An abandoned city.
The place where Tahara Rokuro was summoned happened to be the rooftop of a derelict building.
When he looked up, the sky was shrouded in gray haze, and a fine drizzle was falling from above.
Rokuro extended his hand, catching a few drops of rain and sniffing them.
There was a faint, metallic tang in the air—a scent of rust.
"Get in quickly. I don't want my fur getting wet."
A familiar voice came from behind. It was Nyanrokurō, who had used the Reverse Summoning Technique to bring Rokuro here.
"So this is where your Ninneko clan lives? Looks more like a mining town to me. So many abandoned buildings—did the mines run dry?"
Rokuro followed Nyanrokurō inside the building, asking as he went.
"Not yet, but almost," the cat replied with a chuckle. "Most people have already left. The ones who stayed behind are the real scum—cutthroats and outlaws. Every day someone dies in a fight over what's left of the ore."
"And what about you? You stayed for the mines too?"
Nyanrokurō gave a sly grin.
"I'll take you to meet Granny Cat first. She's the one who issued the mission. If you've got any requests, tell her directly."
Following Nyanrokurō through the winding corridors felt like navigating a maze.
Rokuro activated the Sensory Technique hidden beneath his forehead protector, quickly detecting several chakra signatures—one of which was just ahead.
Before long, they reached the source. The chakra belonged to an elderly woman with graying hair, puffing on a long kiseru pipe, her nose red and swollen from drink.
That was Granny Cat—a legendary black-market merchant who had once appeared briefly in the original tale, when Sasuke devoured Orochimaru and formed Team Hebi or Taka.
She was known for dealing in both weapons and intelligence, serving as one of the Uchiha clan's secret suppliers.
Her craftsmanship was so renowned that even many dignitaries in the Land of Fire maintained close dealings with her.
In short—she was someone with immense influence and dangerous reach.
Before arriving, Rokuro had half expected Granny Cat to be a sage, like the Great Toad Sage or the White Snake Sage—perhaps a "Cat Sage" who had transcended mortality.
But now, standing before her, he realized—she was purely human.
Her connection with the ninja cats was similar to that of the Inuzuka Clan and their ninja dogs, though as a long-time contractor, her bond with them was far deeper than Rokuro's.
"So, you're little Rokuro?" Granny Cat exhaled a puff of smoke, squinting at him with amusement. "What you did recently caused quite the stir in the underworld. I thought only that boy Itachi had potential among the younger Uchiha, but you've outshone even him."
Rokuro smiled politely and bowed.
"Granny Cat flatters me. May I ask what task requires my presence?"
"Nothing too serious," she said, waving a hand lazily. "Just a few fools trying to pull a double-cross. Normally I'd have my people handle it, but when I heard how strong you are, I figured I might as well see for myself."
"Oh, and I heard you've been after chakra metal. Planning to forge sealing tools, aren't you?"
With a snap of her fingers, a ninja cat padded over carrying a tray. Resting on it was a chunk of chakra metal—two to three kilograms heavy.
The fact that she knew what Rokuro was after only proved how powerful her intelligence network was.
And the way she casually handed over such a valuable resource spoke of her wealth.
Rokuro immediately took a liking to clients like this—people with both money and influence.
"Granny Cat, you're refreshingly straightforward. I'll take the job."
He rose to his feet, pointing toward three directions around the building.
"There are five chakra signatures in each of those spots. Their energy feels cold and sinister—I assume those are your troublemakers?"
Granny Cat blinked in surprise.
"I didn't expect your sensory skills to be that sharp… You're right, it's them."
Rokuro twirled a kunai in his hand.
"Alive or dead?"
"Dead," she replied flatly. "The kind that stay alive only stir up more trouble in the shinobi world."
"Understood. This won't take long—half an hour, at most."
In a flash, Rokuro vanished with a Body Flicker Technique—so fast that neither Granny Cat nor any of the surrounding ninja cats could follow his movement.
Granny Cat took a long drag from her pipe, smoke curling from her lips as she muttered,
"That's… beyond mere talent. Compared to him, even Itachi's just promising for the future—but this boy's already there. No wonder Kakuzu fell to him. It wasn't luck. Still… for the Uchiha, these are troubled times indeed."
Barely ten minutes passed before Rokuro returned, holding five severed heads by their hair.
Granny Cat was genuinely stunned.
Upon closer look, those heads belonged to the rogue ninja who had been giving her headaches lately.
They weren't true missing-ninja, of course—just hired muscle from other villages.
In this fragile peace that followed the Third Great Ninja War, the villages couldn't act openly, so mercenaries and "rogue ninja" had become useful pawns.
Everyone in the underworld understood how the game worked.
After all, there's only one Kage per village, but an endless amount of dirty work to go around.
"Your strength… is terrifying," Granny Cat admitted.
Rokuro handed the heads to Nyanrokurō with a faint smile.
"These rogue ninja specialized in assassination and stealth. They'd give anyone else trouble—but my sensory ninjutsu is their natural counter."
"Mmm… you've got talent, little Rokuro," Granny Cat said, nodding slowly. "Consider this a favor owed."
She personally handed him the chakra metal, which Rokuro accepted without hesitation.
"No problem at all. If anything like this comes up again, feel free to summon me.
And it's an honor to meet someone like you, Granny Cat—I might come seeking your help myself someday."
With that, Rokuro dispelled the Reverse Summoning Technique and returned to Konoha.
Granny Cat, however, lingered on his words, her expression gradually hardening.
"That kid… not only strong, but ambitious. Hmph. Whether that's a blessing or a curse for the Uchiha remains to be seen."
After returning to Konoha, since it was still early, Rokuro spent the rest of the day training before heading home that evening.
The moment he stepped inside, he found both Uchiha Ashikaga and Uchiha Kei waiting, their faces unusually serious.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me more trouble came knocking?"
"Sit down, Rokuro," Ashikaga said gravely. "Something big has happened."
"Oh? What is it this time?"
Rokuro sat opposite her, and Ashikaga relayed what she had heard.
"There's a rumor spreading through the village today—someone claims that certain Konoha shinobi who supposedly died on missions didn't actually fall to enemy hands… but were killed by our own people. Their bodies were found in a ravine outside the village—organs missing, clear signs of tampering."
"And that's not all," Uchiha Kei added. "They say the bodies show surgical marks. People are whispering that someone in the village is conducting inhuman experiments, and covering it up by reporting the deaths as mission casualties."
Hearing this, Rokuro already had a strong suspicion of what was going on.
And Ashikaga's next words confirmed it beyond doubt.
"There's more. Word is that all those victims once served under Lord Orochimaru—and their final missions were personally assigned by him."
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
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