Chapter 53

"My little Takeshi, you've finally woken up!" Rin exclaimed, rushing back to Jiraiya's tent as soon as possible.

Now that Sunagakure Village has retreated to the border, the war has ceased, and the patrol protection level has decreased significantly.

With everyone familiar with Rin by this period, moving around the camp has become much smoother.

"Meow!" Takeshi stuck out his tongue, still tired from exercising with Jiraiya. He had just finished his workout and was so exhausted that he almost collapsed...

"So great!" The little girl jumped for joy, not minding that the cat had gained a bit of weight.

Being overweight was better than being dead, and she was truly relieved. She had been really scared before.

"Like I said, he's okay. Look at this kitten. He's become much stronger than before in just a few days. This is all thanks to me," Jiraiya boasted in front of the little girl, seeking credit.

Although he didn't care about Rin, he felt doubly satisfied when he saw the little girl's adoring and happy expression.

Why be embarrassed to take credit? He wasn't lying in the first place.

When Takeshi later learned about Jiraiya's orignal plan, he almost jumped up and slapped Jiraiya. If the old toad had really knocked out the natural energy with a stick, he would have suffered a tremendous loss – of thousand points!

Fortunately, Fukasaku, the understanding old toad, didn't do that in the end. Instead, he let Takeshi digest it on his own... Thinking of today's suffering, he had to choose silence.

"Meow~Rin, where have you been during this time?" Takeshi asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"We went on a mission. There are no missions here. We have to go back to the village," Rin replied, touching the cat's head and petting his back.

Return to the village? No matter whether he goes back to the village, Konoha is at least safe, unlike here, which is full of dangers.

Although it is easy to collect points here, Jiraiya is also difficult to get along with when he gets angry. He doesn't want to run through the forest anymore.

"Leaving now? Oh, that's right. Minato has some political affairs to attend to in Konoha, so it's time to go back," Jiraiya sighed melancholy. To be honest, even if he accepts two or three more students, it is better than guarding the border here.

However, Sandaime was his Sensei, and Tsunade was not in the village. Apart from him and Orochimaru, who else had the ability to guard the border and resist foreign enemies?

"Jiraiya-sama, we will leave. Thank you very much!" Rin bowed deeply. Neither the blood contract summoning scroll nor the Needle Jizo were ordinary things.

Jiraiya was very kind to her. Of course, she was grateful for his kindness and kept it in her heart.

"Go on, go on, say goodbye to Minato for me."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Takeshi said goodbye to Jiraiya in high spirits, then jumped out of Rin's arms and quickly led the way.

"Hey! Jiraiya-sama, farewell." Rin said again, then quickly caught up with the fast-running cat – this little guy was often quiet but would never jump down and run when he could be lazy while laying on his shoulder.

"Why did you suddenly change your temper today?" Jiraiya laughed, shook his head slightly, and sighed. Unfortunately, he still couldn't figure out what this guy's natural energy was about...

"Forget it; it probably has nothing to do with the sage mode for humans, so I won't think about it anymore." He is an open-minded person.

Sage mode for him cannot be fully trained like Ninja beasts. This is something that has been understood by him many years ago, but now he just sighs after seeing a little hope – if you can absorb part of the natural energy for a short period of time, and then slowly transform it into sage jutsu's, while inefficient, should be a low-quality substitute for Sage Mode on its own.

But it was obvious that the stupid cat didn't even understand what was going on.

Takeshi ran to meet Minato and the others. Obito laughed at him for gaining weight when he saw him, and the result was that he was chased all over the place, and finally got tangled in cat hair and was beaten. He was not let go until he finally begged for mercy.

It's a long way back to Konoha from the border. In the past, the little black cat would have hitched a ride home easily by laying on someone, but in order to lose weight... he just ran along all the way, without having to ride on anyone else for any part of the way.

This made the team go much faster. His belly also shrank a lot when they came to Konoha. The change brought about by the shrinking belly is that the black cat grew faster overall.

Before eating luxury cat food, although Takeshi was a ninja cat, his body shape was no different from that of an ordinary nine-month-old cat.

But now that he has eaten one luxury cat food and has been strengthened by natural energy, he has become a one-year-old cat size.

Of course, it's not just body shape. The strength, speed, and even claws are much stronger than before.

He has not tested how much stronger he is, but he is much stronger than before, just by being bigger. It's okay now, and it doesn't affect my ability to hide, 'but when I reach the period of rapid growth when I'm more than one year old, my size will definitely grow further... Then it'll be difficult!' Takeshi was worried in his heart. The roasted meat in the bowl was no longer looking delicious.

Minato was treating his team, so he basically had no scruples for eating his fill. He ate as much as he could with the intention of emptying the kitchen.

He didn't give up until Rin forcibly dragged him out of the restaurant.

"I mentioned to the Third Hokage about going to Uchiha Clan's territory, so we won't have any missions these days, Obito... Please pass this scroll to your clan leader." Minato came out of the restaurant and walked further.

He had to handle some business. When he returned to Konoha in the afternoon, he immediately went to see the Third Hokage to state the situation, and told him that he wanted Takeshi to go to the Ninja cat castle of Neko granny within Uchiha clan territory. As a ninja cat, he should have necessary protection.

"Yes." Obito took the scroll. Kakashi glanced at them, then bowed to the Sensei and turned to go home.

"Well, I'll see you in front of the Uchiha clan gate tomorrow. Rin, you go to Konoha Hospital as usual. You don't have to come together. There are too many people in the Uchiha's territory."

"Okay, thank you, Sensei." Then, Minato gave a few more instructions before they each went home.

Megumi Nohara found out in the afternoon that her daughter had returned to the village. Although Konoha is not small, it is not big either.

Anyone who comes back from outside will soon be heard by the family. However, Rin still apologized.

After all, it is logical that the first thing after returning to the village is to come to her mother to report that she is safe.

Takeshi and Rin didn't have dinner because they had barbecue. But at night, while others were sleeping, he sneaked out and tormented the rats in the area again.

After becoming stronger, these rats couldn't escape at all. The next day, more than twenty rats were displayed on the side of the street.

Although he only has three or four hundred points, any points are better than no points.

The next day, Takeshi got up very early, got out of the window, and headed for the Uchiha clan – it had been so long since he had been in Konoha, but he had never been to the Uchiha clan.

At this moment, Obito hadn't created trouble yet of releasing kyuubi, so Uchiha hadn't been completely driven out of the village.

Takeshi walked along the street and soon saw the familiar Uchiwa sign from a distance.

"Meow!" Not long after they got close, several cats came out of the darkness and meowed at Takeshi. Their eyes were wary and full of hostility. This is a warning for himself!

Seeing them getting closer and closer, gradually surrounding him, Takeshi suddenly roared, and the black cat hair grew wildly, entangling all the cats around him in just a few seconds.

If he were dealing with a Strong Ninja, his own fur would be cut off, but a mere domestic cat... Heh, so foolish.

After two or three seconds, several cats were released and all surrendered, making "surrender" poses.

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