Raj waited until they were gone before trailing after them.
A cat's keen sense of sll allowed it to follow their scent trail easily.
anwhile, Kabuto ahead was still puzzling over what felt wrong.
Just as they neared ho, a realization struck him: the ninja had ntioned pet-related businesses as lucrative ventures.
'Could that ninja be the owner of the Ninja Cat? It's possible!'
This thought sparked another idea: if he learned dical Ninjutsu, he could earn money by treating both people and pets.
'That's another way to make money!' he mused. 'Once I'm skilled enough, I could even open a pet hospital.'
At this point, Kabuto had no experience with dical techniques.
He assud that treating humans and pets were essentially the sa, both falling under the umbrella of "dicine," and saw no fundantal difference between the two.
The Inuzuka Clan are the biggest pet owners, but they have their own veterinary team and don't rely on outsiders.
When Raj suggested opening a pet hospital, he was mainly thinking about the larger market in Kyoto.
Of course, he also felt sorry for the orphans and wanted a legitimate place in Konoha to play, bully other cats and dogs, and earn Points.
Kabuto was a clever man, or Orochimaru wouldn't have taken an interest in him.
Raj lingered for a while, confirming the orphanage's location.
Glancing at the darkening sky, he realized it was too late to stay.
But he resolved to visit again when he had ti.
Back ho, Raj crouched in his cozy nest, lost in thought.
'When will this miserable life end? I wish ti would pass faster.'
Rin hadn't returned ho for three days.
The night before last, Raj had seen the Chunin hurriedly receive orders and leave.
He still hadn't returned by today.
'Could it be...?'
Raj felt a pang of worry.
Rin hadn't appeared in the Naruto series, and in recent years, Konoha had been engaged in constant, albeit small-scale, conflicts with neighboring villages.
Even small wars claid lives.
His unease lingered, but thankfully, it didn't last long.
By evening, Rin returned, physically unhard but with a complex mix of emotions.
A heavy sorrow hung in the air - soone in his team must have died.
"Father," Rin said as she returned ho.
She paused in surprise upon seeing him before giving a slight bow.
"Raj, sit down," Rin said wearily, forgoing his usual small talk.
After a long, blank stare, he finally spoke, "You children will likely graduate early."
Her eyes widened.
'All of us graduating early? How is that possible?!'
Rin wasn't a genius in her class, but her academic performance consistently ranked at the top.
She had a clear understanding of the abilities and grades of most of her classmates.
Half of them graduating wouldn't have surprised her, but all of them...?
"Ah, too many have died. There's nothing we can do about it," he said heavily.
After several years of respite, the Iwa and Suna Ninja Villages were showing signs of renewed aggression toward Konoha.
This ti, Sunagakure was leading the charge, and Konoha had suffered heavy losses among its Genin.
Among the three Genin under his command, two had fallen at the hands of Sunagakure.
'No wonder...'
Rin thought of the wounded soldiers.
It explained the sudden surge in patients at the hospital.
Raj, who had been eavesdropping nearby, couldn't help but feel dazed.
War had begun.
No wonder Rin hadn't returned ho for days.
This visit was likely just a temporary handover before he had to leave again soon.
After all, Chunin ford the backbone of the ninja system.
After a mont of hesitation, Raj decided he should show his support.
He leaped from his nest onto the dining table.
The two humans didn't even notice him.
Raj leaped onto the dining table, provoking Rin, the clan head, to
Both anger and a near-reflexive attempt to knock him off flared.
The man's nerves were frayed from days of relentless travel.
But Rin intervened, shielding Raj in her arms to protect him from her father's wrath.
She glanced down and exclaid with surprise and delight, "Father, look!"
Her father initially dismissed her words, but his eyes widened as he took a closer look.
A forehead protector.
The forehead protectors for Ninja Beasts differed from those worn by humans, and their evaluation thods varied, but the fundantal requirent remained the sa: strength.
In just over two weeks, Raj would only be eight months old.
This level of talent was extraordinary.
Raj flicked his tail and hopped off the table as the cook erged with the al, glaring at him to get down.
He obediently settled onto the cushion on the floor, waiting to be fed.
A plate of food was placed before him.
The dish contained both vegetables and at, though it was simpler than usual.
While the at was undoubtedly more appealing, Raj knew he had to eat the vegetables too-Tsu wouldn't tolerate any fussiness.
After finishing his al, he rose and began wandering around the room.
Rin's class had been suspended, leaving Raj without his most reliable source of Points.
With his daily expenses still high, he had no choice but to reluctantly turn to his family for help.
Based on his recent observations, the System's Point calculation seed to work like this: the greater the emotional distress of the bullied target, the higher the Point reward.
Take Obito, for example.
Though weak, he had been cornered into begging for rcy and promising to give Raj dried fish. His genuine desperation had earned Raj a reward of one or two hundred Points.
The Third Hokage, on the other hand, was simply too good-natured.
'Maybe I should leave so after-dinner sweets in the Hokage's office one day? That might earn so Points, but the difficulty's too high, making it practically impossible.'
'It'd be far simpler and more direct to use a seductive technique on the Third Hokage. Now that's a good idea...'
Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, his stomach began to rumble.
Raj turned toward the bathroom, ready to attend to nature's call, when he noticed a small box on the floor.
Flipping it over, he found it empty.
His eyes lit up with an idea.
'I can't damage the house's equipnt, but surely I can ss with this trash. It's recycling, after all!'
With newfound conviction, he kicked the cardboard box all the way to the bathroom.
Carefully, he deposited his "treasure" inside.
The excitent must have been too much, as the quantity was larger than usual, nearly overflowing the box.
A few seconds later, the stench began to spread.
'Holy shit, that stinks!'
Raj's face twisted in disgust.
He gagged repeatedly before leaping out of the bathroom's small window, closing it slightly behind him.
'That was an.'
He worried he might get a beating later.
But then he rembered he was now a fully-fledged Ninja Cat, officially on the roster.
He deserved so respect and couldn't be beaten on a whim.
'Besides, if Rin tries to hit , I can just run! I'm a cat, not Masato's son.'
With that thought, Raj's spirits lifted.
He began calculating how many Points this stunt might earn him.
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