Faced with Sengoku's questioning, Chiga pondered slightly, thinking of the most concise answer. Covering his right eye, he said to Sengoku,
"I'm fine, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, thank you for your concern. You can understand this absorption method as my eye eating the Devil Fruit."
Chiga wasn't afraid that exposing this secret would lead to him being subjected to human experiments by the World Government. He was well-protected in the Navy by Sengoku, Zephyr, and others, and his own strength was enough to protect himself.
Whether it was the Flying Thunder God, the Door-Door Fruit, or Yomotsu Hirasaka, Chiga was fearless. It could be said that if he wanted to leave, very few could stop him.
"?"
However, upon receiving such an answer, Sengoku's face instantly turned into a black question mark. He wondered, 'Can an eye eat a Devil Fruit? Does that mean ears, noses, and so on can also eat them? So, I've been at a disadvantage by only eating with my mouth, only being able to eat one, right?'
Knowing that Sengoku would react this way, Chiga added,
"Only my Rinnegan can!"
Alright, at this point, Sengoku could only accept this strange setting. However, despite accepting it, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, 'Just how outrageous is Chiga's family? I heard Chiga is the only one left. Could it be that even the heavens couldn't stand it anymore?'
"Alright, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, there's something wrong with my right eye. I'm going back to rest. I'll take my leave now."
The anomaly in his right eye was getting stronger, and Chiga no longer wanted to stay. He planned to find an uninhabited place to investigate.
"Alright, if it gets too bad, you must go to the infirmary, got it?"
"Yes, got it."
With that, Chiga disappeared. He had left one of his Flying Thunder kunai in the wasteland behind the mountain. His Flying Thunder wasn't as proficient as the Fourth's, so he couldn't leave the marks on objects at any time, but it was very useful for fixed-point teleportation.
…
Training Camp's Back Mountain Wasteland,
Whoosh! Chiga's figure appeared beside the marked kunai. As soon as he arrived, a voice echoed in Chiga's mind,
"Master, let me out!"
Chiga was startled. This feeling was truly bizarre. He tried to communicate with the voice in his mind,
"Who are you? How are you inside my body??"
The voice sounded again,
"According to that human just now, I am Matatabi, and you created me!"
Nani? Chiga was completely bewildered. Animal-type fruits had this kind of situation? But the current problem was to quickly release this Matatabi. Having a voice constantly in his mind was too strange.
"How do I release you?"
"I don't know either. I'm trapped in your eye, and there are also three-headed dogs, chameleons, and so on next to me."
Aren't those the Rinnegan's Animal Path summons? Chiga hadn't used the Animal Path ability since awakening his Rinnegan and had almost forgotten about it.
Mainly, he didn't need it much. The size advantage of animals wasn't very prominent in the world of pirates, and the chameleon's invisibility was completely countered by Observation Haki. Moreover, he didn't want to run into a chameleon's mouth.
Since Matatabi was born in his Animal Path, it was easy to handle. Chiga directly bit his finger and slapped it on the ground,
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom! A large cloud of smoke appeared, accompanied by a piercing cat's cry, and then instantly dispersed. A giant demon cat, completely black with black flames flickering on its back, appeared before Chiga. It was Matatabi.
Matatabi saw Chiga and immediately lowered its head, rubbing its massive head affectionately against Chiga. Matatabi's fur was soft and smooth, carrying a hint of coolness. Being rubbed like this, Chiga couldn't help but shiver.
Reaching out to stroke Matatabi's head, Matatabi immediately showed an expression of enjoyment. Chiga looked at the giant Matatabi before him and confirmed that this Matatabi was a completely different creature from the Matatabi tailed beast in Naruto.
After thinking for a moment, Chiga asked two questions he was more concerned about,
"Do you have any special abilities? Also, if you come out of my eye, can I still use your abilities?"
Matatabi respectfully replied,
"My black flames have extremely low temperatures and can freeze targets. I can also use black flames to control corpses. Corpses struck by my black flames can exert fifty percent of their original strength. And please rest assured, Master, even if I am outside, you can still use all of my abilities, including beastification!"
Hearing Matatabi's answer, Chiga nodded in satisfaction. Setting aside the offensive nature of the black flames, the ability to control corpses alone was very practical, definitely stronger than Impure World Reincarnation without a White Zetsu body.
Although he could also control corpses with black rods, the effect was not as good as Matatabi's black flames, not to mention that Matatabi itself could serve as a powerful summon to assist him in battle.
All in all, Chiga gave this assessment reward a five-star rating!
In a good mood, Chiga found Matatabi more and more pleasing to the eye. However, it was getting late, and he was ready to return to his dorm. But he couldn't just take Matatabi, with its large size, back like this, could he?
As if sensing Chiga's thoughts, Matatabi's voice echoed in Chiga's mind,
"Master, I can change my size. Can I sleep next to you tonight? That space in your eye really isn't comfortable, Master?"
As it spoke, Matatabi's cat face actually made a pitiful expression, and even carried a hint of… cuteness?
Looking at such a Matatabi, how could anyone bear to refuse? Chiga agreed without hesitation.
Matatabi, having received its master's permission, let out a happy meow, then its body gradually shrunk, finally transforming into a normal-sized black cat. It jumped onto Chiga's shoulder, affectionately licking Chiga's cheek.
Chiga stroked Matatabi's head down to its tail. When he touched its tail, Matatabi's fur bristled a bit, but it didn't resist. Interestingly, even though Matatabi was a black cat, its face could still be seen blushing.
Chiga only felt that the sensation was excellent, like sticking one's hand out of a car window on a highway, feeling as if grasping something. What Chiga didn't know was that when he had this thought, Matatabi's face turned even redder, and it secretly rolled its eyes at Chiga.
With the Rinnegan issue resolved, Chiga was ready to return to his dorm. Before leaving, Chiga gave Matatabi a name: Medis.
Matatabi loved the name and tightly hugged Chiga's neck with its two small paws. The figures of one person and one cat appeared so harmonious and beautiful under the setting sun.
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@Harry_Quaye thanks for the powerstones
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10 powerstones for a bonus Chapter?