Kids, Can I Still Live?
As the sun sets, deep within the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range lies a hidden cavern, a place no one can see, which is where Kou is currently located.
"Waaaah, I kowtow to my father! I kowtow to my grandfather! I kowtow to the gods! You, you've finally returned!!!"
Cook, the MVP of Ninja World, is currently wailing in Lao Kou's arms in a rather pathetic state.
Its normally glossy, jet-black fur was now bristling into a fluffy ball, its four paws gripping tightly onto the collar of the garment.
As if it had suffered some great injustice, it howled loudly with its extraordinary bubble-like voice:
Do you know how I've been coping these past few days?!
That guy was as sinister as a snake, looking at me like I was a piece of cat food, like he was about to devour me at any moment! My legs are shaking so badly I can't feel them anymore, meow!!
Hearing Cook's tearful accusations, Kou suppressed the urge to burst into laughter, quickly stroking the soft, bristling fur on Cook's back, then soothingly said:
"Yoshi yoshi yoshi, good kid, don't be afraid~~ Your Uncle Orochimaru is only so evil that he deserves to go to the eighteenth level of hell, he's not that scary."
Don't worry, he generally won't kill a cat...
He paused, then suddenly stopped petting the cat.
"Hmm? Wait a minute, why do my clothes feel wet, and there's a smell of urine?"
Kou's expression changed instantly. He immediately stopped petting the cat and glared fiercely at the black cat in his arms that was still trying to burrow into his clothes.
"You stinky cat, tell me the truth! Did you pee your pants in fear?!"
"W-What?! You're so scared you peed your pants?! Don't you dare slander me! That's just sweat!!"
Cook protested by waving its paws, but its eyes darted away guiltily.
"Bullshit! Do you think I'm stupid? Can't I tell the difference between pee and sweat?!"
He grabbed Cook by the scruff of his neck and lifted him from his arms.
His face was grim as he stared at those darting, guilty golden pupils, and said menacingly:
"Don't forget, I personally changed your litter box when you were a kitten. You think you can fool me? You're 20,000 years too early! Get off me right now!"
Having said that, Kou released his hand without hesitation.
Cook flipped in mid-air and landed silently on the muddy ground. He then quickly scurried behind Orochimaru's calves, peeking out only half of his dark head, trembling as he looked at Orochimaru standing in the shadows not far away.
"What a spineless guy."
Kou looked at his cat brother hiding behind his legs with disdain and said mercilessly:
"You're scared this much by just Orochimaru? What will you do when you actually see Tailed Beast? You'll be terrified!"
You're destined for big events, so be spirited and don't embarrass yourself!
How dare you say that!
Cook peeked out from behind his calf and said disdainfully:
"Back in Konoha, I don't know who was so scared after just one look from this snake-like creature that they couldn't sleep all night! You ungrateful wretch!!"
Seeing that his secret had been exposed, Kou's composed expression instantly crumbled:
"No way? Weren't you just a kitten back then? You still remember something from so long ago?"
Cook's face darkened, and he muttered resentfully:
"Hehe, back then, I almost got strangled to death in bed by you, you CS player. How could I not remember it vividly, meow?"
"Uh—cough cough, let bygones be bygones, let's not dwell on it! Let's focus on the present."
He coughed twice, abruptly ending the pointless conversation.
He turned around, his gaze becoming serious again, and stared at the stone wall at the deepest part of the cave.
At the very front of the cave where they were, there was a stone wall that was completely different from the rough, primitive rock walls around them.
The stone wall is entirely black, its surface polished smooth as a mirror. After countless years of silence, it still exudes a solemnity that is incongruous with this desolate mountain valley.
There were no superfluous decorations on the stone wall, nor the ornate carvings that are commonly found in the later tombs of the Uchiha Clan.
However, in the very center, there was a huge Mitsudomoe pattern.
The three Tomo were arranged in an extremely neat manner, and were slightly reddish by the ray of sunset seeping in through the cracks in the cave.
"This is truly... incredible."
As he casually tossed the urine-smelling Akatsuki robe onto Orochimaru's face, he murmured in slight surprise.
He grew up in the Uchiha Clan Compound and had seen countless family tombs and sacrificial sites.
As far as I know, in the customs of the Uchiha Clan, whether it is for sacrifices or tombs, the arrangement is centered on the Gunbai clan emblem, with other styles as secondary elements.
But this tomb completely breaks with this convention.
It features the Mitsudomoe representing the Sharingan as its primary element, without any other decorative elements.
Even he, a true Uchiha, had only heard snippets of information about this ancient tomb format from some old man who had lived since the Warring States Period...
"Was the owner of this tomb a figure from the early Warring States Period, when the Uchiha Clan was just rising to power?"
As I gazed at the patterns before me, the image of an old man involuntarily surfaced in my mind.
--The old man who always wore a faded old clan uniform and was under house arrest in the deepest courtyard of the Uchiha Clan Compound.
"I never imagined that the things I did back then, in order to get some guidance, were actually somewhat useful, from listening to that old man Uchiha Setsuna who was always spouting 'the glory of the Uchiha Clan's ' ramblings."
Recalling the figure of the old man who had passed away long ago, a smile, a mixture of nostalgia and self-mockery, crept onto Kou's lips.
"If that old man came back to life and found out I'm digging up our family's ancestral graves, he'd probably be so angry he'd die all over again."
As he reminisced, he drew the Inazuma from his waist.
The silver-white Thunder Sword flashed a cold arc of light in the dim cave.
"However, now that the Uchiha Clan has been wiped out, I'm the oldest among the remaining clan members, so nobody cares about me."
Before he finished speaking, Kou suddenly swung his knife at the stone wall in front of him.
A streak of blue lightning shot out from the blade and easily sliced into the stone wall.
The stone wall collapsed with a roar the instant the lightning struck, and shattered black stones rolled to both sides, raising a cloud of choking dust.
Kōshū sheathed Inazuma, then turned to Cook, who was still hiding behind him, and earnestly instructed him:
"Cook, I'm taking Orochimaru inside to take care of some business."
Could you scout out the area for me? Contact me immediately if anything comes up.
Upon hearing that he could finally get away from Orochimaru, Cook nodded repeatedly, his movements so rapid they left afterimages.
It responded eagerly:
"Leave it to me! Hurry up and go inside, quick!"
As he spoke, Cook stood up and frantically waved his two front paws at Knocking.
The gesture was less of a farewell wave and more of a desperate attempt to urge him into the tomb passage.
Kou glanced disdainfully at the cowardly black cat and gave it the middle finger.
He then turned around lightly and stepped into the unknown darkness deep within the tomb, together with Orochimaru beside him...
Seeing that Kou had finally left with Orochimaru, Cook finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Its perpetually taut fur relaxed in that instant, and it slumped limply to the ground.
"Phew, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
Honestly, why does that guy have to hang out with such a terrifying person? Wasn't that decent human woman from last time better? What a waste of that pretty boy!
Cook rolled over, lying on his back on the damp mud, gazing at the last rays of the setting sun filtering through the dense vines from the cave ceiling. A hint of worry flashed in his golden, vertical pupils.
"But... once those fools you deceived find out the truth, will you, this self-righteous guy, really be able to treat them like strangers?"
Cook muttered something under his breath, then shook his head vigorously:
"Forget it, I can't control what happens to that guy. Anyway, he's always been cunning, so he'll never suffer a loss!"
I hope this arrogant owner of mine won't regret it in the future.
With that, Cook leaped to his feet, shook off the dirt, and the black figure vanished into the cave in the next instant...
In the dense forest, a man who, worried about his old friend, hesitated repeatedly after leaving but ultimately chose to return, was walking through the depths of the forest, which was dyed golden red by the setting sun.
He pushed through the dense foliage and bumped head-on into the black figure that had recently emerged from the burrow and was patrolling the area.
As Itachi looked at the familiar, furry black shadow before him, a hint of surprise flashed in his usually calm eyes:
"You are... Cook?"
Cook looked at Uchiha Itachi, who had suddenly appeared in front of him. His fur, which had just relaxed, instantly puffed up into a ball again.
Its four short legs began to tremble uncontrollably as it desperately tried to hold back its urination, its eyes filled with deep despair.
"Hahaha! This, isn't this Uchiha Chu? It's been such a long time! Haha?!"
Cook mustered the last ounce of courage, and with trembling hands, raised one of its front paws and waved it at the weasel.
A smile more painful than a grimace stretched across its furry face, and it cried out in its heart:
"To all the lovely, gentle catgirls of the Ninja World, will I, this cat, even live to see the day I can connect with you all on voice chat?"
"I kowtow to my father, I kowtow to my grandfather, I kowtow to the gods, please come back quickly!!"
(Yesterday's will be tonight; today's will be later.)