Summoned Beast

After school, Aokiji went straight home. As usual, he checked to see whether anyone had secretly broken in.

The dust along the window frame had been lightly brushed aside. Aokiji immediately went on high alert. Damn, did a thief break into my house?

"Meow..."

Aokiji froze and followed the sound. An orange cat had somehow wandered into his home.

Aokiji silently let out a sigh of relief. So it was just a cat.

Stray cats were fairly common within the clan grounds.

The Uchiha Clan had always been on good terms with the Ninja Cat clan, and many clan members used Ninja Cats as their Summoned Beasts.

Even the adults did so, so the children were naturally influenced as well. When choosing pets, cats were their first choice.

Aokiji chased the stray cat out of the house and did not think much of it.

He was not worried that the stray was a Ninja Cat spying on him.

If it had really been spying on him, it would not have made a sound and drawn his attention.

Who would be crazy enough to use a Ninja Cat to spy on him?

It was not as if he were some important figure.

He had decent talent, but without Awakening or Ice Release, only an idiot would specifically send someone to monitor him.

Shaking his head, he closed the window and drew the curtains, looking like a thief at work.

With no one around, Aokiji bit his thumb, swiped it across his palm, and pressed one hand down.

"Summoning Jutsu."

With a bang, white smoke billowed out. Once it dispersed, a snow-white fox appeared out of thin air. It was none other than Fox Spirit.

Aokiji could not command any of the other Summoned Beasts, so he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.

Fox Spirit arrived in the unfamiliar surroundings and stood dazed for a moment. When she saw Aokiji's face, her rolling eyes brightened. She bounced in place twice, visibly excited. "Is this the outside world?"

"Yes, this is my home." Aokiji asked, "How is your Reverse Summoning Jutsu training going with your grandma? Can you summon me to the Aurora Ice Domain?"

"How could it be that fast? I'm only just getting started with a lot of things involving Chakra."

Fox Spirit was related to Baosi by blood and had inherited her talent. After recognizing her ancestry, she had begun training under Baosi.

There were no telling how many generations between Baosi and Fox Spirit. Calling her great-great-great-grandmother with an endless string of "greats" was too troublesome, so Fox Spirit simply called her Grandma.

"Then when you go back, ask your grandma to summon me back."

To return to the Aurora Ice Domain, Aokiji had to use Fox Spirit as a messenger and have the Summoned Beasts over there reverse summon him back.

The space available for training at home was far too cramped. He needed to train over there.

"What? I finally get to come here, and you're already sending me back? Is that any way to treat your Summoned Beast?"

Fox Spirit pouted, her words carrying a trace of dissatisfaction.

She had finally gotten a chance to visit the outside world, so naturally, she did not want to go back so soon.

"Me"?

Aokiji's mouth twitched. How long had it even been since they last met? What exactly had that old lady taught Fox Spirit? She was speaking more and more like a human. She no longer seemed as innocent as when they first met—she was not so easy to fool anymore.

"Fine, fine. My mistake. I'll treat you to a meal."

Fox Spirit's eyes lit up, and her snowy tail swayed.

Aokiji apologized, took out some leftover fish from the refrigerator, put it on a plate, and handed it to her. "After you finish, remember to have your grandma summon me back."

Fox Spirit symbolically sniffed it with her nose but did not take a bite.

Seeing that she had not immediately started eating, Aokiji asked in confusion, "Is something wrong?"

"I want it cooked."

"Didn't you always eat it raw before?"

"Things are different now. My grandma said that if I train hard, one day I'll be able to take human form too. I need to get used to the human way of life first."

"But you haven't cultivated a human form yet."

Aokiji pursed his lips, finding it troublesome.

Fox Spirit said bluntly, "But cooked food tastes better."

Aokiji had no response.

It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality.

He had spoiled Fox Spirit's palate. Had he known, he would not have fed her cooked food from the start.

Oh well. Since he needed her help, Aokiji gave in and went to cook.

While she waited, Fox Spirit wandered around the house. Everything here filled her with curiosity. She had not explored for long when Aokiji's young voice came from the air. "The food will be ready soon. Don't run around everywhere. If I finish it all before you get back, don't start crying. I'm not making more."

"Okay~"

Fox Spirit answered and intended to return to Aokiji's side. As she passed the bed, her short stature let her glimpse something beneath it. Curious, she reached in with a paw and fished around. She found a book, flipped through it out of curiosity, and instantly felt as though a whole new world had opened before her.

When Fox Spirit did not respond for a long time, Aokiji grew puzzled. He left the kitchen and went to his room, where he saw a furry creature lying on the floor, doing who knew what.

Aokiji walked over curiously and took a look. She was reading a book. He could not help but laugh. It was full of words—could she even understand them? Then he realized something extremely embarrassing. It did not matter whether she could read the words. She could understand the pictures.

Jiraiya had forced this thing on him back then. Aokiji had clearly said he did not want it. What if someone found it and got the wrong idea? He had wanted to throw it in the trash, but it somehow felt wasteful—no, crossed out, it was a gift from someone else, so it would be rude to throw it away. Thus, he had stuffed it under the bed. He never expected Fox Spirit to fish it out.

Just as Fox Spirit was engrossed in the book, a hand suddenly reached in and snatched it away.

With the book taken from her and her studies interrupted, Fox Spirit was very dissatisfied. "I haven't finished reading yet."

Aokiji coughed twice. "This kind of thing isn't for little kids like you."

"I've seen it in real life before."

Aokiji stared at her in shock. "What? You've seen it? Where?"

Fox Spirit replied nonchalantly, "Yeah, in the Icy Snow Land."

Damn, who played that wild?

They could even do it in the dead of winter? Weren't they cold? Then Aokiji thought it over and understood what Fox Spirit meant. Back when she was a "wild monster," she had wandered everywhere scavenging. It was perfectly normal for her to see animals mating.

After studying the contents of the book, Fox Spirit reached a conclusion. "So humans aren't really any different from animals in that respect."

"Uh..."

Aokiji was at a loss for words. He could not continue this topic, so he swiftly changed the subject. "Are you eating or not? If you're not, I'm eating it all myself."

Upon hearing there was food, Fox Spirit immediately forgot what she had just been looking at. After eating and drinking her fill, she voiced her desire to go out and have some fun.

Aokiji grabbed the scruff of her neck and lifted her up, amused. "Why do you never stop?"

Fox Spirit stuck out her tongue playfully and gave a simple, silly laugh. With a fox's face, she acted coy and charming. "Please, Master. The world is so big. I want to go see it."

Aokiji set Fox Spirit back on the floor and sighed faintly. "You only call me Master when you want something from me. Just this once. There won't be a next time."

Fox Spirit had lived in the Icy Snow Land since she was little. It was understandable that she wanted to make the most of this rare chance to come out.

"Yay! I like you the most, Master."

Fox Spirit was overjoyed and threw herself into Aokiji's arms.

The momentum knocked Aokiji over, and he was promptly defiled.

Fox Spirit stretched out her pink tongue and licked his cheek to show affection.

Her warm, soft tongue made his face itch. Aokiji shoved Fox Spirit away and put on a serious expression. "But before we go out, I need to lay down three rules."

"Forget three rules, I'll agree to three hundred."

Seeing her agree so readily, Aokiji could not help laughing. "Do you even know what laying down three rules means?"

"Nope."

As expected...

Aokiji explained some precautions to her. Otherwise, he would not take her out to play next time.

It was common for Ninja Beasts to Speak Human Language, so Aokiji was not too worried about her being discovered. His only concern was that no one could learn of her origins.

The moment she heard that she might not be allowed to go out anymore, Fox Spirit hurriedly agreed and promised not to let anything slip.

From then on, Aokiji often traveled between Konoha and the Aurora Ice Domain to train.