Somewhere in an unknown, decaying corridor.
On both sides of the dim passageway, ninja cats licked their fur. Hearing footsteps, they glanced up, offered a lazy greeting, then went right back to grooming.
Uchiha Sora and Shisui walked through the corridor and entered a spacious inner chamber.
This was the ninja cats' domain—Nekobaa's Cat Paradise.
Cat Paradise was not some countryside village. It existed in a ruined, unclaimed zone that belonged to no nation and no hidden village.
Because Nekobaa was skilled at crafting tools for ninja cats, many of them formed contracts with her and gathered under her protection, forming what people called Cat Paradise.
At the same time, it was one of the Uchiha clan's deepest entanglements—an information and weapons source with long-standing ties.
Many Uchiha chose ninja cats as their summoning partners.
Sora was one of them.
…
Shisui had not contracted ninja cats. His summons were the family's traditional ninja crows, and this was his first time here. Curiosity shone in his eyes.
He raised a hand toward the crouched ninja cat guarding the door—
"Hinata has a bad temper. Don't tease him."
The gatekeeper, the ninja cat Hinata, yawned and stretched.
"Oh? It's Sora, meow. Did you bring something?"
Hinata was a shameless opportunist. Even though Sora knew him well, showing up empty-handed would still put the cat in a foul mood.
Sora pulled two bottles of matatabi drink from his sleeve and handed one each to the guard cats, Hinata and Taka.
"Go call Nekobaa."
"OK, meow!"
…
Not long after they sat down, an elderly woman entered with a cat in her arms.
She wore orange clothing, a dark-gray cat-ear accessory on her head, and smoked a pipe.
Taking a seat across from them, Nekobaa looked first to Shisui.
"Shisui, is it? First time meeting."
"I hear you're the most talented of the Uchiha's new generation."
Shisui bowed politely.
"You flatter me. Compared to Sora, I'm not a genius at all."
Even if Sora's combat display had relied heavily on Rayquaza, in the shinobi world a summon was part of one's strength.
Sora couldn't be bothered with polite back-and-forth.
"Nekobaa. I want the location of the Fūma clan."
"The Fūma…"
Nekobaa thought for a moment.
"If I remember correctly, they worked with you Uchiha during the Warring States Period."
"The Fūma specialize in weapons…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Sora, don't tell me you're heartless enough to abandon this old woman for a new weapons merchant?"
"Cat Paradise is an important ally of the Uchiha. We don't have a habit of abandoning allies."
Sora shook his head.
"It's different now. The weapons you supplied before were enough—and we could bill Konoha."
"But now we're on our own."
"Where we can save, we save."
"Everything's only just started. The cost of rebuilding a village is too high…"
After complaining about finances for a bit, Sora went straight to the point.
"I'm going to absorb the Fūma clan."
…
"If I'm not mistaken, your next step is forming a hidden village."
Sora smiled.
"Yes. A village that belongs to the Uchiha."
…
"Sora, don't blame me for being blunt. Even if you're short on money, the intel fee doesn't get discounted by a single ryō."
Sora nodded.
"Of course."
"But—"
"I understand. You want to put it on credit."
Nekobaa exhaled smoke.
"This isn't the first time. Pay next time."
Not only Nekobaa—nearly every ninja cat here had lent Sora money before.
They didn't know what he used it for. They didn't care.
He repaid, principal and interest, on time every month.
To the ninja cats, lending to Sora was a stable, profitable investment.
Especially the blue cat, Garo—he had lent Sora everything he had, treating it as long-term investing with monthly repayments.
If it weren't for Sora's impeccable credit, even Fugaku wouldn't have been allowed to run a tab here.
…
Nekobaa took a deep pull from her pipe, as though thinking.
As the Uchiha's intelligence broker, she was formidable.
She didn't have an "intel room" or a library—countless secrets were stored in her mind through a hidden technique.
On the underground black market, the bounty on her head had already reached eighty million ryō.
But Nekobaa was no helpless old woman. She was strong in her own right, backed by many contracted ninja cats—and, most importantly, protected by her status as an Uchiha ally.
Few dared touch her.
Still, there was one green-bean-eyed bastard who was always trying.
Nekobaa knew he was dangerous. Whenever she heard he was nearby, she simply disappeared first.
…
After a moment, she pulled out a map and pointed to a spot.
"Here."
The Land of Rice Fields…
After Orochimaru's defection and his involvement with the Akatsuki, he would later establish Otogakure there—though that would be after he fully broke away.
Sora pulled a thick stack of silver from his robe.
"This is the agreed fee for the ninja cats helping with relocation."
"Reconstruction will still need you. Wages next time."
Ding—
「Completed the agreement with Nekobaa. Reputation Points +16」
…
Over several years, Sora had accumulated over six hundred Reputation Points by building trust with his clan and Cat Paradise—then he had taken out one massive loan.
Rayquaza was a "1000-point" borrowing.
But due to the first-time user bonus, it only froze 500 of his Reputation Points.
Now, those 500 were locked. Until he repaid Rayquaza, the points he could actually use were just over a hundred.
Borrowing today and repaying tomorrow wouldn't work.
At minimum, the transaction had to be reasonable, last longer than a month, and offer profit to the lender…
The platform's rules were complex. There were no loopholes.
And there was another crucial rule that affected how many Reputation Points you gained:
The stronger the lender, and the harder the agreement, the more Reputation Points you earned.
To Sora, Reputation Points were like collateral.
Those frozen 500 points were the deposit for borrowing Rayquaza's power.
And the borrowing relationship wasn't as simple as letting Rayquaza cross worlds to vent.
…
—
「Myriad Heavens and Ten Thousand Realms Borrowing Platform」
After Sora completed his first borrowing, a branch database appeared beneath it.
「Current Borrowing Project: Sky Deity Beast — Rayquaza」
「Project Rank: Gold」
「Related Information」
Rayquaza Trial Hold:
User currently holds 20% of Rayquaza's instinctive energy operation, randomly mutated into 50% chakra control.
Bond Amplification:
User shares similar traits with the lender. Randomly obtained ability receives a 60% amplification.
—
「Repayment Terms」
User may not repay early.
Time flows differently across worlds—your ten years may not equal the lender's ten years.
This is borrowing risk and must be borne by the user.
If overdue, Pursuit will trigger: every minute, 10% of the user's total attributes will be deducted until repayment is completed.
User may pawn abstract concepts such as 「Memory Fragments」, 「Emotional Colors」, 「Ability Knowledge」 to obtain a grace period.
…
Warm Reminder: Major default will trigger 「Chain of Misfortune」…
—
—
It felt as if a fragment of Rayquaza had fused into him.
All his capabilities were enhanced—most noticeably, his chakra control.
That sudden surge in control was exactly why Sora achieved the three-tomoe Sharingan after the battle.
Feeling the power contained in his eyes, Sora set aside thoughts of accumulating Reputation Points for now.
The priority was simple:
Digest the gains—
And make them his own.