Eat What You Took from Me, Spit It Back Out; Return What You Took from Me

All the Ninja Cats turned their eyes toward the Maneki-neko.

"Psst, psst, psst~~

How about having your clan use a summoning technique to enter the Land of Lightning and post a mission?"

The Maneki-neko whistled several times, trying to avoid their gazes, but there was simply no escaping them.

It turned to the blue cat and made the suggestion.

The blue cat was the chief of the Nekomata Clan. A small portion of its clan had contracts with ninjas from the Land of Lightning, which happened to be a nation hostile to the Uchiha Clan.

The blue cat sank into thought. "Can we really eliminate that fat man? And what about the people hiding behind him?"

It had already resented the Maneki-neko for cooperating with the Shimura Clan to wipe out the Nether Cat Clan.

They clearly lacked the strength, yet they insisted on getting involved in Konoha's massive whirlpool. Now they had dragged the entire Ninja Cat Clan into it. One wrong move, and their clan would be exterminated.

They might even be wiped out entirely. It had heard that the fat man drooled whenever he saw them.

"What a headache!"

The blue cat sank into deep thought.

"I heard you were looking for me?" A strange, hoarse voice reached the ears of the Ninja Cats.

The newcomer was Yajirobe, with a skewer of grilled meat still in his mouth.

Behind him stood Dumpling and Tien.

"Isn't that the chief of the Tabby Cat Clan?~~"

"Y-you—"

"The fat man?~~"

"Meowww~~"

One of the cats let out a shriek, and the many cats stared at Yajirobe in terror.

Even the blue cat chief of the Nekomata Clan wore a face full of fear.

After carefully identifying the skewer in Yajirobe's mouth, it seemed to recognize the cat that had been roasted.

Yet it carried none of the Ninja Cat Clan's aura.

All the cats huddled into a corner of the meeting room.

"Weren't you looking for me?" Yajirobe swallowed the skewer in one bite, spat out a mouthful of bones, and tossed them onto the floor. He smacked his lips, still wanting more.

"Meow~ No~ No~"

Every Ninja Cat gave the same answer.

They no longer had even the slightest will to resist.

"That black cat, come out. We won't hurt you. The rest of the cats can wait for judgment!"

Yajirobe pointed at the chief of the Nekomata Clan and told it to step forward.

He remembered Uchiha Feng's words: do not touch the black cats—the Nether Cat Clan.

"It's blue, isn't it?" The Maneki-neko asked Yajirobe doubtfully.

Bang!

"What blue? I'm obviously black!" A large club appeared in the blue cat's paw, and it slammed the Maneki-neko on the head, telling it not to talk nonsense.

But Uchiha Feng's consciousness within Tien's clone brightened.

His third eye had seen the blue cat chief pull that wooden club from a necklace.

In his memories, spatial equipment was quite rare. He just did not know how large the space inside it was.

Tien's own consciousness also had black lines appear across his forehead, but he did not stop Yajirobe.

He had long noticed that this guy seemed somewhat colorblind. Though the situation looked absurd, it had already shattered the Ninja Cat Clan's alliance.

The blue cat put away its club, rolled across the ground a few times, then approached Yajirobe with a fawning expression.

"I'm black. My lord, your eyesight is truly excellent."

What was dignity compared to one's life? Besides, dying that way would be even less dignified.

"Where are the things we left behind?" Tien stepped forward and asked.

All the Ninja Cats looked toward the Maneki-neko.

This disaster was brought by you! Deal with it yourself. They all seemed to be saying the same thing.

"I know! I'll take you there!" The blue cat was the first to react, speaking ingratiatingly.

"Remember, don't meddle in other people's affairs in the future!"

Yajirobe glared at the cats, grabbed the Maneki-neko by its tail, and knocked it unconscious before speaking to the others.

More than half of the cats fainted outright from fright.

"Lead the way!"

He turned and said to the blue cat.

The blue cat took the lead, but did not dare run away. It maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

"Yajirobe, was what you ate just now really a Ninja Cat?"

Tien's third eye watched the remaining bones as he questioned Yajirobe.

"Hahaha~~ Don't worry. I'm greedy, but I'm not as indiscriminate with food as you think.

Korin and I have been close friends for more than a decade.

At first, I was merely hungry. I never expected the card owner to misunderstand me so badly that he directly thought of summoning me into this world.

So I simply went along with it. Otherwise, who knew how long I would have had to wait!

Oh no!"

Yajirobe's expression suddenly changed. The Tien before him was still a clone, so Uchiha Feng would hear those words. Would that leave him with a bad impression?

Uchiha Feng, already within Tien's body and witnessing everything, did not think less of him. Instead, he was glad that his subordinate was not some pervert.

As long as they did not cross the line, these little schemes actually benefited Uchiha Feng. After all, those soul points were earned through his hunts, and he had even given him a Tien.

"Tien, Yajirobe used the monster transformation technique that Puar and Oolong use!"

Dumpling poked the bone beside him. It turned into a puff of smoke, and only then did he remember it was the transformation technique used by monsters.

"Right, since we've recovered the things anyway and don't lack soul points for the time being, let's spare these Ninja Cats! They might be useful later, you know?"

Yajirobe was still pleading for the Ninja Cats. His earlier hunting had been for the sake of obtaining his own body. Now, he could only do his best to persuade the others.

He considered it a chance left behind for Korin, who could speak in the Dragon Ball World.

Otherwise, if Korin appeared in this world one day and saw what he had done, would he beat the crap out of him?

"Get the items and wait for the card owner's orders!"

The group had arrived amid a pile of jagged rocks. Tien now rather admired Yajirobe. No wonder he could always save them at the most critical moments.

They soon arrived at a palace that looked dilapidated outside but was magnificent and orderly within.

The blue cat opened the palace doors and approached with a fawning expression.

"My lords, the ninth room inside contains the inheritance the Uchiha Clan left with the Ninja Cat Clan back then."

The blue cat explained as it continued leading the way.

From Yajirobe's earlier words, it had realized that he was not as perverted as it had imagined.

Still, it remained respectful. After all, the slaughter of so many Ninja Cats was no act.

They soon reached the room where the Uchiha Clan's inheritance was stored.

Scrolls filled their sight. Farther inside were sheets of paper, and deeper still were cloth records and bamboo slips, all preserved in excellent condition.

The Uchiha Clan's collection was practically the history of the entire ninja world. It was nothing like Konoha's castrated history.

"What an incredible clan!"

Tien exclaimed in admiration. He himself loved learning and carried the legacies of both the Crane Hermit School and the Turtle School.

Having come to a new world and encountered such power, this trip had not been in vain.

What was stored here contained at least half the knowledge of the ninja world, as well as its history. The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan was practically made for preserving inheritances.

In the original story, Uchiha clansmen who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan would see the history Black Zetsu had altered. This was also because the Uchiha Clan was nearly fanatical about knowledge.

Uchiha Itachi's combat strategies were among the very best in the ninja world, precisely because he had the Uchiha Clan's foundation behind him.

As a child, Itachi had been ostracized for maturing too early, so he constantly studied the knowledge left behind by the Uchiha Clan. The moment he saw an enemy, he could predict their fighting style, allowing him to seize the initiative at every turn.

In the end, no one had expected this knowledge to become the blade in Uchiha Itachi's hand, used to slaughter the Uchiha Clan.

"My lords, the Ninja Cat Clan possesses a spatial treasure passed down to this day, specially used to protect these ninjutsu. I offer it to you now, and I hope you will spare the Ninja Cat Clan."

The blue cat pulled a golden, palace-shaped necklace from its neck and respectfully handed it to Tien.

Unlike its earlier cowardice and fear of death, the blue cat now radiated the courage of sacrifice.

Uchiha Feng's consciousness flowed through Tien's body as he sensed the treasure in his hand.

"A single treasure like this is enough!"

Uchiha Feng shot Yajirobe a fierce glare.

He had not expected this guy with his tiny, narrowed eyes to have been putting on an act, but he also felt relieved.

Thankfully, this guy was not a pervert.