VIII

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Arc VIII Chapter 14

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Her words showed little effect. They failed to reassure Yuki.

Yuki's wrinkles deepened. Her heart trusted nee-san, but a sliver of doubt lingered. Nee-san had the habit of making rash decisions.

"Nee-san, what are you planning?" Yuki wondered.

"I am going to try luck." Asami inspected her hand to place the cut. Better avoid the arteries. Not recommendable. Little interest in bleeding to death.

Yuki approved of cats, and she always secretly wanted a feline friend.

"Yuki, have you ever heard about summons?"

Yuki shook her head. Confusion was written all over her face.

Of course, she didn't know. Yuki never benefited from the privilege of a formal ninja education. Knowledge about the ninja arts was limited outside the hidden villages. The villages jealously guarded their precious secrets.

The existence of ninja was common knowledge. Their abnormal strength, speed, endurance were heralded by the masses, but beyond rumours and hearsay, information was sparse. For the common folk, ninja remained a mystery shrouded in secrecy.

"I see.“ Asami nodded. “Summons are comparable ... to servants. In exchange for our chakra, they heed our call. They are our loyal companions, retainers, allies, but I guess a practical demonstration is in order."

Asami cut her hand. The kunai passed her skin and blood dripped, colouring the white circle coloured crimson red. But her sacrifice didn't suffice. More blood was demanded.

The scroll craved for more chakra, and Asami was willing to give her due.

Yuki watched. Nee-san's blood was beautiful. Her ruby red blood sparkled beneath the sun tainted by a shade of primordial purple. This purple, this aura, this power.

The scroll reacted, awakening from its eternal slumber. The letters, the paper, the scroll glowed purple.

Asami grinned. Her efforts finally bore fruit.

Her hands formed the seal if memory served her right.

Asami rammed her palm onto the circle and forced her chakra through the array. Her chakra pierced the thin veil of reality. The wall shattered, crumbled.

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The decline of the once glorious cat clan was an undeniable fact. They all failed to stop the fall from grace. The clan experienced decades of stagnation and painful decline into insignificance.

Katsuki despaired. Her ears deflated. What a shameful display. What would their ancestors say?

Katsuki strolled through the royal palace, brooding about the future of the cat clan. As the heir to the throne and crown princess, it was her royal duty to worry about her and their standing of her clan in the spirit world.

In the old days, they were considered an influential clan among their peers. They never rivaled the power and splendour of the major clans, but few did. The might of dragons, phoenixes, eagles was beyond their fluffy paws.

The ancient clans shunned their minor brethern, rarely deeming mere mortals worthy of their attention.

Katsuki sighed. They were losing ground to their old rivals, the snakes, and snobby upstarts like toads and slugs. Stupid snakes. Stupid toads. Stupid slugs. Times were hard for the cat clan.

Katsuki pouted her cheeks. Her whiskers shared her frustration. Change was necessary to restore the clan to old glory, but how?

Katuski wagged her tail, thinking. The most obvious solution was recruiting a powerful summoner. The stronger their master, the better.

Summoning benefited both sides. Summons offered their contractors offered powerful allies, unique capabilities, even secret techniques.

Their masters profited, but so did the contracted clan. In exchange for their services, they received precious chakra.

Natural energy was abundant in the spirit world, while undiluted chakra wasn't. Chakra was a scarce resource. Supplies were limited.

Unfortunately, their bodies required both to develop, natural energy and chakra. Clans were thus forced to rely on external sources, namely summoners.

Mother told her humans possessed plenty of tasty chakra and were happy to share.

Sadly, powerful summoners didn't grow on trees. The clan also fought with some popularity issues in recent times as cats fell out of favour among ninja.

Cats might be the pinnacle of fluffiness and cuteness, but their strength on the battlefield was ... mediocre at best.

Cats weren't suited for the front line. They lacked raw strength. They lacked speed. They lacked endurance.

Katsuki studied her tiny paws. Her paws. Sometimes she felt they were useless ...

Katsuki's ears sharpened. Her instincts warned her. The air fluctuated. An ominous force distorted the surrounding natural energy

Katsuki retreated before a mysterious rift opened, a portal. The portal was purple and emanated a dark aura, an aura of power lurking in the shadows.

Katsuki shivered. The portal terrified the little kitten. The dark abyss scared her.

Cautious, Katsuki moved away, but her paws didn't carry her far. A ball of yarn caught her attention.

A fluffy woolen yarn rested on the ground, right before the portal, only waiting to be snatched by her.

Her mind warned her, but her paws were weak. Katsuki loved yarn since she was little.

The woolen yarn tempted her, called her. The yarn wanted to be kneaded.

Unfortunately, the yarn was placed near the portal. The rift loomed above her treasure and purple threads connected her object of desire to the portal. The yarn was a trap.

Katsuki shunned the yarn. She was a princess. She would never fall for such a feeble trap.

Katsuki was a smart kitten like her mother, but she also loved yarn. And it was her royal duty to remove dangerous objects from the palace grounds.

Katsuki glanced left and right. She was alone. Nobody would see her.

Katsuki approached the yarn with caution, but the playful kitten was careless, and her punishment came swiftly.

The purple yarn unraveled. In the blink of an eye, Katsuki was captured by a net of living threads and sucked into the portal.

The rift closed and Katsuki was catnapped.

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