After a brief silence inside the room, Uchiha Honoha’s low yet gentle voice came from within.
“Just leave it by the door. I still want to talk with them for a little while longer.”
“Okay, Grandpa.”
Uchiha Mikoto obediently bent down and carefully placed the warm cup of tea beside the door.
As she straightened up, she couldn’t help adding one more sentence in a soft, caring tone that carried a hint of insistence.
“Then don’t forget to drink it. I’ll come back later to check.”
Her footsteps gradually faded into the distance, like a wisp of tea fragrance slowly dispersing beneath the moonlit night.
Inside the room, Uchiha Honoha could only shake his head helplessly, though a trace of happiness lingered in his expression.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Anlan was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, urging impatiently.
“Big Orange, hurry up.”
“Got it, meow.”
His contract ninja cat—almost ridiculously competent—was wearing a custom-made Uchiha clan outfit designed specifically for cats.
The fan-shaped clan crest embroidered on its back swayed constantly as it bustled around.
The plump orange cat rose onto its hind legs, its chubby paws forming hand seals with dexterity completely at odds with its size.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
With a soft “poof,” three identical orange cat clones, all dressed in clan attire, appeared in front of the stove.
The original handled the wok while the clones worked together with perfect coordination.
One chopped and prepared the ingredients at lightning speed, another controlled the heat, and the third handled the seasoning.
The iron wok flipped and rattled between their paws, while blazing flames leaped nearly half a person’s height, illuminating the orange cat’s serious face.
“Sizzle—”
Chili peppers and sliced garlic exploded with fragrance in the hot oil, and their rich aroma instantly filled the entire kitchen.
As for having a ninja cat that could cook, Anlan really hadn’t been lying to Uchiha Mikoto.
His ninja cat was practically an all-around household servant.
Before long, several Chinese-style stir-fried dishes, bursting with color, aroma, and flavor, were plated and served.
Big Orange dispelled its clones, smugly smoothed its whiskers, then used its paws to push the final dish—stir-fried beef rice noodles—toward Uchiha Anlan.
“Please enjoy, Young Master Anlan.”
Its round body stood ramrod straight, but its tail was happily swishing behind it.
Uchiha Anlan sat down at the dining table, his gaze sweeping over the dazzling array of dishes—
Shredded pork with green peppers glistened with oil and aroma.
Mapo tofu was bright red and enticing.
The stir-fried beef rice noodles were infused with an irresistible wok hei.
Under the orange cat’s nervous gaze, he placed it into his mouth.
“Not bad. You’ve improved. My teaching wasn’t wasted after all. How do you think I should reward you?”
At those words, Big Orange immediately straightened its round body.
“Not at all, not at all. It’s all thanks to Young Master’s excellent teaching. Besides, Young Master has been working hard on his training lately. You need to nourish your body, meow~”
Its words were modest, but its fluffy tail had already betrayed its true feelings, happily drawing circles through the air.
Anlan picked up another pair of chopsticks’ worth of shredded pork with green peppers and chuckled.
“Oh? That’s true. In that case, I’ll save the reward for next time.”
The orange cat’s ears twitched.
Its round body suddenly stiffened, and the tip of its tail froze in midair.
Its paw pads rubbed awkwardly against the wooden floor, and its voice suddenly dropped several octaves.
“Well… actually…”
Anlan leisurely picked up another bite of beef rice noodles and pretended to be surprised.
“Could it be that you want your reward?”
“It’s not about the reward!”
The orange cat’s fur stood on end as it leaped onto the dining table, then hurriedly used its tail to straighten the chopsticks it had knocked askew.
“It’s my rightful compensation! You promised last time that you’d let Ayan teach me Fire Release…”
It suddenly fell silent, nervously clasping its front paws together.
“So you want to see Ayan.”
Anlan lightly tapped the tip of the cat’s nose with his chopsticks, watching its pupils instantly narrow into vertical slits.
“You should’ve just said so. I’ll have Ayan come over tomorrow as an assistant instructor.”
The orange cat’s whiskers trembled in tiny arcs, and its entire body seemed to sparkle as if it had just been infused with chakra.
It pretended to remain calm as it licked its paw, but a purring sound was already rumbling in its throat.
“It’s mainly to exchange cultivation insights, meow… It’s definitely not because I want to smell her scent.”
“Yes, yes. I know.”
Uchiha Anlan laughed.
The Ninja Cat clan had maintained contracts with the Uchiha clan for generations.
These adorable little creatures were not only the Uchiha clan’s information brokers and weapons dealers, but their soft, melodious “meow”s were also medicine for soothing the sensitive hearts of Uchiha clan members.
Ayan was Anlan’s partner, having officially formed a contract with him on the day he became a genin.
She was a silver tabby cat with fur as pale as moonlight, a feline beauty who could only be described as the Liu Ruyan of the cat world.
More than a decade had passed, and the orange cat that had shamelessly stuck itself to them back then had long since been trained into complete submission by Anlan.
Ever since Anlan moved out of his grandfather’s residence and began living alone, Big Orange had been assigned the role of an all-purpose household expert so that it could spend more time with Ayan.
It handled everything from laundry to cooking.
All that could be said was that Anlan had it completely wrapped around his paw.
After dinner, Big Orange efficiently cleaned the kitchen until it was spotless.
Then, with another soft “poof,” it returned to the territory of the Ninja Cat clan.
The bathroom was filled with mist, and the air carried the faint fragrance of cypress and medicinal herbs.
Anlan lowered himself into the hot water Big Orange had prepared in advance.
The temperature was just right, drawing a satisfied sigh from his throat.
“Having a simp really is useful!”
The fatigue accumulated throughout the day seemed to be slowly drawn from every inch of his body along with the rising steam.
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and allowed his thoughts to drift in the tranquility.
The intermittent chirping of insects outside had become the most natural lullaby.
Suddenly, a soft “poof” sounded in the air.
Anlan opened his eyes, and an elegant figure lightly landed on the edge of the bathtub.
Silver-white and pale-gray fur intertwined across her body, reflecting a soft glow through the hazy steam.
Her long tail curled around her paws like smoke and mist, its tip adorned with several silver spots resembling tiny stars.
A pair of emerald-green eyes, like cat’s-eye gemstones immersed in clear spring water, shimmered with moisture, reflecting Anlan’s figure in the bathtub.
“That stupid cat.”
She spoke in a voice carrying the uniquely soft intonation of a feline.
“After returning to the clan territory just now, it came to find me again and kept dropping hints about tomorrow.”
Ayan’s silver-white whiskers trembled lightly, and her voice was filled with helplessness.
“Fifteen whole years, and that idiot’s way of showing affection is still just as… troublesome.”
“Then do you actually like Big Orange or not?” Anlan asked, his eyes half-lidded.
“Young Master is joking again.”
“I only see Big Orange as an older brother.”
Ayan, as always, had delivered an answer that was unmistakably “Liu Ruyan.”
She elegantly flicked her tail and raised her head toward the crescent moon outside the window, her voice carrying a hint of yearning.
“What I long for is the strength of Lord Matatabi, a truly powerful cat—its Tailed Beast Ball tearing through the endless night, its netherworld flames burning away the heavens.”
Ayan softly added, “So, Young Master Anlan, please stop trying to set Big Orange and me up. I don’t want Lord Matatabi to misunderstand in the future.”
Looking at his own ninja cat, who had been thoroughly poisoned by the melodramatic female-oriented romance novel he had impulsively written back in the day, The Overbearing Young Master Falls in Love with Me, Anlan was left speechless.