Uchiha Kou's Summoning Beast

The ship pulled up alongside the shore. Its hull bumped gently against the stone dock, making a dull sound.

The sailors tossed the mooring ropes ashore. They arced through the air and landed neatly around a stone bollard.

A plank was set against the ship's side with a muffled thud.

Mei Terumi stepped onto the plank, her footing steady. Her black ninja boots creaked softly against the damp wood.

She walked down from the ship and set foot on the Land of Whirlpools.

Kou followed behind her, the hem of his Black Cloak with Red Clouds fluttering lightly in the breeze.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he couldn't help asking:

"You really don't want to bring any food?"

Mei Terumi didn't even turn around. Her jade-green eyes swept over the jungle ahead as she replied in an even tone:

"Are you really a ninja? Lighting a fire and cooking would make us easy to spot.

This place has been abandoned for a long time, but it's still the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. Ninjas from other countries might come here.

We should avoid that kind of trouble whenever we can."

"Tch. So, how many days are we going to be here?"

Kou's voice came from behind her, carrying a hint of hesitation.

"Three days. If we haven't achieved our goal by then, we'll leave."

Mei Terumi sounded certain. A thoughtful glimmer passed through her jade-green eyes.

Three days was the longest she could be gone without the Mizukage's faction noticing.

She had to finish this trip within three days. She couldn't afford to cause Sora any trouble.

That man was holding the entire Reformist Faction together in Mist Village on his own. If anything went wrong on her end, all their efforts could come to nothing.

Kou watched Mei Terumi up ahead with a helpless expression. He sighed, then started walking after her.

Mei Terumi began surveying their surroundings.

An endless jungle stretched before them.

The trees were tall and dense, their branches layered thickly overhead. Vines dangled from the trunks like sleeping snakes.

The air smelled of damp soil and sour, decaying leaves.

Only along the shore could they make out the occasional broken brick or tile, proof that people had once lived here.

The stones had been worn away by wind and rain. Their edges were rounded, and moss covered their surfaces. Some were completely hidden beneath marine algae, making it impossible to tell they had been shaped by human hands.

But even those remnants were close to vanishing beneath the relentless passage of time.

The Land of Whirlpools had once been founded by the Uzumaki Clan. Even in the present-day Ninja World, many still remembered its name and former glory.

The Uzumaki Clan's strength was still spoken of throughout the Ninja World.

But all Mei Terumi could feel now was the death of a country, the loss of a civilization.

"But... it hasn't even been fifty years since this country fell."

Mei Terumi murmured softly to herself and stopped walking.

She looked at the stone foundations wrapped in plants, at the places that had once been houses but now held only vague outlines. A wave of sadness rose in her heart.

She knew full well that Mist Village was largely responsible for the place ending up like this.

Mei Terumi's fingers curled slightly, her heart a jumble of emotions.

"What are you standing around for? Let's go!"

Kou called from up ahead, his voice edged with impatience.

He had already walked past her, his steps rustling through the fallen leaves.

"Let's get this over with so we can head back. I don't want to spend three days eating Soldier Pills!"

Mei Terumi's thoughts gradually returned to the present.

She looked at Kou, who had already gone on ahead. Her cool, beautiful face shifted from sadness to exasperation, and she called after him:

"Hey, don't go wandering off! Stay with me!"

She hurried after Kou and unfolded the map in her hands.

"According to the map, the ruins at the center are still a long way off.

There's a Uzumaki Clan shrine near here. We can check it out first."

Kou looked at her in surprise and asked, puzzled:

"A shrine? The Uzumaki Clan did that sort of thing?"

He leaned over to look at the altar marked on the map, and a hint of curiosity suddenly stirred in him.

A little over ten minutes later.

Kou stared at the jungle before them, his expression blank with confusion.

He turned to Mei Terumi beside him, his voice full of doubt:

"Hey, are you sure this map is accurate?"

"It should be... right?"

Mei Terumi glanced uncertainly at the map, then at the almost impenetrably dense forest ahead. She muttered under her breath.

Her brows knit, bewilderment filling her jade-green eyes.

"Strange. According to the markings on the map, this should be an open plain..."

Kou grumbled:

"Still, it's a thousand-year-old map. The roads and things probably aren't much use as reference points anymore."

"But..."

Mei Terumi murmured, puzzled. A thoughtful glimmer passed through her jade-green eyes.

"According to Mist Village's records from its last visit to the Land of Whirlpools, the forest here wasn't anywhere near this vast.

It's been less than fifty years. How could it have grown so fast...?"

"Hold on—I've got a bold theory."

Kou drew in a sharp breath as he looked at the green jungle. Then he said to Mei Terumi, his tone serious:

"What if, when the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out, their bodies and blood were absorbed into the land?

Maybe the forest grew like this because it absorbed the Uzumaki Clan's enormous vitality?"

Mei Terumi: "..."

"...That makes a lot of sense, but why does it sound so weird?"

Kou watched Mei Terumi's strange expression, mischief glinting in his dark eyes.

He tilted his head slightly, a sinister curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. He deliberately lowered his voice:

"Maybe this place is haunted by the spirits of everyone who died when the Land of Whirlpools fell."

His voice sank lower and lower, as if he were revealing an ancient, long-buried secret.

"Maybe... those Mist Village squads were killed by the vengeful ghosts of the Uzumaki Clan."

Mei Terumi: (ᗒᗩᗕ)՞

Her foot shifted back on its own, and her calf trembled slightly.

For once, a hint of panic showed on her cool, beautiful face.

"Stop! Don't say another word!!!"

Kou watched her trembling calf, amusement filling his dark eyes.

He burst out laughing, then explained:

"Come on, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Obviously, there's no such thing as vengeful Uzumaki Clan ghosts."

He silently added to himself:

If ghosts really existed, Uchiha Chu and Obito Uchiha would've been dragged to the Pure Land by the ghosts of the Uchiha Clan ages ago.

A moment later, Mei Terumi recovered.

A faint blush still lingered on her cheeks. She glared at Kou, her jade-green eyes full of reproach.

Kou coughed awkwardly, instantly switching to an expression of "serious work."

"Okay, okay, that's enough fooling around."

"Let's stop wasting time on childish nonsense and get moving!"

"Hmph!"

Mei Terumi scowled, her cool, beautiful face full of contempt and displeasure.

Still, she turned her attention back to the mission, her jade-green eyes sweeping over the jungle ahead.

"But with the forest this dense, we could easily lose our way if we head in without a plan. We wouldn't be able to make out the paths on the map."

She sighed as she spoke, clearly frustrated by the problem.

Kou nodded in agreement. A thoughtful glimmer flashed in his dark eyes.

"I see."

"Byakugan, with its ability to see through things and spot objects from far away, would be a huge help in this kind of environment."

"No wonder Ao and Mei Terumi managed to find those ruins in the original timeline..."

He murmured to himself, his eyes growing shadowed.

"But... didn't Konoha ever send a Hyuga Clan ninja here to investigate?"

The question arose in Kou's mind, but given their current situation, he set it aside for the time being. He turned to Mei Terumi and asked:

"Are there any distinctive landmarks near the shrine shown on the map?"

"Something with a noticeable scent would be best."

"A scent?"

Mei Terumi lowered her head to look at the map in her hands, her jade-green eyes rapidly scanning its lines and markings.

Her finger stopped at one corner of the map, and her eyes lit up.

"There seems to be a grove of osmanthus trees near the shrine.

They should be flowering right now. If the grove is still there, it ought to have the distinctive smell you mentioned."

She looked up, a hint of hope and uncertainty in her jade-green eyes.

"If you're asking about that, then... you have a way to find it?"

Listening to Mei Terumi, Kou's handsome face broke into a confident smile.

"I don't have a way myself—"

He paused, a sly glint flashing in his dark eyes.

"But my friend does."

"Your friend?"

Mei Terumi's brows drew together, confusion filling her jade-green eyes.

Kou didn't answer. He raised his hand, bit his right thumb, then pressed it against the ground and called out:

"Summoning Technique!!"

A cloud of white smoke burst open with a roar, thick and heavy like a cloud rising from the ground.

The smoke swirled and spread through the air, completely shrouding the area in front of Kou.

Mei Terumi held her breath, her jade-green eyes fixed on the shadow in the smoke.

Uchiha Kou's summoning beast... It must be something incredible.

She murmured to herself, her gaze turning serious.

A huge Ninja Dog? A ferocious bird of prey? Maybe even one of the toads from Mount Myoboku?

What could it be...?

Mei Terumi stared curiously at the smoke as it began to dissipate.

The smoke slowly cleared. Out of it walked a small, jet-black cat.

It wasn't very big—in fact, it was rather tiny. Its fur was black as ink, gleaming like silk in the sunlight.

Its eyes were golden, its pupils narrowed slightly, and it wore the sort of lazy look that seemed ingrained in its bones.

All of Mei Terumi's expectations shattered in an instant.

"Uchiha Kou, you bastard! Why'd you summon me out here?!"

The black cat spoke. It didn't meow; it spoke in a remarkably deep, bubbly voice.

"I was on a call with a gorgeous little cat with an incredible coat pattern! I was just about to set up a date!

That's it, it's all ruined! This is all your fault, you bastard!!

Do you have any idea how young and hot that kitten was?! How are you going to make it up to me?!!

You'd better have a damn good reason for this! Otherwise, I'll never forgive you!!"

Mei Terumi's vision went black.

"This is... a summoning beast?"

She stared at the black cat, her jade-green eyes utterly blank.

Have I... reached the end of my life?