Ren stared at the golden-haired girl floating above the silver water.
Her translucent chains swayed gently from her wrists and ankles, disappearing beneath the rippling surface as though they were connected to something hidden in another world.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
This manifestation of the Summoning Jutsu was completely different from every technique he had encountered through the system before. Not only did she appear unusually intelligent, but the way she spoke sounded almost playful.
She had even called him her master.
Before Ren could decide how to respond, three translucent dialogue options appeared before him.
[A: Yes, I am your master. From this moment onward, you must obey every command I give you.]
[B: Those chains are beautiful. They're shining so brightly… May I touch them?]
[C: Remain silent and stare at her affectionately.]
Ren's expression became strange.
Option C was immediately discarded.
He hesitated between the first two choices for several seconds. Declaring himself her master might establish dominance early, but it could also provoke an unknown entity whose true nature he did not yet understand.
Curiosity eventually won.
He selected the second option.
The golden-haired girl lowered her eyes toward the chains wrapped around her wrists. A sly smile slowly curved across her lips.
[Summoning Jutsu: Oh? And what exactly would you like to touch? The chains? My feet? Or perhaps… whatever is tied to the other ends?]
Ren's gaze sharpened.
"The things tied to them?"
Her smile deepened.
[Summoning Jutsu: The other ends of these chains have been connected to many fascinating creatures over the years. There were enormous toads covered in warts, foul-tempered snakes, and soft, slippery slugs.]
[Summoning Jutsu: Pull hard enough, and you might meet one of them. But be careful. If you drag something dangerous out of the darkness, it may not appreciate being disturbed.]
Ren's eyelid twitched.
Toads.
Snakes.
Slugs.
There was no mistaking what she meant.
She was referring to the summon clans of Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest—the Three Great Sage Regions.
Ren studied the chains more carefully.
Could this girl be the conceptual embodiment of the Summoning Jutsu itself?
If every summon creature ever connected to a human contract had once been linked through those chains, then perhaps Ren could use them to bypass ordinary blood-contract restrictions.
He might be able to summon creatures without formally signing an agreement with their clans.
The possibility was absurdly powerful.
Far too powerful to accept without proof.
[Summoning Jutsu: Perhaps you're right.]
The girl's voice entered his mind before he could ask the question.
She lifted one chain between two pale fingers.
[Summoning Jutsu: Would you like to test it?]
Ren's answer was immediate.
Of course he would.
Minato had only just taught him the technique. Even without a contract, Ren had intended to practise it several times to better understand its chakra flow and spatial positioning.
Now he had an even greater reason to try.
He withdrew his attention from the system and focused on the real training ground.
Minato and Rin were still waiting in front of him.
"Minato-sensei," Ren said, "I'd like to attempt the Summoning Jutsu."
Minato looked mildly surprised. "Already?"
"I memorised the hand seals and chakra pathway. I want to see whether I can reproduce the spatial connection."
Minato's surprise became approval.
"Good. Remember what I explained about the final stage. Don't simply release chakra into the ground. You must imagine that you're reaching toward a coordinate beyond your immediate surroundings."
He stepped back to give Ren room.
"If anything goes wrong, I'll interrupt the technique."
Ren nodded.
He took a slow breath, brought his hands together, and began forming the seals.
Boar.
Dog.
Bird.
Monkey.
Ram.
The sequence flowed naturally.
Ren bit the tip of his thumb, smeared a thin streak of blood across his palm, and pressed his hand firmly against the earth.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Black markings erupted beneath his fingers.
They raced outward in a circular pattern, spreading across the grass like living ink. The air above the formation trembled, and a noticeable portion of Ren's chakra vanished in an instant.
Under normal circumstances, that should have been the end.
There was no contract.
There was no designated summon.
The chakra should have dispersed without producing anything.
Instead, the space before him gave a low, vibrating hum.
Inside the system vision, the golden-haired girl looked down as one of the chains around her left wrist suddenly began to rattle.
Something beneath the silver water had caught it.
Her eyes brightened.
She wrapped both hands around the chain and pulled.
[Summoning Jutsu: Oh? Beginner's luck. You caught something on your first attempt.]
The water churned.
A small shape rose from beneath its surface.
[Summoning Jutsu: How adorable. It's a very tiny one.]
At the same moment, a soft cloud of white smoke burst across the real training ground.
Ren lowered his gaze.
A fluffy white ball had appeared beneath his hand.
"Woo…"
The creature stirred.
"Woof?"
It was a puppy.
It could not have been more than a few months old. Its entire body was covered in snow-white fur, making it resemble a small ball of cotton. Its damp black nose twitched rapidly as it tried to understand its new surroundings.
The puppy raised its head and stared at Ren with wide, innocent eyes.
Then it let out another weak bark.
Rin's reaction was immediate.
"What a cute puppy!"
Her eyes lit up as she hurried forward and crouched beside it. All thoughts of complicated spatial ninjutsu disappeared from her face.
The puppy looked toward her outstretched finger, sniffed it cautiously, and then began licking it with a tiny pink tongue.
Rin nearly melted on the spot.
Minato, however, remained frozen.
His blue eyes moved from the puppy to the summoning formula, then back to Ren.
"That shouldn't be possible," he murmured.
He quickly crouched and placed two fingers against the puppy's side, carefully examining the chakra within its body.
The puppy turned and barked at him.
Minato frowned in concentration.
"It has chakra, but the amount is extremely small. There's no sign of a powerful summon-clan bloodline."
He gently checked its ears, paws, and teeth.
"It appears to be an ordinary young dog. Perhaps one bred by the Inuzuka clan, but certainly not a mature summon creature."
Ren was just as confused.
The system girl had claimed she could pull creatures through the chains, but he had expected something connected to an established summoning contract.
Not a puppy.
He was about to return his attention to the system when urgent barking sounded from the forest.
"Woof! Woof, woof!"
Everyone turned.
Branches shook violently in the distance.
A large, muscular dog with dusty yellow fur burst through the trees at full speed. A young shinobi wearing the Inuzuka clan's traditional mesh undershirt rode on its back, one hand gripping its fur for balance.
Two red fang-like markings were painted across his cheeks.
The enormous dog slowed as it approached, tearing shallow lines through the grass with its paws.
The rider stared at the group.
"Lord Minato?"
Minato rose. "Inuzuka Hideki?"
Hideki jumped from the dog's back and quickly scanned the training field.
His gaze stopped on the puppy beside Rin.
"There you are!"
The tension left his shoulders.
"I was wondering where you disappeared to."
He hurried over and crouched. The white puppy recognised him immediately, waddling across the grass and rubbing its head against his leg.
Minato glanced toward Ren.
Then back at Hideki.
"Does this puppy belong to you?"
"Yes," Hideki replied. "Our clan recently raised a new litter. A few of us brought them to the forest today for basic assessment and early training."
He scratched the puppy beneath its chin.
"We were checking which ones had the temperament and chakra sensitivity needed to become proper ninken. When I counted them again, this little one had vanished."
Hideki looked around.
"Did it wander here on its own?"
Minato fell silent.
His expression became unusually complicated.
"What if I told you that my student summoned it here?"
Hideki slowly looked at Ren.
Then at the fading black formula on the ground.
Then back at the puppy.
"Summoned?"
"Yes."
"With the Summoning Jutsu?"
"Yes."
"Without an Inuzuka contract?"
"Yes."
Hideki blinked several times.
The large dog beside him tilted its head, appearing equally confused.
A few minutes later, Hideki explained that the Inuzuka clan compound and its animal-training grounds were located near the outer edge of Konoha. Their current training area was only around a kilometre away from Minato's field.
That explained where the puppy had come from.
It did not explain how Ren had summoned it.
Minato folded his arms, thinking carefully.
"Perhaps the puppy possessed a natural sensitivity to chakra," he said. "When Ren activated the technique without a fixed contract coordinate, the puppy may have sensed the spatial pull."
Hideki scratched his cheek. "And because it was nearby, the technique grabbed it?"
"It sounds unreasonable," Minato admitted. "But it is currently the only explanation I can offer."
Hideki glanced at Ren again.
Minato's reputation was beyond question. The Yellow Flash had no reason to cooperate with a genin in order to steal an untrained puppy.
More importantly, Ren's confused expression seemed genuine.
Hideki looked down at the little dog.
After a moment of thought, he shrugged.
"Then perhaps this really is fate."
Rin's face brightened.
Hideki smiled. "Since the puppy responded to Ren's technique, and both of you clearly like it, you can keep it."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Are you certain?"
"It's fine. I'll report the situation to the clan when I return."
Hideki glanced toward Rin. "You're Rin Nohara, aren't you?"
Rin nodded.
"My cousin, Tsume, mentioned both of you in one of her letters. She said that if the opportunity arose, she intended to give your team a few ninken as companions."
Ren remembered the conversation.
Tsume had indeed mentioned it when they were stationed at Wildfire Outpost.
Hideki gestured toward the forest. "There are two of you here. You could come with me and choose another puppy if you'd like. Our clan has several promising ones from this litter."
Rin looked tempted.
She loved the white puppy already, but the idea of choosing another one was equally appealing.
After several seconds, however, she shook her head.
"I think this one is enough."
She carefully picked up the puppy and held it against her chest.
"Ren and I can raise it together."
The puppy curled into her arms as though it had already accepted her.
Rin turned toward Ren. "What do you think?"
Ren shrugged. "I don't mind."
He had little interest in personally raising a dog. If necessary, he could leave it with Tajima and Aoi whenever he left the village. They would probably enjoy having a pet around the house.
Rin clearly wanted to care for it.
Letting her handle most of the responsibility would save him plenty of trouble.
Rin smiled so brightly that Ren decided not to mention that part.
Hideki removed a small notebook from his pouch, wrote several lines, and tore out the page.
He handed it to Ren.
"This lists the food the puppies normally eat, basic training exercises, and several things you should avoid while it's still young."
His voice became more serious.
"Once you adopt a ninken, you're responsible for its entire life. Treat it properly."
Ren accepted the paper. "We will."
"If you have any questions, visit the Inuzuka compound. Someone will help you."
Hideki climbed back onto the large yellow dog. After one final glance at the puppy, the pair disappeared into the forest.
Silence returned to the training ground.
Minato stared at the white puppy for several seconds.
Then he turned toward Ren.
"Try again."
Ren had expected the request.
"I was planning to."
"This time, I'll use sensory ninjutsu to observe the final stage of your chakra flow. I want to understand exactly what your technique is targeting."
Ren stepped back toward the centre of the field.
He formed the seals once more.
Boar.
Dog.
Bird.
Monkey.
Ram.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The black formation spread beneath his palm.
Inside the system vision, the golden-haired girl extended one hand and casually plucked a chain connected to her right wrist.
The chain vanished beneath the water.
She gave it a sharp pull.
Space twisted.
A small grey-and-blue magpie appeared in a cloud of smoke before Ren's face.
"Chirp!"
The bird stared at him in terror.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Before anyone could react, it flapped its wings violently and shot toward the sky, disappearing over the trees without looking back.
Ren watched it leave.
Minato's expression became even more bewildered.
"Again," he said.
Ren performed the technique a third time.
This summoning consumed slightly more chakra.
The girl in the system tugged another chain.
A half-metre-long brown lizard dropped onto the training ground with a dull thud.
It landed flat on its stomach, legs spread in four different directions.
For several seconds, it did not move.
Rin leaned closer. "Is it hurt?"
The lizard's eyes suddenly opened.
It flipped upright, scrambled across the grass, and vanished into the bushes as fast as its short legs could carry it.
A heavy silence followed.
Minato stared at the spot where the lizard had disappeared.
For perhaps the first time in his life, the Yellow Flash looked completely lost.
He took a slow breath.
"Rin, you try."
Rin carefully placed the puppy on the grass and stepped forward.
She copied the seals exactly as Minato had taught them.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Her chakra entered the ground.
Nothing happened.
Rin tried a second time.
Then a third.
Each attempt consumed chakra, but no markings extended beyond the incomplete summoning formula. There was no smoke, no spatial disturbance, and certainly no random animal.
Minato tested it next without using his Mount Myōboku contract as a target.
The result was the same.
Nothing.
He stood slowly and looked at Ren.
"Your Summoning Jutsu is unquestionably abnormal."
Ren remained silent.
"As far as I can determine, your chakra changes during the final positioning stage," Minato continued. "Instead of locking onto a recognised contract seal, it captures a random living coordinate within the surrounding area."
He glanced toward the forest.
"You are not summoning creatures through a contract. You're reaching into nearby space and pulling random life-forms toward you."
Rin looked amazed. "Can anyone else learn that?"
"I don't think so."
Minato's gaze settled on Ren again.
"I've never encountered this aptitude before."
Even as a complete beginner, Ren had successfully summoned a living creature every time he activated the technique.
Most contracted shinobi could not always summon the creature they wanted. Differences in chakra volume, concentration, or the summon's mood could lead to failure.
Some summons even refused to appear if they disliked their contractor.
Ren, by contrast, had no contract at all—and his technique still caught something every time.
The results were useless in battle for now, but the success rate itself was astonishing.
"At the very least, this proves you possess exceptional talent for the Summoning Jutsu," Minato said, placing a hand on Ren's shoulder.
"You understood its basic principles almost immediately. For now, practise with ninja tools and small animals. Learn to control the amount of chakra you use and how to release a summoned target safely."
Minato's tone became more solemn.
"Once you can control where the technique reaches, then you can decide which summon clan you wish to contract."
Ren nodded. "Understood."
His attention returned briefly to the system.
The answer was becoming clear.
The golden-haired girl was essentially a fisherman.
The chains around her hands and feet were fishing lines.
Whenever Ren used the Summoning Jutsu, she cast one of those lines into the surrounding spatial current and dragged back whatever became caught.
At present, his proficiency was low and his chakra reserves were limited. He could only fish from the small pond surrounding Konoha, which meant puppies, birds, lizards, and other harmless creatures.
But that would not always be the case.
As the technique's favorability increased, the range of those chains might expand.
A kilometre could become ten kilometres.
Ten kilometres could become an entire country.
Perhaps one day, those chains would reach the Three Great Sage Regions themselves.
If Ren strengthened the technique enough, he might eventually drag a "big fish" from Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, or even Ryūchi Cave—without asking permission.
The thought was both thrilling and dangerous.
Ren decided to follow Minato's advice. He would practise by summoning small animals and ninja tools, raise the technique's favorability, and better understand its hidden rules.
Only then would he choose whether to sign a formal contract with one of the Sage Regions.
A soft whimper interrupted his thoughts.
Rin had picked up the puppy again and was gently stroking its head. The little creature looked completely comfortable in her arms, its tail swaying against her sleeve.
She noticed Ren watching and smiled.
"We need to give it a name."
"A name?"
"Yes. We can't keep calling it 'puppy.'"
Ren studied the white fur for a moment.
"Shiro."
Rin blinked. "Shiro?"
"It means white. The name suits it."
She puffed out her cheeks slightly. "Isn't that a little ordinary?"
"The puppy is white."
"That doesn't mean its name has to be obvious."
Ren considered the matter for another second.
"If Shiro is too simple, give it your surname."
Rin stared at him.
"Nohara Shiro," Ren said. "That sounds better."
A faint blush immediately spread across Rin's cheeks.
"My surname?"
"Since you're the one holding it."
"That's not what I meant…"
Her voice became quieter.
For some reason, the words raise it together and your surname had combined inside her mind in a way that made her heart beat faster.
It sounded almost as though they were already a family adopting their first pet together.
Rin shook her head quickly, trying to scatter the embarrassing thought before Ren noticed.
Then she lifted the puppy closer and gently pressed her cheek against its soft fur.
"Fine," she whispered. "From today onward, your name is Shiro."
The puppy's ears twitched.
Rin smiled.
"Nohara Shiro."
Shiro wagged his tail enthusiastically and released a happy little whine, apparently satisfied with his new name.
Ren watched the two of them.
He had intended to summon a creature powerful enough to shake the shinobi world.
Instead, his first successful summon had been a tiny white puppy.
But as Shiro curled comfortably into Rin's embrace, Ren felt the chains inside the system tremble once again.
Far beneath the silver water, something enormous seemed to move.
The golden-haired girl looked down.
For the first time, the playful smile vanished from her face.
[Summoning Jutsu: How strange… something on the other side noticed you.]
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