Chapter 89 - Gems for Catnip

Flashback end

General POV

Ishizu looked at the cats, who accused him not being the same.

"Well, it is me alright. I had enough time to grow up from the paranoid little boy I once was to an a.d.u.l.t with a bit of wisdom and enough strength to stand my ground to most of the threats in this world. Plus, while I don't hate old me since I can tell you that my old personality helped me greatly in surviving this world."

The cats smirked at the human.

"You will always have a place in our clan as the human who made the whole royalty high on catnip," said one cat as all of them burst out laughing.

Ishizu rolled his eyes at the spectacle. Since that accident he was hailed as a celebrity and they gave him the nickname 'Baby Merchant' since after that day there was a kitten boom.

"Enough with this! Tell me, Sasaki-kun, why have you come here?" asked Nekobaa.

The room fell silent as the cats also were curious why the drug dealer came to them.

It surely wasn't to sell them his catnip, although they would greatly appreciate it.

"The reason I came here is for two things.

1. I need the location of the Uchiha Hideout and

2. I have to get 'those things' from you," Ishizu quoted.

Nekobaa nodded.

"Hmm, so it is time. Both brothers are going to meet."

"Sasuke is one of my students, so I have to help him find his brother. I have done my best to teach him about life so he will decide for himself if he lets his brother live or not."

"And why do you need 'those things'?" asked the old woman in curiosity.

"Those things are going to be used to show an Uchiha that he should not underestimate me. Sasuke will soon reach this place to stock up on supplies, so don't tell him I know all of you," said Ishizu as he turned to the cats.

"I am currently out of stock, so if you really need them you have to see Tamara-sama and ask for permission to get them," said Nekobaa.

Ishizu frowned at the information he got from the old woman. He thought he would get this over without any problems, yet here he was, forced to act.

"So, I have to talk to the Cat Boss... again?"

A sigh escaped his lips. Meeting Tamara was not in his plan, but if Nekobaa didn't have what he needed, he had to go there and hope she let him leave without a fight.

"It is good that Sasuke doesn't know of her so I can have a quick chat," muttered Ishizu before Nekobaa threw him the scroll.

Ishizu glanced at the scroll, and he knew it was the same he used with Shisui. Since he greatly improved in Fuinjutsu, Ishizu could see far more on the scroll than his past self could.

Just like last time, he could see the markings indicating for a reverse summon but Ishizu could see the tiny change in the scroll he didn't see before and the ones he didn't understand.

'Why is that here?' thought Ishizu before he connected the dots.

'That's why Shisui turned into a cat. As we teleported the nature energy infused with him so he wouldn't turn into stone, but the Yang chakra turned him into a cat.'

Tamara was clever, thought Ishizu. The nature energy prevented humans to turn to stone when they entered her realm, but the Yang part would turn them into cats.

Servitude or death. What was better?

Either way, he had to ask for permission.

Akatsuki Hideout

Play Akatsuki Theme for impact.

Itachi and Kisame had Roshi with them, as they called the others.

The images projected on each finger of the Gedo Mazo.

"We have the 4 tails," spoke Kisame as he threw the old man on the ground.

Roshi had no chance of winning against Kisame, whose Suiton destroyed the Yoton.

"Good, we will begin the sealing of the 3 tails and the 4 tails," said Pein.

"Yeah, I defeated the 3 tails all alone," proudly spoke Tobi as he danced in excitement.

"Shut up, Tobi! We had more problems than that," said Deidara angrily.

"What happened?" asked Konan.

"This bastard from before. The one with the wood release came before us to the tailed beast. I wanted to kill him, but he said that he already finished what he came for and it was only a measly wood clone," Deidara's astral projection stopped on the ground in rage.

"He is very good at Fuinjutsu," added Tobi in his childish tone.

"Let us seal the tailed beast before I will give each order to find him and kill him," answered Pain.

Yamamoto proved to be a hindrance Pain wanted to eliminate now.

"We believe that Sasuke is making a team with the one who is a thorn in our eyes. Both of them formed a team with one of the Hozuki brothers and Bipolar Jugo," explained Zetsu.

"Let us just kill them all," screamed Hidan.

"Silence. Leader-sama will tell us what to do. I don't want to be the one who collects your remains after you get decapitated again," growled Kakuzu.

"You two will continue your search on the Nanabi," said Pain before they started the extractions.

Cat Realm

Ishizu POV

Making my way to the castle, I remembered the time I had been here and still marveled at the scenery. The cats looked at me, probably wondering what a human was doing here and if I would become one of them.

The guards opened the door and inside the hall, I could see the big cat eating some kind of fish.

She completely ignored me as Po did but I was on a tight schedule so instead of waiting I just threw a kunai at her.

Unfortunately, a barrier blocked the attack, but I didn't care, as it had the desirable effect of getting her attention.

She smirked as she spits the fish bones at me. The bones flew quickly and precisely, but a quick Shinra Tensei blocked them.

"A guest after so long time? I welcome you to the realm. I would explain who I am then we would have a nice banquet while you would slowly turn into a cat. This would happen if it would be your first time here, yet there are only two humans who managed to leave Cat Haven. It is good to see you again, Sasaki-kun," spoke Tamara as she stretched herself and yawning showing off her very sharp teeth.

"Now be a dear and tell this old cat what made you come to me after all these years? If I remember correctly, you left saying you wouldn't come back... or maybe the life of a shinobi has gotten onto your nerves and you decided to be turned into a cat and live your life in this paradise? Not that it is possible, so what do you want?" she grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"I came to have a set of your fuinjutsu gems, but Nekobaa was out of stocks. The fight between two Uchiha brothers is going to happen and I want to prepare against a nasty time-space jutsus," I told the cat Sage who hummed.

"Against time-space jutsus, you say? That's something I can't give so casually. What do I get out of it?"

"If it is in my possibilities and if I can give it, I will try to fulfill your request," I told her, hoping she wouldn't ask for something outrageous.

"I may be old, but not even I can forget the day you and Shisui came here and graced us with that spectacle. What I want is the recipe for your famous catnip. If you give it to me, I will give you the gems," bargained Tamara.

That... was something I could do. The catnip was something I came up with on the run and wasn't some secret technique I feared to be leaked out. Taking special Fuinjutsu gems in exchange for a recipe was perfect to trade.

"I will give it to you after the fight as I don't have it on me."

"I trust you. It's a deal then. Take these gems but bring them back after you use them, since they need to be recharged, or else there will be useless," said Tamara, before throwing me a handful of gems.

Those gems were unique. Unlike other Fuinjutsus barriers which could be destroyed by sheer force, these gems could produce a special barrier that was impossible to penetrate with Ninjutsu or Taijutsu. I doubt that even if Gai opened all 8 gates and 'Night Gai' it, the barrier would still stand. Not that I could confirm it.

On top of being impossible to come in, once inside nothing could escape it. Not even the chakra absorbing techniques like the Preta Path or space-time jutsus like Kamui or Flying Raiju could teleport you out.

This Fuinjutsu was the Ultimate Defence.

Yet it wasn't perfect. No Jutsu was.

The problems here were location, time, and area. The larger the area to mark, the faster the nature energy would deplete, which was stored inside the stones. Here in Cat Haven, the stones could take the energy out of the air since it was so thick, making the problems irrelevant, but back in the Elemental Nations, each problem had to be considered.

If you wanted to fight someone in a 1 vs.1 with no one interrupting, you could throw them in each direction to make a small death arena and the drain would be minimal and it would last for a long time.

For what was about to happen between Sasuke and Itachi, I had to make a large barrier around the compound so Zetsu couldn't come inside and watch the interaction of the two.

I sure hoped they wouldn't fight, since a conversation doesn't last longer than a fight.

Zetsu would probably inform Obito about what was happening, since the barrier would obstruct him from both entering and seeing.

The face he would make, seeing as he couldn't come inside too, would be nice.

With the gems at my side, I made my way to the compound to place them.