Chapter 113

Not only that, thanks to the cat's excellent sense of balance, Boss Cat's back was also exceptionally stable; sitting on it was just like sitting on a convertible sports car from his previous life, and a strange sense of comfort came immediately.

And this "convertible sports car" was a real "leather seat" one, and even the kind that came with "seat heating"...

Incidentally, the big orange cat who was "playing dead" again did not stay on Boss Cat's broad back.

Instead, he was in the "VIP seat" position—Boss Cat's mouth.

At this moment, Boss Cat held the big orange cat by the scruff of his neck with his mouth, carrying the four members of Ryosuke's squad on his back, galloping toward the Cat Country.

Boss Cat did not take everyone on the conventional road, but took a shortcut.

They rushed toward the mountain on the steep mountain rocks; although it made everyone feel a bit alarmed for a while, Boss Cat's back remained very stable.

At the same time, Takeda Yoichi finally woke up slowly; as soon as he woke up, looking at the cliffs and precipices under his feet, and the violent wind coming to his ears, he almost fainted again.

Fortunately, Mizunuki Hikari on the side explained the situation in time, which also made this old subordinate of Mizunuki Ryosuke blush uncontrollably.

After all, this time he could be considered to have "played dead" all the way, and in terms of the degree of playing dead, he was far above the big orange cat, having done nothing and instead helping with trouble.

Terumi Mei, who was seriously injured, was already exhausted at this moment and fell into a deep sleep in Ryosuke's arms.

Ryosuke was not idle either, taking this opportunity to use the Yin Release mental secret technique to communicate with Boss Cat.

Boss Cat, who was "mentally linked" by Ryosuke, was startled at first, but soon accepted Ryosuke's link, and the two then began to communicate.

With the events inside the Mist Space as a foundation, Mizunuki Ryosuke had successfully gained a certain amount of goodwill from the cat clan; based on this, Ryosuke very easily obtained certain intelligence from Boss Cat's mouth.

The entire Mizukage Trial was commissioned by the Hidden Mist Village and then arranged by the cat clan.

During this period, the performance of the three teams would be observed by the Hidden Mist Village thousands of miles away.

After arriving at the mountain peak where the Cat Country was located, the trial of the three squads would officially begin.

First, the first level was the "Cat Labyrinth" at the foot of the mountain; only by breaking through the labyrinth could they continue to climb toward the mountain.

Inside the Cat Labyrinth, not only were there a large number of traps, but there were also illusions and puppets constructed from Yin-Yang Release secret techniques.

Once stepping into the interior of the labyrinth, the ninja squad would be trapped in it if they were not careful.

After breaking through the Cat Labyrinth, they immediately arrived at the second level.

"Mountain Climbing."

The path of mountain climbing was not a smooth road, but had been designed by the Cat Country through many layers.

And on the mountain climbing road, there were also many "assessments" designed by the Cat Country; after completing the prescribed assessments, the cats would give the climbing squad a certain score, and only when the score was reached could they successfully pass through the Cat Country.

Otherwise, even if they completed the mountain climbing road, they would be turned away by the Cat Country, leading to the complete failure of the mission.

Finally, after entering the Cat Country, the Cat King would organize the elite of the cat clan to conduct combat assessments on the three squads respectively.

Only after completing the first three rounds of assessments could they personally meet the Cat King and participate in the "Fourth Assessment" known only to the Cat King himself.

Passing all the assessments was equivalent to completing the mission and obtaining the "Mizukage Secret Scroll."

Hearing Boss Cat's statement, Mizunuki Ryosuke was somewhat surprised.

He originally thought that the so-called "Mizukage Secret Scroll" was just a smokescreen thrown out by the Hidden Mist Village to select the Mizukage; could it be that this thing actually existed?

And when he asked in detail, Boss Cat finally gave a negative answer.

Ryosuke could hear that it was not that Boss Cat didn't want to tell him, but that he really didn't know either.

According to Boss Cat, matters concerning the final assessment were known only to the Cat King himself.

However, Ryosuke was already satisfied with the information Boss Cat could provide.

At the same time, Boss Cat also indicated.

Ryosuke did not need to continue participating in the first and second levels of the assessment, and he would directly lead Ryosuke to the Cat Country.

If everything were viewed as a game.

At this moment, Ryosuke had triggered a hidden mission in the "novice village" and skipped the level directly.

"637" Regarding this, Ryosuke did not express refusal.

In this way, although it resulted in Ryosuke's squad not having much performance, skipping the level directly was also more advantageous than disadvantageous.

Plus, Terumi Mei's injuries were not light, so Ryosuke's squad continued to recuperate.

Mizunuki Ryosuke continued to chat with Boss Cat, and Boss Cat told Mizunuki Ryosuke about the customs and traditions of the Cat Country.

Soon, Boss Cat had already brought everyone from the steep shortcut to the mountainside of the mountain peak; such a steep "shortcut" was clearly something only members of the cat clan could pass through quickly.

They had already arrived at the territory of the Cat Country here.

Subsequently, everyone got off Boss Cat's back one by one, and Boss Cat also turned back to the size of a calf, leading everyone toward the depths of the Cat Country.

Along the way, cats of different colors cast interested gazes at Ryosuke and his party; in the rarely visited Cat Country.

"Humans" were naturally a scarce species that could not be rarer.

But when the crowd of ninja cats saw Boss Cat beside Ryosuke, they could only suppress the curiosity in their hearts one by one and dodge away.

Especially when seeing the "cat strip" that Boss Cat was carrying in his hand, the crowd of cats cast pitying gazes at the "cat strip."

It could be seen that as an elder of the Cat Country, Boss Cat still had a lot of prestige within the clan.

Not long after, Boss Cat brought Ryosuke's squad to a residence.

"Respected guests, please stay here temporarily."

"I still need to report the matter of the Mist Zone to my King."

Boss Cat appeared very polite and respectful when treating Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Regarding this, Ryosuke naturally had no objections.

After arranging for Ryosuke and the others, Boss Cat did not linger too long and left with the "cat strip" in his hand.

The experiences of the past few days had left Ryosuke and the others exhausted, and under Ryosuke's arrangement, everyone rested on their own.

At dinner time, Boss Cat sent a few ninja cats from the cat clan, bringing the top delicacies of the Cat Country to everyone—fresh, jumping fish!

Fortunately, as ninjas, preparing ingredients on the fly was a common occurrence for everyone.

Before long, the fresh fish became grilled fish.

The aroma of the grilled fish also attracted the keen-nosed cats from all directions.

Thus, a strange scene appeared.

Beside Ryosuke and the others, who were sitting around the campfire eating grilled fish, dozens of ninja cats were all lying on the eaves and roofs, drooling while looking at the grilled fish.

But every time the crowd of ninja cats looked at the burning campfire, a trace of fear inevitably flickered in their eyes.

For fur-bearing animals, fearing fire was clearly an instinct.

Although fluffy fur could provide excellent defense and warmth, the disadvantage it brought was that it would catch fire at the slightest touch.

Because of this, fearing fire was considered a major weakness of ninja cats.

And Ryosuke on the side also keenly discovered this weakness.

At this very moment.

The Hozuki Mangetsu squad and the Mizunuki Eiro squad, who were still trapped in the labyrinth, clearly did not know that the Mizunuki Ryosuke squad, whom they thought they had left behind, had already run ahead of them.

Relying on their own powerful strength, the dangers within the Cat Labyrinth clearly could not endanger the Hozuki squad, but the special terrain still made it inevitable for the Hozuki squad to get lost in it; it seems that the Hozuki squad still needed some time to break through the labyrinth level.

Looking at the Mizunuki Eiro squad, at this moment they had actually already arrived at the edge of the labyrinth and would soon completely break away from the first level.

Mizunuki Eiro took out an extremely ancient-looking piece of parchment from his arms, and on the parchment, the full view of this labyrinth could be clearly seen.

This was actually a labyrinth map!

It turned out that the reason Mizunuki Eiro was able to get ahead of Hozuki Mangetsu was actually because he used "cheating" means...

Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage Building.

The crowd of Jonin frowned one after another as they watched Mizunuki Eiro, who walked out of the labyrinth almost without encountering any resistance according to the map.

One Jonin even spoke bluntly.

"Squad Leader Maeda, why does Mizunuki Eiro possess the map of the labyrinth?"

"Is it possible that he cheated through some means beforehand?"

The questioning voices of the Jonin toward Mizunuki Eiro immediately triggered a resonance.

"It's just possessing a map; how can that be considered cheating?"

"Being able to obtain the map can also be considered Eiro's own ability."

A Mizunuki Jonin immediately retorted, but there was inevitably a bit of lack of confidence in his tone.

Indeed, using a map was also a means of passing the level; although it was unknown where Mizunuki Eiro obtained the map, this behavior was indeed on the blurred boundary of "whether it was cheating."

Seeing this, Maeda Tian Yuanshi's face also looked somewhat ugly.

The current Mizukage Assessment plan was not formulated by Maeda Tian Yuanshi alone; clearly, he did not have such authority yet.

During the special period of the village, this assessment plan was decided upon by Maeda Tian Yuanshi and the village's "Council of Elders" after discussion.

— Author's Notes —

... Seeking flowers ...