Setting aside all external perceptions and judgments—
No matter what kind of woman Karura had been before—gentle and refined or dignified and elegant—
Right now, she had fully transformed into a battle-crazed fury. Today, she was determined to give Rasa an unforgettable experience.
Watching the two of them running endlessly across the desert, Uchiha Yato lounged on a distant dune, sunbathing. He took a sip of coconut juice while looking at the photo in his hand and said,
"System, so this photo should earn me a decent amount of Emotion Coins, right?"
Hearing Uchiha Yato's question, the system promptly responded.
"Affirmative, Host. This photo is quite spectacular."
"Congratulations, Host, on earning 10,000 Emotion Coins. Please continue to work hard!"
For Uchiha Yato, as long as he could earn Emotion Coins, whether it was through good deeds or bad, it was all the same to him—it was all good.
Looking at the Emotion Coins in his possession, Uchiha Yato had earned quite a bit recently.
He pondered whether to spend them on more gacha pulls or exchange them for items in the system shop.
As he was thinking, he glanced at Tom Cat beside him.
Remembering that Tom Cat's manual mentioned it could be upgraded, Uchiha Yato asked the system again:
"How many Emotion Coins does Tom Cat need for its next upgrade, and what skills will it unlock?"
A robotic voice replied:
"The next upgrade requires 100,000 Emotion Coins. The unlocked functions are unknown."
Well, damn—that was like spending 100 grand on a high-stakes gamble.
Winning the bet with Tom Cat 2.0plus would be great, but losing while Tom Cat remains unchanged would be a huge loss.
After careful consideration of the possibilities and his current strength, Uchiha Yato realized he had plenty of offensive methods at his disposal now.
He wasn't afraid of flashy skills nor direct confrontations.
His philosophy was simple: prioritize fun, with damage as secondary.
After brief deliberation, Uchiha Yato decided to upgrade Tom Cat once more.
The moment he made his decision, he watched as a long string of numbers disappeared from his system balance.
An electronic voice announced: "Congratulations, Host. You've spent 100,000 Emotion Coins."
"Congratulations on successfully upgrading your ninja beast Tom Cat."
----
Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and Tom Cat's upgrade was complete.
Uchiha Yato picked up the upgraded Tom Cat and examined him closely for any changes.
The sight shocked him!
Even with his Uchiha Sharingan, he couldn't detect any visible changes!
This prompted an immediate system inquiry: "System, what's going on here?"
The system replied: "Please explore this yourself, Host."
Uchiha Yato was utterly speechless. An upgrade without even a manual?
Just then, Tom Cat spoke up: "Boss, why are you staring at me like that?"
Still processing, Uchiha Yato replied: "You haven't changed at all! After spending 100,000 Emotion Coins, you should at least have gotten fatter."
Tom Cat explained: "I didn't gain weight, but I feel all my previous abilities have been enhanced."
Only then did Uchiha Yato realize: "Wait, you can talk now? That's actually a great ability! This'll make communication much easier."
Tom Cat agreed: "Yes, Boss. This is a significant improvement for me too."
"And from now on, please remove the carrots I don't like. Thank you, Boss."
Talk about getting ahead of oneself!
Before Uchiha Yato could even issue a command, Tom Cat was already making requests.
This was getting things completely backwards, but our Uchiha Yato wasn't one to be outdone.
With a smile, Uchiha Yato said: "No problem. But right now I'm thirsty—go fetch me a bucket of coconut juice."
"And remember, I want it hand-squeezed~"
Instant karma, huh?
Tom Cat regretted his earlier request—he could have avoided this extra work if he'd kept quiet.
Uchiha Yato began his usual carrot-dangling: "Do well, and next time you can do the card draw. With good luck, you might even summon Jerry to play with you."
This promise worked like magic on Tom Cat, who immediately scampered off to work enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yato continued his leisurely scheming for the next game while happily slacking off.
-----
Elsewhere
Hizashi was still organizing the swimming competition and watermelon-smashing game.
Pakura remained determined to surpass Uchiha Yato's records, displaying an impressive tomboyish competitive spirit.
Karura had chased Rasa all the way back to Sunagakure, and there might be a second round coming.
Ebizo hid in the free cigarette area, smoking and dancing away. Chiyo took Sasori home for some serious psychological counseling.
Out of consideration for Sasori's dignity, Chiyo spoke very tactfully.
"What exactly happened between you and Rasa today?"
"Children shouldn't smoke in public, and you shouldn't light cigarettes for them, understand?"
Chiyo herself was at a loss, completely unsure how to inquire or dissuade them.
Sasori then said, "I know smoking isn't allowed, but today Mr. Rasa seemed particularly upset, so I thought letting him have one might help ease his mind."
"Grandpa Ebizo once said that when a man feels unhappy, smoking a cigarette can make him feel much better."
These two sentences seemed to help Chiyo identify the root cause of the incident.
Chiyo continued, "So you heard about smoking from Ebizo and wanted to comfort Rasa, which led to this situation, right?"
Sasori thought for a moment.
Indeed, he had previously heard Ebizo and the Third Kazekage discussing their smoking experiences.
But this particular smoking method was actually taught by Uchiha Yato—the Hidden Leaf's smoking style.
Now his grandmother was asking if Ebizo had taught him?
Sasori wanted to explain it in the simplest way possible.
So he said, "That's right. Grandpa Ebizo taught me most of it, and I picked up some from his conversations with the Third Kazekage."
"And another part was told to me by Uchiha Yato when he was promoting Hidden Leaf cigarettes."
Well, that just made things worse.
Hearing this, Chiyo's face turned green.
She didn't know how to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
Meanwhile, Ebizo, who was smoking at the time, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill, as if something ominous was targeting him.
Chiyo had now gotten the story out of Sasori and felt the issue likely lay with Ebizo.
In this unseen way, Ebizo had unwittingly taken the blame for Uchiha Yato.
If Uchiha Yato ever found out, he'd probably hail Ebizo as the "Scapegoat Shadow" of the Hidden Sand Village.
After completing some upgrades of his own, Uchiha Yato obtained an interesting new tool.
He decided to pay a visit to a certain lonely old man...
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