Arc VIII Chapter 14
<strong>VIII</strong>
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<strong>Arc VIII Chapter 14 </strong>
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Her words showedlittle effect. They failed to reassure Yuki.
Yuki''s wrinkles deepened. Her heart trusted nee-san, but a sliver of doubt lingered.Nee-sanhad the habit of making rash decisions.“Nee-san, what are you nning?”
“I am going to try luck.”Asami inspected her handto ce thecut. Betteravoid thearteries. Not rmendable. Little interest in bleeding to death.Yuki approved of cats, and she always secretly wanted a feline friend.“Yuki, have you ever heard about summons?”
“...”Yuki shook her head, confusion written all over her face.
Of course, she didn''t know. Yuki never benefited from the privilege of a formal ninja education. Knowledge about the ninja arts was limited outside the hidden viges. The viges jealously guarded their precious secrets.
The existence of ninja wasmon knowledge. Theirabnormal strength, speed, endurancewere heralded by the masses,but beyond rumours and hearsay,informationwas sparse. For themon folk, ninjaremained a mystery shrouded in secrecy.
“I see ... Summons areparable ... to servants. In exchange for our chakra, they heed our call. They are our loyalpanions, retainers, allies, but I guess a practical demonstration is in order.” Asami cut her hand. The kunai passed her skin and blood dripped, colouring the white circle crimson red. But her sacrifice didn''t suffice. More blood was demanded. The scroll craved more chakra, and she was willing to give her due.
“...”Yuki watchedin awe. Nee-san''s blood was beautiful. Herruby red blood sparkled beneath the suntainted bya shade of primordial purple. This purple, this aura, this power.
The scroll reacted, awakeningfrom its eternal slumber. The letters, the paper, the scroll glowedpurple.
Asami grinned. Her efforts finally bore fruit. Her hands formed the seal, if memory served her right. She rammed her palm onto the circle and forced her chakra through the array. Her chakra pierced the thin veil of reality. The wall shattered, crumbled.
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Katsuki despaired. Her ears deted. The decline of the once glorious cat n was anundeniable fact. They all failed tostop the fall from grace. The n experienced decades of stagnation and painful declineinto insignificance.What would their ancestors say?
Katsuki strolled through the royal pce, brooding about the future of the cat n. As the heir to the throne and crown princess, it was her royal duty to worry about herand their standing of her n in the spirit world.
In the old days, they were considered an influential n among their peers. They never rivaled the power and splendour of the major ns, but few did. The might of dragons, phoenixes, eagles was beyond their fluffypaws.The ancient ns shunned their minor brethren, rarely deemingmere mortals worthy of their attention.
These days, theywere losing ground to their old rivals, the snakes, and snobby upstarts like toads and slugs. Stupid snakes.Stupid toads. Stupid slugs. Times werehardfor the cat n.Change was necessary to restore the n to old glory, but how?
Katsuki poutedher cheeks. Her whiskers shared her frustration. The most obvious solution was recruiting a powerful summoner. The stronger their master, the better.
Summoning benefited both sides.Summons offered their contractors offered powerful allies, unique capabilities,even secret techniques.Their masters profited, butso didthe contracted n. In exchange for their services, they receivedprecious chakra.Natural energy was abundant in the spirit world, whileundiluted chakra wasn''t. Chakra was a scarceresource. Supplies were limited.
Unfortunately, their bodies required bothto develop,natural energy andchakra.ns were thus forced torely on externalsources, namely summoners.Mother told her humans possessed plenty of tasty chakra and were happy to share.
Sadly, powerfulsummoners didn''t grow on trees. The n also fought with somepoprity issues in recent timesbecause cats fell out offavour amongninja.Cats might be the pinnacle of fluffiness and cuteness, but their strength on the battlefield was ... mediocre,at best.
Cats weren''tsuited forthe front line. Theycked raw strength. Theycked speed. Theyckedendurance.
“...”Katsuki studied her tiny paws. Her paws. Sometimes she felt they were useless ...
Katsuki''s ears sharpened. Her instincts warned her. The airfluctuated.An ominous force distorted the surroundingnatural energy.
Amysteriousrift opened,a portal. The portal was purple and emanated a dark aura, an aura of power lurking in the shadows.
Katsuki shivered. The portal terrified the little kitten. The dark abyss scared her.
Cautious, Katsuki retreated, but her paws didn''t carry her far. A ball of yarn caught her attention.A fluffy woolen yarn rested on the ground, right before the portal, only waiting to be snatched by her.
Her instinctswarned her, but her paws were weak. Katsuki loved yarn since she was little.The woollenyarntempted her, called her. The yarn wanted to be kneaded.
Unfortunately, the yarn was ced near the portal. The rift loomed above her treasure, and purple threads connected her object of desire to the portal. The yarn was a trap.
“Hmpf ...”Katsuki ignoredthe yarn. She was a princess. She would never fall for such a feeble trap.She was a smart kittenlike her mother, but she also loved yarn. And it washer royal duty to remove dangerous objects from the pce grounds.
“...”Katsuki ncedleft and right. She wasalone.Nobody would see her.
Thus, she approached the yarn with caution, but the yful kitten was careless, and her punishment came swiftly. The purple yarn unravelled. In the blink of an eye, she was captured by a of living threads and sucked into the portal. The rift closed, and Katsuki was catnapped.
<strong>Katsuki</strong>
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