What the Female Says This Great One

The black shadows churning on the floor suddenly bulged upward into two rounded mounds.

With a faint pop, two furry heads squeezed out from the shadows.

"I told you Kei couldn't do without us!"

A crisp, smug voice appeared abruptly in the quiet room.

A dog with snow-white fur leaped out from the shadows.

It shook its fur vigorously to shed the lingering scraps of shadow, then held its chin high, its tail wagging rapidly from side to side behind it.

Immediately after, another pure black dog stepped silently out of the shadows.

Unlike the white one, the Black Dog stood steadily in place, its deep eyes scanning the surroundings.

The Black Dog let out an "hmph," as if agreeing with the white dog's words.

Sasuke maintained his hand seal, frozen in place.

He looked at the two animals before him, which were only the size of ordinary puppies and had fluffy fur.

"Jade Dog?" Sasuke's tone carried obvious uncertainty.

The white dog turned its head the moment it heard the voice.

It stared at Sasuke for a second, then two, before jumping back abruptly, front paws pressed to the ground in a vigilant posture.

"Wait!" The white dog's mouth opened and closed, speaking human language.

"Who are you? The scent is Kei's scent, but why did you shrink? Your face is all wrong, too. Where is that spiky hair of yours? How did it turn into a duck's butt!"

The Black Dog stepped forward, slowly walking to Sasuke's feet, and pressed its nose against his pant leg to sniff carefully.

"We are Kei's shadows; we wouldn't be summoned by anyone else." The Black Dog raised its head, golden eyes watching Sasuke.

"It is Kei. But the vessel has changed."

Sasuke released his hand seal and squatted down.

He reached out both hands, pinching the cheeks of the two dogs, one on each side, and pulled.

Warm, soft sensations came to his fingertips.

"You've become smaller, too," Sasuke said, looking at them. "And you can talk now?"

"Let go of my face!" the white dog protested incoherently, shaking its head vigorously to break free from Sasuke's hands.

"We are your shikigami to begin with; isn't it normal for us to change when you do? But you really have grown much uglier than before!"

Sasuke stood up and walked to the bedside to sit down. "Come here, let me explain briefly."

The two puppies followed immediately, pushing off with their hind legs to jump lightly onto the bed, sitting on either side of him.

Sasuke rubbed his temples and summarized the events of the past few days, including his soul's transmigration, the chakra system of this world, and the process of forcibly opening the Space Gate by borrowing negative emotions, highlighting the key points for the two dogs.

"Chakra?" The white dog tilted its head, one ear standing up and the other drooping. "Don't understand, and have no interest."

"Physical and mental energy, stable and efficient; perhaps it can be transformed into cursed energy," the Black Dog added.

"In short, that is the situation." Sasuke looked at his own hands. "My cursed energy is nearly bottomed out; I barely managed to open the gate just now by exhausting all my strength to mix cursed energy and chakra."

The man and the two dogs fell into a brief silence, beginning to digest this information.

"I understand," the white dog suddenly stood up and turned around twice on the bed.

"Because your current body is too weak and your cursed energy is insufficient, the Ten Shadows Technique fused with that thing called chakra to adapt to the rules of this world!"

"Mutation," the Black Dog said concisely.

"So, because your current body is a weakling, our power has been weakened along with it," the white dog concluded.

"But because you stirred that chakra stuff and the cursed energy together, the Ten Shadows Technique has mutated."

The Black Dog added, "Similar to the summoning technique of this world. Ninja dogs."

Sasuke nodded; this was basically consistent with his earlier deduction.

The transformation of chakra's form granted the shadows physical interference, while the mutated cursed energy awakened the consciousness of the Jade Dog.

"However, this world has things called ninjutsu, right?" The white dog's shiny black nose pressed against Sasuke's nose.

"If you can learn some really powerful moves, you might even be able to tame Mahoraga!" The white dog's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Sasuke looked at the white dog's eager appearance, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Mahoraga is not that easy to deal with. However, this is indeed a direction."

Sasuke stood up again.

"How long can you maintain your current state, and why don't I feel cursed energy flowing toward you?"

"That is another benefit of the mutation," the white dog said, lifting its chin smugly.

The Black Dog took over the conversation: "The gate is jammed. It won't close."

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asked, curious.

"It means that because the cursed energy you used to open the Space Gate was too little, the shadow channel is currently in a state of semi-paralysis," the white dog explained.

"You dragged us out, which already exhausted that bit of energy. Now the door hinge is rusted, and it won't close."

White Dog walked to Sasuke's feet and rubbed against his pant leg.

"Now we must either be beaten to the brink of death to be forcibly dismissed, or decide to return on our own."

Sasuke understood; this was equivalent to turning the summoning of the Ten Shadows into a permanent buyout.

"Then decide to go back yourselves right now." Sasuke looked at them.

"No." White Dog sat down on the floor and turned its head away.

Black Dog also turned its head, looking out the window: "Refused."

A vein throbbed on Sasuke's forehead: "Behave. It's troublesome if someone sees you."

"We finally got out, who would want to go back to that pitch-black place? It's so fun outside, and you're so weak right now, we need to stay out to help you keep watch."

"Just say we're ninja hounds."

"Seconded." Black Dog closed its eyes.

Sasuke looked at these two dogs acting like rascals and sighed.

The room fell quiet.

The sky outside the window had turned completely dark, and the light from the streetlamps shone onto the floor through the window.

Sasuke sat back down on the edge of the bed.

He looked at White Dog lying beside him. Its snow-white fur appeared soft in the dim light.

The scene of the special-grade cursed spirit killing White couldn't help but surface in his mind.

According to the rules of the Ten Shadows Technique, once a shikigami is completely destroyed, it cannot be summoned again.

He had once thought he had lost it forever.

Sasuke bent down and reached out to stroke the soft fur on White Dog's head.

White Dog narrowed its eyes comfortably, a purring sound rumbling in its throat.

"I won't let you die again."

White Dog's ears twitched, and it suddenly pulled its head out from under Sasuke's palm, turning its head to look at the corner of the wall.

"Ha? You, what kind of mushy things are you saying!" Yet its tail was wagging frantically behind it.

"Last time was just me being careless! Instead of saying things like that, you'd better hurry up and get stronger. As long as I get stronger along with you, I naturally won't die."

Black Dog let out a low growl from the side that sounded like a mockery.

"Tsundere, and calling yourself 'this lord' when you're female."

"Shut up! Black Charcoal!" White Dog immediately bared its teeth at Black Dog.

"Bang!"

A dull thud came from the balcony, and the glass vibrated violently.

Sasuke turned his head immediately, a kunai already gripped in his hand.

White Dog and Black Dog also instantly lowered their bodies, low, threatening growls emanating from their throats.

The window was pushed open from the outside.

Naruto was wearing his orange pajamas, holding a cup of seafood-flavored instant noodles that were still steaming, one leg already over the windowsill.

He remained in the posture of climbing through the window, a plastic fork still dangling from his mouth.

"Hey, Sasuke, you probably don't have hot water on your side either, so I thought about it and decided to bring you—"

Naruto's words stuck in his throat.

He widened his eyes, his gaze passing over Sasuke and staring straight at the two black and white puppies in attack stances.

The plastic fork fell from his mouth.

"Why are there dogs in your room?!"