Chapter 52: The Story Begins!
Somewhere in the Land of Water.
On a lush green meadow, a gentle breeze carried wisps of mist across the anxious faces of the ninja cats, bringing with it a welcome coolness. The hazy veil softened the blazing sunlight overhead.
Whoosh...
The cat assigned to keep watch absentmindedly licked its paw before glancing back.
Pakura lay motionless on the ground while Asuka knelt beside her, continuously performing a medical ninjutsu.
After watching for a while, one of the ninja cats lowered its voice.
"Fatty... is Uchiha Asuka using a forbidden technique?"
"...Mm."
The orange cat nodded quietly, unusually subdued.
Even though Asuka had repeatedly insisted he would be fine, it refused to believe someone could perform a forbidden technique without paying a price.
"What kind of forbidden technique is it?"
Sensing Asuka's life force steadily fading away, the orange cat closed its eyes and answered softly,
"A forbidden jutsu created by Granny Chiyo of the Land of Wind..."
"A technique that exchanges one life for another."
Forbidden Jutsu: One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique.
It transferred the user's entire life force into another person, even capable of granting life to puppets.
It was Chiyo's unique forbidden medical ninjutsu.
The most powerful healing technique in the ninja world...
A technique meant to save lives.
"...Huh?"
The ninja cats were dumbfounded.
"Has that old woman gone senile?"
"She actually taught someone something like this?"
"If such a technique exists, who would ever fear death again?"
Seeing their confusion, the orange cat slowly opened its eyes and looked worriedly at Asuka.
"First of all, the entry requirements are absurdly high."
"In the entire ninja world, only a tiny handful of medical ninja are capable of learning it."
"Secondly..."
"Those who can master it are usually too valuable to sacrifice themselves saving others."
"Once they save someone, they die."
"No matter how you look at it, Granny Chiyo never loses."
"It takes enormous effort to raise a talented medical ninja..."
"...let alone one capable of learning a forbidden technique."
"If Tsunade learned it, for example..."
"...whoever she sacrificed herself to save would never be worth the loss."
"Asuka is the same."
"Oh..."
The ninja cats nodded as if they understood.
In reality...
They understood absolutely nothing.
Still, judging by what they knew of Tsunade and Asuka...
Expecting either of them to throw away their lives to save someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi or Danzō Shimura was impossible.
Powerful medical ninja already stood among the strongest in the shinobi world.
Trying to force them to sacrifice themselves for others?
That was even more impossible.
Tsunade might do it for her younger brother.
As for Asuka...
"Fatty."
"My chakra's almost gone."
"Come here."
Hearing Asuka's weak voice, the orange cat slowly padded over.
It stared at Pakura with closed eyes before raising its head toward Asuka.
After hesitating for a long moment, it finally asked,
"...Can you really survive this?"
Asuka sighed.
"Fatty..."
"When have I ever lied to you?"
"I'm someone who cherishes life more than anyone."
"How could I possibly die?"
"...That's true."
The orange cat nodded before gently placing a paw on the back of Asuka's hand.
A few moments later—
Feeling Asuka's life force nearing its end, tears welled up in the cat's eyes.
Its voice trembled.
"Don't die..."
"I won't."
Asuka gave it a reassuring smile.
Then...
His body fell backward.
"Hey! Hey!"
The orange cat dashed over and frantically slapped his cheeks.
"He's... not really dead..."
"Right?"
Hearing the sobbing voice, the other ninja cats hurried over and surrounded Asuka.
Looking at the blood covering his face, several of them twitched at the corners of their mouths.
"...His face is completely ruined."
One of the cats studied him for a while before prying open one eyelid and examining it carefully.
After a moment, it pointed toward Asuka's thigh and sneered.
"Fatty."
"Go bite his balls."
"They're very nutritious."
"At a time like this you're still joking?"
"He's not dead."
"Huh?"
"Then why isn't he waking up?"
The cat sighed before speaking seriously.
"If you bite them..."
"...you'll know."
"...?"
Seeing that the other cat didn't appear to be joking, the orange cat hesitated.
It silently weighed the options in its mind.
What am I hesitating for?
It cursed itself.
Then it leaped onto Asuka's lap, opened its mouth wide...
...and bit down.
Crunch.
Crunch.
It bit nothing but air.
Opening its eyes, it found itself already being held in Asuka's arms.
Fresh tears immediately streamed down its face.
"He... really wasn't lying..."
Asuka glared at it irritably.
"That idiot told you to bite me..."
"...and you actually listened?"
Then he looked toward the ninja cat who had spoken earlier and raised an eyebrow.
"You seem to know quite a bit."
The cat yawned lazily.
"I've heard of Izanagi."
"One of the Uchiha Clan's ultimate dōjutsu."
"I knew someone as obsessed with staying alive as you would never exchange his own life for someone else's."
"Izanagi?"
The surrounding ninja cats looked completely confused.
Squatting on the grass, the cat patiently explained,
"A Sharingan user can activate Izanagi to rewrite reality."
"For a brief period, any unfavorable event that happens to them becomes something that never occurred..."
"...while only favorable outcomes become reality."
"In other words..."
"Even death itself can be rewritten."
"That..."
"...is the true terror of the Uchiha Clan's ocular techniques."
Its gaze shifted toward Asuka's now-blind right eye.
Shaking its head, it continued,
"A three-tomoe Sharingan is enough to use Izanagi."
"But the price..."
"...is blindness."
"So?"
"Do you happen to have a spare eye lying around?"
"I do."
"My original eye is growing inside a storage tank."
"Once my chakra recovers, I'll transplant it back."
Asuka had no reason to hide anything from these ninja cats.
They had accompanied him ever since he first learned to speak.
They knew most of his secrets.
Likewise...
He knew most of theirs.
Like which cat had secretly fathered kittens outside the village.
Or which one had slept with the Daimyō's pet cat.
"...Mm..."
A faint groan interrupted his thoughts.
Asuka looked toward Pakura.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly.
She was waking up.
He waved dismissively at the ninja cats.
"You guys go play."
"I'll see you back in Konoha."