"How is it? It's good, right?" Uchiha Kasage asked with a smile, leaning forward slightly as he watched Natsuarashi devour the grilled fish, her lips glistening with oil.
"Mhm! Mhm!" Natsuarashi nodded vigorously, her cheeks puffed as she happily bit into the fish, completely focused on eating.
"So… will you agree to sign the summoning contract?" Kasage asked casually, as if probing her reaction.
"Uh…" Natsuarashi suddenly froze.
She glanced down at the half-eaten grilled fish in her hand, a clear internal struggle flashing across her red eyes.
"Absolutely not! I don't want to lose my freedom!"
"Don't worry, it won't take away your freedom," Kasage explained, sounding half amused. "After signing the contract, I'll only use the Summoning Technique when I need your help."
"Once the battle is over, you can release the technique and return whenever you want. It won't affect your daily life at all."
"Eh? Really? You're not lying to me?" Natsuarashi immediately looked up, her round red eyes wide as she stared at him seriously.
"I would never lie to you," Kasage said, raising a hand as if making a solemn promise. "Besides, the contract works both ways. If you're ever in danger or need help, you can summon me as well. I'll fight for you."
"Really?" Natsuarashi tilted her head.
Seeing his sincere expression, she hesitated for a moment before clenching her teeth and nodding.
"Fine… I agree! But—"
She lowered her gaze to the grilled fish in her hand, her tone softening slightly.
"Next time we meet, you have to make grilled fish for me again."
"No problem!" Kasage agreed immediately, pleased. "From now on, every time I summon you, I'll bring fresh fish. As much as you want."
As he spoke, he took out a scroll from his back.
It was a summoning scroll he had specially prepared in advance for this very moment.
"Let's sign the contract now. Once we're done, I'll teach you how to use the Summoning Technique."
He spread the scroll on the ground while explaining.
"I've already prepared everything. You just need to write your name in blood, then press your five fingers onto it."
Kasage pointed to one side of the scroll.
"You sign here as the summoned party. I'll sign on the other side as the contractor."
As he spoke, he bit his finger and began writing his name.
Interestingly, even though an Edo Tensei body normally didn't bleed when injured, it could still produce blood when performing special techniques like summoning or signing contracts.
It was yet another example of how mysterious and unreasonable such forbidden ninjutsu truly was.
Kasage quickly wrote his name, pressed his blood-marked hand onto the scroll, and handed it to Natsuarashi.
She followed his example.
Extending her sharp claws, she cut her finger and wrote her name in blood. After a brief hesitation, she pressed her five-finger handprint onto the scroll.
"Is… is that okay?" she asked, her voice carrying a mix of nervousness and curiosity as she handed it back.
"Perfect."
Kasage inspected it carefully, confirmed the contract was complete, and stored the scroll away.
"Let's test it now," he said, unable to hide a hint of anticipation.
"Okay!" Natsuarashi nodded eagerly, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
"Stay here. I'll move a bit further away to summon you."
Kasage wanted to confirm whether a summoning contract with a yokai from this world would function properly, so he walked about a dozen meters away into an open space.
He bit his finger again, smeared blood across his palm, formed hand seals rapidly, and slammed his hand onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A dark summoning array instantly spread across the ground, faint chakra rippling through it.
At the same time, Natsuarashi—still sitting by the fire—suddenly felt a strong connection. An instinctive thought surfaced in her mind:
**Accept.**
In the next instant—
Two clouds of white smoke burst simultaneously.
One at her location.
One at the summoning array.
When the smoke cleared—
Natsuarashi had appeared right in front of Kasage.
"It worked!"
A satisfied smile spread across Kasage's face. Even he hadn't been completely certain it would succeed.
"Whoa! That's amazing!"
Natsuarashi looked at her hands, then back toward the distant campfire, her eyes wide with shock. Her tail stood upright, swaying excitedly.
"I moved here instantly!"
"Try releasing the summoning," Kasage said. "I'll teach you how."
"Mmm… I think I can feel it."
Natsuarashi closed her eyes, focusing on the connection within the contract and following his instructions.
**Puff!**
Her body turned into smoke and vanished.
At the same moment, the smoke reformed near the campfire—and she reappeared there.
"This is so fun!" she shouted excitedly, her tail wagging even faster. "It's way more interesting than smoke bombs!"
She ran back to Kasage, grabbing his sleeve eagerly.
"Quick! Teach me how to summon you! I want to try too!"
"Alright, alright. I'll teach you."
Kasage chuckled at her enthusiasm.
Taking advantage of the moment, he casually reached out and patted her head. Her short, soft hair felt surprisingly pleasant.
"Mhm! Let's go, let's go!" Natsuarashi, completely absorbed in her excitement, didn't notice at all as she pulled him toward the wooden house.
"Heh… cat heads really are nice," Kasage thought to himself with satisfaction.
With a casual Earth Release technique, he extinguished the campfire and followed her.
---
Soon, they arrived at the wooden house.
"Eh? Why is there a house in the middle of the forest?" Natsuarashi ran around it in surprise, touching the wooden wall curiously before turning back. "Did you build this?"
"I made it using a technique," Kasage replied as he opened the door. "I'll be staying here for a while. Come in—I'll teach you properly."
"Oh!"
Natsuarashi quickly followed, carefully closing the door behind her as they went upstairs.
Kasage opened a door beside his bedroom.
"This room is yours. Stay here for now. You can leave once you've learned the Reverse Summoning Technique."
When he built the house, he had specifically prepared an extra room for her.
As for whether she would cooperate—
He had never been worried.
After all, he had prepared not only fish, but also catnip, toys, yarn balls, and various other things cats liked inside his Kamui dimension.
He never expected a single meal would be enough—but things had gone even smoother than planned.
Of course, if the cat yokai had refused, there wouldn't have been much he could do.
"Oh…" Natsuarashi nodded.
Just as she was about to step inside, she suddenly froze.
"Wait!"
She snapped back to her senses and shook her head.
"I can't stay here! I still have to complete the mission my Elder Sister assigned me—I need to gather information about the Shikon Jewel shard!"
She slapped her forehead in frustration.
She had completely forgotten about her mission.