Exorcising Spirits in Konoha (7/10)

Exorcising Spirits in Konoha (710)

"Yes, Grandma. I brought him here to thank you."

"For those kunai?" Grandma Cat said in her old-fashioned tone. "Although other shops probably couldn't make kunai that are both sharply pointed and hard enough to punch holes, those finicky requirements are only a minor problem for me. My shop is already the Uchiha Clan's exclusive ninja tool supplier. As long as Fugaku sends the money on time, there's no need to thank me."

Retsuo hurriedly bowed. "No, I'm thanking you for allowing me to form a contract with the most outstanding ninja cat."

"Ah, actually, Jiapan was originally meant to be matched with the genius Shisui. But Shisui insisted on following Ninja Crow Style, so you got lucky. This little calico cat isn't easy to deal with."

That old woman is so blunt!

"Uh, in that case, can we sign the contract now?" Retsuo felt quite expectant after speaking. Contracting a Summoned Beast wasn't anything rare in Konohagakure, but for a transmigrator, it was still worth looking forward to.

Grandma Cat didn't waste any words. She directly opened the contract scroll from the Land of Cats and had Retsuo write his name on it.

"Although I intend for Jiapan to become your ninja cat Summoned Beast, whether she's willing is still uncertain. First, summon her here. That's the first step. If she's unwilling, you'll probably only be able to summon another ninja cat in the future."

Retsuo didn't waste words either. He cut his finger, formed the seals—Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram—and then slapped his hand onto the ground.

A small barrier from the Summoning Technique appeared. Then, amid Retsuo's anticipation... nothing appeared?

Retsuo and Ukyo stared at each other in confusion.

"That's strange. There's nothing wrong with Retsuo's Summoning Technique. It clearly worked." As Ukyo spoke, he suddenly formed a string of seals. "Reverse Summoning Technique!"

With a bang, Ukyo vanished as if he had transformed into a different person. But before long, he reappeared with another "bang," followed by a burst of shouting. "It's not Jiapan's problem. Jiapan has been waiting to be summoned the whole time."

"Ukyo, the Land of Cats doesn't welcome humans. Even you shouldn't use Reverse Summoning so casually. King Cat Matata will be unhappy."

Ukyo grimaced. Grandma Cat walked over with one hand on her hip. Instead of staring at the summoning barrier, she fixed her gaze on Retsuo. "It really did work. Even if you were terrible at it, you should at least have summoned a kitten."

Retsuo remembered Naruto summoning a tadpole in the Original Timeline. That was right. There was no such thing as the Summoning Technique failing. This was the power of the contract, the most fundamental law of the Shinobi World.

There were cases where an unhappy ninja beast immediately used Reverse Summoning to return, but one that refused to come over was unheard of. Still, Ukyo's Reverse Summoning was quite valuable...

As he pondered this, Grandma Cat had already circled him three times. She asked ominously, "Uchiha Retsuo, did you encounter something unclean? You should know that cats are creatures capable of seeing spirits. If a spirit that makes cats uneasy is attached to you, then it really could offset the power of the Summoning Technique."

"Something unclean?"

Retsuo immediately thought of the black slime. Could it really be that? If one were talking about something unclean, negative energy would be the first thing that came to mind.

Just then, a burst of crying came from behind the curtain. Grandma Cat instantly darted over and picked up the swaddled baby. "Yemaki, did you have another nightmare, Yemaki?"

At that moment, the image of the tough landlady vanished, leaving only a grandmother thrown into chaos by her concern.

"Ah! I know now." Inspiration flashed through Retsuo's mind. The slime isn't Zero-Tails. It's Dark Chakra.

Zero-Tails was a lifeform born from the aggregation of Dark Chakra. What Shinnō had implanted in him wasn't the Zero-Tails Seed he had expected, but the Dark Chakra Seed. It might not even be a seed, but rather a lump of Dark Chakra.

This slime can reproduce by itself, which is why it's grown a little larger than it was at the beginning. It's eating Dark Chakra to grow flesh!

The Hell Viewing Technique stimulated people's fear, which was clearly negative energy. That was why the slime hadn't disappeared as quickly as the cats in [Cat Bandit God].

No wonder Shinnō wanted to find someone who could carry another person's Spiritual Energy and become pregnant. Could the principle be that once someone else's Spiritual Energy enters, the slime eats the negative energy in it and filters out the positive energy?

Just then, Grandma Cat carried her granddaughter over to him. No matter how she tried to soothe her, the child continued bawling.

So it's a nightmare? Let me try!

"Grandma, I'm actually very good at soothing children. Let me try."

"Really?"

"Of course. The clan head's second son, Sasuke, cries all the time. No one except Itachi can soothe him, but I can."

While spouting nonsense, Retsuo took Yemaki from her. The little girl had delicate, attractive features. Although she had only recently been born and hadn't fully grown into them yet, it was clear she would be a beauty.

Then, as Retsuo held her in both hands, Yemaki's crying stopped abruptly. Her tightly closed eyes stopped twitching so frequently, and she fell asleep...

Uchiha Ukyo was astonished. "Retsuo, can you really make children stop crying? How come I didn't know you had this ability?"

"I'm a genius. Of course I'm different from a pseudo-genius like you."

"Are you expecting me to take that as a compliment?"

Grandma Cat was utterly shocked. Her granddaughter had been plagued by nightmares since birth, yet today she was sleeping so soundly. It had never happened before!

"Little Retsuo, you're not... You're not good at soothing children. You're good at soothing adults, aren't you?"

Retsuo didn't understand what she meant.

Grandma Cat's landlady-like presence returned as she said, "What exactly is wrong with Yemaki? Given my relationship with the Uchiha Clan, you don't need to hide it from me. Besides, I don't want to pry into your secrets."

"Uh, Grandma, I think it's very possible that Yemaki is the one who's actually been tainted by something unclean."

Were there ghosts in the Shinobi World? Of course there were. Not only were there ghosts, but there was even a Land of Demons. Grandma Cat immediately grew tense, only to hear Retsuo continue, "I believe that if you let me look after Little Yemaki for a while, I should be able to resolve it as well. But I want to solve it directly."

"How do you intend to solve it?" Grandma Cat recalled the scene of the failed Summoning Technique just now, and for some reason found Retsuo's judgment believable.

"I only need a quiet room. It has to be soundproof."

For such a strange request, Cat Demon Shrine happened to be able to fulfill it.

Beneath Cat Demon Shrine was a huge, maze-like complex. It contained plenty of soundproof quiet rooms, making it an ideal place for secluded cultivation. Without Grandma Cat's guidance, ordinary people wouldn't even be able to find them.

Grandma Cat led the way while carrying Yemaki, and Retsuo looked around as he walked. There are so many cats here! Ukyo seemed quite familiar with them, and they greeted one another even without wearing cat ears.

Some of the cats watched Retsuo curiously. One tiny kitten even hopped in front of the stranger and paced back and forth, trying to get his attention.

However, Retsuo kept his eyes straight ahead. After entering the secret room, he gently took Yemaki and said, "All right, I'm going to start exorcising the spirit. It'll be over in a little while."

Ukyo found it somewhat surreal. "Hey, hey, when did you become good at exorcising spirits?"

"This is precisely why I'm called a genius." As Retsuo spoke, he shut Ukyo outside the door. So many trains had run out of his mouth, but this was the one true statement—the Yin Release Barrier was what gave him confidence.