Shikigami Summoning in Konoha

Chapter 3: The Power of the Shikigami

After Katsuragi finished reviewing the remaining functions, he realized that in order to unlock the full power of each Shikigami Card, he would need to "star up" the card. The thought of grinding again—like back in his old gaming days—made him sigh involuntarily.

However, this wasn't exactly like the game he remembered; there were some differences. Each Shikigami had a rank. Take the Three-Tailed Fox as an example: she was an R-grade yokai, whose maximum star level was four. Above her were SR-grade (max five stars) and SSR-grade (max six stars) yokai. Although the difference between five and six stars might seem small at first glance, Katsuragi guessed the power gap was definitely not so simple.

To increase a Shikigami's star level, you had to buy a material called Daruma Dolls in the Shop. They came in four types: two-star, three-star, four-star, and five-star, priced at 10,000, 30,000, 120,000, and 600,000 gold coins respectively.

Take the Three-Tailed Fox as an example again:

Currently, she was two-star. To get to three-star, she needed two two-star Daruma (total 20,000 gold). To get to four-star, she would need three three-star Daruma (total 90,000 gold). It had to be done step by step—no skipping.

Meanwhile, Bounty Seals were currently Katsuragi's main source of gold income. It was similar to the system in his old game: three missions per day, refreshed at 6 AM. Katsuragi checked them and found that the rewards were 100 or 300 gold apiece.

Although that wasn't much, the tasks themselves were surprisingly simple, sometimes even bizarre—like doing ten push-ups or chopping down ten trees—things that left Katsuragi puzzled. But at least it made him breathe a sigh of relief. If the missions demanded killing ninja or something equally dangerous, he'd have serious trouble fulfilling them.

Still, whenever he imagined the astronomical amount of gold needed to raise a future SSR Shikigami to six stars, Katsuragi felt a wry smile tug at his lips. Going by his current gold earnings, doing all the daily missions every single day, he'd need about ten years just to amass enough for a single six-star upgrade.

As for the Mission System, Katsuragi spent a while tinkering with it but didn't quite figure it out. It looked more like an achievement list. At the moment, there was only a single entry visible:

"Obtain your first Shikigami: Reward 10,000 gold."

This immediate reward was one reason Katsuragi didn't feel too pessimistic about the future. At least he now had half the gold needed to star up the Three-Tailed Fox. Maybe there would be achievements in the future that directly rewarded 100,000 gold at once!

After reading through all the information in his mind, Katsuragi exhaled. Even though he still knew nothing about how the courtyard and Shikigami had come to be, they had clearly crossed over with him. It probably wasn't anything malicious.

"Besides, the ninja world will be ridiculously overpowered in the future,"

he thought, fully aware of the threats that lay ahead.

Transmigrating with knowledge of the story, Katsuragi knew the kind of enemies that would appear: the reanimated Hokage from various villages, Six Paths Obito, Six Paths Madara, Kaguya… every single one of them was impossibly broken in terms of power.

"But if I can get Shikigami on par with them, maybe it'll be possible to fight back!"

He didn't know the exact capabilities of SSR-level Shikigami, but yokai like Enma, who ruled over the underworld, Arakawa Lord ("荒")—the child of gods, Ichimokuren, the Wind Dragon Deity, or even Ibaraki-dōji, who never stopped chasing his "dearest friend"—none of them were simple characters! Ahem, though that last bit might have some strange undertones…

Anyway, those things were far beyond his reach for now. At the moment, he was just a three-year-old with a two-star R-grade yokai at his side.

"Next, I need to figure out how to enter and exit this place freely."

Katsuragi went to the Three-Tailed Fox's quarters and found her exploring the room in detail. "Fox Sis," he said, "I need to talk to you about something."

"I plan on leaving here for a bit. It might be a long time before I come back… or I might be right back—I'm not sure."

"Huh? Little Katsuragi, where are you going?" the Three-Tailed Fox asked curiously, straightening up.

"Fox Sis, this place isn't the real world," Katsuragi explained with a wry smile. "I live in a village called Konoha, where there are people called shinobi who are all incredibly strong."

"That's why I need your power to help me," he continued earnestly.

Looking at the little boy's serious face, the Three-Tailed Fox let out a gentle laugh. She abruptly appeared next to him, her plush red tails wrapping around his body as she patted his head.

"Isn't it only natural for an older sister to help her younger brother? If you need my strength, just take it anytime!"

"Thanks, Sis!"

If he had been a bit guarded before, this time he called her "Sis" from the bottom of his heart. He truly felt the Three-Tailed Fox's sincerity. In this world, where he had no family, a bit of warmth like this touched him deeply.

"Speaking of which," said the Three-Tailed Fox, "it feels like my powers have weakened a lot. That's strange… I definitely used to be faster than this."

"Don't worry, Fox Sis. I'll help you return to your full strength!" Katsuragi guessed she probably wasn't originally a two-star Shikigami. Once he promoted her all the way to four stars, maybe he'd learn what she'd truly been capable of.

"Mm! I'll leave it to you, Little Katsuragi!" The Three-Tailed Fox didn't seem overly concerned and responded brightly.

"Uh, Sis, could you maybe unwrap your tails now? This is starting to feel really awkward." Though her three fluffy tails were soft and comforting, it was still a bit much to be wrapped up for so long.

"Heehee!"

Seeing Katsuragi's face scrunch up, she loosened her tails with a playful giggle.

When Katsuragi went back outside, he decided to try leaving the courtyard the same way he had come. He arrived beneath the cherry blossom tree—the spot where he had first appeared—and took a deep breath.

"Leave!"

In an instant, the courtyard vanished, and Katsuragi found himself back in the house he had only been living in for two days. Looking around at the familiar furnishings, he realized how smoothly it had worked.

"Now let's test how to return."

He stayed where he was and tried to re-enter the courtyard. Calming his mind, he sensed the presence of the courtyard and the Shikigami Registry.

"Enter!"

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, everything blurred, and he was back in the courtyard again.

"Hey, Little Katsuragi!" The Three-Tailed Fox greeted him cheerfully.

"How long was I gone just now, Fox Sis?" he asked. He wanted to confirm whether time passed differently here.

"Not long at all. You left and then poof—you were back," she replied, looking puzzled.

"I see,"

Katsuragi nodded. It appeared that time in the courtyard ran parallel to the outside world, and there was no "time stop" trick.

To confirm, he tested it again using a clock. The time inside the courtyard was indeed synchronized with the time outside. Plus, he couldn't bring any external items into the courtyard or take anything out.

Crucially, he realized he wasn't entering the courtyard with his physical body—perhaps it was his spirit, or something else entirely. Katsuragi wasn't quite sure about the specifics, but he did know that once inside the courtyard, his real body in the outside world was inert, unable to move. That was a bit disappointing. He'd been hoping for something like Obito's Kamui dimension, where he could move around freely.

Still, it was hardly a deal-breaker. The most important thing he'd gained was the power of the Three-Tailed Fox.

"So this is Fox Sis's power…?"

Feeling his body growing lighter, Katsuragi excitedly ran and jumped around the house.

"I'm so fast now! I'm probably the fastest four-year-old in the ninja world, right? Though I'm not sure if it's actually Genin-level speed…"

Over the past three years, he had occasionally seen ninjas running on rooftops around the village, but he really had no clear grasp of their overall power rankings. He had no parents to ask, and the orphanage certainly wouldn't teach him such things, so he could only rely on memories of the manga for a rough guess.

Still, even with the Three-Tailed Fox's power, all it really gave him was a boost to his physical and agility stats, at least for now. He couldn't do any ninjutsu and had zero combat experience. Any actual Genin in the ninja world could probably still beat him easily.

But he was only three years old. And the Three-Tailed Fox was still just a two-star R-grade Shikigami. The moment he got her to four stars… he could hardly imagine how strong she might become. And more importantly, the Three-Tailed Fox was just an R. There were far more powerful Shikigami out there waiting to be summoned.