“Tsk. What a scummy cat.”
“Forget it. Once I capture Matatabi in the future and make Big Orange its jinchūriki, I can’t wait to see what Ayan will do.”
After turning the thought over in his mind, Uchiha Anlan came up with an idea.
He then glanced toward the silver tabby cat.
“Ayan, how is the intelligence from the front lines?”
The silver-white cat didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she paced over, lowered her head, and picked up a berry carefully selected by Big Orange.
Only after savoring it delicately did she reply with elegant composure.
“Young Master, the situation is developing more or less as you predicted.”
“Sunagakure has fallen into chaos following the disappearance of the Third Kazekage. Several of Sunagakure’s elders and senior officials intend to take advantage of the opportunity to plunder the resources of the smaller countries and turn their internal conflicts into a shared interest.”
“They’re even attempting to provoke a major war, luring the other countries into sending troops against the Land of Fire and taking a share of the spoils within the borders of Konoha.”
“At present, small groups of Sunagakure shinobi have already entered the border regions of the Land of Fire and begun raiding villages.”
Uchiha Anlan nodded slightly.
In the original Naruto anime, the main storyline revolved around love and justice, passion and bonds.
But real shinobi were professional killers.
Even the shinobi of Konoha, who enjoyed comparatively comfortable lives, would kill civilians from other countries for something as little as a few mouthfuls of food.
For example, Nagato’s parents.
As for the moral standards of shinobi from the other hidden villages?
It wasn’t that they had none.
It was simply that those standards were pitifully low.
The elderly, women, and children who lacked the ability to fight back were the “favorite targets” of quite a few shinobi.
Seeing that Anlan had no intention of speaking, the little cat continued.
“With Sunagakure leaderless, Kumogakure wants to take advantage of the situation and invade the Land of Wind.”
At this point, an expression of profoundly human-like confusion appeared on Ayan’s feline face.
“The Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning are separated by more than a thousand miles.”
“Between them lie the Land of Moon and the Land of Hot Water, with the vast Land of Fire in between, followed by the Land of Rain.”
“With such a troublesome long-distance expedition, aren’t they afraid of having their retreat cut off?”
“Or are they planning to take an even longer route through seven small countries, risking being caught between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, just to invade the Land of Wind…?”
“Cat really doesn’t understand.”
“Even Big Orange wouldn’t launch such a ridiculous war of aggression.”
Ayan paused and gently flicked her tail, her voice carrying a hint of ridicule and displeasure.
Her emerald-green vertical pupils narrowed, and sharp claws sprang from between her paw pads as she angrily continued.
“They actually imprisoned such a noble existence and used her as a tool for becoming a jinchūriki. Cats and them are sworn enemies!”
Anlan looked at Ayan, who was gnashing her teeth in anger, then flicked a water-droplet-covered finger against the cat’s forehead with lightning speed.
The little cat let out a pained “Meow!” and recoiled, wobbling twice on the edge of the bathtub.
Her tail flailed wildly as she struggled to keep her balance, but in the end, she still went “thump” and fell onto the floor.
“When you’re working, you can’t let personal feelings get in the way. If there’s a next time…”
“If you do it again…”
Anlan deliberately dragged out his words as he watched the ball of fur on the floor suddenly prick up its ears.
“I’ll shave off every last bit of your fur.”
Ayan, who had been about to complain about the pain, instantly puffed up like a ball of fluff.
She swiftly flipped herself upright and sat properly, her tail nervously curling around her front paws.
“Young Master! That’s too cruel!”
“If you think it’s cruel, then behave yourself.”
To be honest, most ninja cats had a habit of getting carried away once they were given an inch.
Under normal circumstances, Anlan could treat Ayan’s occasional willfulness as cute.
But sometimes, this cat with countless admirers simply failed to recognize her own position and needed a proper lesson.
Seeing her master’s stern attitude, Ayan obediently settled down and lightly leaped back onto the edge of the bathtub.
She tilted her head slightly, her emerald eyes shimmering like rippling water, and a soft, lingering “Meow~” escaped her throat.
The call seemed steeped in honey, carrying just the right amount of nasal tone.
Its intoxicating softness made Anlan’s entire body tremble, as though a faint electric current had shot up his spine and spread throughout his body.
The sensation was hundreds, thousands of times more soul-stirring than any form of “ear cleaning” he had ever experienced in his previous life.
Big Orange had heard it once before.
It had immediately collapsed onto the floor, the expression of a lovestruck fool on its face truly beyond description.
“Truly, every profession has its specialty. No wonder she’s the Liu Ruyan of the cat world.”
“And Kumogakure’s stupidity isn’t all Kishimoto’s fault? He’s just a manga artist. What does he know about ninja warfare?”
Anlan grumbled inwardly for a few moments before asking in a nasal tone,
“What comes next?”
Ayan blinked.
“Young Master, according to your instructions, Lord Kakuzu disguised himself as a Konoha shinobi and ambushed quite a few Kumogakure shinobi, causing Kumogakure to turn its attention toward Konoha.”
She tilted her head, the fine fur at the tips of her ears trembling slightly as she asked in confusion,
“But Young Master, why would you do this? The Uchiha are in Konoha too, aren’t they?”
“Now Kumogakure is preparing to march south and attack the Land of Fire, while Sunagakure is harboring ulterior motives.”
“And then there’s Iwagakure, impatient to tear a chunk of flesh from Konoha, along with Kirigakure, which is also itching to make a move.”
Ayan elegantly raised a front paw, counting through the situation one point at a time, concern evident in her voice.
“With all four great hidden villages attacking at once, is Konoha really going to be okay, meow?”
“Konoha’s survival is something the man sitting in the Hokage’s office should be worrying about.”
Anlan chuckled as he rose from the bathtub.
Water droplets rolled along the contours of his muscles, tracing crystalline paths through the hazy steam.
“What does it have to do with my Uchiha?”
He reached out and took the towel Ayan offered him, casually drying his black hair.
“If we don’t put some pressure on the Hokage, how can my clan fight for greater autonomy?”
Ayan nodded as though she understood, then deftly leaped onto the shelf and brought over a dark-colored yukata in her mouth.
Anlan casually draped it over himself.
As his sleeves fluttered, the bathroom door had already been pushed open by the little cat’s paw.
The silver-white figure leaped through the air and landed precisely in the young master’s arms.
“But what if Konoha can’t hold out?” Ayan asked, tilting her face upward.
“Konoha’s foundations are far deeper than they appear on the surface. It won’t fall so easily.”
Anlan stroked the cat’s soft ear tips, a cold smile curling at the corners of his lips.
“Besides, Konoha’s survival concerns the prestige of the Land of Fire. Considering how frequently those daimyō and nobles arrange marriages between their families, their intricate web of marital ties…”
“The daimyō of the countries behind the four great hidden villages won’t truly allow Konoha to disappear.”
He pushed open the corridor door, and the night wind swept fallen leaves across the courtyard.
“Because once Konoha is gone, the Land of Fire will be gone. And once the Land of Fire is gone, the belief in the sacred and inviolable bloodlines of the daimyō and nobles will be trampled into the mud by lowly shinobi.”
Anlan lightly tapped the cat’s moist nose with his fingertip, his voice growing deeper.
“So, the so-called Shinobi World War, besides being driven by interests, is also, to a certain extent, a way of reducing the number of shinobi.”
Ayan listened to this outrageous theory with a look of shock and couldn’t help saying,
“If the goal is to reduce the number of shinobi, there’s no need to start such a cruel war!”
“Having a sword but choosing not to use it is completely different from not having a sword in your hand at all.”
Anlan smiled and looked toward the night sky.
“Besides, the daimyō aren’t exactly getting along peacefully with one another, either!”