Uchiha Yoru and Miwa Masayo stayed at the Cat Castle for seven days.
They were busy the entire time, taking care of many things.
Nine ninja cats were treated.
Among them, seven successfully gained senjutsu chakra.
The remaining two had completely failed in Sage training, but at the very least, they were freed from the burden of natural energy.
Most importantly—
Using his own knowledge, Yoru mobilized over a thousand ninja cats and had them build a simple altar capable of increasing the concentration of natural energy to a certain degree.
Because he lacked any knowledge of sealing techniques, the altar had to be built on a massive scale.
It took the shape of a gigantic funnel-like structure, almost like a Roman colosseum—
Yet only a tiny area at the very bottom was actually effective.
Even so, with this altar in place, it could normally support the cultivation needs of eight Sage Cats.
It could also be used by other ninja beasts training in senjutsu, increasing their chances of sensing natural energy.
After feeling it out for a while on the altar, Miwa Masayo said unhappily, "The concentration of natural energy is still too poor, meow. If we improve it with sealing techniques, can we make it stronger, meow?"
Yoru shook his head.
"There's no way to improve the concentration further. It's not like I made it this huge because I like giant buildings."
"The effect is already at its limit."
"If sealing techniques were added, all they'd do is reduce the space the altar takes up."
"In the end, the environment of the Cat Castle just isn't good enough."
"I think relocation still has to be considered in the future."
"There must be places in the ninja world where the concentration of natural energy is much higher."
Mao You nodded in agreement.
"Lord Yoru is right. The valley occupied by the giant insect swarm is a good example."
"But right now, the Cat Castle isn't strong enough to take a place like that."
"Yes."
"A precious land has no owner by nature. It belongs to the worthy and the strong."
"Mao You, the road ahead for the Cat Castle is still very long."
"You'll have to work hard."
"Meow? You really are leaving?"
"Yes."
"I left Konoha on a mission. I've already been delayed here for seven days. It's time to go."
Suddenly remembering something, Yoru smiled and looked at Mao You.
"Miwa Masayo is leaving with me."
Mao You quietly let out a breath of relief.
Miwa Masayo, however, heard nothing strange in that at all. She answered as if it were only natural, "You're my contractor. Of course I'm going with you."
There was no dragging things out.
Yoru simply greeted Granny Cat—
Then left together with Miwa Masayo.
Because there was no suitable destination for fire-travel, the two of them had no choice but to leave the Cat Castle the old-fashioned way—
On foot.
The exit Miwa Masayo chose was the Kūza shop.
From there, the mission location was the closest.
As they walked through the long, narrow passageway, Miwa Masayo suddenly spoke.
"Yoru, did Mao You notice I was pretending to be dumb?"
"Definitely not."
"Hmph. Mao You really is an idiot."
"He's not exactly stupid," Yoru said with a laugh. "He just hasn't dealt with the most cunning kind of humans. How would he grow that many schemes?"
"Yoru."
"Mm?"
"You're my contractor, so you're supposed to speak for me, meow. And you're not allowed to say I have too many schemes, meow."
"Haha, alright."
"Let Mao You go be busy."
"We'll go have fun together."
"Miwa Masayo, you're right."
"A Sage should have been someone free and unrestrained to begin with."
"I'm willing to stay busy for the sake of exploring the path of immortality."
"I'm willing to fight to protect my life."
"But if you want me to run around endlessly for power, money, or fame…"
"That's absolutely impossible."
"You really do sound like one of us ninja cats, meow."
"A Sage like a cat?"
"Heh. That really is a little similar."
"Yoru, where's the mission again? I forgot, meow."
"The Land of Rivers. Jiusen Village."
"Is the Land of Rivers far?"
"Not far. Just six hundred kilometers."
"At our current speed, we'll arrive around noon tomorrow."
"So far! And it still takes that long?"
"Meowwu… ninja cats really don't have good stamina."
"Mm?"
"Hehe. I'm going to sleep first, meow."
"Alright."
Yoru rubbed Miwa Masayo affectionately as she lay on his shoulder, tightly hugging his neck.
"Sleep without worry. I'll wake you up when we get there."
…
Since Yoru had left to carry out a mission, he naturally wasn't carrying any extra weight.
Out in the wilderness, enemies could appear at any time.
It wasn't possible to exhaust himself the way he might inside Konoha.
Even while at the Cat Castle, Yoru had maintained the minimum level of vigilance.
Even when treating the ninja cats, he had never used his full power.
It wasn't that he distrusted the ninja cats.
It was simply that the Cat Castle's fighting power and infrastructure were too poor.
They weren't enough to protect an exhausted Uchiha Yoru.
So he could only rely on himself.
[I can't relax.]
[Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and I haven't even managed one properly yet. How can I possibly loosen up?]
[The Uchiha Clan in Konoha, my first burrow, is barely enough to protect me for now.]
[But to be honest, the current Uchiha Clan is far from satisfactory.]
[I need to wait for Shisui to grow up. I need to wait for Uchiha Madara to finally die. Only then can I start making real moves.]
[There's still a lot of work left before it can become my true first burrow.]
[I'll be busy for a long time yet.]
[The Cat Castle, as my second burrow, also doesn't qualify. It can't even protect my safety.]
[Even though I've finished my part of the work, the ninja cats need time to grow. The Cat Castle itself also needs time to develop.]
[Time…]
[And most important of all is the third burrow.]
[In my plans, it needs to be the most secretive one. It needs to be built entirely by my own hands.]
[And right now, I don't even have a direction for choosing its location.]
[I still need to travel more.]
[To measure the entire ninja world with my own feet.]
[Only then will I have a chance of finding the right place to build my third burrow.]
Thinking about the future.
About himself.
About the immortal path.
Uchiha Yoru rushed onward the whole way, drawing closer to Jiusen Village in the central region of the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, sandwiched east and west between the two great nations.
It was the buffer zone between them.
During the two previous ninja wars, the Land of Rivers had served as the main battlefield where Konoha shinobi and Sunagakure shinobi slaughtered one another.
But the terrain of the country was unusual.
Most of its territory was made up of thousands of north-south canyons.
Rapid torrents flowed through them, forming natural barriers that cut off east-west travel.
Most of the Land of Rivers was unsuitable for farming.
As a result, its population was sparse, concentrated mostly in the northern and southern ends.
Konoha and Sunagakure's main battlefields were likewise in those northern and southern regions.
The vast middle stretch—
Was not the center of the fighting.
That was why, even with tensions already so severe, Konoha still accepted missions from the central region of the Land of Rivers.
Instead, it had stopped accepting missions from the densely populated economic areas.
Because in those prosperous regions, Sunagakure shinobi were already extremely active.
A ninja carrying out a mission there could encounter enemy shinobi at any moment.
Any mission could instantly turn into a B-rank or even A-rank mission because of an unexpected clash.
The risk and difficulty were completely uncontrollable.
But after entering the Land of Rivers—
In the supposedly Sunagakure-free central region—
Yoru ran into wave after wave of Sunagakure shinobi.
They moved laterally through the country, going back and forth between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
Judging from their hurried pace, they were likely passing through the Land of Rivers on their way into the Land of Fire to carry out missions.
Judging from their numbers, Sunagakure had clearly fallen into disorder.
If these were reconnaissance teams, there were too many of them.
If they were search teams, there were far too few.
The deployment of Sunagakure ninja had no pattern at all.
Something had definitely gone wrong within the village.
It was entirely possible that news of the Third Kazekage's disappearance had already spread.
Yoru's heart jumped.
If these Sunagakure shinobi knew their Kazekage was missing, then every last one of them would be frantic.
If they saw him, they'd most likely attack first and think later.
To avoid a completely unnecessary battle, Yoru had no choice but to keep avoiding the Sunagakure ninja moving back and forth.
As a result, his pace slowed considerably.
He stopped and moved, stopped and moved.
He had originally expected to arrive around noon.
Instead—
He didn't reach Jiusen Village until deep into the night.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL