Chapter 115: Little Gray Approaches Maturity
"Hahaha!"
Kael chuckled and patted the large wolf head.
"You smart-aleck. It's nothing serious. Just take this little boy outside and play with him for a while. Don't come back in without my order!"
Little Gray froze, deflating like a frostbitten eggplant. But then, thinking about the chance to go out and stretch its legs, it quickly got excited again. It let Seven climb onto its back and ran off to frolic.
"Yin Release ninjutsu targets the soul directly. If I'm not careful with this technique, I could accidentally hurt our allies. Goldie, you have to control yourself! Be careful not to let my dance affect you!"
Kun Kun, while performing exaggerated dance moves, turned its head and warned Goldie, who was standing on the other side.
Before Goldie could react, Kael pushed open the door and stepped out, firmly shutting it behind him, leaving the world to Kun Kun and Goldie.
As soon as he came out, he saw Little Gray sprinting wildly with a cheerfully shouting Seven on its back.
Seeing Kael emerge, Little Gray curiously trotted over to his side.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Old-timer, why did you come out?"
"Nothing much. Those two are doing their own thing. I don't need to stay inside and appreciate Kun Kun's art!"
Kael shook his head, not elaborating.
Although every single one of Kun Kun's "arts" was cringe-worthy, it was still his beloved pet, synthesized by his own hand. Kael didn't want to make it lose face in front of its siblings.
But Little Gray understood. It gave Kael a look that said, 'I get it,' leaving Kael to savor the silent understanding.
Seeing that Kael's face twitched but he said nothing more, Little Gray felt a bit regretful.
In its opinion, the old-timer was great in every way and spoiled them summons rotten. But he spoiled them too much. He couldn't even bring himself to teach that kid Kun Kun a lesson.
The Earth Dragon, as the big brother of the team, was the group favorite, often playing with the younger siblings.
Kun Kun was the other extreme. As an existence even more annoying than the prank-loving Void Mouse, it was treated like a rat crossing the street—everyone wanted to beat it up.
Kun Kun's narcissism made Kael's summons feel that this guy was even more annoying than the Void Mouse. Sometimes, they couldn't help but wonder...
If this divine descendant Kun Kun was already so narcissistic, just how narcissistic must the true god standing behind it be?
Maybe it was the kind of narcissistic god that everyone in heaven wanted to hate on!
Little Gray suddenly looked at Kael slyly.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Big Brother Dragon was just saying earlier that you don't call him for anything anymore, old-timer. His days are so boring now. Ever since his mutation, his body has changed so much that he can't find a girlfriend anymore. There's no earthworm as big as him in the Shinobi World... He's worried about not being able to leave any offspring... Old-timer, when do you think you can synthesize a partner for each of us?"
Kael: "..."
Okay, Kael had to admit he had miscalculated on this point and hadn't considered his summons' needs thoroughly.
So he nodded and agreed. As for whether he could synthesize partners matching their sizes... that would really depend on luck.
Then, Little Gray suddenly leaned in closer and whispered sneakily.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Old-timer, let me tell you a secret. I've awakened a new ability!"
"Oh?"
Kael's face lit up, and he quickly looked at the wolf.
"What ability? How did you suddenly awaken it?"
Little Gray spread its paws in a very human-like gesture of bewilderment.
"Woof, woof, woof! —I don't know either! I just slept and ate, ate and slept, and it naturally awakened. We summons don't need to cultivate chakra or anything, and I'm not like that muscle-brained taijutsu fanatic Mantis who trains its body every day. Anyway, it just awakened inexplicably. I only discovered it recently, and I was happy for a long time! All my brothers are amazing, but I couldn't seem to be useful..."
Ignoring Little Gray's rambling, Kael looked helpless and asked, "You little brat, you haven't said what the ability is yet?"
Little Gray looked uncertain, stealing a glance at Kael with big eyes full of worry and apprehension.
"Woof, woof, woof! —It seems to be a control-type ability..."
"Oh? That's not bad! Let me see it later, and I'll figure out what's going on!"
Kael didn't show any disappointment. Although Little Gray itself was very disappointed that it wasn't an offensive ability and feared that its "old-timer" master would be disappointed too.
In Kael's view, as a C+ rank summon, any control ability Little Gray awakened should be quite potent.
Although it wasn't the burst-damage skill he had originally envisioned, an awakening was still a good thing. It also signaled that Little Gray's other abilities should be awakening soon, allowing it to shed its status as a "cute but useless" pet.
Kael rubbed his face thoughtfully.
Since Little Gray was starting to show its potential, that meant he now had three C+ rank summons. These were all hardworking laborers Kael had painstakingly cultivated!
"I wonder what kind of changes will happen to Little Gray's abilities once he enters full maturity..."
Kael shook his head slightly. There was no use thinking about it now. What will come, will come. Being impatient wouldn't help; it would only torture himself.
Not long after, the door behind Kael was pushed open.
Kun Kun's flamboyant little figure emerged, waving a wing at Kael dramatically, signaling him to enter.
Kael froze for a moment.
"That fast?"
Thinking this, his feet still obediently walked into the room.
"Has he lost the ability to resist already?"
He asked Kun Kun as he walked.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —Should be. That guy is completely unresponsive to Goldie's and my abilities now. He looks totally dazed, like he's lost consciousness and become a soulless walking corpse."
"Holy crap!"
Kael cursed under his breath and quickened his pace.
In the blink of an eye, Goldie and Kun Kun had turned that guy Haru into an idiot!
Kael actually admired a loyal village ninja like Haru. Although their stances were different, he had never intended to kill him, nor did he plan to torture him into insanity!