"You want information about the Shikon Jewel shards?" Retsu looked at Xia Lan, who had suddenly snapped back to her senses, and sighed.
"I have shards myself. You could've just asked me directly."
"Oh! Right!" Xia Lan smacked her forehead, eyes sparkling as she looked at him expectantly. "Then can you give them to me?"
"No."
Retsu rejected her without hesitation.
There wasn't even room for negotiation.
"Why not? We already signed a contract!" Xia Lan frowned immediately, glaring at him in protest.
"If you don't give them to me, next time you summon me, I'll just refuse! I already figured it out—I can choose not to respond when I'm being summoned!"
"Hey, don't get mad."
Retsu waved both hands, instinctively wanting to pat her head—
Only to be met with a sharp red-eyed glare.
He awkwardly withdrew his hand and explained patiently.
"The Shikon Jewel is too dangerous. I can't just hand it over. As for why… I'll explain when you've learned reverse summoning and are ready to leave."
He paused.
"When that time comes, pass my words to your big sister. Let her decide whether to keep searching for the shards. How about that?"
Xia Lan frowned and thought for a long while.
Eventually, she nodded.
"Fine. After you tell me the reason, I'll decide whether to listen to you."
Seeing her agree, Retsu pushed open the door and led her inside.
The room was arranged just like his own—clean wooden bed, table, chairs, everything prepared in advance.
There was even a large cushion made of bear fur in the corner, clearly set there for her.
"Alright. Let's start learning Reverse Summoning," Retsu said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"Reverse summoning?" Xia Lan sat down across from him, placing her hands on her knees in an exaggerated "serious student" pose.
Her tail, however, swayed unconsciously behind her.
"Basically, it's the same as summoning," Retsu explained.
"Summoning is when the contractor calls the summoned. Reverse summoning is when the summoned calls the contractor. The name just distinguishes the direction."
He paused briefly.
"Now, follow my instructions…"
Truthfully, he wasn't entirely certain it would work.
Ninjutsu relied on chakra.
Xia Lan only had yokai energy.
Could yokai energy replace chakra to activate the summoning technique?
But he reasoned that yokai energy originated from natural energy.
Sage chakra also relied on natural energy.
If the toads of Mount Myoboku could use senjutsu to perform summoning, then yokai energy shouldn't be impossible.
The first problem appeared immediately.
Hand seals guided chakra flow.
They did nothing for yokai energy.
Left with no choice, Retsu first activated his own chakra, memorizing the energy pathway during the summoning seals. Then he taught Xia Lan step by step, guiding her to move her yokai energy along the same route.
Fortunately, the summoning seals were simple:
Boar → Dog → Rooster → Monkey → Ram.
The corresponding energy circulation path was also relatively straightforward.
It took an entire afternoon before Xia Lan finally memorized the flow of yokai energy.
After that, it was just endless practice—repeating it until the flow became smooth and continuous.
Only then could she successfully release the technique.
Though he wasn't certain she would succeed, facing her hopeful gaze, Retsu still thumped his chest confidently.
"Don't worry. You'll definitely learn it. Then you can summon me anytime you want."
While Xia Lan practiced diligently in her room, Retsu removed the summoning scroll from his back and carefully stored it in Kamui space.
Back when he trained in senjutsu at Mount Myoboku, he had specifically asked Fukasaku about summoning contracts.
The scroll he signed with Xia Lan currently allowed him to summon only her.
If he wanted something like Mount Myoboku's scroll—capable of summoning an entire clan—there were two ways:
One: bring the scroll to the other members of the Panther Cat tribe and have them sign it.
Two: wait for Xia Lan to have offspring and form a new branch of the clan. If the cats were her direct descendants, they could be summoned through her contract without signing again.
But for now, one summoning beast was more than enough.
He had no intention of contacting the rest of the Panther Cats.
Of course, if any other cat yokai voluntarily wanted to sign—
He wouldn't refuse.
No one expected something as simple as summoning to take Xia Lan over a full month to master.
That month completely killed any thought Retsu had of teaching her other ninjutsu.
The compatibility between yokai energy and chakra was limited.
The fact that she learned summoning at all was already a pleasant surprise.
Xia Lan, however, didn't care how long it took.
To a long-lived yokai, one month was the blink of an eye.
After successfully learning Reverse Summoning, she treated it like a brand-new toy.
Whenever her yokai energy recovered, she would eagerly summon Retsu—pushing herself until she was completely drained every single time.
At that moment, Retsu was sitting cross-legged in his room, sensing natural energy as he prepared to enter Sage Mode.
Suddenly, a familiar pulling sensation came from the contract.
A helpless smile curved his lips.
His body turned into smoke and vanished.
When the smoke cleared, he stood inside Xia Lan's room.
Looking down—
As expected.
She lay sprawled on the floor, completely drained, unable even to lift a claw.
"Every time you summon me, you exhaust all your yokai energy. Doesn't that feel awful?" Retsu crouched down, staring at the limp "silly cat," half amused, half exasperated.
The energy cost of summoning wasn't determined by distance.
It depended on the strength of the one being summoned.
The stronger the target, the greater the cost.
Retsu's strength far surpassed Xia Lan's.
For her to summon him, she practically had to empty her entire reserve.
"You're the abnormal one!" Xia Lan mumbled weakly, wriggling across the floor until she reached his feet.
She bumped her head lightly against his pant leg.
"I have to drain all my yokai energy just to bring you here… I'm hungry. Feed me."
After spending so much time together, Xia Lan had completely let down her guard.
Her childish playfulness, boundless curiosity, and gluttonous tendencies were on full display.
Fortunately, Retsu had experience raising ninja cats.
Handling her temperament came naturally.
"I already prepared food. Let's go downstairs."
He had long guessed her purpose for summoning him.
Reaching down, he grabbed the back of her collar and lifted her up.
Dangling in midair, Xia Lan didn't struggle at all.
Instead, she lazily narrowed her eyes, her tail curling lightly around his wrist.
By now, she was thoroughly accustomed to this treatment.
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