"Lord, my name is Kazahana. Are you from Konoha or...?"
"Meow!"
Raj approached him silently, raising a paw slowly.
At that moment, everyone held their breath.
They had all witnessed the devastating power of this giant cat's paw.
If it so desired, a single swipe could easily kill their "powerful" leader.
Kazahana squeezed his eyes shut, fear, terror, and confusion flooding his mind.
'Could it really be because I asked if it was from Konoha or elsewhere? Yes, that's it. It had already declared, "From today onward, you belong to me." How foolish of him to ask such a question...'
He immediately kowtowed, pleading.
"Lord, I was wrong! I shouldn't have asked so carelessly. I was wrong!"
But the cat's paw continued to approach.
Kazahana was terrified, but after several seconds, the devastating attack he expected never came.
Instead, the cat's paw gently rested on his head.
After this gesture, Raj flicked his paw, and a block of ice materialized above Kazahana's head, dropping onto him.
The height wasn't great, so the impact was minimal.
"Space... Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
The Snow Ninjas swallowed hard.
"S-s-s..." Kazahana stammered, his mouth trembling.
Though his strength was modest, his knowledge was considerable.
Raj had imprinted a Space Mark on him, meaning the cat could claim his life at any moment.
Even if Raj didn't come himself, he could send a lit Exploding Tag or something else...
"Meow?"
Raj gestured with its massive paw, its meaning unmistakable.
"Understood, Lord! I understand!"
Kazahana nodded frantically.
To misunderstand now would be to die a fool's death.
This creature represented itself, not Konoha.
They were just Rogue Ninja, located so far from Konoha that it was practically another world.
Konoha had nothing to gain from them, though perhaps they hoped for cooperation.
But if that were the case, they wouldn't have approached them this way.
Next, Raj stamped each of their heads, one by one, like a seal.
No one dared resist, forced to endure the process.
Soon, it was finished.
"Meow! Where's my lodging?"
"Lord, this is the conference hall. It's drafty and cold, with a large hole in the roof from the snowstorm. It's not very secure. You'd be much more comfortable in my quarters - it's warmer there," Kazahana said, bowing deeply.
"Very good, meow. As long as you don't betray me, I'll teach you Ninjutsu. But if you do betray me, trust me, you won't want to know the consequences."
Raj strolled leisurely away with Kazahana.
Why stay in this drafty, cold hall when a warm room was available?
As the leader of the Snow Ninja Village now, demanding a private residence wasn't unreasonable.
Besides, leaving the conference hall would give these people time and space to consider their options: complete allegiance or secret schemes like colluding with Doto Kazahana.
Kazahana escorted Raj to his home, where his wife and children were waiting.
This gesture was akin to offering hostages to demonstrate his loyalty.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
After Kazahana and Raj left, the others began to discuss the simple question.
'Submit or flee?'
Resistance was out of the question.
Even if the entire clan attacked Black Cat, they wouldn't be enough to warm him up.
As for fleeing, they knew they couldn't escape on their own.
Even if they ran to the ends of the earth, Black Cat's Space Mark would allow him to track them down and kill them at his leisure.
The real issue was what to do with the rest of the clan.
After a few exchanges, the room fell silent.
'Could they really trust Black Cat to spare them?'
Humans are inherently selfish.
Besides, Black Cat didn't seem genuinely intent on killing them...
As panic subsided, hope gradually took hold.
After further discussion, they concluded that following Black Cat might not be so bad after all.
They were all Rogue Ninja anyway, mercenaries working for either Doto Kazahana or Black Cat.
What difference did it make who they worked for?
Black Cat was even stronger than Doto Kazahana.
In that case,
Why not align themselves with this invincible, enigmatic Black Cat? At least there would be some hope for the future - who knew, maybe they could even rise through the ranks.
With this realization, everyone instantly felt relieved, even believing their actions had brought hope to the Snow Ninja Village.
The next morning, Raj woke up early.
If he were at home, he would have slept in a bit longer, but being in unfamiliar territory meant he had to stay alert.
News from Yahiko could arrive at any moment through Takuma.
As expected, it wasn't long before he was summoned to the Ninja Cat Castle.
Kazahana came to pay his respects, but after searching for ages, he finally caught sight of Raj only to see it vanish in a flash.
He searched everywhere but couldn't find any trace of the Lord.
He pondered for several seconds before taking a deep breath.
'I must never betray him!'
Betrayal meant death.
All the village's leaders had been "sealed."
Killing one or two or even relocating wouldn't change anything.
If their clan's leaders were wiped out, it would be practically the same as extinction for the Rogue Ninja.
Inside Ninja Cat Castle:
"Lord, he... sent a letter," Takuma gasped, breathless.
Raj handed her a pouch of special cat food.
While the Uzumaki Clan generally possessed high Chakra reserves, the distance between Ninja Cat Castle and the Land of Snow far exceeded that between Konoha and the eastern Land of Fire, naturally requiring significantly more Chakra to traverse.
Of course, the primary reason was Raj's enhanced power.
If he were just an ordinary cat, even summoning him from the Land of Snow's most remote regions wouldn't have drained much of Takuma's Chakra.
"Meow~ Let me see. You rest first."
Raj glanced at the letter before opening it.
The message was simple: they wanted Raj to arrive a day early to boost their confidence.
In other words, they were anxious and needed Raj's presence to proceed.
This was understandable.
Before, they might have been ignorant of the risks.
But now that they knew meeting Hanzo could mean facing Hanzo himself, Danzo, and ninja from Amegakure and Konoha's Root, heightened caution was only natural.
Yahiko might be somewhat naive, but after Raj's warning, he wouldn't be foolish enough to gamble his subordinates' lives on Hanzo's refusal to cooperate with Danzo.
After all, without Hanzo's alliance with Danzo, the current "Konoha-Amegakure unity" wouldn't exist.
"I'll head over first, meow. Don't worry. Has that white pig woken up yet? If so, tell him to help. He doesn't need to confront them directly - just disrupt the terrain during Yahiko's group's retreat to hinder the Konoha and Amegakure forces."
With these words, Raj teleported to Konan's location using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
At the border of Amegakure, Konan and Nagato sat facing each other.