Naruto: Blazing Eyes in the Eternal Night

"Hmm…"

Kyojuro woke up, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a three-colored cat's head right in front of him.

"Kid, you sure sleep soundly, meow~"

!!!!!!

A cat… spoke!!!!!!

Kyojuro fell into deep thought. Could it be that he's in another new world again?

Since he could understand the cat speaking, did that mean he had turned into a cat himself?

With that thought, he immediately looked at his hands.

Although they were a bit chubby, they were still human hands.

So he was still human... but what about the cat in front of him?

A monster, perhaps?

Kyojuro cautiously gazed at the three-colored cat, not reaching out to touch it, worried he might offend this cat demon.

"Cat?"

Not touching the cat didn't mean the cat wouldn't touch Kyojuro, though.

Little Fuku, seeing Kyojuro in a daze, raised a paw and placed it on Kyojuro's forehead.

Kyojuro swayed but managed to stay upright, holding his forehead with his chubby little hands, confused about why the cat demon had pressed on his head.

Meow, he's kind of fun~

Fuku's tail wagged high, and as he circled Kyojuro, he explained,

"I'm Fukumaru, a contracted ninja cat of Tajima. Since Tajima is your grandfather, I'm also your grandfather. Come on, call me grandfather and let's hear it, meow~"

"Fuku-dono."

"Oh, it's Madara. Finished training?"

"Yeah, it's done."

Just as Madara had finished and saw the ninja cat interacting with his nephew, he poured a small cup of warm water from the kettle by the bed and handed it to Kyojuro to sip, all the while explaining,

"This is Fukumaru, and he's the younger sibling of the Ume-dono who used to take care of you. Since your father couldn't summon Ume, Fukumaru's been looking after you when the family has things to attend to."

Ume?

For some reason, hearing that name, Kyojuro's mind conjured an image of a cat with flower-like patterns around its mouth and nose, much like a plum blossom.

Had he seen Ume before?

But hadn't he just arrived in this world?

Kyojuro tilted his head in confusion, then remembered a face of a young man who somewhat resembled Madara.

If the cat face belonged to Ume, then could that young man be his father?

"Papa…"

Kyojuro murmured absentmindedly, and Madara caught it clearly.

Thinking it was because Kyojuro was missing his father, Madara quickly changed the subject.

"I'm going to teach Izuna swordsmanship. Do you want to watch?"

Sword!

Finally, an opportunity to understand the swordsmanship of this world. Kyojuro wouldn't miss it for anything. He immediately raised both hands in Madara's direction.

Madara bent down and scooped Kyojuro into his arms.

Kyojuro, with his hands outstretched, wanting to be hugged, was so adorable!!!

After the child was taken away, Fukumaru stretched lazily. Although Kyojuro was quite the charmer with cats, watching over the child was truly tiring.

"Well then, I'm off, meow~"

With a puff of white smoke, Fukumaru vanished.

Kyojuro couldn't believe his eyes as he waved his hand. Had the cat really disappeared?

It must have been a cat demon!

He could finally play with cats now!

In his previous life, because his father didn't like animals, Kyojuro never had any pets at home. But now, in this life, he could finally experience it.

Cat demons… they must count as animals, right?

So, was his family of exorcists who served cat demons?

Huh? But wasn't everyone here a ninja?

Ninjas… or exorcists, Kyojuro fell into thought.

…

Clang—

The sound of clashing swords pulled Kyojuro's thoughts back to the present.

He looked out into the yard, where Izuna, holding a kunai, was sparring with Madara, who was wielding a sword.

Although their movements were a bit inexperienced, Kyojuro could already see the fundamentals forming.

Though Kyojuro didn't consider himself a swordsmanship genius, he really loved the art and could say he understood it to some extent.

Just watching for a little while, he already noticed some flaws in the swordsmanship the two uncles were practicing.

This style of swordsmanship relied heavily on the practitioner's agility and sharp eyes.

Kyojuro tilted his head. Generally, family traditions in swordsmanship—especially those practiced from a young age—don't tend to favor a particular attribute so obviously.

Could it be that everyone in his family was particularly suited to practice the Thunder Breathing technique?

As he thought this, Kyojuro looked at his chubby little hands and hesitated.

He had always trained with the Flame Breathing technique and wasn't too familiar with the Thunder Breathing, plus his movements weren't built for speed.

He would need to train harder in the future!

…

Izuna had just finished his training and was about to show off to Madara when he caught sight of his little nephew, who was clenching his tiny fist with a serious expression.

So cute!!!!!

Izuna immediately abandoned his hard training with Madara and rushed to disturb Kyojuro instead.

By the time Madara had finished organizing the yard, he saw Izuna earnestly trying to convince Kyojuro.

"Kyojuro, listen up. As a proper Uchiha, you need to learn how to take good care of your weapon,"

As he spoke, he took out a kunai.

"This is your first weapon. You must take good care of it."

Kyojuro nodded seriously and reached out to hold the kunai in front of him, still amazed at the situation.