This was the Summoning Scroll bound by blood to Rin.
He tapped the scroll, his meaning unmistakable.
"Meow!"
'Impossible! I, the lord of the Ninja Cat Castle, the king among Ninja Cats, cannot submit to...'
At that moment, Raj produced something else: several "leaves."
"What's this?"
Nekomata sniffed them, its eyes gradually glazing over.
Moments later, it was rolling on the ground, meowing incessantly in what seemed like extreme excitement, completely abandoning its regal bearing as the king of the Ninja Cat Castle.
'So potent? Good thing I didn't try it, or I'd have embarrassed myself terribly! Thank goodness I didn't test it earlier, or I'd be the one humiliated.'
Still, he remembered that not every cat was susceptible to catnip.
'Maybe I'm immune?'
After much hesitation, Raj ultimately lacked the courage to try it.
'If I made a fool of myself like this idiot, my reputation would be ruined forever.'
'If only I had a recording device! I could've broadcast this scene at Ninja Cat Castle and Matatabi would surely have rewarded me handsomely with Points.'
The Double-Tailed Cat Matatabi was immensely powerful.
He quickly snapped out of his catnip-induced daze and immediately tried to transform into his larger form and roar - a tactic he often used to intimidate his underlings at Ninja Cat Castle.
But then he remembered that the cat before him seemed unafraid, and that he needed something from it...
'How humiliating!'
He ground his claws in frustration, let out an angry roar, and declared, "Fine, I won't sell. I'm leaving."
I, the ruler of Ninja Cat Castle, have never suffered such indignity!
Thankfully, no humans had witnessed this spectacle, or his reputation would have been ruined.
As for Raj's claim that signing a contract would grant him Cat Food...
'Hmph! This cat is the lord of the Ninja Cat Fortress...'
Crunch.
The sound of a cat chewing on a treat, and this one smelled even more fragrant and delicious than the Cat Food he'd tasted before!
No, wait - it was just a stronger scent.
He'd only had a single piece of Cat Food before, but this time the aroma came from an entire bag.
Nekomata turned his head and saw Ninja Cat Special Food scattered on the ground, with Raj slowly savoring each bite.
"Meow~"
Nekomata let out a cat call and swiftly began devouring the food on the ground.
'Delicious! So delicious!'
It devoured the food on the ground with frantic hunger.
Having only tasted it once before, it now understood just how delicious this stuff was.
More importantly, it could feel its Chakra and physical strength steadily increasing.
But halfway through its meal, the proud Double-Tailed Cat suddenly remembered what it had done.
Its eyes fell upon the Dead Cat's scroll.
"Meow! Impossible!"
The Double-Tailed Cat roared in fury.
Though the Ninja Cat Castle operated as an independent system, it lacked a Summoning Blood Pact Scroll for external use.
Its agreements with the Uchiha clan and the Cat Granny were cooperative contracts, not Blood Pacts.
Moreover, signing this scroll would effectively mean submitting to Raj.
It would never agree to that.
"Let's fight!"
Raj stared fearlessly at the Double-Tailed Cat.
The White Cat's strength was already impressive among Ninja Cats, but having gradually reached adulthood and benefited from the effects of both types of Cat Food, its power now far surpassed even Nekomata's.
"Oh? You dare challenge me!"
The Double-Tailed Cat rose to its feet, licked its paw, and its gaze sharpened.
"Meow... If that's how you see it... my answer is... yes!"
Raj stretched his limbs and arched his back, then swiftly darted into the forest.
The Nekomata immediately followed, its smaller form allowing it to keep pace with Raj's usual running speed.
Soon, they reached a clearing nestled among the mountains.
The clearing was spacious and had a solid base, ensuring that even if their battle caused significant destruction, it wouldn't trigger a landslide.
"Here, meow!"
Raj stopped, turning to face the Double-Tailed Cat Matatabi, his gaze gradually hardening.
Felines were creatures with a strong sense of hierarchy.
Since he controlled the Blood Pact Scroll, the Nekomata's blood signature on it would indeed signify its submission.
To make the cat submit, a fight was necessary.
"Meow!"
With a roar, the Double-Tailed Cat Matatabi rapidly expanded, dwarfing Raj many times over.
This was its true size; its previous smaller form was merely due to its ability to freely control its dimensions.
Yet in the next instant, Raj before it also began to grow rapidly, instantly towering over the Nekomata by a full head.
'What the hell?'
The Nekomata's expression froze in shock.
Then it saw a storm of black fur, like a celestial net, hurtling toward it, densely enveloping its surroundings.
It moved swiftly, attempting to escape the encirclement.
At that moment...
"Eight Inner Gates - Opening Gate!"
The first gate opened.
In an instant, Raj sprinted to Nekomata's side, then rapidly used the Expansion Jutsu to grow to colossal size.
With a single swipe of his paw, he sent Nekomata flying.
The next second, he leaped into the air.
Boom! Boom!
Boom! A relentless barrage
A series of attacks followed.
Raj's partially enlarged limbs and tail relentlessly pounded Nekomata from below.
In the blink of an eye, he had struck the creature over a dozen times, each blow carrying immense force.
Nekomata howled in agony, its movements restricted by the clumps of cat hair that had robbed it of its natural agility.
Now it could only endure the relentless beating.
"Surrender?"
Raj hovered above, his tail now massively enlarged and pointing skyward, its tip sharpened into a Needle Jizo-like point.
From a distance, it resembled a colossal hammer.
If that strike were to land... Nekomata couldn't imagine the catastrophic consequences.
Even though it had been trapped by Cat Hair Ninjutsu, Raj had moved with such speed to bind it with cat hair that even without these strange techniques, he could have still relentlessly pummeled it.
'Could that cat food really be this potent?'
Nekomata wavered, caught in indecision.
The tail swung in a wide arc and hurtled back, about to strike the cat's body.
It yelped in terror.
"I surrender! I'm willing to surrender!"
"Meow~ Excellent. Sign and seal the pact then."
Raj released the cat and produced the Summoning Blood Pact.
Sign and seal...
The Double-Tailed Cat fell silent.
Another unfamiliar term.
But that didn't matter; what mattered was the Blood Pact Scroll before it.
A drop of blood, according to the rules of the Cat Realm and Spirit Summoning Realm, would make it Raj's subordinate.
From then on, it would have to follow the Little Black Cat's lead.
Having always been the boss, suddenly becoming a subordinate felt deeply unnatural.
But then it considered: if it submitted, it could eat Cat Food!
'What a delightful prospect!'
Of course, it was getting ahead of itself.
Raj barely had enough Points for himself, let alone to frequently feed it Cat Food.
At most, he might exchange a portion of the Points he harvested from the cat for some.
For example, Raj had just obtained nearly six hundred Points from it, while the half-bag of Cat Food Nekomata had eaten was only worth one hundred and fifty Points.