Time passed quietly in this leisurely routine.
During this period, aside from staying in the wooden house, Retsu would occasionally visit the nearby town mentioned by the tanuki clan, restocking daily necessities along the way.
Most of the time, however, he immersed himself in training Sage Mode.
With his Edo Tensei body, practicing taijutsu and ninjutsu yielded limited results. But to his surprise, the natural energy in this world was unusually active. Training Sage Mode here was far more efficient than in the ninja world.
The Sage Mode he practiced was the one Jiraiya had learned at Mount Myoboku.
Unfortunately, Retsu's talent for senjutsu wasn't outstanding like Naruto's. He was closer to Jiraiya's level—usable, but with obvious toad-like traits. Because of that, he rarely relied on it in battle.
After coming to this world, though, he discovered that the abundant natural energy greatly reduced the difficulty of entering Sage Mode and significantly extended its duration.
He still needed to remain still for a period to activate it.
Yet recently, while experimenting out of boredom, he noticed something unexpected.
Perhaps due to the different nature of the world's energy…
The longer he used Sage Mode, the better his control became. He could enter it faster and faster, and even the obvious toad traits were gradually fading.
Now, his Sage Mode showed almost no visible transformation.
Only frog-like horizontal pupils and a faint orange eye shadow remained—very similar to Naruto's later state.
"Maybe one day, I'll reach Hashirama's level—clap my hands and instantly enter Sage Mode without any transformation at all."
The thought grew stronger, driving him to train even harder.
At this moment, Retsu sat cross-legged on the balcony floor.
Faint natural energy swirled around him, merging him with the surrounding mountains and forests. His perception stretched endlessly.
Suddenly, in Sage Mode, his heightened senses caught a powerful demonic aura rushing toward the valley—accompanied by several weaker ones.
Those weaker auras matched the tanuki clan perfectly.
"So, the cat demon is finally here."
Retsu opened his eyes. The horizontal pupils faded, and the natural energy dispersed as he exited Sage Mode.
He pushed open the balcony door and leapt down from the second floor.
After landing lightly, he dashed toward the sensed direction.
Before long, a red figure appeared among the trees, moving swiftly with several tanuki demons in tow.
She had short, sharp red hair and matching crimson eyes.
Her tall, slender figure was lined with lean, powerful muscles.
She wore a white short top and black trousers, with a brown fur skirt layered outside. A vivid red sash wrapped around her waist, and brown fur boots reached her knees.
Most striking of all was the brown cat tail behind her, swaying unconsciously with every step.
"Xia Lan of the Leopard Cat Clan?"
Retsu recognized her instantly.
That familiar outfit and feline aura—she was the third of the Panther Cat Four Heavenly Kings, Xia Lan.
While he was observing her, Xia Lan's nose twitched.
She suddenly looked up and met his gaze—Retsu stood beneath a tree, arms crossed.
Her expression immediately turned wary.
"Hey, who are you? Why are you blocking my way?"
She stopped and assumed a guarded stance.
Retsu didn't answer right away.
Instead, he looked her up and down with interest, lingering briefly on her tail.
With slight regret, he commented, "A cat girl, huh… too bad you don't have cat ears. What a pity."
"Don't piss me off!"
Xia Lan's eyes narrowed. Sharp claws extended from her fingertips.
"Talk! Who are you? What do you want?"
If she hadn't come alone to gather information in Inu Demon territory, she would've attacked already.
Retsu withdrew his gaze and pulled out a Shikon Jewel shard from his pouch.
Holding it between his fingers, he gently shook it.
The pink crystal glittered in the sunlight, instantly capturing Xia Lan's attention.
"My name is Uchiha Retsu," he said lazily.
Seeing her eyes glued to the shard, he smiled.
"Hey, kitty. Heard you've been looking for this?"
"Is that… a Shikon Jewel shard?"
Her eyes lit up, her voice filled with excitement.
"You didn't even know what it looked like?" Retsu mocked. "So you've just been searching blindly this whole time?"
"Shut up!"
Her cheeks flushed red. She snarled in embarrassment and bared her fangs.
"If you know what's good for you, hand it over! Or I'll kill you!"
"Easy there, kitty."
Unfazed, Retsu casually tossed the shard up and down.
Xia Lan's gaze followed it unconsciously. Her head bobbed along with it.
Retsu suddenly realized—
Even without cat ears, she was still ridiculously cute.
"Kitty, I'm curious," he said playfully. "What do you want the Shikon Jewel for, anyway?"
He already knew from the story, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"Stop calling me kitty!"
Xia Lan snapped back to her senses, puffing out her chest.
"I'm a leopard cat, not some stray!"
She pointed her claws at him again, voice fierce.
"And what I do with it is none of your business! Give it to me now, or I'll kill you!"
"Cute, but…"
Retsu caught the falling shard and slipped it back into his pouch.
"This thing's dangerous. I can't let you play with it. So—no."
"You bastard! I've had enough of you!"
Xia Lan finally exploded.
Between the constant "kitty" teasing and being toyed with using the shard, she had reached her limit.
She growled, demonic energy surging violently around her.
"I'm a leopard cat, not a house pet that chases mice!"
With a powerful stomp, she shot forward like a red blur.
Her right hand turned into claws, glinting coldly as she slashed at Retsu's face.
Retsu stepped back half a pace and easily avoided the strike.
Xia Lan's eyes sharpened.
She kicked off a nearby tree, twisting midair and launching another strike toward his throat—fast and ruthless.
But Retsu merely leaned back slightly, dodging again with ease.
He even had time to raise an eyebrow at her.
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