Despite being a woman, her movements were anything but gentle.
She ruffled Raj's fur so vigorously it became a disheveled mess.
As for her claim of "missing him," ha!
In Kyoto the other day, her actions showed no sign of missing this cat at all!
Raj inwardly scoffed.
Kushina, caught up in her petting frenzy, tried to play with him again, but Raj nimbly dodged her and retaliated with a paw strike - a gentle tap, claws retracted.
"Kushina, is Minato back yet?" Jiraiya asked with a cheerful grin.
"It's been ages since I had his grilled meat. I've been craving it."
"Not yet," Kushina replied with a respectful bow.
"But he sent me a note saying he'll be back this afternoon. Please, make yourself comfortable."
Raj listened from the side, secretly envying the convenience of the Flying Thunder God Technique while inwardly condemning Jiraiya's hypocrisy.
'He knows perfectly well what's going on, yet he pretends otherwise, all while claiming to miss Minato's cooking... Ha!'
'If you're so hungry, why not ask Kushina to grill some meat?'
Kushina's cooking skills weren't great, but she could manage basic tasks like chopping meat and adding seasonings.
When Minato was around, he'd handle these tasks himself, but Minato wouldn't be back for a while, so she picked up the knife and got to work.
Raj watched from the side, feeling a mix of
Apprehension and amusement.
The cat suspected that the girl was venting all her frustration from being unable to go on missions onto the poor meat.
The chopping board reverberated with thunderous blows, sending shivers down the cat's spine.
"Hahaha, Kushina, you're still... so adorable."
Jiraiya had almost said 'violent,' but he quickly changed his mind at the last moment.
'What a coward!' Raj thought, curling its lip in disdain.
"Raj, you keep sticking your tongue out and making faces. Don't you think Kushina is cute?"
"Meow~ I'm not!"
Now it was Jiraiya's turn to laugh.
'Answering so quickly? That's just more cowardice! Let's not laugh at each other. We're all the same.'
Raj glanced at the Points Panel and saw it had increased by a few dozen points.
Immediately, he dismissed Jiraiya's actions as insignificant compared to the potential Points.
What was such a trivial matter anyway?
He pondered how to extract more Points from Jiraiya, but after witnessing the recent chaos, Jiraiya had become far too cautious to yield any more.
'This is tough,' Raj thought.
Raj leaped onto the kitchen counter, considering harassing Kushina, but fearing he might inadvertently become a casualty of her knife, he decided to keep his distance.
'Forget it. I can earn more Points later...'
Raj began darting around the house, partly to create a commotion that might yield Points, and partly to circulate the Natural Energy within his body, further integrating it into his feline form.
Earlier, he had worried that increasing his Sage Art Chakra would cause him to grow to the size of the Toads, but after another meal, he realized his body hadn't enlarged.
Instead, his claws seemed to have become much stronger.
Previously, sharpening his claws would leave only shallow scratches on the floor.
Now, prolonged sharpening could carve deep grooves, demonstrating how much sharper and harder his claws had become.
'This must be the Sage Art Chakra merging with my body,' Raj thought.
'Thankfully, it's not all bad. But what worries me is this: if my claws keep getting harder, sharper, and longer, how will I keep them trimmed to a comfortable length?'
As Raj ran, he pondered this dilemma.
When he opened the Shop, his eyes immediately landed on the two unused cat scratching posts in his Item Space.
'So that's where the catch is?'
He then remembered the iron ball he'd pinned his hopes on.
It seemed useful, but Jinin Akebino had simply smashed it away like a baseball with his bat.
'It's all a scam!' he lamented inwardly.
'At this rate, how will I ever accumulate the ten thousand-plus Points I need? It seems like an impossible dream.'
Raj was running around, Kushina was slicing meat, and Jiraiya had pulled out his pen to start writing his novel.
He hadn't yet ventured into the Make-Out Series.
His current works were more conventional novels, but they were clearly flopping hard - he'd be lucky to even get them published.
Soon after, Kushina scolded Raj, allowing Raj to successfully "harvest" his first batch of Points from her.
He quieted down to avoid the wrath of the violent woman.
Not long after...
"I'm home!"
The door swung open, and Minato returned to find Jiraiya sitting inside, while a black cat darted around the room.
He looked around, puzzled by the scene.
After a brief explanation, Minato understood the situation.
He immediately dispatched Shadow Clones to invite Kakashi, Obito, and Rin over.
He also stocked up on meat, fish, shrimp, and other delicacies, preparing for a celebratory feast.
Rin was unharmed, and Obito was not only safe but seemed invigorated, his demeanor drastically different from before.
Having awakened his Sharingan, he now brazenly discarded his goggles - a classic case of burning bridges after crossing the river.
In short, the guy had gotten cocky.
Raj leaped onto Obito's head, sparking a fierce struggle.
One tried to swat the cat off, while the other scrambled to evade the attacks, clinging stubbornly to its perch.
Everyone knew Raj loved to cause mischief, so they didn't intervene, instead watching with amusement.
A few minutes later, Obito sat dejectedly in his chair, the cat perched arrogantly on his head, utterly defiant.
He looked utterly defeated, as if all hope had drained from his life.
'Why, even with the Sharingan, am I still getting bullied by a cat? Is fate truly inescapable...?'
"Raj, stop clinging to Obito's head! Get down here!"
"Meow~"
Raj leaped down from Obito's head.
It didn't particularly enjoy being so mischievous, but Obito, in his puffed-up state, had been thoroughly doused with cold water, earning the cat a whopping 400+ Points.
For Obito, this was an astronomical sum.
'Ah, what a satisfying haul!'
Soon after, Minato brought out the barbecue grill.
As they grilled the meat, they sat around the table chatting.
The conversation started with a recap of the mission, during which Obito repeatedly boasted about his bravery and skill, drawing laughter from everyone.
Raj listened attentively, his mind as clear as a mirror.
The mission had indeed been primarily a test, challenging but not overly difficult, with most enemies at the Elite Chunin level.
The fact that they could complete the mission independently, without Minato's intervention, proved that Kakashi and the others possessed the potential to become an Elite Squad.
Next, Minato brought up the Chunin Exams.
"Now that peace talks with Sunagakure have succeeded, we'll be jointly hosting the Chunin Exams next week at Bellflower Mountain Castle on the Land of Fire's border. So..."
"We're participating?"