A plump orange tabby crouched on a treetop, watching Samui and her team with a helpless shake of its head.
"Hopeless."
When the three of them first arrived in Village Hidden in Hot Water, it was late spring. Now, it was snowing heavily. For over half a year, they had been repeating the events of the day they first arrived.
Each day they lived through was the same number of times they had relived that day:
Speak to the innkeeper → Ask him for information → Spend the night at the inn → Leave at dawn the next day → Somehow end up back in Village Hidden in Hot Water, repeating the exact same process again.
This constant loop had left them with a strange sense of déjà vu.
But every cycle had slight differences. Only humans were affected—nature and the village cats remained completely normal.
At first, the innkeeper had offered them "free dinner" during the early loops. But later, he stopped even bothering with meals.
The abnormalities in their memory and perception created a false sense of fullness. Some mysterious force kept Samui and her team alive. Had they escaped the Land of Hot Water earlier, they might've survived. But now, it was too late—if they left the Land of Hot Water, they'd die of starvation on the spot.
In truth, when they first arrived in Village Hidden in Hot Water, Samui wasn't as deeply affected. She sensed something was wrong. Omoi didn't want to stay either. But it was getting dark, and the innkeeper had been overwhelmingly hospitable, so they decided to cautiously rest for the night.
And from that night on, they were trapped here forever.
Kumogakure had already listed them as missing. Lately, many shinobi across the world had been vanishing without reason, and everyone was on edge.
The Land of Hot Water was far more dangerous than anyone had imagined. From the moment the anomaly appeared, every person who stepped into this place—without exception—fell victim to it.
The orange tabby could grant people temporary clarity, but that alone wasn't enough to escape the Land of Hot Water.
(T/N: A tabby cat refers to a domestic cat (Felis catus) with a distinctive coat pattern, not a breed.)
"I've already done all I can." With a melodramatic sigh, the tabby decided to return to its favorite pastime: toying with humans.
It didn't actually care about saving people. It was just... having fun. And if someone happened to escape because of its antics? Well, it wouldn't mind.
...
Knock knock knock!
Someone rapped on the bedroom door.
Orochimaru immediately tensed. This base was well-hidden, known only to him. Who could possibly be outside?
The knocking continued. Orochimaru didn't move a muscle. After a long while, whoever was outside seemed to lose patience and easily bypassed his defenses, entering the room.
Orochimaru's pupils narrowed sharply.
What he saw... was a cat?
A black-and-white cow-patterned cat.
"Who are you?" Orochimaru asked cautiously. Just because it looked like a small cat didn't mean he'd lower his guard. An ordinary cat would never have found this place.
The cow cat opened its mouth, then hesitated.
"If you've got something to say, go ahead." Orochimaru forced what might've passed for a gentle smile.
The cat sheepishly pawed at the ground, eyes filled with urgency. Then it spoke in human language.
"Orochimaru-san, please help me!"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. A cat... that knew who he was? Was his reputation really that widespread—even across species?
"What kind of trouble are you in? Couldn't catch a mouse? Got bullied by a puppy?" A cat asking for help—what was it going to be? Save the world?
"No, it's not that!" The cow cat's eyes welled with tears. "My mommy's coming home, but I broke the game console at home... and I totally can't fix it!"
Mom was coming home. That meant no more late-night gaming, no more sleeping in, no more junk food. Pure hell!
Even worse, it had secretly broken the console. Mom was definitely going to spank it!
With a look of utter despair on its face, the cat left Orochimaru nearly speechless. A cat that played video games?
He tried to refuse, but the cat didn't actually care what he thought. Polite on the surface, but completely overbearing in attitude, it hadn't come to ask for help—it came to demand it. And without waiting for his answer, it just dragged him away.
Yes. Orochimaru had just been kidnapped by a cat.
...
The cow cat took him to a luxurious mansion. There, he saw the so-called "game console." And after that... his entire worldview crumbled. Everything he thought he knew—his theories, deductions, assumptions—was completely overturned.
The cat showed him a sandbox model. On it, he saw the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, Konohagakure, Kirigakure...
Some locations were marked in red. Others had strange symbols written over them.
Orochimaru took a deep breath. "What... is this?"
"My mommy's game console," the cat answered truthfully.
With a hoarse voice, Orochimaru asked, "Uh… I mean, can it affect reality?"
The sandbox had many screens. You could observe anywhere at will—and he even saw familiar faces on the display. It was all too surreal. That's why he asked again.
The cat didn't care how shocking this might be to Orochimaru. Pointing at the sandbox, it said:
"This is the world."
This is the world...
This is the world...
Orochimaru's vision spun. A mix of panic and excitement surged inside him. Could this be some kind of ultra-advanced black technology?
He had once thought the Sage of Six Paths was the pinnacle of power—but apparently, there was always someone stronger out there.
Always curious and fearless, Orochimaru's fascination began to outweigh his shock. He eagerly tried to extract more information from the cat.
The cat, however, was clearly annoyed. It didn't come to be interrogated—it came for help!
Orochimaru ignored its bad attitude. He insisted that in order to fix the "game console," he needed to understand how it worked.
"You sure talk a lot," the cat grumbled. "This console involves extremely complex knowledge. There's no way someone like you could understand it."
Such disdain!
Getting looked down on by a cat!
Damn brat! Just because a kid knows how to use a smartphone doesn't mean they understand its internal structure. A tech-illiterate child mocking others—zero stars, would not recommend!
Orochimaru forced himself to stay calm.
"So this 'game console'—your mommy made it?"
The cat nodded proudly.
"And... what did she make it for?" he continued.
"How would I know?" The cat's gaze sparkled with innocence. "Maybe she made it to play house."
Orochimaru took another deep breath. He had once thought there was a secret mastermind manipulating the world, weaving dark conspiracies soaked in blood and shadows.
But no.
It was just... a cat playing house?
To a being of that level, the world really was nothing more than a toy.
Still, Orochimaru didn't fully believe the cat's story. If its mommy was that powerful, why would this little brat need his help?
Talk about overestimating him.
"By the way, I forgot to ask—who exactly is your mommy?" Orochimaru asked, pretending to be casual.
"My mom is the Cat God!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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