"Today we have grilled sea bream and the udon you said you wanted to eat last time."
Uchiha Kasage seated Natsuarashi at the dining table and took out the prepared food from the Kamui dimension.
Early that morning, he had specifically gone to a nearby town to purchase these ingredients, even asking the shopkeeper to add extra sauce. He had long realized that the leopard-cat girl not only loved fish, but also had a particular fondness for rich, flavorful sauces.
Natsuarashi's eyes lit up instantly the moment she saw the steaming food placed before her.
She was already used to Kasage's ability to retrieve food from another dimension. In fact, he had even taken her on a brief tour inside the Kamui dimension before, just to satisfy her curiosity.
After recovering most of her yokai power, Natsuarashi grabbed her chopsticks, and a small cluster of red flames flickered to life in her hand.
She reheated the slightly cooled udon and grilled fish for a moment before digging in, eating in large mouthfuls—without showing any intention of inviting Kasage to join her.
She already knew that he didn't need to eat to survive.
Watching Natsuarashi devour the food, Kasage couldn't help but chuckle softly. He was quite satisfied with this gluttonous feline yokai.
"By the way, I'll be leaving soon," Natsuarashi said after finishing her udon in just a few gulps. She placed the empty bowl down and looked at Kasage.
"Returning to the Panther-Deva Yokai Clan?" Kasage asked, momentarily surprised as he casually stored the tableware back into the Kamui dimension.
"Yeah. I've been away for so long—if I don't go back soon, the Elder Sister Leader will start to worry." Natsuarashi nodded, clearly concerned about her clan.
"Alright. Then be careful on your way back," Kasage said without trying to stop her. "If you run into danger, use the Summoning Technique to call me. I'll be there whenever you need me."
"Hey! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!" Natsuarashi suddenly slammed her fist on the table, her red eyes glaring at him angrily, her voice filled with irritation.
"Did you forget? You promised to tell me about the Shikon Jewel! Did you really think I'd forget about that?!"
"Haha, how could I?" Kasage brushed it off with a laugh. He hadn't expected that "silly cat" to actually remember—he thought he could just gloss over it.
"Natsuarashi is so smart—how could she forget? I was just momentarily distracted."
"Of course!"
Natsuarashi lifted her chin proudly, her tail swaying happily behind her, clearly in a good mood after being praised.
"Then hurry up and tell me! Why won't you give me the Shikon Jewel shard?"
Kasage's expression turned serious. From his ninja tool pouch, he took out a pale pink fragment of the Shikon Jewel and gently placed it on the table.
The fragment shimmered under the sunlight with a crystalline glow, emitting a faint yet pure energy.
"This is a fragment of the Shikon Jewel," he said solemnly. "It contains immense power. If a yokai obtains it, their yokai power can increase dramatically. Even more incredibly… it can bring the dead back to life."
"This thing can really revive the dead?"
Natsuarashi's eyes widened instantly. Leaning over the table, she extended a finger tipped with a sharp claw and lightly touched the Shikon shard.
The reason she had been investigating information about the Shikon Jewel was precisely because her clan's Elder Sister Leader had heard rumors from other yokai—that recently appearing shards could resurrect the dead.
She intended to use it to revive the deceased Lord of the Panther-Deva Clan and reclaim the Western Lands from the Dog Yokai.
Although she didn't truly believe something as unbelievable as resurrection, she still intended to complete the mission assigned to her.
Suddenly, she looked up at Kasage with suspicion.
"You weren't brought back to life by this thing, were you?"
As a yokai, she had long sensed a lingering aura of death surrounding Kasage's body—but until now, she had never asked about it.
"I'm indeed not a living person," Kasage replied calmly, shaking his head. "But I wasn't revived by the Shikon Jewel. I exist in this state because of a forbidden technique."
"Oh… I see. Go on then." Natsuarashi nodded, lowering her head again as she continued to poke at the shard with her fingertip.
Kasage glanced at her briefly, then continued:
"But behind this seemingly perfect power lies a deadly trap."
His voice grew slightly heavier.
"The Shikon Jewel endlessly amplifies the obsessions and negative emotions of its holder, eventually causing them to be controlled by a malevolent force."
"Moreover, if you try to use it to grant a wish, it will deliberately twist that wish in the worst possible direction—until you are consumed by the jewel itself."
*Crackle—*
Natsuarashi's hand froze mid-motion. She quickly pulled it back as if burned and leaned away, staring at the shard on the table with shock.
"You mean… it's alive? It has a will of its own?"
"I don't know if it has independent thoughts," Kasage replied, shaking his head, "but it is definitely something dangerous."
"Almost every human or yokai who has possessed it has met a terrible end."
"Hm? There's a story behind it? Hurry and tell me!" Natsuarashi's eyes sparkled with curiosity. Resting her chin on one hand, she looked at him eagerly.
"I don't know the full details," Kasage said, recalling fragments of what he knew. "I only know that the Shikon Jewel is easily tainted by negative emotions, which triggers its evil nature. Once corrupted, it turns against its owner and drags them into darkness."
He paused, then continued:
"To suppress its malevolent energy, a powerful priestess must purify it with pure spiritual power."
"The previous priestess entrusted with guarding and purifying the Shikon Jewel—**Kikyo**—ultimately died filled with resentment because of it."
"Kikyo?!"
Natsuarashi's eyes widened in shock as she instinctively leaned even farther away from the shard.
"I've heard of her! The strongest human priestess from fifty years ago… and she was killed because of the Shikon Jewel…?"
If even someone like Kikyo had fallen to this thing, then she—a mere feline yokai—would likely meet an even more miserable fate.
Thinking about how she had just been playing with such a terrifying object like it was a toy, Natsuarashi's tail instantly puffed up, and the fur all over her body stood on end.
Seeing her suddenly stiffen and stare at the jewel intensely, Kasage found it slightly strange—but knowing how cats could be naturally skittish, he didn't think much of it.
Mimicking her earlier gesture, he reached out and lightly tapped the shard on the table as he continued:
"The Shikon Jewel is extremely easy to contaminate. Once corrupted, it becomes incredibly difficult to purify. Only a very powerful priestess can cleanse it."
As he spoke, he took out a sealed bamboo tube from his ninja tool pouch. Opening it, he retrieved another fragment of the Shikon Jewel.
This fragment was completely different from the one on the table.
Its interior was stained with a dark purple-black color, as if soaked in ink, emitting a dense and sinister aura.
Just looking at it made one feel a tightening in the chest, as though countless negative emotions were stirring within the mind.
Natsuarashi's reaction was even stronger than before.
She immediately bared her sharp fangs, her tail and fur standing on end as she stared warily at the corrupted shard—clearly agitated by its malevolent presence.