Ninja Beast Tanuki

[Target found. Trial unavailable due to obstacles... Abandon the trial?]

Akaseki crawled out of his sleeping bag in confusion, not knowing what exactly had been locked onto...

Because of the "Immersion" system, Akaseki saw a glowing marker not far away.

The marker's location was somewhere Akaseki knew well. He had even gone there to pay his respects that evening—the Mask Storage Hall, the Uzumaki Clan's ancestral hall!

Masks were a cultural symbol of the Uzumaki Clan and also served as mediums for certain Sealing Techniques. As the place where masks were stored, the Mask Storage Hall had been imbued with sacred significance by the Uzumaki Clan. When they came under attack, the Uzumaki Clan sealed the Mask Storage Hall, allowing it to escape disaster.

The locked-on "pet" was in the Mask Storage Hall? He hadn't seen any living creatures there before...

After hesitating briefly, Akaseki headed over.

When he entered the Mask Storage Hall again, Akaseki found that the "marked" location was behind a mask with two pointed ears and three hollow eye sockets...

Many masks hung across the entire wall.

A faint glow flickered behind the Three-Eyed Pointed-Ear Mask. Judging by its outline, it seemed to be some small animal, like a puppy or little fox, curled up inside the wall.

What is that? Akaseki wondered.

Akaseki reached out, intending to move the mask blocking it, but it would not budge at all.

Akaseki then remembered what Jiraiya had said during the day—although these masks held little value to anyone outside the Uzumaki Clan, every one of them bore a Sealing Technique and could not be moved easily.

Just then...

[Liuliu Second-hand Platform reminds you: Enjoy entertainment in moderation and keep a clear mind. Please take a break! Liuliu Second-hand Platform: doorstep recycling, professional appraisal, let your second-hand goods get moving...]

Liu Liu's GG had appeared again!

Akaseki vaguely understood now. After each show ended, there would be a Liu Liu GG, and this was when he could pawn an item.

At the same time, the show itself, You Call Me a Quack, So I'll Become a Veterinarian, had been created by Big Red Bite, so there was also a Big Red Bite GG at the end.

Akaseki had originally possessed nothing of value, but now...

Akaseki clearly saw that after touching the Three-Eyed Pointed-Ear Mask, it had been assigned a price—five hundred ryo!

A mere mask was worth more than three times the price of a custom top-tier ninja tool set?

Amid his surprise, Akaseki also guessed how the system determined ownership—it had to be his own property before it could be pawned, but ownerless objects could be recognized as his after he "claimed" them.

There seemed to be Chakra remaining on the mask, and Akaseki could not move it at all. So...

"Then I'll take this one!" Akaseki said.

In an instant, the Three-Eyed Pointed-Ear Mask vanished, replaced by...

Sure enough, a small hole in the wall was revealed. Inside, a little beast was sleeping, and Akaseki felt that it was already barely clinging to life.

[Feed it?]

The Big Red Bite GG sample reminded Akaseki.

"Feed it!" Akaseki said after a brief hesitation.

The little beast seemed to be on the verge of death anyway. Things could not get any worse...

Just like the previous reward, no physical object appeared. Instead, an invisible force seemed to flow toward the little beast.

The little beast, which had previously been breathing weakly, gradually began to breathe more strongly. Its curled-up body stretched out, and its expression relaxed...

Just then, footsteps approached.

"Akaseki, did you find something?" Jiraiya's voice called out.

Jiraiya had noticed Akaseki entering the Mask Storage Hall and could not help feeling puzzled.

"Jiraiya-sensei, I think I heard something, and then I found this... Huh?" Because of the clan head and Clan Elders' instructions, Akaseki had kept the matter of "Immersion" hidden from everyone else. Even Fugaku and the others only knew that Akaseki had a special way of relieving eye strain.

Akaseki claimed that he had heard the little beast, but when he turned around...

The hole in the wall was completely empty!

"Huh?" Jiraiya stared in surprise behind Akaseki.

Following Jiraiya's gaze, Akaseki turned and saw that the little beast from before had already stood up and jumped onto a nearby offering table...

The effects of Big Red Bite were truly immediate. Not only did the little beast now look full of energy, but its fur was no longer dull. It even seemed to shine.

However, it was still only the size of a puppy. It looked somewhat like a fox and somewhat like a raccoon dog, yet different from both. Its bright, lively eyes made it seem extraordinary...

"This is... the Uzumaki Clan's Ninja Beast Tanuki?" Jiraiya recognized the little beast's origins.

"Tanuki?" Only then did Akaseki realize that it was a Ninja Beast.

"Tanuki... Tanuki..." The tanuki suddenly spoke, letting out two childish cries as it rubbed itself against Akaseki's palm.

"Huh?" Akaseki could not help being surprised.

"You... want more?" Akaseki asked.

"Tanuki!" The tanuki nodded. It was clearly very intelligent.

"There's no more." Akaseki spread his hands.

"Tanuki..." As it spoke, the tanuki's legs suddenly went weak, and it nearly fell from the table.

The only reason it did not fall was because Akaseki caught it.

"Hey... Are you trying to scam me?"

"Tanuki... Tanuki..." The tanuki's face showed pain again, and its fur dimmed. It did not seem to be pretending.

"This..." Akaseki found himself in a difficult position.

Seeing this, Jiraiya hurried forward to examine it. "This is the Uzumaki Clan's Summoning Beast Tanuki. Some tanuki can even assist ninja in using Sealing Techniques... We had assumed that the tanuki had been wiped out alongside the Uzumaki Clan, since their habitat was also in the Land of Whirlpools. I never expected one to still remain, but..."

Jiraiya then discovered that this tanuki was in terrible condition.

"What did you just do? What does it want?" Jiraiya asked Akaseki.

"Um... it's a special kind of power." That was all Akaseki could say.

Jiraiya naturally interpreted that as some sort of power belonging to the Uchiha Clan.

Although he was puzzled—after all, the Uchiha Clan clearly had no tradition of partnering with Ninja Beasts, at most keeping crows—he did not ask further. Since it involved the secrets of a ninja clan's powers and Akaseki had not explained in detail, Jiraiya naturally would not pry.

"Can you keep giving it that power? Its condition is very bad right now," Jiraiya said.

"Um... I can! But... it isn't unlimited." Akaseki gritted his teeth.

Although he did not know what was going on, he had heard that this might be the last tanuki. On top of that, he had just pawned a mask for money, so Akaseki decided he could spend a little on it.

The Big Red Bite GG was still there. The current discounted price was 49.9 per serving, and Akaseki bought ten servings in one go—if that still was not enough to restore it, there was nothing more he could do...