Chapter 1: Cultivating Ninja Cats Can Make You Stronger!
Land of Fire.
Konohagakure.
Uchiha District.
Ninja Tool Shop.
"Granny Cat."
"Oh? Shiraishi, you're here already," the old woman said with a gentle smile. "Come in and have a seat."
Granny Cat, slightly plump and wrapped in simple robes, sat cross-legged behind the counter with a long pipe resting between her fingers. She took a slow, practiced puff before exhaling a perfectly round smoke ring into the air.
An orange ninja cat lounging nearby suddenly sprang upward, swiping playfully at the floating ring of smoke and dispersing it with a flick of its paw.
The moment Uchiha Shiraishi stepped into the shop, the atmosphere subtly shifted.
The ninja cats gathered around Granny Cat all turned their attention toward him at once.
One by one, their heads tilted in unison, round eyes wide with curiosity as they silently examined him.
Even though this wasn't Shiraishi's first visit, being stared at by so many intelligent eyes at once still made him feel faintly uncomfortable.
After a brief pause, Granny Cat spoke again.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Please go ahead, Granny Cat," Shiraishi replied respectfully.
"Starting today," she said calmly, "this ninja tool shop will be left in your care."
"…?"
Shiraishi froze where he stood.
For a moment, he wondered if he had misheard her.
The words were far too sudden, and far too heavy.
Granny Cat continued before he could react.
"I'm going on a long journey. It won't be a short one—three to five years at the very least. It might even take longer before I return. During that time, this shop… and these little ones…" She glanced at the surrounding ninja cats. "They'll all be entrusted to you."
"But Granny Cat," Shiraishi said instinctively, "I'm not sure I can handle something like that—"
"There's no 'but,'" Granny Cat interrupted, her tone firm yet not unkind.
"I trust you. And if I didn't, then the only other option would be to close the shop and let these cats fend for themselves as strays."
Her words left no room for refusal.
Shiraishi fell silent.
After a brief moment, he exhaled softly and nodded.
"…Alright. I understand. I'll take good care of the shop. And of them."
Only then did Granny Cat's expression soften into a satisfied smile.
"Good. Then I'll leave everything to you."
She stood up slowly, put away her pipe, and coughed lightly.
"Since you've agreed, I have nothing left to worry about."
"I'll be going now."
Before Shiraishi could say another word, a burst of white smoke suddenly erupted around her.
By the time it dispersed, Granny Cat's figure had completely vanished.
The shop fell quiet.
Moments later, one ninja cat after another padded toward Shiraishi.
They circled him, sniffing cautiously, as if committing his scent to memory. Some brushed their heads lightly against his legs, testing his reaction.
He was just an ordinary Uchiha — one who had failed to awaken his Sharingan, failed to stand out at the Academy, failed even to earn a proper place among his clan. Ever since realizing that raw talent alone determined a shinobi's fate, he had learned to lower his head and survive quietly. That was how he had ended up here. Working at Granny Cat's shop. Sweeping floors. Sorting tools. Feeding ninja cats. It wasn't glorious, but it kept him alive.
He also realy likes cats. But in these cruel world, only strength matters. He can barely fend for himself, let alone, protect this cats with granny cat now gone.
"It's gonna be okay"
Shiraishi sighed, crouched down and reached out, gently patting the head of a nearby tabby.
"Meow~"
The tabby narrowed its eyes in clear enjoyment, letting out a soft, contented sound.
---
Suddenly—
[Ninja Cat Cultivation System activated.]
[By absorbing favorability from humans, once it reaches 90 points, harvesting may be performed.]
[After harvesting, a request may be sent across the myriad worlds. Upon receiving a response, the ninja cat will gain the responder's power.]
[The host's rewards will be determined by the ninja cat's strength.]
Shiraishi's eyebrows twitched slightly as the translucent blue text appeared before his eyes.
"…So by gaining human favorability, ninja cats can grow stronger?" he murmured.
"And once they do, I'll receive corresponding rewards?"
"The stronger the ninja cats become… the better the rewards I receive?"
He paused, then let out a quiet breath.
"…Finally! My golden finger!."
As a transmigrator, Shiraishi had once been excited when he realized he had been reborn into the world of Naruto.
That excitement, however, quickly faded the moment he discovered he belonged to the Uchiha clan. Even worse, this body's innate talent was painfully average.
But now—
With the appearance of this mysterious system, a faint spark of hope was reignited in his heart.
---
Amidst his excitement, a figure approached the ninja tool shop.
"Shiraishi, where's Granny Cat?"
Shiraishi looked up.
The visitor was young, with short black hair and a Konoha forehead protector. His features were somewhat delicate. He wore a gray short-sleeved shirt and brown pants, with a ninja pouch at his waist.
At first glance, he looked cheerful, though a faint worry was hidden in his eyes.
"Good morning, Shisui."
Shiraishi said, "Granny Cat had some business and went out. She left the shop and the ninja cats here to me. Are you here to restock some tools?"
Uchiha Shisui nodded.
"I need nine kunai, three explosive tags, and a short blade."
"Give me a moment."
Shiraishi went into the storeroom and quickly gathered the items Shisui needed.
When he came back out, Shisui was already sitting on the floor, petting a chubby orange cat.
The orange cat squinted its eyes and let out a contented purring sound.
"Shisui, here are your tools."
Shiraishi handed over the pouch.
Shisui took it.
"Thanks. How much?"
Shiraishi quoted the price Granny Cat had set. Shisui took out his wallet, pulled out a small stack of bills, and handed them over. Shiraishi put the money into the register.
"Meow!"
The orange cat sounded displeased when Shisui stopped petting it.
"Sorry, sorry."
Shisui smiled apologetically at the cat and continued petting it. Soon, the orange cat closed its eyes again, purring comfortably.
Shiraishi sat down beside Shisui.
A line of text appeared above Shisui's head.
[82 — Shiraishi is a pretty good person, but unfortunately, his talent as a ninja is lacking.]
Clearly, the number represented Shisui's favorability toward Shiraishi, while the sentence was likely Shisui's evaluation of him.
"82 favorability, huh…"
"I'm not far from 90. If I try a bit harder, I should be able to reach it. Given Shisui's qualities, the responder definitely won't be weak."
There was no doubt that Uchiha Shisui was a genius.
According to the system's logic:
The greater Shisui's talent, the stronger the responder would be.
The stronger the responder, the more the ninja cat would be enhanced.
And the more the ninja cat was enhanced, the greater the rewards Shiraishi would receive.
The two were close in age and had interacted back in the Ninja Academy.
One was a genius, the other ordinary.
Even so, they had become fairly good friends.
That was why Shisui's favorability toward Shiraishi was already at 82.
---
"You look like you've got something on your mind, Shisui."
Shisui was silent for a long time before letting out a sigh.
"You should be able to tell, Shiraishi—the current state of the Uchiha. Our relationship with the rest of the village keeps getting worse. I've tried to do something to ease the tension, but it's useless."
"It's only getting worse."
"I don't know what will happen if this continues."
"I have a really bad feeling about it."
"Many within the clan have already developed extremely radical ideas. They want to start a civil war, overthrow the current village leadership, and seize control."
"But that's impossible."
"The Uchiha as we are now can't stand against the village leadership."
"If we act, the outcome will be disastrous."
"Not only would the Uchiha face annihilation…"
"But many innocent villagers would die in the conflict as well."
"The destruction would likely be no less than the Nine-Tails incident."
"But suppressing those people within the clan is extremely difficult—no, it's impossible."
Shisui lowered his head.
What he said aligned closely with what Shiraishi knew of Shisui from the original storyline.
He felt injustice over the Uchiha's treatment, yet had no way to change it.
He didn't want the Uchiha to suffer, nor did he want the village's people to be harmed.
So until he found a better solution, all he could do was suppress the radical elements within the clan.
That mindset remained with him until his death.
That was why he proposed using Kotoamatsukami on Uchiha Fugaku—to suppress the radical thoughts within the clan and gain the trust of the village leadership.
Originally, Shisui had a real chance of succeeding.
But Danzō Shimura's ambush extinguished that hope.
After losing one Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui realized he no longer had the ability to control the clan's situation. As a result, he made an extremely bold decision.
He entrusted his remaining Mangekyō Sharingan to Uchiha Itachi.
Then, by using his own death to stimulate Itachi, he hoped Itachi would awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Shisui believed in Itachi's talent.
He believed Itachi would awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He believed that with three Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi could suppress the radical faction within the clan, gain the village leadership's trust, and prevent civil war.
What Shisui never expected was that Itachi's thinking would be even more radical than anyone else in the clan—just in a different direction.
Itachi wiped out the entire Uchiha clan, leaving only Uchiha Sasuke behind.
In a way, the problem was "solved."
But was this truly what Shisui wanted?
Was this really what the Uchiha needed?
---
"Shisui, have you asked the clan head about this?"
"I have."
Shisui shook his head, disappointment flashing across his face.
"But the clan head said he doesn't have any good solutions either. He can't control the situation within the clan."
Shiraishi frowned.
In his view, while Itachi was the direct executioner of the Uchiha's destruction, Fugaku bore no small share of responsibility—second only to Itachi himself.
As clan head, Fugaku had utterly failed.
Faced with the growing divide and conflict between the Uchiha and the village, he made no effort to resolve or even ease the situation.
Even if he couldn't fix the unfair treatment the Uchiha suffered.
Even if he couldn't lead the clan to victory.
At the very least, he should have suppressed the clan's radical elements.
Failing even that—what kind of clan head was he?
Even on the night of the massacre, Fugaku did nothing.
He watched his clansmen die.
He watched himself die.
If it were anyone else, they would simply be victims.
But Fugaku was the clan head.
That made him a sinner.
---
"Can't control it? Why? Isn't he the clan head?"
"He really can't," Shisui said.
"I secretly investigated. The Uchiha are currently split into two factions—a conservative faction and a radical faction."
"The clan head belongs to the conservative faction."
"The radical faction is led by Senior Yashiro."
"The clan head can control the conservatives, but he has no influence over the radicals."
The "Senior Yashiro" Shisui mentioned was Uchiha Yashiro, a member of the Konoha Military Police Force.
Likely because he interacted most with the village's civilians, he felt the discrimination and unfair treatment toward the Uchiha more acutely.
"But I don't think that's a valid excuse."
Shiraishi paused, then said,
"Shisui, I might not understand ninja affairs as well as you do, but after spending so much time with these ninja cats, I think a clan is a lot like a cat group."
"A cat group always has a leader."
"Not every cat agrees with the leader's ideas. Some may even oppose them."
"But at critical moments, every cat must obey the leader."
"A leader must be able to do that."
"If they can't…"
"Then that leader will inevitably be replaced."
"Without that ability, they have no right to remain in that position."
Shisui froze, then fell into deep thought.
"Shiraishi… you mean?"
A white cat wandered over and lay down beside Shiraishi's feet. Shiraishi reached down and rubbed its belly.
"Shisui, you're the genius of the Uchiha. That's why you're thinking about these issues at such a young age."
"I don't know the exact details of the Uchiha's relationship with the village."
"But from what you've said, I understand one thing."
"If suppressing the radicals can ease the conflict between the Uchiha and the village—and the current clan head can't do it—then what about replacing him?"
"If your strength is sufficient, you could replace the current clan head."
"You could become clan head yourself."
"In that case, you should be able to control the clan, right?"
"With your talent, that should be possible."
Shisui's eyes lit up.
After serious thought, he realized Shiraishi's words made a lot of sense.
"If I were the clan head…"
His thoughts expanded rapidly.
He thought of many things he could do.
Changes he could bring to the Uchiha.
Changes he could bring to the relationship between the Uchiha and the village.
He realized that civil war might truly be preventable.
"But… the clan head is still in his prime. Even if my strength surpasses his, would it really be appropriate to seize the position directly?"
"Shisui," Shiraishi said,
"if the situation is really as bad as you say, then worrying about such minor details is meaningless. Compared to everything else, it's trivial."
Shisui fell silent for a moment.
"You're right, Shiraishi. You make a lot of sense."
He let out a long breath.
"After hearing you out, my thoughts are much clearer. The Uchiha's situation hasn't deteriorated to the point of being completely unchangeable."
"Thank you, Shiraishi. You've given me a lot of inspiration."
With that, Shisui stood up.
"I'll get going, then."
At this moment, Shisui was already feeling impatient to act.
Shiraishi looked at Shisui again.
The text above Shisui's head had changed.
[91 — Shiraishi really is a good person. Too bad his ninja talent is lacking.]
A voice sounded in Shiraishi's mind.
[Uchiha Shisui's favorability has reached 91. Initiate harvesting?]