Chapter 98: Shikkotsu Forest
Dana's vision blurred, and he felt as if he had stepped into a sticky swamp.
"What the hell?!"
He immediately went on alert. He was in a massive, dark swamp. The sky was a strange purple, and he was surrounded by peculiar stone pillars. They looked like stalactites, but upon closer inspection, he realized they were petrified bones.
The swamp beneath his feet looked strange. Though he didn't feel any corrosive effects, he decisively jumped up and stood on the surface, using his water-walking technique.
"This must be Shikkotsu Forest," he murmured. "But why am I here? Did I do the hand seals wrong? Did I accidentally use the Reverse Summoning? No, that can't be right."
He had been in the Yotsuki compound's training grounds, so he was empty-handed, not even carrying a ninja pouch.
"No one's here... and Katsuyu is nowhere to be seen. This is weird."
He tried to use the pre-set Reverse Summoning for Ryuchi Cave, but it didn't work. He tried to summon one of the little snakes to deliver a message, but that failed too.
So, he activated his "pulse" vision. A blue wave expanded from his body.
"Well, well, this is a surprise."
His "pulse" vision had a massive range, but this space was even larger. Even with its current ten-kilometer range, he couldn't find a boundary.
Most importantly, the purple sky was not a sky at all. It was the ground.
His senses told him he was in a massive underground cavern, thousands of meters high. The purple "sky" was the cumulative effect of a faintly glowing moss that had been growing for who knows how long.
And in the distance, there was a colossal creature.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. "I was prepared for this," he said to himself, "but this size... it's insane."
He walked in that direction. A short while later, a white, fleshy wall appeared before him. It was hundreds of meters high and was slowly undulating.
"Who's there?"
A female voice echoed in his ears. It was a pleasant voice, but considering it was coming from the massive creature in front of him...
"Excuse me," he said respectfully to the giant wall of flesh, "are you Lady Katsuyu? I am Yotsuki Dana. I have just signed the summoning contract for Shikkotsu Forest. It is a pleasure to meet you."
The wall of flesh rippled, and a ridiculously large slug head turned towards him. The simple movement created a strong gust of wind that whipped through his hair. If he hadn't already signed the contract and known that she wouldn't harm him, he probably would have turned and run.
"Yotsuki Dana? You succeeded in signing the contract?"
Dana gave an awkward smile. You don't know? Is there a delay on this thing, or is Lady Katsuyu just a high-ping player?
"How did you succeed?" the voice in his head said, confused. "I set a restriction... I see. You are the one from the prophecy. You... you've finally come."
Dana: "???"
"Little Tsunade came here before," Katsuyu explained. "She asked me to refuse anyone who tried to sign the contract after her. So I set a restriction on the scroll. In theory, it should have been unusable for the past year. But you still managed to sign it, and you were brought directly here. There is only one explanation."
She paused. "You are the one chosen by the prophecy."
Are you sure you haven't gotten the wrong script? he thought. Or have you been possessed by the Great Toad Sage?
From her explanation, he learned that as native creatures of this planet, when beings like her reached a certain level of power or age, they would gain some form of prophetic ability. The White Snake Sage was the same, and the Great Toad Sage was a master of it.
According to her, there were not many beings like her, but there were many strange and wonderful creature clans in the world, whose existence was far older than that of the ninja. It was just that this was now the era of the ninja, and many of them chose not to appear.
He thought of the various summoned beasts that the Pain's Animal Path had controlled with black rods. They were all powerful, with a variety of strange abilities. He had always wondered where he had gotten them.
Many years ago, Katsuyu had received a prophecy that a chosen one would become her contractor and fulfill her wish. So she had set a trap on the scroll. The chosen one would be directly transported to Shikkotsu Forest.
After hearing her explanation, Dana felt a strong sense of déjà vu. The most mysterious of the three great sage regions, and it turned out to be just as grounded in the world of ninja as the others. No wonder its sacred ground was deep underground. Though, perhaps because her voice was so pleasant, he didn't get the same feeling of being scammed by a charlatan. It was more like a young lady making a wish.
He shook his head, banishing the terrible thought.
"Then what is your wish?"
"My true body can no longer leave Shikkotsu Forest," she said. "But I want to see the outside world again. I want to see the land that is now called the ninja world, every corner of it."
Dana's brow furrowed. He realized that this was not a simple matter. This prophecy had some substance to it.
Hidden Cloud Village, Raikage's Tower
The Third Raikage, A, smashed his desk with a single punch.
"What do you mean, he's gone?! Are you kidding me?! This is the Yotsuki compound!"
The ANBU ninja kneeling before him broke into a cold sweat. "Lord Raikage," he said, "it is as I said. Many people saw Young Master Dana go to Training Ground 7. From the looks of it... there was a mishap with his summoning jutsu training."
What kind of mishap can you have with a summoning jutsu?! A fumed. Did he summon himself into a contract with a beast?!
The ANBU quickly brought the massive contract scroll to him. He immediately recognized its quality. He opened it. "Shikkotsu Forest," it read. And a series of names, the last three of which were: Hashirama Senju, Tsunade Senju, and Yotsuki Dana.
"Shikkotsu Forest... the God of Shinobi's summoning contract? But where is Dana?!"
"Lord Raikage," his secretary said, "I have heard that powerful summoned beasts have their own minds, even temperaments like humans. It's possible that the being in Shikkotsu Forest wanted to meet the new contractor and summoned him. In any case, Young Master Dana has successfully signed the contract. The other party should not be able to harm him."
A ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He bit his finger and tried to sign the contract himself, but, as expected, he failed.
"You two, try it!" he ordered his secretary and the ANBU.
The result was the same.
"Dammit! Get more people! Someone has to succeed! I don't believe that no one in the entire village can sign this contract!"
"Lord Raikage," his secretary said, "please calm down. The priority now is how to reply to Konoha's secret message."
The Third Raikage gradually calmed down. The reason he had been looking for Dana in the first place was because of a letter from their "good brother" in Konoha, Danzo. He had wanted to discuss it with him. After all, Dana had been involved from the very beginning, and many of the replies to Danzo had been carefully worded by him. And then he had found out that his son had disappeared from his own backyard.
Thinking of Danzo's letter, he forced himself to be calm.
"Lord Raikage, should we send someone?"
He considered it. Danzo's proposal was so insane that he suspected it was a trap. But considering Danzo's past behavior, it was also entirely possible that he was serious. After all, this was Danzo.
"Though we cannot rule out the possibility of a trap," he said after a moment of thought, "we still have to send someone to try. And we will send someone that Konoha absolutely cannot handle! Even if it is a trap, we will crush it!"
"Wise, my lord!"