"Looking for information about the Shikon Jewel shard?" said Uchiha Kasage, sounding slightly exasperated as he looked at Natsuarashi, who had suddenly snapped back to attention. "I have a shard of the Shikon Jewel right here. Why didn't you just ask me?"
"Oh, right!" Karan slapped her forehead as realization struck, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she looked at him eagerly. "Then can you give me the Shikon Jewel shard?"
"No," Kasage refused immediately, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Why not? We already signed a contract!" Natsuarashi's brows furrowed instantly as she protested, glaring at him with irritation.
"If you don't give it to me, next time you try to summon me, I'll refuse! I just found out I can choose not to respond when I'm summoned!"
"Calm down, calm down," Kasage said quickly, waving his hands. He instinctively reached out to pat her head,
but stopped midway when he noticed her sharp red gaze, awkwardly pulling his hand back before explaining patiently:
"The Shikon Jewel is too dangerous. I can't just hand it over. As for the reason, I'll tell you once you've learned the Reverse Summoning Technique and are ready to leave."
"At that point, you can report my words to your Clan Leader and let her decide whether to continue searching for the shard. What do you think?"
Natsuarashi frowned and thought for a long moment before nodding. "Fine. Once you explain everything, I'll decide whether to follow your suggestion."
Seeing her agree, Kasage turned and opened the door to a room, gesturing for her to enter.
The layout of the room was identical to his own bedroom, complete with a clean wooden bed, a table, and chairs. Blankets and necessities had all been prepared in advance.
In one corner, there was even a large cushion made of bear fur—clearly prepared specifically for her.
"Alright, I'll start teaching you the Reverse Summoning Technique now," Kasage said, sitting cross-legged on the floor as he looked at the eager Natsuarashi.
"Reverse Summoning Technique?" Natsuarashi sat down across from him, placing her hands neatly on her knees in a serious listening posture—though her cat tail still swayed uncontrollably behind her.
"Yes, it's essentially the same as the Summoning Technique," Kasage explained.
"The Summoning Technique is when the contractor summons the contracted party, while the Reverse Summoning Technique is when the contracted party summons the contractor. It's just named differently to distinguish the two."
He paused briefly, then continued:
"Now, follow my instructions…"
In truth, he wasn't entirely confident. Ninjutsu relied on chakra, while Karan possessed only yokai power. He wasn't sure whether yokai power could substitute chakra to perform the Summoning Technique.
However, he reasoned differently based on his own experience.
His Senjutsu did not come from Mount Myōboku, but from Ryūchi Cave—the domain of the White Snake Sage. Unlike the toads' senjutsu, the snake-based senjutsu was more aggressive, more instinctual, and far closer to raw natural energy in its original state.
Because of that, Kasage had a deeper understanding of how natural energy could be directly manipulated and adapted, rather than strictly refined into chakra first.
Since yokai power itself was fundamentally derived from natural energy, it wasn't unreasonable to treat it as a parallel system rather than an incompatible one.
However, they encountered problems almost immediately.
The hand seals of ninjutsu are meant to guide the flow of chakra—but they had no effect on yokai power.
With no other option, Kasage circulated his own chakra—mixed with traces of his Ryūchi Cave senjutsu—to carefully observe and memorize the exact flow pattern produced during the Summoning Technique.
Then, step by step, he guided Karan to control her yokai power and replicate that same internal flow.
Fortunately, the hand seals for the Summoning Technique were not very complex—only five seals: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram. The corresponding energy pathways were also relatively simple.
After an entire afternoon of practice, Karan finally memorized the flow of her yokai power. The next step was to refine it—making the flow continuous and smooth through repeated training until she could successfully perform the technique.
Even though he wasn't completely certain it would succeed, facing Karan's expectant gaze, Kasage still patted his chest confidently and said:
"Don't worry. You'll definitely learn it. Then you'll be able to call me whenever you want."
While Karan practiced diligently in her room, Kasage removed the summoning scroll from his back and carefully stored it inside the Kamui dimension.
Back when he trained in Ryūchi Cave, he had also learned about summoning contracts through indirect means. Unlike the structured teachings of other summoning clans, the snakes valued survival and adaptability above all—knowledge was taken, not given.
The scroll he had signed with Karan could currently summon only her.
If he wanted to summon the entire Panther-Deva Yokai Clan, there were two methods:
First, bring the scroll to other members of the Panther-Deva clan and have them sign the contract;
Second, wait until Karan has offspring and forms a new clan. As long as the yokai are her descendants, they could be summoned through this contract without signing individually.
However, for the current Kasage, having Karan as his summon was more than enough. He had no intention of contacting other members of the Panther-Deva Yokai clan for now.
Of course, if other feline yokai personally asked to sign a contract, he wouldn't refuse.
No one expected that it would take Karan more than a month to master the seemingly simple Summoning Technique.
This long period of practice made Kasage completely give up on the idea of teaching her other ninjutsu. The compatibility between yokai power and chakra was ultimately limited; being able to learn the Summoning Technique was already a pleasant surprise.
But Karan didn't care about how long it took. For long-lived yokai, a month was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
Ever since she succeeded in performing the Reverse Summoning Technique, she treated it like a brand-new toy. Every time her yokai power recovered, she would eagerly summon Kasage—draining all her power each time.
At that moment, Kasage was sitting cross-legged in his room, sensing the surrounding natural energy and preparing to enter Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave.
Suddenly, a familiar summoning force appeared.
A helpless smile curved his lips as his body vanished in a puff of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, he appeared inside Natsuarashi's room. Looking down, just as expected, he saw her collapsed on the floor—completely exhausted, unable to even lift a paw.
"Don't you think it's a bit reckless to exhaust all your yokai power every time you summon me?" Kasage crouched down, looking at the limp "silly cat" on the floor, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
The energy consumption of the Summoning Technique isn't related to distance—it depends entirely on the strength of the summoned individual. The stronger they are, the greater the cost.
Kasage's strength far exceeded Karan's. To summon him, she had to use nearly all of her yokai power.
"You're the abnormal one!" Karan struggled weakly, pushing herself up and bumping her head against his leg as she spoke in a faint voice:
"I can only summon you when my yokai power is completely drained… I'm hungry. I want to eat."
During their time together, Karan had completely lowered her guard. Her childlike playfulness, endless curiosity, and gluttonous habits were now fully exposed.
Fortunately, Kasage had experience raising ninja cats, so he was quite skilled at handling her temperament.
"It's already prepared. Let's go eat." Kasage had long guessed why she summoned him. Reaching out, he grabbed Natsuarashi by the collar and lifted her up.
Suspended in midair, Karan didn't resist. Instead, she lazily narrowed her eyes and lightly wrapped her tail around his wrist—already accustomed to this treatment.