so we're clear, whenever I go out on a job, I charge at least one can of dried fish per hour, meow~ Tama's rates are very fair in Cat Country, meow~ I never rip anyone off, meow~"

Shiba Seika smiled, but still agreed at once. "No problem. What flavor of dried fish do you like?"

"Spicy, meow~"

At that moment, Tama's eyes lit up too.

Looks like I've found a good master, meow~