Dark Ninja Cat Realm

Dark Ninja Cat Realm

The so-called Dark Ninja Cat Realm is a massive, cat-shaped castle hidden from sight by a barrier. Without a guide or familiarity with the path, one could never find this Ninja Cat Castle.

Naraku arrived at the entrance of the Ninja Cat Castle in a flash. Moments later, with a series of swish sounds, a dozen guards landed behind him.

At the castle gate, two ninja cats pointed their spears at Naraku and shouted:

"Who goes there? Humans are not welcome here!"

"Stay outside and keep hidden," Naraku commanded his followers.

With that, Naraku glared with his crimson Sharingan and walked straight inside. He ignored the two nameless cats entirely.

The two boisterous ninja cats stood frozen like wooden chickens, clearly trapped in a genjutsu.

Naraku reached the main hall of the Ninja Cat Castle, where dozens of ninja cats were singing and dancing, enjoying themselves immensely.

A few of the ninja cats noticed Naraku, this uninvited guest.

"Oh? Lord Naraku, meow."

Kozunmaru, a ninja cat, was also here and looked surprised to see Naraku arrive.

Kozunmaru carried two ninja swords on his back, and at nearly a meter tall, he was considered quite large among the ninja cats.

"Lord Naraku, meow, why have you come to the Ninja Cat Castle, meow?"

"Oh, Kozunmaru, you are here too. I have come to visit the King of Ninja Cats, Matatabi. Could you trouble yourself to announce my arrival?"

Naraku remained calm. Aside from a few, most of the ninja cats possessed low strength and posed no threat to him.

"Oh! I can do that, meow. Please wait a moment, Lord Naraku, meow. I will go announce you, meow."

Kozunmaru turned quickly to inform the Ninja Cat King, Matatabi.

Naraku crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Granny Cat was right. This Ninja Cat King has lured away quite a few of the ninja cats raised by our Uchiha clan.

Naraku saw many familiar faces. Unlike the ninja, these summoned ninja cats had a different mindset; they felt they could survive anywhere, and summoning contracts could be fulfilled regardless.

However, for the breeders, this was undesirable. Especially during battle, if a summoning jutsu brought forth a crippled cat or an unexpected situation arose, it could be fatal for a ninja in a short-lived skirmish.

After entering, Naraku felt this Ninja Cat Castle was actually quite a good place to keep intelligent ninja cats.

But the fact that Granny Cat must remain the primary caretaker of the Uchiha clan's ninja cats was non-negotiable.

Furthermore, they needed ninja cats distributed throughout the ninja world to gather intelligence for the Uchiha. If they all huddled in this castle, the Uchiha intelligence network would suffer.

"Meow, Lord Naraku, please follow me."

Kozunmaru returned to the hall quickly to summon Naraku.

Naraku followed in Kozunmaru's footsteps, heading deep into the castle.

In the hall, dozens of ninja cats—some as large as tigers, others the size of ordinary house cats—milled about. Most wore short tunics, and many carried weapons.

Ninja cats possessed intelligence comparable to humans. The Uchiha regarded them as excellent intelligence gatherers skilled in taijutsu.

Beyond that, there was nothing particularly remarkable about them.

Most of the cats here fit the Uchiha's description, but there were always a few unique ones with rare abilities.

Just like Kozunmaru, whom Naraku loved to summon; Kozunmaru excelled in sensory ninjutsu and was a great help to Naraku, making him his favorite ninja cat to summon.

Naraku followed Kozunmaru for nearly twenty minutes, moving at a brisk pace through several staircases and courtyards.

Finally, they reached the Tenshukaku.

"Meow, Lord Naraku, Lord Matatabi is inside, meow." (In this book, the Two-Tails is referred to as Yugito, while this ninja cat is named Matatabi.)

"Good, thank you for your hard work, Kozunmaru."

Naraku tossed a few dried fish—Kozunmaru's favorite—to him and stepped into the Tenshukaku.

After climbing the stairs, he arrived at the resting place of Matatabi.

Inside the pavilion, a massive curtain obscured Matatabi's form. Judging by the shadow, one could only tell that his figure was enormous.

"Leader of the Uchiha, what brings you here?"

A low voice emanated from behind the curtain.

"Mr. Matatabi, please forgive my abrupt intrusion. I heard that many of the ninja cats raised by my Uchiha clan have come to your castle. I am here to pay my respects and thank you for taking care of them."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. This is a list of gifts; please accept them."

Naraku produced a gift list and flicked it like a kunai, sending it flying into the gap of the curtain.

Then, Naraku took out a storage scroll and performed a hand seal. With a puff of smoke, several crates appeared.

"As expected of the Uchiha leader. I have only done a trivial thing, yet you have gone to such expense."

After reviewing the list and seeing the crates Naraku had summoned through the curtain, Matatabi's tone became more courteous.

"This is merely a token of greeting, Mr. Matatabi. There is no need for such formality."

"If possible, I hope to sign a summoning contract with Matatabi-san. Your Ninja Cat Castle is perfectly suited for ninja cats to dwell in. I, Uchiha, raise many ninja cats and hope to send them here as well."

Naraku had been offering gifts and exchanging pleasantries, finally revealing the purpose of his visit: he wanted to form a contract with this ninja cat.

"I see..."

The ninja cat's voice was low. Through the shadows of the curtain, Naraku saw the ninja cat forming hand seals.

The scene within the Tenshukaku shifted. The Tenshukaku, where the night sky had previously been visible, transformed into something resembling a basement, with yellow lamplight flickering against the walls.

A woman wearing a kimono stood with her back to Naraku, licking an oil lamp.

"Genjutsu: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change."

Seeing the ninja cat form the seals, it was impossible for Naraku to fall for the genjutsu. He activated the Uchiha clan's genjutsu, and in coordination with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he used Mirror Heaven and Earth Change to reflect the illusion back.

The basement environment dissipated, and after a flash of black light, they were back in the Tenshukaku as before.

Matatabi, having been struck by his own genjutsu, was now panting heavily. Panic stirred within him; Matatabi was a type of cat demon that had finally gained intelligence and cultivated significant power after much difficulty.

In that moment, Matatabi realized he had encountered a tough opponent.

Matatabi understood clearly that the Uchiha leader below was a person of immense strength, someone he could not handle.

His usual method of using genjutsu to control people before devouring them was completely unfeasible now.

Furthermore, judging by how easily the Uchiha leader had broken through and reflected his own technique, he realized that if he didn't agree today, he would likely suffer the consequences.

Naraku chuckled softly and said indifferently, "I wonder if you liked the gifts I brought, Matatabi-san? And how have you considered my proposal?"

Through their brief exchange, Naraku had roughly gauged Matatabi's strength: he was at the level of an elite jonin and would be no match for a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

The strength of an elite jonin was already impressive; if a genin or chunin were to command such a summoning beast, they would have no reason to fear a jonin.

The curtain slowly rose, and Naraku saw the appearance of the Two-Tailed Cat clearly.

It was two stories tall, white all over, with a long tail that split at the end, resembling two tails. It was indeed a cat demon.

"Naraku-sama, I like the gifts you brought very much. Let us sign the contract."

The white Matatabi had even changed how he addressed Naraku. Naraku's lips curled upward; such unprovoked flattery was surely either treacherous or thieving.

There was no such thing as an easy handout. Naraku's visit was merely a case of "courtesy first, force later."

Matatabi realized that the situation was stronger than the individual, and he was quite pragmatic about it.

The gift list included five hundred dried fish, fifty bottles of red wine, and several crystal wine glasses.

Before coming, Naraku had done his homework at Granny Cat's regarding the preferences of this white Matatabi.