Pre-Chapter A/N: So here we are back on our regular upload schedule. Sunday and Tuesday/Wednesday. I've put systems in place to ensure we don't fall behind again so yay. I look forward to stress-testing them as the madnesses of life stack up (We're over two weeks in now and life is really hitting. We're still on schedule though(more or less– does this count as Wednesday or Thursday? I haven't slept so I count it as Wednesday), so things look good!). To celebrate the scale of our achievement, we've got a cheeky little discount for the whole month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga). Kind of messed up the timing of this upload so the discount will actually be up by the time this goes live so to claim a special deal for the next 24 hours (adding the first of June to May madness), just enter the code: MAYBE01. Next five chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
XXXXX- SHORIRAMA SENJU
To his credit, Minato was taking the revelation quite well. I expected that if you told someone that they would be expected to face a god and kill him, they would have a much stronger reaction than this one.
"So how are you going to beat him?" he asked. Oh, that explained it. I really needed to get better at understanding that people reacted to revelations differently than I did. I reacted in a way where I expected that I would be the one expected to deal with everything when the time came. Minato was not in that situation. He could just leave the problem to me and assume I would come up with a way to solve it with time.
"Where's your sense of personal responsibility? When I was your age, I was just chomping at the bit to get my hands on rival Kage," I said with a chuckle.
"It's been overcome by my sense of sanity. I felt how much chakra even a clone of that man had. I have no business in a fight like that. To be honest, part of me thinks you have no business picking that fight, but we both know the die is cast. You'll fight that fight if it's the last thing you do," he said, and I had no choice but to return his smile. It did feel good to be known so well by the people I considered friends. And Minato had bridged that gap from student to friend in some ways. All three of them had, in their own ways.
"Fair enough. As for your question. Well, I have a theory. The human body is only able to hold so much chakra, after all. There is a chance that he would explode from within when the chakra he holds becomes too much," I said. That was one possibility, but I would admit that it was not what I wanted to happen in truth. It was taking the easy way out in a way I did not want to.
"Why just a chance? If the seals are constantly absorbing nature energy, then why is it not a certainty? Everyone has their limits."
"Two reasons. One, the control over cursed seals could let him figure out a way to turn that function off. I don't know if it is within Shukaku's ability, but you never know with tailed beasts. And then the second possibility is that he is funnelling the extra chakra straight into Shukaku. And their bodies are far from human," I admitted. The second was, of course, dependent on how close the relationship between them was, but I was pretty sure Bunpuku had been the Tanuki's favourite host by the time canon rolled around, and that probably meant something.
"So we're right back where we started, looking for a way for you to kill a god. Unless of course..." he let his words trail off there, looking at me expectantly. Oh, how well he knew me.
"Kagame is working on a poison that should put him down if it comes to that. Of course, I do still want to fight him for myself. Put the infinite chakra to the test. See how he matches up against me," I said.
"Well, if you want to fight the desert itself, then you can go ahead. The things he could do...they were not natural. From a distance he was controlling so much sand that it felt like the entire desert had risen up in arms against us," he said with a shudder, as if he was remembering what had happened.
"Look at you threatening me with a good time. Well, go get dressed, we've only got so much time left," I said.
"What? What do you mean? Where are we going?"
"You've survived two Kage in the last six months. I don't need to see anything else to make me certain of your readiness," I said.
"I have enough chakra now? Really?" he asked. It hadn't taken him any time to figure out what I intended, of course.
"To summon the bigger whales? Not even close. But I won't be taking you to the whales," I said. Back when all I cared about was cementing my legacy, having Minato become a whale summoner had been a given. But his chakra capacity did not develop in the way I hoped. He had a good amount of it, yes. More than most Jounin. But not so much that he would be able to summon someone like Kumiko and keep fighting. And with the way the world was developing, I could not have any of my students hampered even the smallest bit. He would get a summon most well suited to him, and if they didn't happen to have a means of training sage mode, Bunpuku himself had given me all the proof of concept I needed. I had so many ideas for how to make a seal that would help someone actually learn sage mode now.
"Wait, what? But you said—"
"I know what you said. But you just don't have the chakra for it. You need to do what both me and my cousin did. You need to find a summon that is well suited to you as a fighter and person. A well suited summon is the best way to ensure your own growth," I said. Like he usually did, Minato took the change in plans in stride, already calculating just what it meant for him now.
"And you are going to come along?" he asked.
"Well, you are my dear student, after all. It is not unheard of for summon creatures to reject a summoner, and depending on the creature it could turn fatal. And then there's the chance that you end up in a situation like mine. If the whales hadn't sent me back of their own volition, I would have died at the bottom of that ocean. I'll be coming along to make sure you are exposed to neither of those risks," I said.
"And what if the creatures aren't pleased to have someone else there?" he asked.
"Well, they could try to get rid of me," I shrugged. Minato's sigh was expected, but still just as funny.
It took him only a few minutes to dress up fully, and then, with a hand on his shoulder, we were taken to the Hokage private training ground. We seemed to be the last to arrive, as we were met with two more copies of me and my other two students.
"I thought this was just a—" Minato began.
"What? Thought you were going to get special training, Minato-chan?" Kushina teased, while Mikoto shook her head at him from the side.
"I felt it was more efficient to be with all three of you at the same time. Don't worry, all three of us are clones, so no one is getting special treatment," I said next, to head off any questions on that end.
"Yeah, we're all being equally neglected. What a way to make us feel better, Shori-nii," Kushina said with sarcasm dripping from every word like oil.
"You're welcome. I just knew all three of you would understand," I said, not even trying to entertain the poke. The original was busy now, and with how our schedule for moving on the other villages had moved up, we had to do what we could to get our team up to snuff.
"Now, watch me," I said, going through the hand seals three times. Twice at full speed, and then once really slowly to make sure they all got it.
"Now what you are going to do is draw a small amount of blood. That blood will be the sacrifice to power the space-time jutsu along with the chakra. Now, when you finish the jutsu, you will feel a pull on your navel as you are being reverse-summoned. Don't resist it. Well, not like you can actually do much to resist, but just go with it to avoid an uncomfortable experience at the end of the day," I said with a shrug. All three of them had watched with rapt attention, and I could just smell their eagerness to get on with it.
I'd been promising them the chance to have their own summons almost since the day they became genin under me and fought Kumiko for the first time. Now, they were going to get the chance.
"Okay, you can start now," I said, and none of them wasted any time in starting. Fingers to mouths to draw blood first. Well, for two of them. Mikoto just slipped a shuriken from her sleeve and made a small cut on her thumb.
Minato finished weaving his seals first and was gone in a puff of smoke. Mikoto, even despite the small delay caused by her using a shuriken, had finished second, and then Kushina was third, disappearing in a puff of smoke that dwarfed the others in volume and thickness. I felt for the flying raijin tag on Minato and was gone as well, even as I felt my clones doing the same with the others.
XXXXX- MINATO NAMIKAZE
Being reverse summoned felt quite similar to being ferried by Sensei's flying raijin, he thought to himself as the chakra smoke that surrounded him began to fade. He did not know what to expect, in truth. Sensei had gone through this same process and ended up in the home of the whales. The whales were a powerful summon who could do things with water release that even Sensei could not quite manage, and then there were their other advantages. They could resist almost all attacks. Perhaps the only thing in Minato's arsenal that could put one down was the Spear of the Thundergod. And that durability was matched with strength and size that made things problematic for whoever he faced. Minato remembered standing on top of one while Sensei's clone basically single-handedly faced down an army.
A summon on that level would be ideal. If they were friendly, that would be even better. Because Minato knew that friendliness could be something worked out with time. A summon that lacked the requisite power to stand on the level that he needed just would not work for him. He wouldn't sign the contract. Sensei had another summon in his back pocket, and unless whatever was offered to him was on that same level, Minato was not interested. He needed a summons that could stand by his side where he was going. The summit. The top of the Shinobi world was not a place where weakness could survive.
Minato breathed in and held it as the last wisps cleared, giving him a good look at the summon creature he had appeared before. It was a green frog. An old green frog. At least it looked old from the wrinkles he could see. But with summon creatures, there was no way to really tell what that meant. This could be a long lived species — it could be a short lived one.
"Hello, my name is Minato Namikaze. I am—"
"The brat who interrupted my dinner and brought an interloper here to Mount Myoboku," the frog snarled out. Only then did Minato notice the small table in front of the frog. The table that held...well, calling it food would be generous. Now that he had looked at it, his nose could no longer ignore the smell that hung about.
"Uh—" Minato tried to begin, before the frog suddenly sprung up near faster than he could react. Near. It had a hand on a cane and swung down with the cane, aiming for Minato's head. Minato leaned backwards, avoiding the hit by the skin of his teeth. The frog landed on the ground, the cane causing cracks to spread around the stone floor and making the ground quake. Strong, Minato thought, a smile already forming on his face before he even knew it.
"You — get out." Minato took a second to follow where the cane was pointing before realising that it was pointed right at his Sensei's camouflaged clone. Piercing Sensei's Meisaigakure jutsu with barely any visible effort? Strength and discernment off the charts. Minato was beginning to feel good about his chances.
"Me? I'm just here watching," Sensei said, the meisaigakure jutsu parting to reveal his form. He did not look all that surprised to have been noticed. Minato noticed that his byakugan was active as he seemed to squint at the old frog.
"No watching. The Toad Clan does not reveal its secrets to outsiders. We might have considered you for a contract, but you reek of whale," the fr — toad. Toad, Minato corrected himself mentally. That seemed to be the kind of distinction that they would care about.
"Indeed. This is all so fascinating. Minato, call me if you need me. But I get the feeling that you won't," and all of Sensei's words about staying with them no matter what turned out to mean nothing as he disappeared in a second. The Toad did not look shocked at Sensei's use of the flying raijin.
"Do not bring him here again, Summoner," the Toad said.
"So what is your name?" Minato asked, tired of referring to him as the toad in his mind.
"You will earn knowledge of my name by passing the test to see if you can become a summoner of the toad clan," he said.
"The test?" he asked. A test made some sense. One could say that the whales only being interested in speaking to Sensei when he figured out a way to breathe underwater had been some sort of test.
"Yes, the test to see if you are a worthy toad summoner. We decide our summoners in two ways. One, you could be recommended by a previous summoner, and then there will be no need for a test, since the holder of the contract would have tested you themself; or if you find your own way to us, then you must pass our simple but challenging test," he said.
"And what is that test?" Minato asked, preparing to be sent to work on some difficult task. Perhaps climbing one of those mountains he could barely see through the cloud cover.
"You must dine with us and survive," he said.
"Dine?" he asked, looking down at the plate filled with something that definitely could not be food.
"Dine," the toad replied, and if Minato was a bit more paranoid, he would say that was a smile of satisfaction on the Toad's lips.
XXXXXX- KUSHINA UZUMAKI
She blinked and found herself on a beach. Had to be a beach. The chakra smoke still obscured her vision, but she could feel the sand beneath her feet and hear the crashing of the waves in the distance. She spat out a gust of wind that cleared off whatever chakra smoke remained. It faded away to reveal a cliff face and one of the least beautiful beaches she had ever seen. On the ground were pieces of driftwood all about, and every once in a while, she would come by a pile of bones. Part of her wanted to stop to examine them, but her better sense told her to keep moving.
And keep moving she did, until she began to hear a clicking sound. It seemed to be at a volume just high enough to be intelligible to her but still low enough that it was like a droning in the back of her skull, and she could not tell from whence it came. If the surroundings had not been enough to put her on edge already, then this was going to be it. Shori-nii was somewhere here, she knew. He liked his pranks, but he would never abandon them to their own devices.
More likely, he had been able to tell what was going on with his byakugan and still considered it a threat that Kushina herself could handle. And with that vote of confidence, she felt her body relax.
"Watch out!" Gyuki screamed from within her, and it was only that warning that allowed her to lean backwards just enough that the pincers that would have snatched her left eyeball from its socket only just managed to nick her forehead. They were sharp though, she thought, as blood began to gush down from said wounded forehead. The creature, a blur, disappeared into the sand almost immediately. Sand that she was beginning to realise was a bigger threat than she had initially expected if it was going to be hiding enemies.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Crabs. Better be on your guard. There aren't any sea creatures nastier than them," Gyuki said, and Kushina took the warning seriously. After all, Gyuki had spent centuries touring the world's oceans. He knew quite a few of Shori-nii's whales by name. If he said something was dangerous, she would believe him.
The clicking sound rose in volume just a smidge, and that was all the warning before she was forced to bend at her knees to avoid the pincers. This time, they had been aiming for her neck. A second too slow and she would have died there.
"Gyuki?" she asked her partner's permission.
"Hell yeah. You know I've been waiting to let loose," he said, and she felt his chakra begin to flood her body.
Seven tails of orange chakra grew from her lower back. She plunged each one into the sand, sweeping the inside with sheer brute force until each one was able to find a single crab. The tails shot from the ground now, revealing her prospective summons. Small crabs barely bigger than her head, but with pincers bigger than her whole body.
"Congratulations, you have passed the first test," a deep, gravelly voice from above washed over her. She looked up at the cliff face only to find that it was not actually a cliff. It was a giant crab. How the hell hadn't she noticed that.
"If you want us to accept you as summoner, you must now pass the second test."
"Which is?" she asked, feeling excited now. Something that massive would definitely be useful.
Her bones began to vibrate as the massive crab laughed. All the ones in her grasp began to laugh as well.
A/N: Summoning time? Hell yeah. Next five chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Discount available with the code MAYBE01 for the next 24 hours– have fun.