Chapter 10: Magatama Summoning!
After that, Hyūga Hiashi apparently had to deal with the incident. He didn't linger, merely instructing Katsuragi to rest and recover there before taking his leave. This left only Hinata and Katsuragi in the room.
Seeing the little girl sitting quietly by his side, head bowed and saying nothing, Katsuragi felt a bit awkward. Finally, he broke the silence.
"Ah—um… Hello there. My name's Takanashi Katsuragi."
"H-hello… I'm… Hyūga H-Hinata… About last night… t-thank you…"
Her voice was soft and timid, almost inaudible. Had Katsuragi not had sharp hearing, a normal person might have missed it altogether.
"It's nothing," Katsuragi replied, not wanting to dwell on the topic. In fact, he felt a bit uneasy; even though Hiashi hadn't questioned him just now, it was still suspicious for a four-year-old to hold off two ninja.
While Katsuragi was wondering how to keep the conversation going, two ninja entered the room.
One of them glanced at Katsuragi, who was lying in bed, and asked, "We're with the medical unit from the hospital. You're the patient, right?"
Seeing Hinata hastily step aside for them, Katsuragi nodded. "Yes, that's me. Sorry for the trouble, sir."
"No problem. Let me examine your condition first."
The man approached the bed to check Katsuragi's injuries. The moment he got a clear look, he frowned deeply. "Your injuries are…"
"What's wrong?"
Katsuragi asked anxiously upon seeing his expression, worried that his wounds might be untreatable. There's no way Konoha's medical prowess is that bad…
"Who would do this to a child?!"
The ninja's face darkened with anger. "Four broken ribs, and your shoulder is completely punctured. This is way too vicious!"
"Uh…"
Realizing that his grim expression was simply rage at how severely a kid had been hurt, Katsuragi froze for a moment, then felt slightly annoyed. Don't scare me like that, acting as if it's incurable…
"Sir, can you heal it?"
Just to be sure, Katsuragi asked. He waited tensely for an answer, worried they might say something like "Sorry, there's nothing we can do."
"Huh?"
The medic-nin looked baffled momentarily. Seeing Katsuragi's tense expression, he quickly reassured him, "Of course we can heal you. But you'll need to avoid intense activity and focus on recovering for a while."
Katsuragi finally relaxed, letting out a silent sigh of relief as the man began treating him. Inwardly, he mused, If I had some sort of healing-type Shikigami, maybe I wouldn't need to trouble others…
And once the thought of Shikigami crossed his mind, he wanted to enter the courtyard to check on the Three-Tailed Fox. But he also knew it wasn't the right time—not with other people still in the room. He could wait until they were gone.
"All done! I'll prescribe you some oral medicine as well."
Before long, the medic-nin finished his treatment. Letting the green medical chakra fade from his hand, he reminded Katsuragi, "Listen, don't do any strenuous activity for now. Rest properly. You should be fully recovered in about a month."
"A whole month?"
Katsuragi blurted out. He couldn't help thinking of that "Legendary Sucker" out there gambling somewhere—if she were the one healing him, he'd be good as new in just a few minutes. Konoha's medical-nin sure have a ways to go…
"This is already pretty fast," the medic-nin said sternly, having no idea Katsuragi was internally mocking his skill. "You clearly do some body training, right? Well, you'll need to pause that while you heal. Understand?"
"Got it."
But without a healing Shikigami or stronger powers, with such serious wounds, he had no choice but to obey. After the two medics left, only he and Hinata remained in the room once more.
Noticing Hinata still quietly staying by his bedside as if to protect him, Katsuragi said, "Alright, I'm fine now. You should go get some rest. After what happened, you must be exhausted."
"N-no… it's… okay…"
Hinata lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers. She spoke in a tiny voice: "Y-your injury… needs… someone… to… take care of…"
"Don't worry, it's not that serious."
Seeing her adorable behavior, Katsuragi smiled. Unable to resist, he reached out and gently patted her on the head. "Besides, you need to rest properly so you'll have the energy to take care of me. So go on, off to bed!"
Flustered by his gesture, Hinata nearly fainted from embarrassment. Several moments passed before she managed to nod, barely whispering, "…Mm."
Watching her stagger out of the room, Katsuragi sighed softly. Then he decided not to dwell on whatever might come next. Leaning back onto his bed, he closed his eyes, pretending to sleep while actually entering the courtyard in his mind.
---
In the Courtyard
No sooner had he arrived than Katsuragi was stunned by a sudden string of messages in his head:
"First Kill Completed: Reward 100 Magatama!"
"Magatama Summoning Unlocked!"
"Magatama Shop Unlocked!"
"Killed someone?! Magatama?!"
Standing under the cherry blossom tree, white snowflakes drifting down on him, Katsuragi stared blankly for a few seconds. What's going on? I completed a kill?
"Could it be that kunai I threw?"
He recalled his final action before losing consciousness. Perhaps the enemy had not died immediately after Hyūga Hiashi's attack, and Katsuragi's last projectile had finished him off.
"No matter—he's dead anyway," Katsuragi murmured. Either way, those two Cloud ninja were done for. More pressing was this 'Magatama' situation!
From the mental prompts, Katsuragi learned that Magatama Summoning wasn't all that different from summoning with the usual Talisman—they used the same summoning method, but consumed different materials. That let him down a bit; he'd been hoping for a higher SSR rate or something.
Still, it didn't bother him too much. The thought of possibly having a second Shikigami made him nearly tremble with excitement.
As for the Magatama Shop, there wasn't much available except an exchange feature that converted magatama to gold—1,000 magatama for 1 million gold. However, there was no clear way to get additional magatama. He only had 100 from fulfilling that hidden objective, so he couldn't do any exchange right now.
Katsuragi guessed the reason the shop had no other items might be that he still lacked certain prerequisites: not enough Shikigami, insufficient star level, or not enough personal strength. One of those factors likely kept the shop from stocking anything else.
"Who will I get?"
Having read through the new system details, Katsuragi headed to the Three-Tailed Fox's room, mentally listing possible Shikigami. Youtou Hime? Aoandon? Big Tengu? Ibaraki Dōji?
With rising excitement, Katsuragi reached the door. There, curled up on the bed, lay the Three-Tailed Fox, snoozing away. Watching her sleep so peacefully, Katsuragi felt a bit helpless. To think I almost died a while ago, and over here she's not worried at all…
Of course, it wasn't really her fault; Katsuragi had deliberately hidden his predicament. It was natural she had no idea.
"Fox Sis, wake up."
Katsuragi approached the bed and gently shook her shoulder. By now, it was nearly morning in the real world. Despite not having slept all night, he felt wired with excitement at the thought of a new summons.
Obviously, part of that came from the fact that, inside the courtyard, he couldn't feel his physical injuries the same way as in the real world.
"Mmm? Little Katsuragi?"
The Three-Tailed Fox drowsily opened her eyes and stretched. Her rather… generous bosom peeked out from beneath her robe, giving Katsuragi a sudden surge of awkwardness about where to look.
"What's going on? It's so early…"
She yawned, looking not quite awake yet.
"Fox Sis, something important!"
Recalling the magatama, Katsuragi couldn't contain his excitement. "I can summon a new Shikigami now—someone to keep you company!"
"Eh?!"
Blinking in confusion, the Three-Tailed Fox stared at Katsuragi. She still hadn't fully processed what he meant.
End of Chapter 10
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Translator's Notes
"Magatama" (勾玉) are comma-shaped beads historically found in Japanese culture. In this fanfic context, they serve as a new resource for Shikigami summoning or shop exchanges.
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