Chapter 89: Successor
After reporting back, Kael returned to his new home.
He had managed to defeat Shimura Danzo, a notorious figure from the original story. It would be a lie to say he wasn't pleased with himself. However, he didn't let it go to his head. Instead, the battle made him acutely aware of his own shortcomings and filled him with a new sense of urgency.
That old schemer Danzo was a ticking time bomb hanging over the Hidden Hot Water Village. Coupled with the looming Third Great Shinobi War, Kael felt completely unprepared. His current strength was nowhere near enough to ensure the village's survival.
So, even though Jade had given him time off, Kael didn't rest. He intensified his own training and simultaneously requested that Jade dispatch shinobi to gather rare and unusual materials for him from across the Shinobi World. He also sent his own summons out into the Land of Hot Water to find various creatures, hoping to stumble upon another high-compatibility synthesis formula to increase his power.
Three years later.
Year 12 of the Hidden Hot Water Era, April.
The Hidden Hot Water Village was holding the inauguration ceremony for its new Leader.
Kael accepted the white, four-sided hat—the symbol of the Village Leader—from Jade's hands, a faint smile on his face. As he placed the hat on his head, the square erupted in thunderous cheers from the shinobi and villagers.
The era of Kael Cross had finally begun.
"Kael, in a few days, you'll come with me to visit the Feudal Lord. Once you have his official recognition, your position as Leader will be secure. After all these years, he'll give me some face. Don't worry, there won't be any problems," Jade said.
Three years had passed. Jade looked even older, his frame more frail. To an outsider, he looked like a man in his eighties, with one foot already in the grave.
Kael nodded, noncommittal.
"From now on, the village is in your hands. You're still young, but you're already a mature shinobi. I have nothing to worry about. As Leader, your first duty is to maintain a good relationship with the Feudal Lord..."
As Jade continued to advise him, Kael maintained an appearance of listening intently. He had his own ideas, many of which ran directly counter to Jade's cautious philosophy, but he didn't argue. Jade's body was now rail-thin, and even walking was a chore. His life was clearly nearing its end.
Kael saw no reason to make the old man worry in his final moments. Jade had spent his entire life walking on eggshells for the village. Kael just wanted him to live out the rest of his days in peace.
Night fell.
After leaving Jade's home, Kael returned to his own. He walked into his living room and tossed the symbolic hat into a corner, unable to stop himself from complaining.
"How can a hat be this ugly?"
In his opinion, the white, boxy hat was ten times uglier than the Hokage's Kasa. He wouldn't be caught dead wearing it.
Just then, two of his summons dashed into the room, chasing each other playfully—a half-meter-tall tabby cat was hunting a large, brown-eared hamster.
Just as the hamster was about to be caught, its body flickered and vanished without a trace. The tabby cat's eyes showed a flash of human-like annoyance, but it stopped, clearly familiar with this trick.
The hamster, bored, reappeared at Kael's feet and stuck its tongue out at the cat.
"Squeak, squeak! —Stupid cat, can't catch me!"
The two began to circle Kael's legs. He sighed, already regretting synthesizing this particular pair.
[Summoning Beast: Tabby Cat]
Rank: C
Species: Felidae Mammal
Attribute: Astral Host
Abilities:
Possession: The Tabby Cat can possess another living creature, granting it an amount of chakra and physical attributes equal to its own. (This chakra is for combat only and is not recognized by the system as the host's, nor can it be used for synthesis.)
Astral Shield (Passive): While possessing a host, the Tabby Cat provides an invisible shield that blocks mental-damage attacks. The shield persists as long as it is not broken.
Repulsion Aura: The Tabby Cat gathers astral power and unleashes a circular aura that knocks enemies back.
System Evaluation: By the sacred fire, meow, meow, meow.
[Summoning Beast: Void Mouse]
Rank: C
Species: Muridae Rodent
Attribute: Void
Abilities:
Void Slip: The Void Mouse slips its body into the void for up to three minutes, existing outside the normal planes of reality.
Kamui: The Void Mouse focuses the trace amount of void power in its body into its eyes, causing a minor rupture in the focused space. All objects within that space are torn apart as the space collapses.
System Evaluation: Behold my Kamui, it is invincible!
"Alright, alright, stop circling!" Kael snapped.
The two summons immediately stopped. The Void Mouse scampered up Kael's leg and onto his shoulder, where it sat, cupped its paws to its mouth, and blew a raspberry at the tabby cat. The cat's fur stood on end, and it hissed.
Kael slapped a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth as he glared at the mouse. "Are you asking for it? Next time your 'brothers' team up to beat on you, I'm not getting involved!"
"Squeak... —I'm sorry..." the mouse whimpered.
But Kael knew it was all an act. This thing was incorrigible. It loved using its Void Slip ability to terrorize its "brothers." This had culminated in an incident where it was cornered in the void by ten million furious Explosive Flies, which self-destructed on it for three solid minutes. The terrified mouse was forced back into reality, where it was promptly beaten half to death by the rest of Kael's summons.
Kael hadn't even tried to break up that fight. His Explosive Fly army had lost 10% of its numbers in that one incident—nearly a million flies. It had broken Kael's heart. That was the equivalent of 10,000 exploding tags!
After that, the Void Mouse had calmed down considerably, but it still got into fights. It had become a full-blown family feud. For some reason, though, the mouse especially loved to torment the Tabby Cat, and the cat, by its very nature, couldn't resist the bait.
"Alright, Tabby, I disciplined him. If he bothers you again, just go tell your brothers. They'll be more than happy to help you out, and I won't stop them."
"Meow! —Mhm, mhm!" The cat nodded eagerly and stalked out of the room.
"Hah... thank god. Of all my summons, the Void Mouse is the only real troublemaker. If the other summon I made with a void-stone had the same personality, I'd have a real headache..." Kael thought, feeling a small sense of relief.