"You want to know about the shards of the shikon jewel?" Retsu looked at the suddenly enlightened Karan and said speechlessly, "I have a shard of the shikon jewel on me. Why didn't you just ask me?"
"Oh, right!" Karan slapped her head in realization, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she looked at him. "Then can you give the shard of the shikon jewel to me?"
"No." Retsu refused without hesitation, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Why? We've already signed a contract!" Karan immediately frowned and protested in an unhappy tone, staring at him threateningly.
"If you don't give it to me, next time you summon me, I'll just refuse! I just discovered that when I'm being summoned, I can choose to refuse!"
"Don't be angry, don't be angry." Retsu quickly waved his hands, subconsciously wanting to pat her head,
but he was warned by Karan's glaring red eyes. He had to awkwardly withdraw his hand and explain patiently,
"The shikon jewel is too dangerous; I can't just give it to you. As for the specific reason, I'll tell you when you've learned the Reverse Summoning Technique and are ready to leave.
At that time, you can relay my words to your Big Sister Leader and let her decide whether to continue looking for the shards of the shikon jewel, how about that?"
Karan frowned and thought for a long time before finally nodding. "Fine, I'll consider doing what you say after you tell me the reason."
Seeing her agree, Retsu turned and pushed open the door to a room, leading her inside.
The layout of the room was identical to his own bedroom, complete with a clean wooden bed, table, and chairs. The bedding and everything else had been prepared in advance,
and there was even a large cushion made of bear skin in the corner, clearly prepared specifically for her.
"Alright, now I'll start teaching you the Reverse Summoning Technique." Retsu sat on the floor and spoke to Karan, who looked impatient.
"Reverse Summoning Technique?" Karan sat down opposite him, hands on her knees, putting on a serious listening expression, though her cat tail couldn't help but twitch slightly behind her.
"Yes, in essence, it's the same thing as the Summoning Technique," Retsu explained.
"The Summoning Technique is when the contractor summons the summoned being, while the Reverse Summoning Technique is when the summoned being summons the contractor. It's only called that to distinguish the two."
He paused and continued, "Next, do as I say..."
In truth, he wasn't entirely sure himself. Ninjutsu relies on Chakra to function, while Karan only has Demonic Power. He didn't know if Demonic Power could replace Chakra to perform the Summoning Technique.
However, he speculated that since Demonic Power originates from Natural Energy, and Sage Mode Chakra also cannot exist without Natural Energy, if the toads of Mount Myōboku could use Senjutsu to perform the Summoning Technique, there was no reason Demonic Power wouldn't work.
But they ran into trouble right at the start: the hand signs of Ninjutsu are meant to guide the flow of Chakra, but they had no effect on Demonic Power.
Left with no choice, Retsu had to first circulate his own Chakra, memorize the energy flow path when performing the Summoning Technique hand signs, and then teach Karan step-by-step, letting her control the Demonic Power in her body to follow the same path.
Fortunately, the hand signs for the Summoning Technique aren't too complex—only five signs: Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram—and the corresponding energy paths are relatively simple.
After spending an entire afternoon, Karan finally memorized the trajectory of the Demonic Power. The next step was to make the flow of Demonic Power coherent and smooth through extensive practice, eventually successfully performing the Summoning Technique.
Although he wasn't sure if it would ultimately succeed, facing Karan's expectant gaze, Retsu still thumped his chest and guaranteed:
"Don't worry, you'll definitely learn it. When that time comes, you can summon me whenever you want."
While Karan was practicing seriously in the room, Retsu took down the summoning scroll from his back and carefully stored it in the Kamui Dimension.
His knowledge regarding summoning scrolls came from when he was studying Senjutsu at Mount Myōboku, specifically from asking Fukasaku Sage. The scroll he signed with Karan could currently only summon Karan alone.
If he wanted to summon the entire Panther Tribe like the scrolls of Mount Myōboku, there were two methods:
First, take the scroll to other members of the Panther Clan and have them sign the contract;
Second, wait for Karan to have kittens and form a new Leopard Cat group. As long as the cat demons in the group are Karan's descendants, they can be summoned through this contract without needing to sign it separately.
However, for the current Retsu, having Karan as a summoned beast was enough. He had no plans to contact other members of the Panther Tribe for the time being.
Of course, if other cat demons actively requested to sign a contract, he wouldn't refuse them either.
No one expected that for the seemingly simple Summoning Technique, it would take Karan over a month to succeed.
This period of practice also caused Retsu to completely abandon the idea of teaching her other Ninjutsu. The compatibility between Demonic Power and Chakra was ultimately limited; being able to learn the Summoning Technique was already an unexpected joy.
But Karan didn't care at all about how long it took. To a demon with a long lifespan, a month was but a blink of an eye.
Ever since she successfully performed the Reverse Summoning Technique, she treated it like a new toy. As soon as her Demonic Power recovered, she would impatiently summon Retsu, exhausting her Demonic Power every single time before stopping.
At this moment, Retsu was sitting cross-legged in his room, sensing the Natural Energy around him, preparing to practice Sage Mode.
Suddenly, a familiar summoning force arrived. A helpless smile curled on his lips as his body turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished from the spot.
As the smoke dissipated, he appeared in Karan's room. Looking down, as expected, Karan was slumped on the floor, completely drained of strength, unable to even lift a paw.
"Don't you find it uncomfortable to exhaust your entire Demonic Power every time you summon me?" Retsu crouched down and looked at the weak "silly cat" on the ground, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The energy consumption of the Summoning Technique has nothing to do with the summoning distance; it only relates to the strength of the summoned being. The stronger the being, the greater the consumption.
His strength far exceeded Karan's, so for Karan to summon him, she needed to exhaust almost all of her Demonic Power.
"It's you who isn't normal!" Karan wriggled on the floor, moving to his feet and nudging his pant leg with her head, her voice weak,
"I have to use up all my Demonic Power to successfully summon you... I'm hungry, I want to eat."
After spending this time together, Karan had completely let her guard down. Her childlike playfulness, immense curiosity, and gluttony were all fully exposed.
Fortunately, Retsu had experience raising Ninja Cats, so he was quite adept at handling her temperament.
"I've already prepared it. Let's go, let's go down to eat." Retsu had already guessed her purpose for summoning him. He reached out and grabbed Karan by the back of her collar, lifting her up.
Karan, dangling in mid-air, didn't struggle. Instead, she leisurely narrowed her eyes and lightly hooked her tail around his wrist. She had long since grown accustomed to this treatment during this time.