Somewhere in the dark.
A teenager with unkempt short black hair, a Tanto sheathed on his back, and a black cloak draped over his body, cautiously walked through the silent and dark ruins as he tried to recall what this place is but couldn't figure it out.
He doesn't know where he is, and as far as he has observed this area after gaining consciousness nothing except for the sound of his footsteps could be heard in these gloomy dark passages.
After walking for who knows how long, but with no, entrance, exit, end, or fork in his sight, the figure finally couldn't help it and sighed helplessly, "Sigh, how did I even end up here? The last time I checked, I and Itachi were searching for the traces of Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror."
This figure is obviously none other than that of Uchiha Shisui, who along with Uchiha Itachi was at the Nekomata ruins, trying to find the location of Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror as per Kuroto's instructions.
He and Itachi had almost gotten close to finding the Sword of Totsuka, but suddenly something unexpected happened, and Itachi was directly sucked inside the Stone Gourd, while he, who tried to rescue Itachi fell into a bottomless hole and unexpectedly found himself in these centuries-old ruins after regaining consciousness.
Initially, Shisui thought that perhaps these ruins are located beneath the Nekomata Shrine he was previously at, so he tried to get out of here by bypassing the roof, but was unable to because there is simply no roof above his head... it's just pure darkness he sees above.
Then Shisui thought about using a rough approach and tried breaking through the side walls by virtue of brute strength, but unexpectedly, the walls were so sturdy that even the drill sword of his Susano'o couldn't get past them.
The fact that even his Susano'o couldn't nick the walls finally made Shisui realize that wherever he is, this place is not so ordinary, and getting out of here wouldn't be as easy as he assumed it would be.
Of course, Shisui has also noticed faint traces of Genjutsu in the surroundings; but since the Genjutsu wasn't seriously affecting his perception so he didn't care about it too deeply… or more like, even if he does dispels the Genjutsu… it would start to act again no matter how many times he dispels it.
This strangeness obviously aroused Shisui's curiosity. A Genjutsu that can not be dispelled no matter how many times he tries even with his Mangekyou Sharingan? It's interesting indeed…
Although interested, Shisui, however, had to restrain his curiosity and focus on finding his way out of here, because, he is worried about Itachi, and the village.
Therefore, Shisui again determined himself and started walking through the dark and gloomy passages with the intention of getting out of here as soon as he can.
Step…
At this time, there was a sudden noise behind him, although Shisui didn't stop he was vigilant, his black cloak fluttered, his hand slowly reached out for the Tanto on his back, and his scarlet eyes searched for the source of this sound.
Whoosh…
A black shadow quickly passed by Shisui. Shisui's steps didn't stop at the slightest but his eyes turned slightly.
In the darkness, a pair of green eyes turned around and stared at Shisui. The two pairs of eyes, one green and one scarlet stared at each other, and then the fluff on the body of the black shadow exploded and it let out a low groan.
"Meow~"
In this extremely quiet environment, this 'meow~' was extraordinarily infiltrating.
Shisui frowned, 'A cat?' and there was a tinge of surprise on his face, then the realization, 'Wait! A cat! But how did this cat get in here? And if she can get in here, maybe she can also help me get out of this place?'
With this thought, Shisui crouched down and after bringing his hand forward, he said, "Come, come here, Kariri."
The cat, however, didn't seem to be pleased by Shisui's action, "Not every cat is called Kariri!" the voice sounded raspy to the ears and its tone clearly indicated that it is annoyed at Shisui.
Shisui was a little stagnant, and asked cautiously, "Then is it Momo? Or maybe Kuro?"
Shisui's words seemed to have made the cat more annoyed, but she didn't care about it, for now, instead, she looked up and down at Shisui, especially at those pair of scarlet eyes with a unique four-edged shuriken pattern and after a bit of thinking, she said, "Follow me!" However, this time her voice was quite sultry, which felt quite awkward, after all, the voice didn't come from the mouth of an adult human girl but from that of a female black cat.
Shisui was surprised, not at her voice but at what she said, he didn't expect that the cat would ask him to follow her, and asked curiously, "Where do you want to take me?"
The cat said, "Don't you want to get out of here?"
Shisui nodded, "Hmm, I do in fact. But before that, can you tell me where exactly am I?"
The cat thought a little, then answered, "This is Nekomata Domain… or you can say the Land of Nekomata."
"Nekomata?" – muttered Shisui in surprise, then asked again, "As in the Nekomata, from the folklore?"
The black cat shook her head, "I don't know how the human folklore defines us, we are Nekomata…"
Shisui was a little helpless and chose not to discuss that matter, instead, he apologized, "I apologize for trespassing in the Domain of Nekomata, I ended up here accidentally, please forgive my discourtesy. Can you please show me the way out of here?"
The cat didn't answer, she just turned around and started walking forward, and said, "I am going to lead you to meet our leader, Kuroka-sama. She sensed your presence in this Domain and she is the only one who can lead you out of the Nekoshou Domain. If you convince her, then you can go out of here."
Shisui seemed hesitant to follow the Black cat, after all, he didn't know much about the Nekomatas and this place… so he is not sure what to do.
The Black Cat was obviously not so patient, noting that the kid was still standing in a daze, she said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up! I don't have all day."
Shisui sighed and finally decided to follow the cat. Anyway, what's the worst that can happen?
"It's Fuwafuwa!" said the Black Cat just as the two started to walk.
"What?" asked Shisui in confusion.
"Fuwafuwa… my name… you wanted to know, right? So, my name is Fuwafuwa!" repeated the black cat.
"Oh…! Then Fuwafuwa-san can call me Shisui." Said Shisui with a friendly smile.
Fuwafuwa nodded lightly and continued to lead the way.
The sound of footsteps gently echoed in the silent passage as one cat and one human walked slowly walked through the passage.
As he followed the Fuwafuwa, Shisui had a surprised look on his face. Earlier no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find his way out of there… no matter how much he walked all the passages seemed similar with no clear clue that would lead him out with no clear direction… but under the Fuwafuwa-san's guidance, the scenery changed, now all the passages seems subtly different… and this surprised him, made him wonder why is this the case?
Fuwafuwa seemed to have noticed Shisui's doubts, and answered, "It's because the presence of Natural Energy in the surroundings is very dense so it was hindering your perception… Only those who have mastered Senjutsu can find a clear path out of here… those who have not mastered Senjutsu will keep wandering in this neverending maze and die out of hunger, unless, they are guided by someone who has mastered Senjutsu."
Shisui noted the term 'Natural Energy' and 'Senjutsu' said by Fuwafuwa, then realized that it is indeed possible.
He is not ignorant of this energy system that is more primitive and somewhat superior compared to Chakra that Shinobi uses. After all, Jiraiya uses Senjutsu which is a combination of Natural Energy and Chakra.
But at the same time, a doubt appeared in his mind, "Does that mean I won't be able to find my way out of here if I can not sense Natural energy or haven't mastered Senjutsu?"
The answer to this question is very important to him because Shisui has neither and method of sensing Natural energy, nor has he mastered Senjutsu. Shisui knows just how difficult mastering Senjutsu truly is. To his knowledge, there have only been two Shinobi who have mastered Senjutsu since Konoha was established…
The first was naturally, Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama who calmed the troubled times of the Warring States Era while the second is one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.
Of course, Shisui also knows that Kuroto-san seems to be trying to master Senjutsu, but whether he has mastered it or not is unknown to Shisui.
Apart from these three, Shisui hasn't heard that anyone else has been able to master Senjutsu… therefore, he is worried, because if there is no other way, then how will he get out of here?
"..." Fuwafuwa didn't give any answer to Shisui's question and continued to walk forward.
As far as she knows, as long as Kuroka-sama wants, she can naturally send this child out of Nekomata Domain… but Fuwafuwa doesn't know what plans Kuroka-sama has for this child, therefore, she chose to remain silent…
And Shisui was really troubled by the Fuwafuwa's silence… at the same time, he also became nervous…
Fuwafuwa seemed to be enjoying Shisui's nervous expression… it's as if she has found a new toy, at the same time, there are other thoughts, 'Despite possessing such strength, the boy is quite naïve and innocent… perhaps, this is why Kuroka-sama has taken an interest in him…"
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