The room fell silent for a moment before Uchiha Koh replied in a deep yet gentle voice.
"Just leave it by the door. This old man still wants to talk with them a little longer."
"Okay, Grandpa."
Uchiha Mikoto bent down as instructed and gently placed the warm teacup by the door.
As she rose, she could not help adding softly, her tone full of concerned insistence.
"Make sure you drink it. I'll come check on you later."
Her footsteps gradually faded away, like a wisp of tea fragrance dispersing beneath the moonlit night.
Inside, Uchiha Koh shook his head helplessly yet happily.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Ren leaned against the kitchen doorframe and urged, "Daju, hurry up."
"Got it, meow."
His overly capable contracted Ninja Cat was wearing a custom-made cat-sized Uchiha Clan uniform, the fan crest embroidered on its back swaying constantly as it busied itself.
The plump orange cat stood upright, its paw seals moving with an agility entirely unsuited to its size.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a soft poof, three identical Daju clones in clan uniforms appeared before the stove.
The original took charge of the wok while the clones worked in seamless coordination. One diced ingredients at lightning speed, one controlled the heat, and the last handled the seasoning.
The iron wok tossed and spun between cat paws as blazing flames leaped half a man's height, lighting up the orange cat's serious face.
"Sizzle—"
Chili peppers and sliced garlic burst into fragrance in the hot oil, and the rich aroma instantly filled the entire kitchen.
Ren truly had not lied to Uchiha Mikoto about his Ninja Cat being able to cook.
His Ninja Cat was an all-purpose master of housework.
In no time at all, several Chinese stir-fried dishes, perfect in color, aroma, and flavor, were plated and served.
Daju dismissed its clones, proudly stroked its whiskers, and pushed the final dish of stir-fried beef chow fun toward Uchiha Ren with a paw.
"Please enjoy, Young Master Ren."
Its round body stood ramrod straight, though its tail swayed happily behind it.
Uchiha Ren sat at the dining table, his gaze sweeping across the dazzling spread of dishes—
The shredded pork with green peppers glistened with oil and smelled irresistible.
The mapo tofu was vividly red and tempting.
The stir-fried beef chow fun carried the full smoky aroma of the wok.
Uchiha Ren picked up his chopsticks, lifted a piece of shredded pork coated in sauce, and placed it in his mouth beneath the orange cat's anxious gaze.
"Not bad. You've improved. My teaching wasn't wasted after all. How do you think I should reward you?"
At his words, Daju immediately straightened its round body. "No, no, it's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Young Master. And you've been training hard lately, so you need to build up your strength, meow~"
Though its mouth was modest, its fluffy tail had long since exposed its feelings, cheerfully drawing circles through the air.
Ren picked up another bite of shredded pork with green peppers and chuckled. "Oh? In that case, we'll save the reward for next time."
Daju's ears twitched. Its round body suddenly froze, and the tip of its tail hung suspended in the air, forgotten.
Its paw pads rubbed helplessly against the floorboards, and its voice abruptly dropped several tones.
"Well... actually..."
Ren unhurriedly picked up another bite of chow fun and pretended to be surprised.
"Could it be that you want a reward?"
"It's not a reward!"
The orange cat's fur stood on end as it leaped onto the table, then hurriedly used its tail to straighten the chopsticks it had knocked crooked.
"It's a legitimate right! You promised last time that you'd have Ayan teach me Fire Style ninjutsu..."
It suddenly fell silent, its two front paws nervously overlapping.
"So you want to see Ayan."
Ren lightly tapped the cat's nose with the tip of his chopsticks and watched its pupils instantly narrow into vertical slits.
"You should've just said so. Tomorrow, I'll have Ayan come be your teaching assistant."
The orange cat's whiskers trembled in tiny arcs, and its whole body seemed to sparkle as if Chakra had been poured into it.
It pretended to calmly lick its paw, but a purring rumble escaped from its throat.
"It's mainly for exchanging cultivation insights, meow... It's not because I want to smell her scent."
"Got it, got it."
Uchiha Ren smiled.
The Ninken Clan and the Uchiha Clan had formed contracts for generations. These adorable little creatures—
were not only the Uchiha Clan's information dealers and weapons merchants, but their soft little meows were also medicine that soothed the sensitive hearts of the Uchiha.
Ayan was Ren's partner, with whom he had formally signed a contract on the day he became a Genin.
A silver-spotted cat with fur like moonlight, she was the Liu Ruyan of cats.
As for Daju, it had simply been an uninvited "freebie" that had followed behind Ayan one day.
More than ten years had passed, and the orange cat that had once latched onto him so shamelessly had long since been trained into complete obedience by Ren.
After Ren moved out of his grandfather's residence to live alone, Daju had been assigned as the household's all-around helper so it could spend more time with Ayan, taking care of all the laundry and cooking.
All that could be said was that it had been completely wrapped around his finger.
After dinner, Daju efficiently cleaned the kitchen until it was spotless.
Then, with a soft poof, it returned to the Ninken Clan's territory.
Steam filled the bathroom, and the air was permeated with the faint fragrance of cypress and medicinal herbs.
Ren lowered himself into the hot water Daju had prepared beforehand.
The perfect temperature drew a satisfied sigh from his throat.
"Simps really are useful!"
The exhaustion accumulated throughout the day seemed to be pulled from every limb and bone along with the rising steam.
He leaned back and closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to drift in the silence.
Even the intermittent chirping of insects outside the window became the most natural lullaby.
Suddenly, a soft poof sounded in the air. Ren opened his eyes and saw an elegant figure lightly land on the edge of the bathtub.
Her silver-white and pale-gray fur glowed softly amid the misty steam.
Her long tail curled around her paws like smoke and mist, its tip dotted with silver spots like tiny stars.
Her emerald eyes resembled cat's-eye gemstones submerged in a clear spring. They shimmered with moisture as they reflected Ren's figure in the bathtub.
"That stupid cat."
She spoke in the soft, distinctive tone of a feline.
"After returning to the clan territory just now, he came to find me again and kept hinting about tomorrow."
Ayan's silver-white whiskers trembled lightly, and helplessness colored her voice.
"For a full fifteen years, that idiot's way of showing affection has remained this... troublesome."
"So do you actually like Daju or not?" Ren asked with half-lidded eyes.
"Young Master is joking again."
"I only see Daju as an older brother." As always, Ayan said something exceptionally "Liu Ruyan."
She elegantly flicked her tail, raised her head to gaze at the crescent moon outside the window, and spoke with a hint of longing.
"What I yearn for is a powerful cat like Lady Matatabi—her Tailed Beast Bomb tearing apart the endless night, her ghostly flames burning the heavens to ash."
Ayan added softly, "So, Young Master Ren, please stop trying to matchmake Daju and me. I don't want Lady Matatabi to misunderstand in the future."
Watching his own Ninja Cat be corrupted by the melodramatic female-targeted novel, The Domineering Young Master Fell in Love with Me, which he had written during a moment of idiocy, Ren was left speechless.
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