Ninja Cat Clan

Watching Uchiha Yan prepare to leave the clan grounds, Shisui suddenly asked.

"Yan, what are you going to do? Do you need me to come along?"

"No need!" Uchiha Yan shook his head. "I'm going to pull in some investments. You go join Yashiro and the others!"

"While you're at it, get familiar with the civilian ninjas in the area. I have tasks for you to handle later!"

"Alright!" Seeing Uchiha Yan refuse, Shisui could only nod in agreement.

Once Uchiha Yan had left, Uchiha Fugaku, Tekka, Yashiro, Shisui, and the others present all stood up, preparing to get to work.

Only the three elderly elders remained, stunned in place, looking at each other.

"Yan, he..." First Elder looked puzzled. "Did he forget about us?"

Third Elder snorted coldly. "I think he did it on purpose, thinking we're old and useless."

"What about that old bastard Uchiha Setsuna?"

"Him? He's sitting comfortably at home, acting very calm."

"Of course he's calm! He supported Uchiha Yan with everything he had back then. Now that Uchiha Yan has succeeded, there's no way he won't get a share of the benefits."

At this moment, Second Elder hurriedly stood up, preparing to catch up with Uchiha Fugaku and the others who had already left.

"No, I can't miss out on such a historic moment. I wouldn't be able to rest in peace if I died without participating!"

First Elder and Third Elder exchanged glances, sharing the same thought as Second Elder.

They quickly stood up and followed.

They were prepared to cast aside their old faces and beg for some tasks, just to have a sense of participation.

After returning to his room, Uchiha Yan quickly formed hand seals and slammed his hands onto the floor.

Bang!

A puff of smoke rose and quickly dissipated.

In its place stood a yellow tabby cat, with a pouch hanging around its neck.

It is well known that the Uchiha Clan are all cat lovers.

His predecessor was naturally no exception.

And that cat, which was so large that it reached Uchiha Yan's waist even without standing up, was the summoning beast chosen by his predecessor.

It was just that ever since Uchiha Yan had transmigrated, he had never summoned it.

After all, the combat power of the Ninja Cat Clan was truly lacking; at most, they could only act cute or go out to gather intelligence.

They weren't of much help to him.

"Yan, you haven't summoned me in a long time! Is something the matter, meow?" The tabby cat came over to Uchiha Yan and rubbed against him.

"Maoda!" Uchiha Yan stepped back slightly, his expression serious. "I want to see Granny Cat."

Facing Uchiha Yan's retreat, Maoda didn't mind, licking its paw as it said, "You want to see Granny Cat? I can't promise that for her."

"I know that, which is why I want you to go tell Granny Cat that I want to discuss a business deal with her."

Uchiha Yan took a scroll from his robe and handed it to Maoda.

"Give this to her. If she still doesn't want to see me after reading it, then forget it."

Maoda took the scroll in its mouth.

Then it looked at Uchiha Yan with its cute, large eyes, blinking them repeatedly.

Uchiha Yan smiled slightly and rubbed Maoda's soft head. "I understand!"

He then took ten thousand ryo from his robe and placed it into the pouch around its neck.

Maoda grinned. "I've accepted the money, and I will definitely get this done for you."

"If Granny Cat is willing to see you, I will use a reverse summoning to bring you over."

"Just wait here; it won't take long!"

"Good!" Uchiha Yan nodded.

With that, Maoda's figure instantly vanished from the spot.

About half an hour passed.

Uchiha Yan, who had been waiting in place, suddenly felt a call coming from the void.

Immediately after, the surrounding scenery shifted rapidly, making Uchiha Yan feel as if he had been pulled into a high-speed space-time tunnel.

His entire body felt a sense of weightlessness and drifting.

Before he could even react, he had arrived at his destination.

He saw broken walls and ruins everywhere, with weeds growing wildly in corners that no one tended to.

Ancient stone walls were covered in moss, with Ninja Cat Clan members leaping across them from time to time.

Not far away, on a wide stone chair, sat an elderly woman with a small, slightly hunched figure.

She held a long-stemmed pipe in one hand while stroking the kittens beside her with the other.

It seemed that must be Granny Cat.

Uchiha Yan walked over with a smile and stopped before her.

"Granny Cat, you must already know the reason for my visit!"

Granny Cat puffed on her pipe, but her brows were knitted together.

After a long silence, she spoke slowly.

"Young man, you are now the head of the Uchiha Clan, and you have even obtained an autonomous region from Konoha."

"My Ninja Cat Clan shouldn't be of much use to you anymore."

Although Granny Cat did not state it directly, her meaning was clear.

Her Ninja Cat Clan did not want to get involved in such matters.

To this, Uchiha Yan smiled slightly and shook his head.

"You can't put it that way. Autonomy is one thing, but the bond between the Uchiha Clan and the Ninja Cat Clan over these many years is not fake."

"Now that my Uchiha Clan has prospered, I naturally won't forget the Ninja Cat Clan."

"Heh!" Granny Cat exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and teased, "Young man, I have lived for nearly a hundred years; I can see through your little schemes."

As she spoke, she tossed a scroll that had been set aside toward him.

"This is your property; I am returning it to its rightful owner."

"My Ninja Cat Clan will not participate in the power struggles of Konoha."

Uchiha Yan caught the scroll, looked at the faint traces on it, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.

"Granny Cat, will you really not reconsider?"

"Opportunities for a race to soar are rare in this world. Are you really content with the Ninja Cat Clan staying in these ruins forever?"

"Then why do you think we stay here?" Granny Cat asked in return.

"What else could it be? You deal in arms and have accumulated great wealth, but you lack the strength to protect it, so you have no choice but to hide here."

Uchiha Yan's fingers moved slightly, and extremely subtle energy fluctuations appeared at his fingertips before dissipating rapidly, drawing no attention from any person or cat. He continued, "In the early years, the Ninja Cat Clan established a summoning contract with the Uchiha Clan precisely with the intention of avoiding disaster!"

"In the eyes of outsiders, you and I are already one."

"If we truly dissolve the contract, my Uchiha Clan still has a Special Zone; in the future, we may not necessarily be the ones at a disadvantage."

"But what about your Ninja Cat Clan? Without the protection of my clan, I fear you would soon face the brink of extinction."

Hearing this, Granny Cat fell silent and lowered her head, slowly setting down her pipe as if her thoughts had been laid bare.

On her wrinkled face, those cloudy eyes dimmed slightly.

Just as Uchiha Yan said, the Ninja Cat Clan lacked sufficient strength but possessed great wealth.

Although their relationship with the Uchiha Clan was one of equality.

They all knew in their hearts.

If not for the prestige of the Uchiha Clan deterring the greedy and selfish forces of the Ninja World, her Ninja Cat Clan might have suffered a catastrophe long ago.

Yet, to fully cooperate with the Uchiha Clan and be dragged into their struggle against the Hokage faction.

Granny Cat could not make up her mind.

After all, Uchiha Yan had taken advantage of the fact that the war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had not yet ended to forcibly bite a piece of flesh off Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He would surely pay the price for this in the future.

In a struggle where it was either you die or I die, her Ninja Cat Clan might not necessarily come out unscathed.