"Me...?" Sasuke repeated, confirming.
Manda: "That's right, you. I like the look of you."
Sasuke nodded, wrote his name next to Naruto Uzumaki's, and pressed his hand seal.
With that, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha had all signed the Summoning Contract.
Rin cheered for her teammates. "Great news, Obito! Now you not only have the Summoning Contract, but you can also learn Senjutsu to enhance your physique and awaken your Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Hehe, thanks, Rin," Obito said, scratching his head sheepishly and grinning.
Next, he couldn't resist rubbing it in to Young Kakashi. "How about that?! Stupid Kakashi! Now you're not the only one in the team who knows a Summoning Technique like that Tracking Fang Technique!"
Hearing this, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all recalled Kakashi-sensei's Summoning: Tracking Fang Technique!
Naruto: "So, since we signed the contract, does that mean we can use Summoning now?!"
The result? Naruto and Obito each got a slap from a frog's webbed paw.
"Idiots!"
"Summoning isn't that simple!"
Young Kakashi explained, "You need to form hand seals, control chakra release, and your relationship with the summoned beast determines whether it will obey you."
Naruto and Obito both asked in unison, "Relationship with the summoning beast?"
Adult Kakashi continued, "Simply put, it depends on how well you bribe them. Do you think the eight ninken get cheap dog food from the Inuzuka clan every day? What about regular grooming services, essential oil spa massages, seaweed mud baths, snacks, and chew toys? Are those cheap too?"
Kakashi laid out the budget breakdown...
Naruto and Obito, both penniless, turned green at the thought.
"Oh my, you're quite the sharp one, aren't you?" Manda said slyly, tapping the contract scroll in front of him with his tail. "Write your name."
That bossy little gesture made Young Kakashi's eye twitch.
"Ah, no, our Hatake clan—"
"Write your name!"
Left with no choice, Young Kakashi bit his finger and wrote "Kakashi Hatake" after Sasuke Uchiha's name, then pressed his palm print.
This time, even Rin and Sakura were envious. Of the two teams, only the two girls didn't have summoned beasts.
Hashirama Senju, remembering that both girls had medical ninjutsu, suggested, "Why not try apprenticing under Katsuyu?"
"Huh?"
The two girls froze for a moment, then looked at Katsuyu on the ground with a hint of hope.
"Hmm—" Surrounded by their earnest gazes, Katsuyu finally relented. In a soft, girlish voice, she shifted her body, allowing Rin and Sakura to bite their fingers and sign their names.
Minato recalled the legendary Sannin, whose fame had spread during the Second Shinobi World War.
He glanced at the three students in his class, and then at the three in Kakashi's class...
Maybe one day, they too could create such a situation and change the ninja world?
This thought suddenly rose in Minato's heart.
Later, as the founders, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had many pressing matters to attend to. Some uncertain policies were handled by Minato Namikaze and Adult Kakashi, two elite ninja from the future. Tobirama Senju, adhering to the principle that talent shouldn't go to waste, had them join the policy drafting process.
He even told Madara Uchiha outright: if he couldn't trust the Senju, surely he could heed the ideas and experiences of his juniors?
As for Tobirama Senju himself, he seized the opportunity to immerse himself entirely in researching the concept of parallel worlds, Space-Time Ninjutsu, and... the Pure Land and souls.
Minato Namikaze could never have imagined that their arrival would accelerate the development of a forbidden technique—the Edo Tensei—which his elder brother had forbidden him from pursuing further!
After struggling all morning, Naruto and Obito finally summoned a tadpole with two hind legs.
After struggling all morning, Sasuke and Young Kakashi finally summoned...
A swaying snake egg.
Young Kakashi's was slightly better—a tiny crack had already appeared on the snake egg.
Sasuke's eye twitched, while Naruto burst into laughter beside him.
"Hahahaha, keep at it! At least get the snake to hatch out of the egg, how about that?!!"
"You super idiot! You think I won't feed your tadpole to the snake?!!"
Over there, Obito, just like Naruto, cheekily ran up to Kakashi and asked if he needed any guidance.
"You idiot! That's because I already have a contract with the ninken! Summoning anything else would be tough!" Genius excuses are always so simple yet so full of themselves.
With that, Naruto tried summoning creatures from the Ryūchi Cave. When he summoned a snake egg, a nearby ninja held it aloft, examining it under the sunlight before saying,
"Looks like a dead egg."
Naruto was heartbroken, cradling the egg as if preparing for a funeral.
Rin and Sakura, unlike the boys who were constantly rowdy, remained focused throughout. It was probably due to their natural tendencies; they were more concentrated than the boys and, thanks to their medical ninjutsu training, their chakra control was exceptionally precise. Each time they summoned a slug, it grew larger.
This sense of accomplishment kept them from joining the boys' competition and allowed them to focus more on their own training.
It wasn't until lunchtime, when Sasuke reminded him, that Naruto remembered to check if his mission was complete.
By now, word had spread through both the Uchiha and Senju clans that these children were from the future.
Although none of them bore Senju blood, the Uzumaki were considered close kin!
Furthermore, Sasuke Uchiha was handsome, and Obito Uchiha was warm-hearted—both of them were highly favored by the Uchiha clan.
The Senju and Uchiha clans were practically competing to host the children for meals.
Yesterday's meal had been at the Senju household, so today it was the Uchiha's turn. Watching Itachi eat sweet three-colored dumplings without batting an eye, the others found it hard to imagine how his thin frame—still weakened by Kekkei Genkai Disease—could handle so much sweetness.
It must be mentioned here that after being lectured by the Patriarch last night, Obito shared his theories with Sasuke.
"I see only three possibilities. The best-case scenario is that the Uchiha clan merely went into hiding, planning to one day seek revenge on the masked man. But that's the least likely."
"The second possibility is that the masked man really did destroy the Uchiha clan. Your brother, afraid you would recklessly seek revenge on the masked man, told you a clumsy lie. Then, he positioned himself near the masked man, while keeping you hidden and protected in Konoha."
"And the most likely possibility..." Though reluctant, Obito shared the painful truth with Sasuke: The Uchiha had betrayed the village. For the safety of Konoha and the nation, the village had purged the Uchiha clan, and sent Itachi Uchiha—who had not participated in the coup—to Akatsuki as a spy.
That conversation nearly shattered Sasuke's worldview, but it also deepened his bond with Obito.
The two boys, both covered in wounds, talked for a long time.
Obito didn't just tell Sasuke this and leave. He also spoke about the internal problems within the Uchiha clan and Konoha itself.
"No matter what happens in your world, I remain myself!" Obito declared. "I, Obito Uchiha, will become the Hokage of the Uchiha! I will change the future!!"
…
Recalling last night's conversation, Sasuke's reaction upon seeing Itachi Uchiha today was much calmer than before.
Ever since the day he met the Fourth Hokage, it seemed that Sasuke finally had the chance to confront the true essence of his hatred. In Obito Uchiha's world, if he had become Hokage—but what about their world? Obito Uchiha was already dead...
Across the entire Uchiha Clan, only he and his brother remained.
No, there was also the masked man!
Whoever that masked man was, the destruction of the Uchiha Clan was inextricably tied to him!!
"Sasuke, Sasuke!" Naruto nudged Sasuke, who had drifted into his own thoughts, with his elbow and whispered, "Why is your house full of sweets?"
Forget ramen, but tofu skin sushi, three-color mochi, red bean soup with glutinous rice... Can this even be lunch?!!
Sasuke shot him a glare. Even he, who hated sweets, hadn't said anything.
"I'm doing you a favor by feeding you! Shut up, you bottom-of-the-class loser."
Naruto's face turned crimson at the retort, but he couldn't very well retort in front of Sasuke's clan. He could only keep eating bowl after bowl of red bean soup for lunch. At least he actually liked it, though it still felt strange to have it as lunch.
"Oh, and you super-duper idiot," Sasuke observed Naruto's awkward expression and asked, "Did you finish that B-rank mission? If you did, you should have new intel, right?"
Jiraiya still hadn't returned. Minato Namikaze and the young Kakashi went to assist Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, leaving just the two teams of six kids and Itachi Uchiha, who was barely eighteen himself.
Naruto downed a large bowl of red bean soup before remembering to check his ninja pouch after hearing Sasuke's words.
[Mission Level: B+]
[Mission Objective: Establish a contract with at least one of the following locations: Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku, or Shikkotsu Forest.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
"Hurry up and find the information scroll!" Sasuke urged.
Last time, Naruto's B-rank mission had yielded an Intelligence Scroll related to the masked man.
So this time...
Naruto rummaged through his small ninja pouch for a moment. When his fingertips brushed against a tiny scroll, he immediately pulled it out.
The others had mostly finished eating and were now gathered around Naruto.
Meanwhile, this was the Uchiha Clan mansion, after all. It wasn't unreasonable for Madara Uchiha, the clan head, to come out for a stroll after his meal. He happened to spot the group of kids gathered here.
"What are you doing?" Madara Uchiha, clad in the Uchiha Clan's dark blue robes—not his usual crimson armor—stood with his arms crossed outside the corridor, observing the children inside.
Obito, the little social butterfly, greeted Madara first. "Yo! Old Man! Naruto finished his mission, so we're here to check out the mission's reward."
"Mission reward?"
Since becoming the Uchiha clan head, Madara no longer took on individual, scattered missions. He only led the clan in large-scale war tasks.
To him, these kids' missions were no different from playing house; the so-called tasks were merely child's play.
Still, with nothing better to do, and being fundamentally fond of children—though always too proud to admit it and prone to scaring them to tears—Madara stepped inside. He sat cross-legged near them, just close enough to see the miniature scrolls in their hands.
After confirming yesterday that Madara wasn't the masked man, the others had dropped their guard around him.
Instead, they treated him with the same respect they gave the First and Second Hokage, as the founder of Konoha.
After greeting Madara, Naruto didn't hide anything from him and opened the intelligence scroll directly.
What they hadn't expected was that inside this intelligence scroll...
It contained three pieces of intelligence?!
And one piece of information caused Madara's eyes to flare with his Mangekyō Sharingan?!
…
Explanation: Naruto's main focus is still on training in the Mount Myōboku toad system. He did try summoning at Ryūchi Cave, but the only thing he managed to summon was a dead egg, which pretty much proves he really has no affinity with it. As for why he also signed contracts with the other two sacred lands, that's purely to set up a piece of foreshadowing that will come into play more than twenty chapters later.
Additional Public Information: regarding mission rewards.
D: Money
B: Information
A: Time Travel
...
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