After Izuna left home, Garfield did not immediately return to his own world.
Instead, he wandered through the shinobi world for a time, eating well, drinking freely, drifting from place to place.
He even crossed paths with Tsunade and spent a short while causing trouble alongside her before eventually parting ways.
Before he left for good, Shirayuki sought him out.
The white ninja cat stood before Garfield, clearly conflicted, hesitating as if weighing every word.
Garfield glanced at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I… don't know how to say this," Shirayuki replied.
"Then say it slowly." Garfield said.
"Two nights ago." Shirayuki finally said, "I saw Black Zetsu manipulating Madara."
Garfield's expression changed. Black Zetsu, the incarnation of the Rabbit Spirit's resentment.
According to what Shirayuki overheard, Black Zetsu claimed that if the Ten-Tails was formed and the moon reflected upon the world, the shinobi world would enter a perfect, warless paradise.
But in truth, that so-called 'perfect world' was nothing more than a pretext to resurrect the Rabbit Goddess Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Garfield subconsciously touched the small Nine-Tails resting atop his head and felt the immense sealed presence within her body. He had originally intended to remain in this world a while longer.
Now, that plan changed.
"Then it's time to leave." He muttered.
With a snap of his fingers, all of his belongings vanished into his expandable storage pockets.
His form shimmered, shifting into that of a familiar blue cat.
He contacted Rin and instructed her to gather Kumatarō, Kumajirō, and Izuna, who had already signed a contract with him, and prepare to depart.
Before leaving, Garfield looked at Shirayuki seriously.
"Hide in the mountains from now on. Don't get involved. Don't come out unless you must."
Then, like a phantom, he appeared at the entrance of the Hokage's modest earthen residence. After greeting the guards, Garfield walked inside.
"Hashirama." He said plainly. "I'm leaving."
"So soon?" Hashirama replied, clearly reluctant.
Garfield reached into his pocket and pulled out two gold bricks shaped like cat paws, placing them into Hashirama's hands.
"Brother, take these. I know your finances are… strained. This should last you a while."
Hashirama's eyes instantly filled with tears. What a good brother, he thought, recalling his perpetually empty pockets.
"Brother~"
"If you dare gamble this away." Garfield added calmly. "Your wife will beat you half to death."
Hashirama immediately puffed out his chest. "I only ever gamble with Tobirama's and Madara's money!"
Garfield nodded. "I'm relieved."
"Take care," Hashirama said. "See you."
"Later."
With his companions gathered, Garfield appeared atop a mountain peak.
The pre-set magic formation activated beneath his feet, locking onto the coordinates of his home world.
His body dissolved into blue light, and in an instant, vanished from the shinobi world.
Not far away, Black Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground. He stared at the resealed teleportation node, then lifted his gaze to the moon.
"Mother… I've found Father's teleportation node." He whispered. "I will free you. No matter what."
Teleportation across time and space was never safe. One misstep could leave a traveler forever lost in the void.
As Garfield passed through the kaleidoscopic tunnel of space-time, fragmented voices echoed around him… overlapping, disjointed, belonging to countless worlds.
"Hi, my name is Kira Yamato."
"For love and justice!"
"Anakin, you were the chosen one~"
"Megatron, my brother!"
"Bilbo… Bilbo Baggins."
"Oh my god, it's a living dinosaur?"
"Master, how have you been?"
The voices threatened to disrupt his focus, warping the tunnel itself. Garfield forced himself to concentrate.
Don't miss the exit.
He stabilized the coordinates.
Opened the rift. "Jump."
In the next instant, a wave of searing heat crashed over him.
The temperature easily exceeded thirty-five degrees Celsius.
Garfield looked around.
Dense rainforest surrounded him, lush and alive. About a hundred meters away lay open grassland rolling into distant mountains.
He could sense human activity nearby.
More importantly, he felt familiar anchors, preset coordinates resonating within this world.
Carter Manor.
A residence in New York.
Kamar-Taj.
Hela's Prison.
Garfield surveyed the surroundings with visible satisfaction. Everything checked out.
"Alright." He said calmly. "We're home. Let's move."
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp roar split the sky. Everyone instinctively looked up.
A sleek aircraft descended through the clouds… dragonfly-shaped, bladeless, silent except for a faint hum of advanced propulsion.
Its matte-black hull bore a distinctive insignia, a stylized black leopard's head.
Garfield paused. "So… Wakanda."
Unbeknownst to him, his arrival point after spatial teleportation had landed squarely within Wakandan territory.
As the most vibranium-saturated nation on Earth, Wakanda's detection systems had registered the spatial disturbance instantly.
At the royal command center, the reigning current ruler issued a swift order.
"Dispatch an aircraft. Investigate immediately."
While the outside world was still struggling through the early years, Wakanda had already entered an era of advanced scientific computation and information technology, its progress surpassing the rest of Earth by at least a century.
As Garfield watched the aircraft circle above, another thought crossed his mind.
It's been a long time since I played DNF, PUBG, or WoW…
Maybe I can ask the Black Panther for a game console.
The aircraft's pilot, meanwhile, carefully observed the group on the ground.
A small girl.
Two imposing bald men who looked unmistakably like professional bodyguards.
A man dressed like a service worker from a Japanese island nation. And most strangely a creature resembling an orange cat.
From their posture and spacing, the pilot quickly deduced the formation, the two bald men were protectors, the Japanese man was clearly not the decision-maker, and the little girl, despite her plain clothing, was the central figure being guarded.
The orange cat, oddly enough, appeared to be… important.
Confident in his analysis, the pilot reported back. After hearing the summary, the reigning Black Panther considered it briefly.
"That assessment is reasonable." He spoke. "Send ground vehicles."
"Bring them here discreetly. If they are lost foreigners, return them. If they are not affiliated with any nation, let them leave, but ensure secrecy. Maintain alert status."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The aircraft did not land.
Instead, a short while later, three open-topped, magnetically suspended chariots arrived. One was empty.
The other two were filled with Wakandan warriors, men and women clad in armor, gripping vibranium scimitars. From the lead vehicle stepped a tall Wakandan officer.
He approached Rin and spoke calmly. "Greetings, foreigners."
Rin glanced at him, then lowered her head slightly and turned to Garfield.
"Master Garfield, how should we respond?"
Garfield scratched his chin, then stepped forward, raising his head with dignified ease.
"Greetings, brother." He said.
"I am King Garfield the First. I would like to meet your current king the Black Panther."
"…" The Wakandan officer didn't know what to make of this.
First, this group knew that Wakanda's ruler bore the title of Black Panther. Second and far more unsettling, the speaker was a cat.
Suppressing his shock, the officer relayed the message to the palace.
The reigning Black Panther stared at the report in disbelief.
"A… talking orange cat?" He repeated. His expression turned thoughtful.
"Did it say its name?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"…Interesting," The king murmured. "And it knows of the Black Panther."
He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.
"Could this being be connected to the Panther Goddess?"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream