Clan Name: Ninneko | 忍猫
Location: Scattered



The Ninneko traditionally were a group of old, powerful and well respected felines from a castle fortress in Konohagakure’s Heaven District. However, several generations ago many former Ninneko bonded with a particular clan of human ninja in order to join more closely with the ninja world, and thus, over time, many of their more ancient ways and much of their former strength were lost as they forgot their traditions in lieu of the traditions of the human world. Making the separatist Ninneko more adept Seijutsu pets, and more open to the world.

While those who separated from those now known as the 'nekomata' lost what it was to be a Ninneko, those who remained retained their former strength, keeping their traditions and Hiden arts alive through an almost cult like secrecy, retaining the ability to become Bakeneko at will, and more complete than the likes of the Nekomata Felines. The cats of the Ninneko clan are known to be much stronger than their Seijutsu pet variants, and comparable in power and in strength to human ninja of their rank, their feline demeanor and ability to talk to cats or people making them potent spies and hidden agents for other countries.

The clan in recent days operates often as spies for hire, operating their own spy network not aligned with any specific village. Though it is known that many of the clan, though not all possess a certain distrust, dislike and even sometimes a hate for the Inuzuka and Nekomata clans, and to a lesser extent other Seijutsu clans.

Members:

• Denka † ⋆
  
• Hina † ⋆
  
• Momo † ⋆
  
• Nekomata † ⋆
  
• Sakamoto
  

† = Deceased
⋆ = Canon

Domesticated Pets

While other groups of intelligent animals exist, primarily amount those who have mastered Senjutsu or those who form contracts with other shinobi, however the Ninneko serve as the antithesis to both of these groups. Rather than intelligent wild animals or those who are imbued with some sort of nature energy, the Ninneko originated from normal domesticated cat breeds. There is an intense variety of Ninneko as a result of this, aligning with the massive variety of cat breeds. How exactly the Ninneko evolved from normal domestic cats into intelligent creatures capable of utilizing chakra is a closely guarded secret, as it seems to have been without the intervention of humans. Unlike their most similar counterpart, the Inuzuka Clan’s shinobi dogs, the Ninneko prefer to keep themselves largely separate from human affairs. Signing a contract with humans or acting as their pets is thus anathema to their values. Despite their general disdain for those who do sign contracts with humans and act as their pets, the Ninneko have more similarity to other Seijutsu pets than they’re willing to admit.  

Similar to Seijutsu pets, the Ninneko have two paths available from them, one of which must be chosen at creation. These two paths are the Combat Path and Support Path, and line up relatively well with the options available to pets. Besides these two paths, there are several traits that all Ninneko share that will be listed below.

Feline Anatomy

The Ninneko are cats, literally, and as such they gain a few useful advantages due to the natural advantages inherent with being a cat. These advantages can be summed up in their tail, their eyes, their claws, and their fangs.

The long, flexible and agile tails that the Ninneko have can be used to an extent as a fifth limb, however the true advantages lie elsewhere. Their tails average around thirty centimeters in length and provide a great advantage to the Ninneko’s natural ability to balance. Whenever a Ninneko is in the air, whether they are thrown, tossed, or otherwise dropped, they will always land on their feet due to the advantages that this tail brings. This is true as long as their tail is not bound, broken, or severed.

The eyes of a cat, large and haunting, are unique among the animal kingdom. Rather than having circular pupils like humans, the black parts in the centres of their eyes are vertical, which can adapt quickly and can open and close quickly in response to environmental factors. These large eyes and special pupils allow the Ninneko to see in even the lowest of low lights. As long as the Ninneko are not in absolute pitch blackness, they can see flawlessly.

Their claws and fangs serve as the natural weapons of Ninneko, however these weapons are very simple in comparison to what is typically used by shinobi. Their claws slice one centimeter deep and can be raked across the bodies of their foes, and their fangs can piece one and a half centimeters deep into flesh.    

Due to their tails, Ninneko will always land on their feet while thrown. This is true as long as their tail is not broken, bound, or severed, in which case they will no longer take any benefit. Their unique eyes also allow them to see in anything less than the complete and absolute absence of light flawlessly without the need for chakra.

The teeth and claws of the Ninneko will also act as perfect natural weapons, each more than capable of slicing deep enough to hit veins and other vital organs. Their teeth and claws behave as if they were C-Rank weaponry, piercing and slicing two and a half centimeters deep into the flesh of their unsuspecting victims. These natural weapons interact as if they were E-Ranked. The true danger inherent in these weapons is in the diseases that domesticated cats usually carry. The bacterium Bartonella Henselae is presence in over half of all cats, and nearly all Ninneko. While this bacteria is harmless to cats, this isn’t true of humans or most other animals. This can result in those being damaged by the cats claws or fangs being infected with Cat-Scratch Fever. This operates similarly to a poison. Cat-Scratch Fever will take effect one post before effects begin, and will last for three posts after that. The normal effects of Cat-Scratch Fever usually only include painful and swollen lymph nodes, along with a headache, fever, and general lethargy, however the bacteria carried by Ninneko has been cultivated to be much more devastating to humans. Along with being incredibly painful, the limb that carries the wound caused by a Ninneko’s claws or fangs will become paralyzed for the duration of the poison. If the wound is present on a target’s torso or head, it will be their entire body that is paralyzed for this time.

Finally, the Ninneko, despite being able to use chakra, has no capability to form hand seals as normal shinobi do. Their paws are inflexible compared to human fingers, and as such the manipulation of chakra points in this manner is impossible for them. Adapting to this, Ninneko have learned to use chakra and cast jutsu without the use of hand seals, although this does not come without drawbacks. All jutsu used by a Ninneko that have no hand seals use the minimum range values of two ranks lower, down to E-Rank at minimum. Taijutsu and other techniques which use stances still have this malus to range, but in return may have an extra free max-effect added on rather than having no hand seals.

Combat Path

Ninneko who choose the Combat Path gain benefits similar to Seijutsu pets which select the Combat Path, being strong and flexible fighters who specialize in direct combat. Ninneko who walk along this path may train their stats four ranks higher than they normally would be able to at each rank. This means that rather than being able to train eight tiers above the base of their rank, they may train twelve.

Support Path

Ninneko who choose the Support Path gain benefits similar to Seijutsu pets which select the Support Path, being fighters who specialize in the use of chakra based techniques and non-direct combat. Those who walk the Support Path gain an additional fifty chakra.

Herding Cats

The Ninneko, due to their disdain for animals who contract themselves out to humans, are unable to form contracts with these animals themselves as normal shinobi would. The only summoning contract that Ninneko would be able to form would be with those of their own kind. Any summoning contract that they make must summon other domesticated cats, and these summons receive all the benefits and drawbacks that being a Ninneko would bring. This includes selecting one of the two "Paths" that the Ninneko may choose from. If the Combat Path is chosen, the summon is allowed stats four tiers higher than their baseline. The same is true of pets. Any 'pet' that a Ninneko would receive must be another of their own kind. The relationship is more similar to a student-teacher relationship, and the 'pet' in this case also receives all the benefits and drawbacks that being a Ninneko would bring.  This includes selecting one of the two "Paths" that the Ninneko may choose from.The Ninneko receive the "Animal Affinity" Major Positive Special Characteristic for free. This does not need to be balanced with a Negative, and does not count towards their normal Special Characteristic slots. This reads as follows:

Code:

[b]Name:[/b] Animal Affinity
[b]Type:[/b] Positive (major)
[b]Description:[/b] This individual is trained in the use of Animal Companions. This shinobi may train their Pet equal to their Ninja Rank.

Drawbacks

Feline Limitations

Despite being capable of using chakra and being just as intelligent as the average human, there are a number of unique drawbacks that Ninneko face. This is a world built for humans, after all, and not house cats. Life isn't easy for the Ninneko in combat, as due their smaller size their organs and vitals are all much closer together. What may be non-fatal damage to a human could easily be fatal to a Ninneko, as one centimeter cuts will be much more harmful to a cat than a human. Beyond this, despite their reflexes and perception, there are certain areas in which naturally cats lack. A Ninneko may never train or boost their Endurance or Strength above C-Rank under any circumstances, even through stat boosting jutsu.

Secondly, there are numerable different common strategies that are often used to fight Ninneko that are extremely effective. Suiton techniques, for instance, work extremely well at defeating the Ninneko as cats lose body heat extremely quickly when wet. All Suiton techniques interact as if they were one rank higher to the Ninneko, and having the majority of their body "wet" will lower a Ninneko's Endurance all the way down to E-Rank until they are dry again. Their Speed will be similarly affected, being lowed by a full one rank while wet.

This water weakness extends past just being hit by Suiton aligned techniques. The Ninneko have developed a fear of water over the years that likely extends from a cat's normal fear of water. If a Ninneko ever witnesses a jutsu with the Suiton element being used, even if it is used by themselves or an ally, or is aware of an enemy with the Suiton element, they will receive minus one tier to Perception. In addition to this, the Ninneko must take an altered version of the "Cowardice" Negative Special Characteristic. This cannot be balanced with a Positive, and reads as follows:

Code:

[b]Name:[/b] Scaredy-Cat
[b]Type:[/b] Negative
[b]Description:[/b] The individual is exceptionally cowardly or has a deep desire to live and/or is frightened or persuaded through intimidation. When in the presence of a higher ranking offensive technique being used against them or an enemy of a higher rank then themselves they become scared and often tunnel vision on the object of that fear. The ninja receives -1 tier to their Perception stat to all things outside of the object of their fear when scared.

Additionally, the Ninneko have a difficulty using medical techniques, or being on the receiving end of them due to the fact many were built to be used on humans. The Ninneko may not receive medical transplants of kekkei genkai from humans, as the cells that would bring an Advanced Release will not be able to successfully take root in a feline body, and eyes which contain Dōjutsu are simply too big to fit into a Ninneko's head. The Ninneko thus must also take the "Pharmaphobia" Negative Special Characteristic without balancing it, which reads as follows:

Code:

[b]Name:[/b] Feline Physiology
[b]Type:[/b] Negative
[b]Description:[/b] This individual's body is resistant to medical based techniques. All forms of medical ninjutsu suffer a -1 rank in effectiveness when used on or by this individual. This ONLY applies to [b]positive[/b] healing effects, not offensive medical techniques.

In addition to this, despite being able to use chakra the Ninneko are simply not as adept at using elemental natures as humans are. The Ninneko may only train two elements at maximum, and never more than this.

Items that the Ninneko would desire to use must be purchased specially, as these must be made specially for the use of cats rather than humans. All items they buy will be 20% more expensive, and the Ninneko are unable to train weapon styles that are unrelated to their natural physiology. For example, a Ninneko wouldn't be able to train archery, but may train special claw enhancements that would fit onto their paws.

Looks pretty good for the most part, though i would go through and try to eliminate points that are reiterated just to clean it up, like the description of their natural weapons and tails. For the natural weapons, I would actually suggest, at least for the claws, that you could increase the damage per rank if you wanted to up to a certain point, though it would be slightly more complicated to list. As far as the cat scratch fever(love that btw) i would ask that ways to end or counter it's effects be listed, and a rank requirement before its capable to paralyze full body even if bit on torso/head.