Ninja Cat
"Swoosh~"
A petite figure crossed through the air, landing lightly on the rooftop.
"Meow~" 'Shu', the cat who had been sent back during the day, raised its head, staring blankly at the newcomer.
"Meow!" A soft meow sounded from the other cat's mouth.
Strangely, even though it was a cat, it was wearing human clothes.
"Meow~"
Shu replied foolishly.
The cat wearing human clothes stood upright on the wall, defying gravity, and slowly walked towards the window of the room where Lin Ke was staying, just like a human.
"Click~" The window was gently opened with a claw.
"Swoosh!"
A pair of dark hands burst out from the shadows, grabbing it and pulling it into the room.
"Click~" The lights turned on.
Lin Ke was sitting on the edge of the bed, yawning, and said, "A Ninja Cat?"
"Yes, meow~" The Ninja Cat, who was caught by the shadows, lay on the ground, cautiously looking at the dense shadows on the ground and the swaying dark figures in the shadows, with extra patches of darkness appearing from time to time. It said carefully, "I'm just passing by, meow."
"If you were just passing by, you wouldn't have been watching me from the opposite rooftop for so long, right?"
Lin Ke said calmly, causing the shadows to tighten their grip slightly.
"I was wrong, meow." The Ninja Cat immediately felt the threat and said loudly, "Please don't kill me, meow."
Lin Ke didn't say anything, just looked at it.
"My name is Hina, meow." The Ninja Cat introduced itself, and then said, "Because I received news during the day that a member of my clan had been captured, I came to take a look, meow."
A strange verbal tic.
Lin Ke had the shadows release the Ninja Cat. He guessed that there might have really been a Ninja Cat among the cats the shadows had caught during the day? But they were basically caught unconscious, so it seemed impossible to identify them.
Although he was the one who ordered the shadows to act, a Ninja Cat who came over in the middle of the night might not be easy to talk to without sufficient force.
But...
He thought for a moment, the Ninja Cats had a good relationship with the Uchiha, so he would let it go this time.
Even after being released, Hina obediently lay on the ground. As an animal, its intuition told it that it might really die if it made any rash moves.
"About what happened during the day, I was looking for 'Shu'. Haven't you already met him?" Lin Ke spoke.
The shadows had already discovered the other Ninja Cat sneaking within 500 meters, and running outside to secretly peek through the window was too obvious.
He knew everything about its conversation with Shu.
Hina bristled slightly.
"You can leave." Before Lin Ke finished speaking, the shadows had already reopened the window.
Hina swallowed, jumped onto the windowsill, looked back, and said, "To thank you, if you want to buy ninja tools, I can guide you for free, meow."
"You can find me through any cat in Tanzaku Street, meow." With that, it pushed off with its feet, jumped into the air, and agilely used the wall to gain momentum, disappearing from sight as if fleeing.
Granny Cat's Ninja Tool Shop, huh? Lin Ke was a little tempted. That place, as a black market, not only accepted various currencies and sold general ninja tools, but also had many rare Scrolls. Moreover, the Ninja Cat clan's intelligence capabilities were very strong, and some information could be purchased through Granny Cat.
It was just that ordinary people couldn't find it at all and needed a Ninja Cat to guide them.
He didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain.
He had been planning to get the money from abroad and exchange it for Land of Fire currency at the Money Exchange, but having Granny Cat's Ninja Tool Shop as an alternative was also good.
It was a pity that Granny Cat had long left the black market merchant clan, otherwise he could have bought a lot of electrical appliances and experimental equipment that couldn't be bought through regular channels to fill his Base.
Well, at least I can go to Orochimaru's Base to get some useful things.
Lin Ke took off his clothes and lay back on the bed. After Shizune, who was standing outside the door, left, he yawned slightly again, had the shadows turn off the lights and close the window, and went to sleep.
...
The next day, Tanzaku Street.
"Could you let me..." Tsunade asked with a hint of anticipation.
Lin Ke formed hand seals, I choose you, Nawaki beast! Tsunade watched her younger brother appear out of thin air, smiling as she reached out, only to grasp at nothing, realizing her brother's body was semi-transparent.
"He'll stay around longer in soul form," Lin Ke explained. "If he were solid, he'd return to the Pure Land quickly."
Nawaki, in this time, had grown accustomed to his ghostly body that couldn't touch anything, chattering away to his sister about his experiences lately—
Because he died so young, there was little to say about his life; in times of war, it was all training, with no childhood to speak of. He was sent to the battlefield and died at light speed. On the contrary, being summoned like this, living a carefree life, he had experienced more interesting things.
Including the two advisors and the Third Hokage, who had aged, Uchiha Sasuke, who had a cold face but treated him well, Haruno Sakura, who liked Sasuke...
Konoha in this peaceful era was very prosperous, and everything he saw and heard filled him with excitement, as he had always aspired to protect the village since he was a child.
Even if he was occasionally summoned in solid form to eat a bowl of ramen, he could happily talk about it for a long time.
Tsunade listened and smiled, her eyes as gentle as if they were about to melt.
The time for chatting passed quickly. After breakfast, Nawaki's Summoning Jutsu time ended, and he returned to the Pure Land.
They then set off on the road back to the village.
Leaving Tanzaku Street, Lin Ke glanced back at the cat that had been following them since earlier. Knowing he was dangerous, it still followed him. The cat's curiosity was a bit too strong.
But there was no need to worry too much; there would likely be opportunities for cooperation in the future.
He sat on the chair, letting the shadow lift him up.
"?" Shizune's face was full of question marks. She had been curious why the shadow behind them was carrying a wooden chair, but what did this mean now? "Let's go."
Clearly, Lin Ke had the lowest rank among the three, but Tsunade was immersed in a complex mix of joy and sorrow, and Shizune was even more eager to ask for help, so he was the one giving orders.
"..."
During the journey back to Konoha Village, Shizune kept glancing over.
Had the Nara Clan's Shadow Secret Technique developed to this extent after so many years away from the village? It was so convenient.
They set off in the morning and arrived at the Hokage Office in the afternoon.
"Old man," Tsunade said to her teacher as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Cough~" Shizune coughed softly.
Tsunade then remembered there was a junior beside her and changed her words, "Teacher, long time no see." Back then, when she argued, she called the Third Hokage a 'damn old man' every time.
Calling him 'old man' was already a relatively affectionate term.
The Third Hokage didn't care about the form of address at all, smiling with a hint of nostalgia, "I didn't expect you would actually come back..."
"I thought you would wait until I died before you came back."
"Tch~" Tsunade didn't answer directly. If it weren't for her younger brother, she would definitely continue to wander outside. "Let's make it clear in advance, don't arrange any tasks for me."
Even without considering the issue of Hemophobia, she didn't want to be a ninja anymore.
"Now that you're back, it shouldn't be a problem to leave the Medical Team to you, right?" The Third Hokage smiled happily.
He knew his three students very well. With Lin Ke around, as well as that technique and Nawaki, Tsunade couldn't be driven away now, so of course, he had to take the opportunity to arrange some work for her to reduce his burden.
"Also, I'm already old, and Jiraiya is unwilling to take the Hokage position, you"
"Don't push your luck, you old geezer," Tsunade said, hands on her hips, her eyes widening.
"Alright, then the Medical Team is left to you," the Third Hokage said with a sly smile.
Directly asking her to manage the Medical Team would definitely lead to repeated haggling, so it was better to directly offer the position, and that girl would definitely take over the Medical Team.
Tsunade took a deep breath and said, "Shizune, let's go see what the current level of the Medical Team is." The tone she used was quite gentle.
After speaking, she turned and left aggressively.
Shizune, however, wore an expression of sympathy, bowed with Tonton in her arms, and said, "Then we'll be excused, Third Hokage." Then she hurriedly chased after her.
Lin Ke didn't stay long either, quickly bidding farewell to the Third Hokage and going home to review his medical knowledge.
Leaving Tsunade aside, Shizune was able to be the captain of the medical corps in the Fourth Shinobi World War, so her medical level was beyond doubt, and it shouldn't be a problem for her to teach him in a short time.
He couldn't be too lacking in basic knowledge either; it would be quite awkward if he didn't know anything when asked.
To get Tsunade to guide him, he definitely needed to show some talent. He couldn't just start with the ultimate move: 'You wouldn't want anything to happen to Nawaki...'
Also, he needed to work hard on Summoning Jutsu these next few days to see if he could summon the First Hokage or Second Hokage.
If he could summon either of them, everything would be fine.
Troubling Orochimaru also had to be put on the agenda. He held the secrets extending from the Five Elements Sealing and was even messing with Natural Energy. Lin Ke felt that letting that guy do as he pleased would lead to a bad future.
...
Tanzaku Street.
"She's in this town," Jiraiya said, leaning on the railing and looking at the bustling street.
"Wow~" Naruto exclaimed, "It's so lively."
"Perverted Sage, is the Tsunade old woman you mentioned here?"
"According to the information, yes." Jiraiya stroked his chin. He hadn't originally planned to come find Tsunade so soon.
However, a while ago, while he was in the Land of Rivers, he received a message that the three old advisors in the village were urging him to either return to inherit the Hokage position or quickly find a successor.
Besides him and Tsunade, who else in the village could take over the position in a short time?
But he still had to continue searching for the Child of Prophecy, so he had no choice.
'Sorry, Tsunade,' Jiraiya thought as he walked towards the stairs, saying, "I've been working hard on my training lately, so I need to rest properly..."
"What's that supposed to mean!" Naruto shouted from behind, "Only I'm training, and you always go into the adult world!"
"Also, hurry up and give me back my wallet!"
Jiraiya took out Naruto's shriveled frog wallet, tossed it back casually, and defended himself, "It's research, research!"
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