Shikigami Summoning in Konoha

Chapter 14: Should We Call It Snow Release or Ice Release?!

The Hyūga Clan Estate.

Two children, both around four years old, were wandering about. One of them—a black-haired boy—seemed curious about everything around him, frequently asking questions of the little girl by his side.

The girl was well-behaved and patiently answered each of his questions. These two were none other than Katsuragi and Hinata, who had just left Hyūga Hiashi's quarters.

"Your Hyūga Clan grounds are enormous!"

Katsuragi marveled aloud once more, secretly wondering: I wonder what the Uchiha Clan's compound looks like. Would it be similar to the Hyūga Clan's?

"It's… not really that big,"

Hinata replied softly. After spending a while strolling around, Katsuragi's biggest achievement so far was that Hinata no longer spoke to him with such overwhelming shyness. Though her voice was still soft, it wasn't broken into stammers quite like before.

"Katsuragi, this is the place where Asa teaches me."

They eventually circled back to the main house. Passing by a room that looked like a study, Hinata explained, "I usually have a lot of homework to finish in here before I can go outside."

"Homework?"

Katsuragi froze momentarily, reminded of his assignments back at the orphanage. He guessed Hinata's tasks were probably things like calligraphy or reading. He smiled. "Hinata's so bright—you must finish them super quickly."

Hinata's cheeks immediately reddened. She muttered, "N-not really!" and then stopped talking.

All of a sudden, a noisy gurgling sound broke the silence. Katsuragi instantly felt embarrassed. From last night until now, he hadn't eaten a thing. Although Hiashi had invited him to stay for dinner, he wasn't sure he could hold out until evening.

Hinata clearly heard Katsuragi's stomach rumble, too. Noting his embarrassed expression, she gave a soft laugh and whispered, "Come with me. I'll get you something to eat first."

"Cough, cough… Sorry about that."

He was still growing, and on top of that he was injured, so there was no need to pretend otherwise. Even though he felt a bit awkward, he obediently followed Hinata, planning to get at least a small meal to tide him over.

Originally, Katsuragi expected Hinata to bring him to a kitchen. But as soon as he walked into a certain room, he realized kitchens didn't look like this.

"Wait here a second. I'll bring you something to eat."

Before Katsuragi could ask any questions, Hinata quickly ran off, leaving him alone in the room, standing there somewhat dazed.

"This must be… Hinata's room?"

Snapping out of it, Katsuragi started to look around. It was very simply furnished—no cute decorations or toys. In fact, it hardly resembled a little girl's room at all.

"Hinata's got it tough."

By now, his memory of Hinata's childhood in the original story had grown fuzzy, but he vaguely recalled that before she was ultimately defeated by her younger sister Hanabi, Hinata had been raised as the heir to the main family—a role which came with serious burdens.

"But since she and I are only four right now, there's still a while before Hanabi is even born!"

He mused that maybe it'd be better for him to help Hinata as much as possible. After all, he had read the original manga and knew a bit about how Hinata's future might develop.

Just then, Hinata returned, panting heavily and carrying a tray of food. She promptly handed the platter to Katsuragi and spoke softly: "I-I couldn't find Asa… This is all I could get."

Watching her gasp for air with sweat on her brow, Katsuragi felt a stir of emotion he couldn't quite describe. He quickly took the tray and said, "It's fine. It's plenty—thank you, Hinata!"

Hearing his gratitude, Hinata gave a sweet, relieved smile—then immediately ducked her head again. "I-it's no problem! Go ahead and eat!"

"Mm!"

After he finished his meal, neither of them felt like going outside again, so they sat quietly in Hinata's room, chatting. Mostly, Katsuragi teased or joked around with the little Hinata—fulfilling some personal… ahem, "innocent plan."

Time slipped by without them noticing, and soon it was dusk. Even though Hiashi had invited Katsuragi for dinner, the clan head himself was absent during the meal. Only Hinata and her mother accompanied Katsuragi to a lavish table.

As Katsuragi was about to leave, Hinata's mother informed him that Hiashi had already given instructions: Katsuragi should come back around midday tomorrow to study with Hinata, and as for martial training—he'd have to wait until he was fully healed.

On his way home, Katsuragi pondered why Hiashi hadn't shown up at dinner. It seemed most likely that he was dealing with the Cloud ninja incident. But from Katsuragi's current standpoint, there was little he could do about it.

"Sigh… Power."

He heaved a long sigh. If he were strong enough, none of this would be such a hassle. In later times, characters like Madara or Kaguya were so overwhelmingly strong that nobody could stand in their way—even if they tried.

Thinking of power reminded Katsuragi of the Three-Tailed Fox and Yuki-onna back in the courtyard. While he was with Hinata, he periodically checked on them. From what he could tell, those two seemed to be getting along. Yuki-onna was a bit distant, but the Three-Tailed Fox hardly minded.

"Right, right. I've got 60,000 gold now. Should I save up to get Fox Sis to four stars, or should I rank up Yuki-onna first?"

He weighed the pros and cons. At his current rate of gold acquisition, he'd still need about 30,000 more to push the Three-Tailed Fox to four stars. That might take two or three months, especially factoring in the time he needed to recover from his injury.

On the other hand, raising Yuki-onna to three stars wouldn't produce a massive improvement. Ultimately, Katsuragi decided it was better to keep saving and get Fox Sis to four stars first, hoping it might unlock new functions once she reached that level.

Still, even if he wasn't going to star up Yuki-onna immediately, he was very interested in her abilities. After a day of rest, he felt much better. Though he was told not to do any strenuous exercise, nobody said he couldn't test out his chakra—or, in this case, his Shikigami-infused "yōki."

Once he got home, Katsuragi surveyed the area around his house, verifying that nobody was watching him. Sensing no signs of surveillance, he decided to try out Yuki-onna's power.

He stepped into an open yard, gazing at the blanket of white snow covering the ground. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on the snow, then stretched out his palm. Before long, the flakes of snow on the ground rustled together and gathered into his hand, forming a large snowball.

"If someone saw this, would they call it Snow Release… or Ice Release?"

Staring at the snowball in his hand, Katsuragi wondered curiously.

End of Chapter 14

1. "Snow Release" vs. "Ice Release": In the Naruto series, "Ice Release" (氷遁, Hyōton) is famously used by characters like Haku. "Snow Release" doesn't exist officially, but the fanfic is humorously pondering how people in Naruto might label Katsuragi's new ability.

2. Asa: Possibly a Hyūga caretaker or teacher for Hinata, briefly mentioned by name.