Chapter 38

________________________________________

"It's up to you!"

Toki focused his thoughts on the system panel.

"Psychic Beast Cultivation Center!"

The corresponding family map appeared, showing a large indoor training ground near the No. 1 training ground, located next to the forest. This place was originally built for Uchiha ninjas to conduct battle assessments, but it perfectly matched the needs of the Psychic Beast Cultivation Center.

As Toki activated the center, the ninjas inside the training ground were suddenly ejected by a mysterious force.

"What happened?"

"I know, it's the clan elder! He must have done something again!"

"The Mangekyō that can enhance family buildings is incredible—long live the patriarch!"

The Uchiha ninjas outside were filled with excitement, glowing with admiration. They could hardly contain themselves.

Toki had always attributed the magical nature of these new buildings to his Mangekyō Sharingan, explaining to the clan that his advanced eye technique had the power to manifest such wonders. After all, if the Kamui dimension could create an entire parallel world, why couldn't his eye produce some magical buildings?

The clan quickly accepted this explanation, without question. After all, it was Uchiha Toki—who would dare doubt him?

Because of these supernatural contributions to the family, nearly all of the clan now saw Toki as the rising star of the Uchiha, and even Shisui's loyalty had reached 60 points. Though this level of loyalty only ensured Shisui was generally aligned with the Uchiha, it was still significant.

Toki never worried about secrets leaking, especially not before the larger conflict with the village's elite forces. The family's system effects were limited to clan members, and even if outsiders stepped inside these buildings, they wouldn't benefit from the bonuses.

Looking at the new Psychic Beast Cultivation Center on the map, Toki felt a rush of excitement. If the 1,000 points he had spent upgrading the Ninja Tool R&D Center had brought him valuable items, there was no telling what awaited him with the Psychic Beast Cultivation Center.

When choosing between the Ninjutsu R&D Center and the Psychic Beast Cultivation Center, Toki had been torn. But considering that his current clan couldn't yet wield powerful, complex ninjutsu efficiently, he opted for the psychic beasts instead. After all, the addition of a strong summoning beast could drastically increase a ninja's combat effectiveness, as seen with Sarutobi Hiruzen's use of Enma, the Monkey King, which practically doubled his power.

[Ding! The Psychic Beast Cultivation Center has been activated. Would you like to initiate a free search for psychic beasts?]

"Yes," Toki commanded.

[Searching for psychic beasts...]

[Congratulations! The Uchiha clan has successfully signed a contract with the Little Fire Dragon clan. You have been rewarded with 10 Psychic Balls.]

[Fire-Breathing Lizard: A fire-element psychic beast. The flame on its tail reflects its emotions: it flickers when happy and burns intensely when angry.]

[Psychic Ball: A contract scroll for subduing wild psychic beasts, with a 30% success rate. The success rate doubles for tamed psychic beasts.]

Toki: "?????"

When the system announcement ended, Shi Yu's expression froze. He stared at the screen like an old man gazing confusedly at an unfamiliar emoji on his phone.

"What the—? Fire Pokémon, really?!"

"Do you think if you change the name, I won't recognize it?!" Toki grumbled internally.

"And what the heck is a 'Psychic Ball'?!" He couldn't believe his eyes. They didn't even bother to change the design—this was clearly a Poké Ball!

Clicking on the icon for the Psychic Beast Cultivation Center, he saw the upgrade details:

[To upgrade to Level 2 requires 10,000 family prestige points.]

[Searching for a new psychic beast contract requires 1,000 family prestige points.]

Toki realized it would likely keep pulling in creatures from the Pokémon universe, and leveling up would probably expand into other bizarre worlds. There was even an incubation shop with familiar items:

[Charizard X Evolution Stone – 10,000 family prestige]

[Charizard Y Evolution Stone – 10,000 family prestige]

[Psychic Ball – 100 family prestige]

[Super Ball – 500 family prestige]

[Master Ball – 1,000 family prestige]

Toki: "_"

"They didn't even bother changing the names!"

Seeing Toki's exasperated expression, an Uchiha clan member standing nearby asked curiously, "Lord Toki, is something wrong?"

This ninja had already fallen under Toki's persuasive leadership and was firmly loyal to him. To his eyes, anything Toki said or did made perfect sense.

Toki waved him off. "It's nothing... just... thinking about some... unfortunate things."

For a moment, Toki didn't know whether to laugh or cry at how the system had decided to introduce these strange creatures from another universe.

The Uchiha ninja, however, misunderstood Toki's expression, assuming he was worried about the upcoming battle.

Standing tall, the ninja declared solemnly, "Don't worry, Lord Toki! I will do everything in my power to protect our clan and help us win this war!"

Toki: "Ah... yes, yes. That's great. By the way, someone from the cavalry squad, come over here and take these psychic balls back. Also, bring me a few of those Fire-Breathing Lizards!"

________________________________________