The flames slowly died down, but even from the outskirts of the village, the sounds of heated arguments could still be heard. This fiery outburst from the Uchiha startled all of Konoha, but in less than half an hour, the commotion subsided. The turmoil was over.
’Looks like it’s over,’ Takeshi thought, glancing down from his perch.
The noise from the distant Uchiha compound was fading fast. Without listening carefully, you would hardly hear a thing. Even with Sage Mode active, he could only catch faint fragments, words like "elder" and "for Konoha’s sake." He couldn’t make out the exact conversation.
"Well, let’s head back and get some sleep," Minato said, showing no desire to get involved. "If anything important happened, the Hokage will summon us tomorrow."
This was an internal Uchiha affair. While it was undoubtedly tied to the village, there was no reason for them to intervene now. Besides, from the sound of it, things seemed to be turning out in Konoha’s favor.
"Meow," Takeshi chirped in agreement. With a quick wave of his paw, he vanished. There was nothing more to see here anyway.
’I have to admit, the Uchiha are completely insane,’ he mused. ’They’ll even kill their own when things get heated. It’s a good thing I never planned on getting too involved with them. As for Shisui... well, that kid is a born backstabber. I can only hope Kanna manages to steer him right.’ Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt
’At any rate,’ he continued, ’I just hope the Uchiha don’t turn around and betray the Ninja Cat Fortress. I have a contingency plan to retreat to the Land of Snow, but who wants to move to that frozen wasteland unless they have to?’
He considered flying over to the Fortress for a quick visit, but it was the middle of the night. It would be awkward if Kanna was already asleep. ’Sleep it is. A cat’s got to look after himself.’
However, early the next morning, he made his way to the Ninja Cat Fortress.
Kanna was an early riser, and when Takeshi arrived, he found her hunched over a scroll, writing. She was practicing fuinjutsu. He could recognize the discipline, but the characters themselves were just indecipherable squiggles to him. It was completely incomprehensible, let alone something he could learn.
’No wonder fuinjutsu costs so many points,’ he sighed inwardly. ’The system wasn’t overestimating the difficulty at all.’
After satisfying his curiosity, Takeshi asked about Nekobaa. Kanna explained that, on his orders, the Fortress had temporarily cut off all contact with her, just as Nekobaa had done with the Uchiha. She also gave him an update on Nagato’s group.
Akatsuki had already reached the Land of Snow and established control. The former shinobi of the Hidden Snow had all joined their ranks, won over by Yahiko’s impassioned speeches. Yahiko’s plan, according to his last message, was to gain control over Doto Kazahana and then slowly expand Akatsuki’s influence from there.
None of this was particularly important to Takeshi. Whatever they were planning was fine by him, as long as they kept their members in line. He offered a few words of advice before heading back to Konoha.
Given the major incident with the Uchiha last night, there was bound to be some fallout. It probably didn’t involve him, but he was still keen to watch the drama unfold.
He had barely returned to his home when he sensed someone approaching. From the chakra signature, it is Tsunade.
’What does she want?’ he wondered, instantly on guard. ’Is she here to freeload another meal?’ He had enjoyed getting the best of Yugito yesterday, but he knew he’d be the one in tears if the tables were turned.
"Meow?" A soft meow sounded from just outside the door.
Then, Rin’s voice called out, "Takeshi, Tsunade-Sensei is here. Are you awake?"
"He’s just a cat, Rin. Just open the door." Tsunade pushed the door open and stepped inside.
In the next instant, a tail whipped through the air like an iron rod, aimed right for her.
’What?’ Tsunade dodged with impressive speed, but the figure behind her wasn’t so lucky.
Nekomata reacted a split second too late and was sent flying, slamming hard into the dirt of the yard.
’What a pity,’ Takeshi thought with a silent sigh. He had been aiming for Tsunade. A direct hit on her would have earned him a good number of points, not the few hundred he got from hitting Nekomata. It was far too little. His point income had been low recently, and after a few purchases, he was down to just fifteen thousand.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss. His biggest gain from the system lately had been Fire Release: Searing Migraine Jutsu. Purchasing it normally would have cost over eight thousand points, but he’d gotten it in a lucky draw.
"You’ve gotten bold, brat," Tsunade snarled, her voice dangerously low. If she hadn’t held back, her fist would have gone straight through the wall.
In the yard, Nekomata lay trembling, looking like he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.
"Meow~" Takeshi purred, his tone completely insincere. "I can’t always control myself when I’ve just woken up. My apologies."
Tsunade clenched her fist, debating whether to punch him anyway.
"I’m so sorry, Sensei!" Rin bowed deeply, her apology swift and flawless. "Takeshi didn’t mean it. He just has some bad habits..."
That one word "Sensei" seemed to drain the anger right out of Tsunade. She let out a long breath, shot Takeshi one last glare, and said gruffly, "Pack your things. We’re leaving."
"Leaving?" Rin and Takeshi asked in unison.
They had only been back for a few days. Was it time to return to the front lines already?
Tsunade nodded, a look of helplessness on her face. She walked over and hauled Nekomata to his feet. "The Uchiha sorted out their mess last night," she muttered. "They’re heading to the battlefield tonight, and the village wants us to go with them."
"..." Takeshi was a little speechless. While he had expected to be sent back to the front, he never thought it would be a direct result of the Uchiha’s power play. On second thought, though, it made sense. The Uchiha had always been a formidable fighting force. The village’s suspicion had kept them away from the action during the Second Great Ninja War, but with the current situation so dire, it was no surprise they were being deployed to the eastern front.
"Then I’ll go pack immediately," Rin said, always obedient to the village’s orders.
Takeshi pondered for a moment. He didn’t really have anything to pack, so he just settled onto the floor to think. He watched as Tsunade sat down across from him, then padded over, a question on his mind.
"Meow! I’m surprised you agreed to go back to the border so easily. Is it because..."
"Ahem! What are you talking about?" Tsunade said with forced righteousness. "The whole village is fighting. Of course I’ll do my part."
Her expression, however, was a thin mask of bravado. She had definitely made some kind of deal with Orochimaru and Jiraiya. This had to be the part she’d conveniently left out last time.
Nekomata, having finally recovered, was glaring daggers at Takeshi. He had suffered one too many of the black cat’s schemes lately. If he had the power, he would have loved to flay him alive and-
A bag of luxury cat food sailed through the air.
"Meow!!" The large white cat shot up excitedly and caught it. With a practiced swipe of his paw, he tore the bag open and began to devour the contents, his tail wagging so furiously he could have been mistaken for a dog.
’And that’s the former king of the Ninja Cat Fortress,’ Takeshi scoffed inwardly. ’So much for dignity.’
It was almost too easy to handle him. The cat was greedy, lazy, and utterly without principles. He was only in fighting shape because Tsunade had been pushing him.
Nekomata polished off the entire bag in seconds. A moment later, he began to sway on his feet, looking a little tipsy. Before a third second could pass, the white cat collapsed onto the ground in a heap.
Tsunade stared down at the unconscious cat, then looked at Takeshi with a curious glint in her eye. "Is that cat food mixed with alcohol? Got any more? Let me try some."
"Meow?? There’s no alcohol in my cat food."
"He sure looks drunk. Let me taste it."
’That stuff costs a thousand points a bag!’
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