[Mad Tiger] Chapter 59

"So Itachi-kun got himself into a bit of a mess… You know, he was here not long ago and said his little brother would be coming to see me soon," Nekomata said, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Didn’t look too great, though… I couldn’t quite put my paw on what was off at the time."

“You played with him too, didn’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Obviously," the Divine Cat smirked. "But it wasn’t a proper Game. Sure, he put on the ‘ears of intent,’ it wasn’t his first time playing, and that’s never quite as fun. Still, what can I say? I’m sentimental like that. Little Uchiha was rather cheeky about the whole thing—quite amusing, really. Humans are funny creatures, so convinced of their superiority. Why ruin their delusions? Besides, I got him to promise me a new Game."

I pictured the ever-stoic Itachi Uchiha wearing a pair of fluffy white cat ears and barely suppressed a snort. Pure surrealism. No wonder Nekomata-sama was having a field day with all this.

The Divine Cat stretched his back luxuriously before letting out a sharp meow. Within seconds, the chamber filled with over a hundred armored feline warriors.

“You, you, and you,” he said, flicking his paw toward three of them.

“It’s a tremendous honor to participate in the Great Game, Nekomata-sama!” the chosen trio practically sang in unison in response.

Then…

The cat faces “melted” and soon reformed into the trio of Konoha genins: Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Though they looked rather beat-up. ‘Naruto’ sported a messy bruise under one eye, and ‘Sasuke’ had a gash across his face.

“Capture the them!” bellowed a hefty gray cat, easily twice the size of the others.

“Yes, Tekinoinu-san!”

And before I could even blink, the crowd swarmed ‘my humans’, tying them up in the blink of an eye, their delighted war cries filling the air.

“EXECUTE THEM! EXECUTE THE SPIES!”

Nekomata-sama and I strolled behind the mob at a very leisurely pace.

“You placing any bets?” the Divine Cat smirked as we stepped onto the rooftop of the feline fortress—right at the “head” of the giant sphinx-like castle.

“You think Itachi’s watching?” I asked, tail flicking. “That he’s gonna step in and save his little brother?”

“Not a doubt in my mind,” Nekomata huffed. “That little brat is slippery, and he’s good at hiding. But why chase him when I can just… lure him out?”

“Like dangling a mouse on a string,” I agreed. “And Shisui?”

“He’s nearby too. Probably tracking Itachi,” the Divine Cat replied with a chuckle as he squinted at the sight of our trio of genins each being hoisted by mysterious hooks that appeared out of nowhere. “I can sense everyone on my turf.”

“Handy feature,” I murmured.

Meanwhile, the spectacle continued. Spotlights crisscrossed over the ‘captured genin’, and from all around, like the rhythmic pounding of war drums, came an enchanted chorus of meows:

"DEATH TO THEM!"

"DEATH!"

"EXECUTE THE INTRUDERS!"

The sheer volume of that many cats baying for blood sent my fur standing on end.

"Executioner! Executioner!"

That deep, many-voiced murmur rippled through the crowd of nyako-ninja—which, apparently, was the official name for those big, armored war cats.

From our perch atop the castle’s ear-shaped towers, Nekomata-sama and I had the perfect view of the show.

A black-furred cat emerged from the shadows, dressed in a deep crimson hood with slits cut for his eyes, whiskers, and mouth.

Slung across his back was a huge executioner’s axe, its wicked edge glinting under the lights.

“Who’s first?” the Executioner growled, slamming the axe into the block with a boom.

"THE GIRL! THE GIRL!"

The roar of the crowd sent a shiver down my spine.

Still no sign of Itachi, despite the drawn-out ceremony. And at ninja speed, he could have been here ten times over by now…

Actually, now that I thought about it, Shisui might also jump in. The scene was genuinely unsettling—even I was struggling to sense any illusion. The fear crawling under my skin was very real. Even though, I knew this wasn’t really Sakura.

The girl struggled, but the warrior cats quickly restrained her again and pinned her to the chopping block.

A swift swing of the axe, and her pink-haired head went rolling across the stone floor, splattering everything in thick, metallic-smelling blood. Just like my Daishiki…

"Sakuraaaaaa!" Naruto’s gut-wrenching scream, along with my own, was drowned out by the triumphant war cries of the cat horde.
And then—darkness.

I think I just passed out.
How embarrassing.

Step. Step. Step.

Silent steps.

Too silent.

I couldn’t hear them, but I could feel them.

Weird.

I was still in the dark, but… it was warm.

And…

Was the darkness purring?

Something smelled good. Not just good—comforting. 

Familiar.

A warm breath ghosted over my fur. A rough tongue rasped across my forehead.

I was both here and far away at the same time.

Kami help me, if I pass out and miss something interesting…

GET UP, TORA! NOW!

You’re a ninja cat! Not some weak, pampered house pet!

Life’s not easy! And for your humans? It’s even harder!

There’s still more battles ahead—

MOVE!

BREATHE!

EYES OPEN! CHAKRA, FLOW. FROM MY MY PAWS, TO THE TIP OF MY TAIL, FLOW!

“You can do it, little one, nya” the darkness murmured. It believed in me.

“Humans come and go… and we can’t stop it… We live too long… and yet we love them too deeply, though we pretend otherwise… Silly little kitten… You have such a big heart…”

I walked through the darkness, following the voice.

"You’re revealing the biggest feline secret yet?”—for some reason, a childhood cartoon song popped into my head, one where I only remembered one line: "There’s no creature stronger than a cat, I bet…"

“How very true, little one,” the darkness chuckled.

And it sounded just like Nekomata-sama.

My eyes fluttered open, reluctantly but surely. And I was very glad they did.

"Not a bad hiding spot, Itachi-kun," Nekomata-sama drawled with satisfaction, acting like he hadn’t noticed me temporarily slipping into unconsciousness.

Well. I am sure he had. Especially after his yellow eyes studied me for a second before he smirked, whiskers twitching.

"And Sakura-chan? Her head—?" I hesitated. I wasn’t sure I wanted to look.

"It was just a cat illusion," Nekomata huffed. "The head’s fake, but Chisan is doing a fantastic job playing the role of a decapitated corpse. Truly gifted."

"Uh, yeah… totally," I swallowed, braving a glance. It looked disturbingly real. The blood, the smell, the aura of death…

"Feline genjutsu is the highest form of illusion," Nekomata-sama boasted. "Even insects can ‘see’ it. Animals, too. And humans? With their pitifully limited perception of reality? Please."

Huh. And to think I once lamented turning into a cat.

Before I could dwell on that, the guest list expanded.
Uchiha Itachi had finally arrived—Shisui right on his heels.

With a flick of his wrist, Itachi sent a kunai flying, slicing cleanly through the ropes suspending ‘Sasuke’ and ‘Naruto.’

The nyako-ninjas, recognizing the ‘terrifying Uchiha,’ immediately prettended to shriek in terror and scattered. Some bolted for the castle’s interior, some dramatically threw themselves ‘overboard.’ Though, judging by the lack of splashing, they probably just ran along the walls.

And then, Itachi finally noticed Shisui, who burst in right after him.

“Dispel and dissapear! My Mangekyo Sharingan sees through these stupid illusions,” he snapped, waving a dismissive hand at Shisui.

Oh, sweet summer child.

Shisui didn’t even think about dispelling himself.

"I’m sorry about your friend," Shisui said, glancing at ‘Naruto,’ who was hunched over the ‘corpse.’

"Sorryyy~?"

The fake Naruto’s voice warbled with a distinct purring undertone.

‘Sasuke,’ for extra dramatic effect, burst out laughing—a wild, unhinged sound—before his arm stretched and morphed into a clawed paw.

"Another illusion?" Itachi muttered, glancing between them, now ‘surrounded’ on three sides.

He leapt back, fingers flashing through hand seals. A murder of crows burst into existence around him, cawing wildly.

"Just now, he made a genjutsu with his shadow crows," Nekomata hummed beside me, tail flicking idly. "To human eyes, it looks like he’s vanished—like his body shatters into birds. Quite well executed, really."

Shisui’s pupils spiraled with Sharingan.

Oh, I loved how clear everything was in this place. The contrast. The lighting. The atmosphere. Perfect for the pure, unadulterated high-definition ninja action that was about to commence.

It seems like Shisui too, saw through the illusion.

Because he promptly drop-kicked Itachi across the rooftop.

"I'm real!" Shisui growled. "Let me help you, Itachi!"

The fake ‘Naruto,’ ‘Sasuke,’ and ‘Sakura’s corpse’ in the meantime took that as their cue to bail.

Which, uh… yeah.

Watching a ‘headless Sakura’ silently sprint away was—

Deeply unsettling.

And then.

Oh, then we got to the good stuff.

The epic and real ninja fight—the kind I’d dreamed of witnessing all my life! 

I could barely keep up with all the action as they whirled around the place doing boom and pow. 

It was incredibly fast and agile, full of spitting fireballs, swapping places with crow clones. Kunais flew left and right. Then, suddenly, both of them froze, staring wide-eyed at each other.

“Now, it’s time!” Nekomata-sama said and rushed from his seat, simultaneously returning to his normal size.

I leaped after the Divine Cat to follow and… found myself back in that familiar “nowhere” again…

“Find Itachi, little one, and help him…” the darkness whispered after me in a soft, purring voice.

TN: I think this is my worst chapter yet