'I wonder what sort of conclusion they reached back in Konoha.'
While resting at night, Takeshi pondered silently.
Black Zetsu was undeniably difficult to guard against.
Kaguya might not have bequeathed him any offensive firepower, but she had passed on a wealth of ability regarding concealment, survival, and spiritual intrusion. Even a top-tier sensory ninja wouldn't necessarily be able to detect his presence.
Even if Konoha took precautions, resisting a kidnapping attempt would be a tall order.
It was easy to draw a parallel. For example, if he and Minato joined forces to capture the Hokage, no amount of security would stop them. They would find a way to slip in silently, the methods would just be slightly more troublesome, that's all.
Therefore, simple preventive measures were utterly useless.
After all, if it were that simple, Takeshi would have already stormed into Madara and Black Zetsu's lair to pay his respects to the two lonely old men of the ninja world. Dazzling them with his feline superiority.
Nagato was still outside training. Mentally, he was fully modeling himself after Might Guy now. In fact, this was largely Takeshi's doing. After dinner, the cat had told him a story-a tale about a "dead-last" who persisted in training every single day until he finally turned the tables on fate.
The template for the story was essentially a hybrid of Naruto and Rock Lee. He didn't mention specific names, nor did he mention that the protagonist actually had the Fourth Hokage for a father, was a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, and was the reincarnation of Asura, meaning he would have been talented with immense vitality even without the Nine-Tails chakra.
He simply... omitted a few details.
Between a motivational speech and cold reality, there is often just a tiny bit of omitted detail.
Takeshi felt no guilt over this. Look at Nagato now, he was acting like he was on steroids, working with incredible diligence.
Nagato was bound to gain something from this effort. Even if the Rinnegan wasn't being developed much, his taijutsu had certainly improved, hadn't it? God doesn't lie, and neither does this black cat.
The next day, Nagato was up at the crack of dawn. Normally, even an Uzumaki physique has to obey the basic laws of physiology, training to such an extreme would typically require a day or two of bed rest. But he had Kanna to heal him.
After entering Sage Transformation, Kanna's physical healing could be applied directly.
In short, things looked harmonious here, and life was good. In addition, according to Konan, Sosetsu Kazahana had recently sent people out of the city to search for Kuraokami, but they came up empty-handed.
Although Kuraokami was towering, the blizzards in the Land of Snow were too severe. From a distance, everything was just a gray haze, nothing could be seen clearly.
Anyway, Kanna and the others had a shadow clone maintaining the seals, so Takeshi wasn't worried about discovery. His only concern was whether Black Zetsu would come to snatch anyone. Although he had placed a mark on Nagato, judging by the results of the Shisui pursuit, the tracking wasn't ideal.
What a headache.
He stayed in the Land of Snow for a while longer, during which he continued to modify the Kuraokami area.
A massive snow castle now stood within the surrounding ice forest. It was grand, but more importantly, it blocked the wind and snow, making the area much warmer.
He was becoming more and more satisfied with this home.
Except for the heavy snow and the risk of being targeted by Black Zetsu, it was perfect.
Next, he needed to figure out how to install an air conditioner.
And then...
Mount Myoboku.
He sensed that the great snakes had headed there. It was a good time to visit, pay his respects to the turf, and have a pleasant, friendly chat with the toads of Mount Myoboku.
Should he bring a gift?
Takeshi lay at home, pondering the matter. Toads loved insects. He couldn't bring himself to catch those things, but he could certainly catch a few regular toads or snakes over in Konoha to prepare some... ingredients.
A solid plan.
He let Kanna know, then headed straight for Konoha.
Having been away for several days, the situation in the village had changed drastically. The first thing Takeshi noticed was the Military Police Force, it seemed to have undergone a significant reorganization.
Previously, the force was the sole jurisdiction of the Uchiha. Now, there were ninja from many other clans, most surprisingly, even the Hyuga.
The Hyuga and the Uchiha were historic rivals.
Hiashi had made it clear before: the Uchiha were all a bit mentally unstable. Combined with the village pitting them against one another, the Hyuga had always made it a point to oppose the Uchiha.
Now, times had changed.
Konoha needed them to cooperate to catch kidnappers.
Takeshi sighed. With such tight defenses, Tsunade definitely knew he was back. However, he had no intention of saying hello, he was here strictly to catch some toads and snakes and have someone cook them.
Of course, this was only because he was short on points. If this were his "whale" era, he would have just rolled the gacha for premium snacks. But being broke required a different lifestyle.
Using his abilities, he created a few water clones and secured a catch in no time. He found a restaurant owner in the village to cook a massive pot of stir-fry, heavily seasoned enough that the toads wouldn't recognize the meat.
Finally after sorting it all out, Takeshi used Flying Thunder God to Mount Myoboku.
A great battle was unfolding.
On one side were the great snakes, on the other, a legion of giant toads. In the toad camp, a massive figure presided over the ranks, a pipe in his mouth and a large dosu blade at his waist. One look confirmed he was an old gangster.
As for the snakes...
Hah, another old acquaintance.
Seeing Takeshi appear, both sides halted their hostilities. Manda lowered his head instinctively, but the black cat had appeared right in the middle of the Snake Clan's formation. Given his massive size, hiding was impossible.
"Manda, this is a battle between our two clans, yet you actually brought an outsider?"
Gamabunta drew his blade immediately.
Manda fell silent.
He needed to think about how to explain this.
The black cat had obviously arrived via some spatial ninjutsu, using the Snake Clan as a beacon to reach Mount Myoboku. Manda genuinely hadn't known beforehand...
But that bastard Gamabunta wouldn't listen.
Besides.
Was there any need to explain?
This black cat wasn't a reasonable creature either. Let Gamabunta fuss, Manda wouldn't be the one suffering the loss.
Thinking of this, Manda asked, "What are you doing here?"
He didn't speak harshly.
Those previous slaps from Takeshi had left too deep of a trauma. Just seeing the cat made Manda's head throb, as if his skull were splitting open.
"Meow~ As a rising Holy Land, it is necessary to visit the three great regions. So, I brought some gifts to pay my respects."
Takeshi leaped into the open space between the armies, leisurely producing a basin of mixed stir-fried toad and snake meat. Gamabunta glanced at it, then quickly extended his tongue to lap up the contents of the large basin.
In the blink of an eye, the entire meal was swept away.
Although the basin was large, compared to Gamabunta's bulk, it wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. He barely registered the flavor before the food was already digested.
Gamabunta smacked his lips, looking slightly unsatisfied. "The taste isn't bad. What is this stuff?"
"A stir-fry mix of toad and snake meat, meow!"
Takeshi answered with a gentle smile.
"What?"
"Didn't you hear me, meow? Stir-fried toad and snake meat."
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