Shikigami Summoning in Konoha

Chapter 46: The Night of Annihilation

In the evening, deep in the forest.

"It should be about time!"

Looking at the nearly breathless wild boar in front of him, Katsuragi did not deal the final blow; instead, he moved away to a large tree, carefully surveyed his surroundings, and then immersed himself in the courtyard.

"Ok! Twenty thousand gold coins!"

Due to the lack of bounty seals, Katsuragi could only earn gold coins by defeating wild beasts. However, because of daily school responsibilities and to avoid detection, he had little time to earn gold coins, so it had taken quite a while to accumulate these twenty thousand.

Opening the Shikigami records, Katsuragi upgraded Enenra to three stars. To avoid any danger outside, he did not call out to the ladies and directly left the courtyard.

"Smoke imp!?"

Feeling the skills brought by the three-star Enenra, Katsuragi was impressed. Surrounded by whirling smoke, a small white creature with a mouth resembling a rice ball appeared in his hand, looking quite adorable.

Since there were no wild beasts around, Katsuragi couldn't test the power of this smoke imp, so he dispersed the smoke in his hand, planning to find an opportunity for a test later.

Having achieved his goal, Katsuragi didn't stay longer in the forest. After going home and washing up, he lay in bed and returned to the courtyard.

Since summoning Enenra, the courtyard had become much livelier, or rather, there was finally someone to join the three-tailed fox in her antics. Previously, due to Snow Woman's aloof nature, the three-tailed fox had to go to the nine-tails just to make up the numbers for playing cards.

But since Enenra's arrival, the three-tailed fox seldom bothered the nine-tails anymore, possibly also due to that one time the nine-tails messed up the game.

"Katsuragi, it's so late, aren't you going to rest?"

Seeing Katsuragi appear in the courtyard again, the three-tailed fox inquired.

"I will soon!"

Katsuragi smiled and then approached Enenra, who was sitting under a cherry tree smoking, and asked, "Enenra, I've upgraded you to three stars, can you feel any changes?"

"Of course!"

Enenra exhaled a puff of smoke, then her figure dispersed into a wisp of smoke and reappeared beside Katsuragi. She gently ruffled Katsuragi's hair and said, "Before, I couldn't even turn into smoke, now my strength has recovered a lot!"

"Enenra, how can I turn into smoke as quickly as you?"

Admiring Enenra's ability to appear and disappear, Katsuragi was envious. Although he could now turn his body into smoke, the slow speed of transformation would probably have killed him several times over in a real battle.

"Well, take it slow!"

Enenra smiled reassuringly and said, "Didn't you say before that you couldn't even fully turn into smoke? Now you're doing quite well! Keep it up!"

"Alright!"

Katsuragi sighed. He understood that with practice or further upgrades, he would definitely improve, just as when he first summoned Snow Woman, the speed of forming snowballs was slow, but now he had reached the point of instant casting.

After some guidance from Enenra in the courtyard, and a bit more practice, Katsuragi left the courtyard to rest.

...

Days passed, and Katsuragi's life was uneventful. His routine was school during the day and a stroll in the forest in the evening, spending weekends training with Neji and Hinata at the Hyuga residence.

Because he vaguely remembered the Uchiha clan annihilation scene from the anime seemed to happen in summer, Katsuragi became cautious in April, reducing his visits to the forest.

Although he was not a Uchiha, as Itachi's favorite brother, if Itachi suddenly decided to teach him a lesson for "bullying" his brother in school before leaving the village, it would be problematic.

Moreover, with Tobi likely involved in the massacre and usually accompanied by Zetsu, if these creatures detected anything unusual, it would be even harder to manage.

Thus, during this time, Katsuragi preferred to fight more cautiously, revealing less of his capabilities.

At dusk, the deep red glow of sunset covered the land, with black crows flying across the sky, their harsh cries adding to the unrest.

After walking Hinata home, Katsuragi walked back quietly, contemplating whether to visit the forest tonight. The final exams were approaching, but there was no sign of trouble in the village, leading him to wonder if the annihilation would happen next year instead.

"Katsuragi?"

Suddenly, someone called him from ahead. Lifting his head, Katsuragi was surprised to see Sasuke.

A sense of foreboding washed over him, and he asked, "Sasuke, why aren't you home yet?"

"A teacher had something urgent, and I had to help," Sasuke replied.

Hearing this, Katsuragi glanced toward the Uchiha residence. The setting sun like blood, the heavy air seemed to confirm his fears that the massacre had already taken place.

"Sasuke..."

Katsuragi opened his mouth, looking at the puzzled Sasuke in front of him, but ultimately chose not to say more. After today, Sasuke would likely no longer be the same Sasuke he knew.

"What is it?"

The observant Sasuke, noticing Katsuragi's expression, curiously asked.

"Nothing!" Katsuragi patted Sasuke on the shoulder, forced a smile, and said, "It's getting late. You should head back. I'll go first."

"Okay! See you!"

Sasuke didn't dwell on it and cheerfully waved goodbye, then jogged home, unaware that his brother, whom he had promised to train with, was waiting for him in a way he could never imagine.

Watching Sasuke's retreating figure, Katsuragi did not rush home. After pondering for a moment, he decided to walk towards the Uchiha territory.

Sure enough, as he neared the Uchiha land, he smelled blood and sensed the almost imperceptible presence of numerous shinobi around, most likely Danzo's Anbu operatives.

"It must be Root!"

Katsuragi did not proceed recklessly but found a spot to observe. Considering Danzo's future arm condition, those lurking around were likely his subordinates from Root.

"Ah!"

Katsuragi sighed. The sun had completely set, and the originally bright full moon seemed to bear a tinge of blood, casting a somber light over the night.

"I hope Sasuke can withstand this!"

After one last look at the Uchiha residence, Katsuragi decided to leave. He had considered using Enenra's abilities to stealthily acquire a pair of Sharingan but ultimately decided not to take the risk. As long as he continued to grow at his current pace, his future would undoubtedly be bright.

However, unknown to Katsuragi, just after he left, a space-time portal appeared where he had been standing. A masked figure emerged, gazing in the direction Katsuragi had gone, and muttered to himself:

"Interesting, did he notice something?"

End of Chapter 46