The next morning, Uchiha Fugaku was summoned early to the Hokage Tower by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
There was no need to guess why.
Hiruzen undoubtedly wanted to discuss the matter of having the Uchiha Clan voluntarily give up the death pensions and rewards they were owed.
After being warned by Uchiha Ren, Fugaku would naturally no longer fall into such traps so easily.
According to Ren's plan, Fugaku only needed to do one thing for now:
Delay.
Once the shinobi stationed at the front lines returned in a few days, Hiruzen would have no choice but to officially address the issue of pensions and rewards. At that point, the matter would resolve itself.
Of course, things might not go that smoothly.
Until Hiruzen and the others made their move, Ren could only advise Fugaku to remain cautious and respond to each development as it came.
After staying up all night the previous evening, Ren finally allowed himself the rare luxury of sleeping until noon.
After eating something simple at home to fill his stomach, Ren prepared several gifts and asked Fat Orange to summon him using the Reverse Summoning Technique, transporting him to the territory of the Ninja Cat Clan.
The Ninja Cat Clan's domain was located in a ruined neutral zone that belonged to no nation or village. Although it was close to the Land of Fire, using reverse summoning was far more convenient for Ren.
After arriving at the Ninja Cat territory, Ren first appeased Fat Orange with a bag of dried fish before walking toward the residence of the clan leader—Granny Cat.
"Stop right there, meow!"
As Ren reached a corridor, two figures suddenly appeared from both sides, blocking his path.
They were two small cats dressed in clothing—Hina and Denka, the guards of Granny Cat. They normally stood watch here to question anyone seeking an audience.
However, considering the Ninja Cat Clan's notorious opportunism, this was less an interrogation checkpoint and more like a toll booth.
"Hina, Denka—long time no see. I brought you some gifts."
Ren smiled as he greeted them, handing over the prepared offerings.
"So it's Uchiha Ren… meow. Not bad. You've got much better manners than most Uchiha."
Hina sniffed the gift bag. Once she confirmed it was filled with a generous amount of dried fish, she nodded approvingly.
Ren smiled.
"Does Granny Cat have time right now? I need her help with something."
Hina waved a paw impatiently.
"She's in the attic. Go see her yourself."
"Thank you."
After expressing his thanks, Ren walked past the two cats and headed toward the attic at the end of the corridor.
The moment he left, Hina and Denka immediately grabbed the gift bag and scurried off to divide the spoils.
Ren chuckled and shook his head.
The Ninja Cat Clan really was an amusing group.
If you said they weren't greedy, that would be wrong—no matter how big or small the favor, they always demanded payment or gifts.
Otherwise, nothing would get done.
But if you said they were greedy, that wasn't quite accurate either.
Sometimes a single dried fish was enough to solve everything.
The Uchiha Clan was famous for its pride. They often looked at others as if they were fools.
Yet somehow they got along remarkably well with these opportunistic Ninja Cats.
The world could be strangely amusing sometimes.
"Granny Cat, sorry to disturb you again."
Entering the attic, Ren immediately saw Granny Cat, dressed in traditional clothing with dark-gray cat-ear ornaments on her head, sitting on a tatami mat and smoking a pipe.
He bowed respectfully.
Yes—Granny Cat was not actually a cat, but an elderly woman.
The so-called Ninja Cat Clan was simply a network she had built using countless stray cats.
She taught these stray cats chakra, trained them in various skills, and enabled them to survive on their own.
In the chaotic shinobi world, she had given them a place to belong.
She was someone who had truly lived according to her own beliefs.
For that reason, Ren held genuine respect for her.
"Oh, little Ren," Granny Cat said, releasing a puff of smoke.
"I've heard about your performance on the Kirigakure battlefield. Very impressive."
"If your parents were alive to see it, they would surely be proud."
Ren sat cross-legged across from her and shook his head.
"It's just reputation. Nothing worth being proud of."
"Too much humility becomes hypocrisy," Granny Cat said, glancing at him.
"You've changed a lot these past few years. Sometimes even I can't quite see through you anymore."
Ren only smiled and said nothing.
The original owner of this body had been rather cold toward people but had a deep fondness for cats, which was why he had maintained a good relationship with Granny Cat.
Although Ren inherited those memories, his personality was naturally somewhat different.
It was only normal for Granny Cat to notice the difference.
She didn't pursue the matter further.
After all, everyone had their own secrets.
Taking another deep drag from her pipe, she said:
"Alright. No one comes here without a reason. Tell me—what do you need?"
"As expected, nothing escapes you," Ren said with a smile.
"I'd like to commission a better ninja blade."
Granny Cat raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you already spend all your savings commissioning one before?"
"Lose it?"
"It broke," Ren replied, shaking his head.
"That blade was still too weak for me. I want one that's sturdier, more durable—and capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures."
Before the war had begun, Ren had already come here once to commission a ninja blade using his entire savings.
That blade had been forged with a small amount of chakra-conductive metal mixed into it.
But under the influence of Ren's Flame-Flame Fruit ability, the blade had melted into molten metal after only a few uses.
Granny Cat wasn't particularly surprised.
According to the intelligence she had gathered, Ren's strength had already reached an entirely different level. It was only natural that a blade containing such a small amount of chakra metal couldn't withstand high-intensity battles.
"Forging a blade isn't a problem," she said.
"But if you want one of higher quality than the last, it will cost a lot of money."
"Do you even have that much?"
Personal relationships were one thing.
Business was another.
Granny Cat was always strict about keeping the two separate.
No matter how good her relationship with Ren was, she would never give him even the smallest discount.
After all, she still had an entire clan of cats to feed.
"Money isn't an issue," Ren said calmly.
"My requirements are a bit higher this time, though. Why don't you take a look at the materials I brought first?"
As he spoke, Ren reached into his ninja tool pouch and took out a prepared storage scroll, placing it in front of Granny Cat.
She picked up the scroll curiously.
"What materials are inside?"
Ren smiled faintly.
"You should know about Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen, right?"
"These are the spoils I took from them."
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