Facing Sengoku's questioning, Kaito thought for a moment and came up with the most concise answer. Covering his right eye, he said to Sengoku:
"I'm fine, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Thanks for your concern. You can think of the absorption process like this: it's my eye that ate the Devil Fruit."
Kaito wasn't afraid that exposing this secret would lead to the World Government dragging him off for some kind of human experimentation. Right now, he was well protected within the Marines by people like Sengoku and Zephyr, and his own strength was more than enough to protect himself.
Whether it was Flying Thunder God, the Door Fruit, or Yomotsu Hirasaka, all of them gave Kaito the confidence to walk freely—very few could stop him if he really wanted to leave.
"?"
Sengoku, upon hearing this answer, was instantly dumbfounded—his face metaphorically turning into a question mark. What he was thinking was:
"Eyes can eat Devil Fruits now? Does that mean ears and noses can too? So eating with your mouth is just getting scammed, and you can only eat one that way?"
Kaito, predicting Sengoku's reaction, added:
"Only my Rinnegan can do this!"
Well, at this point, Sengoku could only accept this bizarre logic. But acceptance aside, he couldn't help sighing inwardly—just what kind of outrageous bloodline did Kaito's clan have? He heard Kaito was the last of his family...
Maybe even the heavens couldn't take it anymore?
"Alright, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, my right eye's acting up. I'm going to get some rest now, excuse me."
The sensation in his right eye was growing stronger. Kaito didn't want to stick around any longer and planned to find somewhere secluded to investigate.
"Alright, but if it gets worse, you must go to the infirmary, got it?"
"Yeah, I got it."
With that, Kaito vanished. He had previously left a Flying Thunder God kunai in the wilderness behind the training grounds. After all, his mastery of the technique wasn't as refined as the Fourth Hokage's, so he couldn't leave Flying Thunder God marks on objects at will. Still, for fixed-point teleportation, it worked great.
...
Wilderness behind the training camp.
Whoosh! Kaito's figure appeared beside the Flying Thunder God kunai. As soon as he arrived, a sultry female voice echoed in his mind:
"Master, let me out!"
Kaito was startled—this was seriously weird. He tried communicating mentally with the voice.
"Who are you? Why are you inside my body??"
That same sultry voice rang out again:
"According to what that human just said, I'm a nekomata. You created me!"
Nani?
Kaito was completely stunned. Zoan Fruits could do this? But right now, the most urgent thing was figuring out how to get this nekomata out—having a voice constantly echoing in your head was too bizarre.
"How do I let you out?"
"I don't know either. I'm trapped in your eye, and there's also a three-headed dog and a chameleon nearby."
Aren't those the summons of the Animal Path from the Rinnegan?
Ever since awakening the Rinnegan, Kaito hadn't used the Animal Path's abilities at all—he had almost forgotten about it. It just hadn't been very necessary. The size advantage of summoned beasts wasn't particularly effective in the world of pirates. The chameleon's invisibility was completely countered by Observation Haki. And besides, he had no desire to crawl into the chameleon's mouth.
So the nekomata was born in his Animal Path? That made things easier. Kaito bit his finger and slapped his hand to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom! A large cloud of smoke erupted, followed by a sharp meow. As the smoke cleared, a giant demon cat with jet-black fur and black flames flickering along its back appeared in front of Kaito.
It was the nekomata.
As soon as the nekomata saw Kaito, it lowered its head and affectionately rubbed its massive head against him. Its fur was smooth and silky, carrying a faint coolness. The touch made Kaito shiver involuntarily.
He reached out and petted the nekomata's head. The nekomata immediately displayed an expression of pure enjoyment. Looking at the huge creature in front of him, Kaito confirmed that this nekomata was nothing like the Tailed Beast Nekomata from Naruto.
After some thought, Kaito asked two questions he was curious about.
"Do you have any special abilities? Also, if you come out of my eye, can I still use your powers?"
The nekomata respectfully replied:
"My black flames have an extremely low temperature and can freeze targets. I can also use the black flames to control corpses. Corpses infused with my black flames can exert up to 50% of their original strength. And don't worry, Master—even if I'm outside, you can still use all my powers, including Beast Transformation!"
Hearing the nekomata's answer, Kaito nodded in satisfaction. Never mind the offensive power of the black flames—just the corpse control ability was incredibly useful. It was definitely more practical than Edo Tensei without access to White Zetsu bodies.
Although he could also control corpses using black rods, the effect was nowhere near as good as the nekomata's black flames. Not to mention, the nekomata itself could serve as a powerful summoning beast in battle.
All in all, for this trial reward, Kaito gave it a full five-star review!
In a great mood, Kaito found the nekomata increasingly pleasing to the eye. But it was getting late, and he planned to return to the dormitory. However, with the nekomata's enormous size, he couldn't just bring it back like this, could he?
As if reading his mind, the nekomata's sultry voice echoed again in Kaito's head:
"Master, I can change my size. Let me sleep next to you tonight, okay? The space inside your eye is really uncomfortable. Please?"
As it spoke, the nekomata actually put on a pitiful expression with a hint of... flirtation?
Faced with a nekomata like this, who could possibly say no?
Kaito agreed without hesitation.
Happily, the nekomata let out a soft meow. Its body slowly shrank until it turned into a normal-sized black cat, then leapt onto Kaito's shoulder and affectionately licked his cheek.
Kaito ran his hand from the nekomata's head down to its tail. When he reached the tail, the nekomata bristled a bit but didn't resist. Strangely, even though it was a black cat, its face clearly flushed red.
The texture felt amazing—just like sticking your clawed hand out a speeding car window and grabbing onto something solid. What Kaito didn't realize was that the moment he had that thought, the nekomata's face turned even redder, and it even shot him a shy side glance.
With the Rinnegan matter resolved, Kaito prepared to head back to the dorm. Before leaving, he gave the nekomata a name—Modis.
Modis loved the name. She stretched out two tiny paws and wrapped them tightly around Kaito's neck. Under the glow of the setting sun, the silhouette of one man and one cat looked peaceful and harmonious.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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