The First Summoned Beast

The moon was dark, the wind was high, and ghostly eyes gleamed.

Chiye Jun shouted nervously,

"Get out here! What kind of coward hides in the dark pretending to be a ghost?"

Then came a loud thud!

A little thing hopped out of the darkness and meowed twice at Chiye Jun.

Chiye Jun let out a breath of relief.

"So it's just a stray cat. You scared the hell out of me."

"But... what happened to these two Root ninja corpses...?"

Chiye Jun activated the Super Sensory Technique and gained night vision.

Before him stood a little black cat.

Its pair of golden eyes looked particularly eerie in the dark night, much like Orochimaru's evil serpent-like eyes.

Chiye Jun had always liked cats and dogs. He had adopted four stray cats at home and fed all the cats in his neighborhood.

He slowly crouched down and called to it softly.

The cat slowly approached and crouched a short distance away, staring at him without blinking.

Only then did Chiye Jun notice that its fur was much longer than that of an ordinary cat, while its ears were sharp and unusually large.

Suddenly!

Chiye Jun's mouth fell open in shock.

The cat actually had a third eye on its forehead.

It even had a pair of black angel wings on its back!

He hurriedly looked at the cat's tail.

There was only one tail swaying back and forth. It was not a Two-Tailed Nekomata...

What kind of cat is this? Why did it appear here? Is it because I love cats? Or perhaps... it was drawn here by my massive chakra and wants to devour me!

Just as Chiye Jun anxiously speculated,

the black cat opened its mouth, revealing saw-like teeth.

The corners of its mouth curled upward slightly.

It was actually smiling...

Beneath the pitch-black moonlit night, that smile was eerily unsettling, making Chiye Jun's skin crawl.

Chiye Jun became even more convinced that this black cat was no harmless creature.

Perhaps!

It wanted his soul and chakra...

Before confirming its true intentions, Chiye Jun did not make a move.

One man and one cat simply faced each other in a standoff.

"Looks like I have no choice but to fight! I haven't been here long, but I've already grown fond of this life. I don't want to die yet."

Chiye Jun swiftly pulled the Kusanagi Sword from his bag, gripping it tightly in a defensive stance.

And just then!

After seeing the Kusanagi Sword, the little cat shifted its attention and stared motionlessly at the blade.

Its golden eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Suddenly!

It quickly raised its front legs, swayed its hindquarters a few times, then fiercely kicked off with its back legs!

In the blink of an eye, it pounced before Chiye Jun!

Chiye Jun's sword had already left its sheath, its sharp blade glinting coldly beneath the moonlight.

Its tip pointed straight at the black cat.

But just as he was about to strike it, Chiye Jun abruptly stopped...

When he had received the reward last time, Chiye Jun had not noticed anything special about the Kusanagi Sword. He had merely used it as an accessory to look cool with his outfit.

But now, he discovered that the Kusanagi Sword was actually emitting white sword energy.

Although he had stopped in time, the sword energy still injured the cat.

A wound was sliced open across its body.

At once!

Blackish-red blood streamed down its glossy fur.

Chiye Jun had stopped because the cat had not pounced to attack him. Instead, it had halted beside his feet and rubbed against him affectionately, acting cute and seeking attention...

As a cat lover, he understood that this was a sign of the cat trusting and liking him.

"It doesn't mean me any harm."

Chiye Jun crouched down again and touched its wound.

"Sorry, that hurt, didn't it? I thought you were trying to scratch me..."

Just then!

The system's electronic voice sounded:

[ Ding! Task check-in issued. Please heal the cat's injuries. ]

Chiye Jun clapped his hands together.

"Mystical Palm Technique!"

Then he gently held one of its paws.

Chakra surged.

A crystalline green glow emerged, circling around the black cat before flowing into its body.

Its wound healed at a visible speed.

The cat looked at him and meowed affectionately, sticking out its pink tongue to lick his palm.

Once the wound had completely healed, Chiye Jun summoned the mission panel and completed the task check-in.

[ Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the task check-in. Please pet the cat's head to complete the contract. ]

A contract?

Chiye Jun raised his hand and touched the black cat's forehead.

"Ah... what is this?"

The instant his fingertips touched its forehead, an electric current shot into his mind!

A scroll appeared before his eyes.

Following the system's instructions, Chiye Jun formed a contract with the black cat.

[ Congratulations, host, on obtaining the Black Cat Demon Summoning Technique. ]

The Summoning Technique was a type of space-time ninjutsu that could summon beasts to assist ninjas in battle.

However, one had to form a contract with the summoned beast first.

"Does that mean I can only have one summoned beast from now on?"

Chiye Jun looked at the little black cat, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Why couldn't it be the T0 Enma...

[ No. In the future, the host can obtain various other types of summoned beasts, even tailed beasts... ]

Those words were like a reassurance, putting Chiye Jun at ease.

However, he still did not know much about this black cat demon's abilities.

After forming the contract, the black cat vanished.

After calming himself down, Chiye Jun looked once more at the corpses on the ground.

"Could Danzo have sent them to assassinate me? And the cat demon killed them..."

After returning home and lying in bed, he tossed and turned.

In the end, he could not resist using the Summoning Technique to summon the cat demon.

"Poof!"

With a thunderous boom,

a gigantic black cat suddenly appeared!

It was more than ten times larger than the one he had just seen, and the little house could barely contain it.

Only then did Chiye Jun remember that the size of a summoned beast was related to the amount of his chakra.

"Um, could you make yourself a little smaller...?"

The cat demon understood Chiye Jun's meaning and immediately shrank into the size of an ordinary kitten.

"I'll just call you Blackie from now on."

The little black cat happily swished its tail and meowed, then jumped onto Chiye Jun.

"So, what special abilities do you have? Are you a combat type, sensory type, or support type?"

Blackie did not answer. It merely licked its fur.

"Fine..." Chiye Jun did not force it.

He rummaged through his storage space and handed it a pouch of cat food.

The night had grown deep.

Chiye Jun slowly fell asleep...

Until a disturbance woke him!

His senses sharpened. Someone was on the roof!

"Fuck, does this ever end? Are they addicted to assassination or something...?"

After thinking it over, he summoned Blackie with the Summoning Technique.

Once Blackie appeared, it leaped onto the roof.

Before long, a tremendous crash sounded from the eaves!

Then a large section of the roof shattered with a boom...

Chiye Jun's house was made entirely of wood, and after years of disrepair, it had become extremely fragile.

Looking at the ceiling that had suddenly collapsed above him, Chiye Jun did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Fuck, this cat is way too fierce. Looks like I really need to move. When will that other house finally be finished...?"

"But Blackie's destructive power is pretty decent."

After receiving the command, Blackie enlarged itself and leaped onto the roof, where it spotted the enemy.

It charged at him with incredible speed and swung out a claw.

That single swipe alone blasted a huge hole through the roof!

The Root ninja sensed the danger keenly and used a Body Flicker Technique to evade the attack.

Yet he did not see anyone. There was nothing before him...

Chiye Jun also leaped onto the roof.

People were rushing over from the distance as well.

They were Anbu ninja who had been alerted!

The Root ninja was greatly shocked!

If the Anbu discovered him, the assassination operation would be exposed.

With that thought, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to flee, jumping toward the neighboring rooftops.

Chiye Jun could have blasted him down with a single Raikiri.

But he wanted to test this summoned beast's abilities.

"Blackie, chase him!"