Holding Wuhu in her arms, she was a little shy around strangers, but she showed no resistance toward Kamiya Keiyun.
Perhaps because she was still too young to understand.
Sanyō and Takahashi Mihoko chatted for a while longer. Seeing that night had fallen, they hurriedly said their goodbyes.
"Be sure to take good care of her. If you stop liking her, you can bring her back!" Takahashi Mihoko reminded him again as they were leaving.
She was afraid Kamiya Keiyun was merely acting on a whim.
"I'll take good care of her, Sister Takahashi. Don't worry!" Kamiya Keiyun promised earnestly.
"Mm, it'd better be that way!" Takahashi Mihoko nodded, then stood in the doorway and watched the two of them disappear into the distance. Only after a long while did she return inside.
"Sister Takahashi is pretty pitiful too. Her husband doesn't like her. Every time he leaves, he's gone for two or three months, and when he comes back, he only stays home for two or three days. Most of his time is still spent at the tavern," Kamiya Sanyō suddenly said as they walked.
"Merchants value profit and take parting lightly. Last month, he went to Fuliang to buy tea. He left the river port behind to guard an empty boat, while the moon shone around it and the river water turned cold." Kamiya Keiyun shook his head. "It's someone else's family matter. We can't interfere. We can't exactly tell Mr. Takahashi to stop doing business, can we? How would that family survive?"
"But he could at least spend time with Mihoko!"
"So, if possible, I'd suggest Mihoko learn some Chakra too. Once she gets stronger herself, she can go into business with her husband. Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Kamiya Keiyun shrugged. "And if she finds out Mr. Takahashi has someone else outside, she can just slap him to death."
"Uh..." Kamiya Sanyō fell into thought. Could that really work?
"Most tragedies in this world stem from the people involved being too weak. Rather than blaming heaven and others, it's better to make yourself stronger!" Kamiya Keiyun looked at Kamiya Sanyō. "So don't place your hopes on others. People must rely on themselves!"
Kamiya Sanyō fell silent.
Kamiya Keiyun had already begun studying the cat in his arms.
The little cat was covered in yellow and white fur. He could tell she would grow up to be quite the beauty.
Well, as long as she did not get fat.
A cat's meridians were far finer than a human's, but Kamiya Keiyun's Chakra control was strong enough that he could scan her meridians bit by bit without hurting her.
He was mainly examining the meridians in her brain.
He did not need to develop every tiny meridian. As long as he could make use of a few major ones, the cat's mental capacity would naturally increase considerably.
Kamiya Keiyun's only concern was rejection. What if his Chakra entered the cat's body and was rejected?
Yet to his surprise, the cat showed no rejection toward his Chakra. Or rather, she was highly compatible with it.
"Why is that?" Kamiya Keiyun was somewhat startled. It made no sense!
My Chakra is formed from the fusion of my spiritual and physical energy. How can it still work after entering someone else's body? Is it even still mine?
Or is my refinement not deep enough, so the Chakra has not yet been stamped with my own mark?
If that's the case, would other people's Chakra work the same way after entering my body?
Could I develop something like the North Darkness Divine Skill and absorb other people's Chakra into my body?
"Meow?" Kamiya Keiyun had only been distracted for a second or two when the cry from the cat in his arms snapped him out of it.
When he lowered his head again, he found that the cat's eyes had become far more lively!
Originally, she had been no different from any other little kitten. But now, she truly had a spark of intelligence.
"It really worked!" After thinking for a moment, Kamiya Keiyun said, "Wuhu is still too strange a name. From today onward, you'll be called Ruri. Wuhu Ruri. The colors are a little off, but they're both cats!"
"Ruri, Wuhu Ruri." Wuhu Ruri nodded. "Wuhu Ruri!"
"That's right, Wuhu Ruri. That name comes from a very cute—wait." Kamiya Keiyun suddenly sensed something was wrong. He looked at his sister Sanyō, who was still deep in thought, then at the empty street around them.
Who had just spoken?
Kamiya Keiyun lowered his head blankly and saw the little kitten in his arms repeating the name over and over. "Wuhu Ruri, Wuhu Ruri."
What the hell, had she become a spirit?
Kamiya Keiyun had only wanted to improve the cat's intelligence. He had never intended to take it all the way and make her speak outright!
He hurriedly withdrew his Chakra. Wuhu Ruri froze for a moment in his arms, then went, "Meow?"
"Hm?" Kamiya Keiyun paused, then tried channeling Chakra into her again.
"Wuhu Ruri, meow?" Ruri blinked and looked at Kamiya Keiyun. She had already sensed the source of her transformation.
As the saying went, I could endure darkness because I had never seen the light!
But now that she had experienced the effects of having her mind developed, how could Ruri possibly want to return to those muddleheaded days?
A look of longing immediately appeared in her eyes. Though she was a cat, Kamiya Keiyun was shocked to discover that he actually understood her!
"So something like this can happen. Then is this an isolated case, or a common phenomenon?" Kamiya Keiyun fell into thought. Gumaru did not seem able to speak!
Why was the cat I picked up able to talk?
Kamiya Keiyun said nothing. Instead, he quickened his pace. They would go home first and talk later.
"We're back!" he called out as soon as they entered, then headed straight upstairs.
"This child, aren't you going to eat?" Kamiya Koromo called from below.
"I'll eat later!"
In the Training Room, Kamiya Keiyun placed Ruri on the table and pressed one hand against the cat's head.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?" Kamiya Keiyun asked softly.
"Meow?" Ruri shook her head in confusion, then nodded again.
"So you can hear me, but you can only understand a little of what I mean?" Kamiya Keiyun thought for a moment. "Whether you understand or not, don't reveal your intelligence in front of outsiders from now on."
If she was an exception, Kamiya Keiyun feared that people would covet her.
If everyone's Ninja Cats were like this, then he was afraid the cat would have to be registered.
He could accept registration, but not now.
"Your current intelligence needs my Chakra to maintain it, but that's very inconvenient!" Kamiya Keiyun said. "So I'll teach you the Chakra Refining Technique! You need to try using your own Chakra to maintain your own intelligence!"
"Meow?" Ruri seemed to understand, yet not fully.
Kamiya Keiyun did not care. He taught her directly, and after teaching her, he used Chakra to simulate the feeling for her.
Humans needed to be four or five years old before they could refine Chakra. Kamiya Keiyun did not know whether a three-month-old cat could do it.
But he did not have time to test things slowly. After all, time was running out.
Cats did not have many stray thoughts. Their strongest emotion was curiosity, and what she was most curious about now was naturally her own intelligence.
Since Kamiya Keiyun had said Chakra was the key to producing intelligence, she naturally put exceptional effort into refining Chakra.
Kamiya Keiyun watched from the side the entire time. Then, in less than half an hour, he sensed in shock that Chakra had actually formed inside the cat's body!
"Holy shit!" Watching a little spirit come into being right before his eyes, Kamiya Keiyun felt exceptionally complicated.
That speed was not only faster than Kamiya Sanyō's, but even faster than every student in the class!
Kamiya Keiyun suddenly felt that Chakra might not have been a power meant for humans at all. It seemed animals were more suited to cultivating it than humans were?
If that line of thought was correct, did that mean this world had monsters?
Maybe even thousand-year-old demons!
Oh, Inuzuka Hana had mentioned this before. They were called Ninja Beasts.
As he was thinking, Kamiya Keiyun saw Ruri stand up, then leap onto the windowsill.
Are you going to absorb moonlight? Or—
"Ruri, where are you going?" Kamiya Keiyun called out instinctively.
"Going home!"
"What home are you going back to? This is your home now." Kamiya Keiyun was speechless. He had just raised a Ninja Cat, and she was already planning to run away?
"I know!" Ruri rolled her eyes. "I'm going back to say goodbye to them."
Before you continue