I kicked the unaware genin next to me away as I used the momentum to separate us from a blue-tipped sand-colored claw that rose from under us.
"Formation 37!" I yelled to my squadmates as I twisted and disappeared into a flicker. Formation thirty-seven was very simple, it amounted to running away in different directions. One of us would be bait while the other 'should' be able to get away to either bring reinforcements or at least get word to command.
But as I turned around to look back I noticed a vague figure obscured by a veil of sand barely keeping up with me. Just outside my unfocused sensing range, which didn't really matter as I knew who it was and that I had in fact drawn the short end of the stick.
I cursed as I ended my flicker and turned to await my opponent. I had a chance it was obvious this opponent was a ranged-focused attacker but I was sure I had the speed edge.
If I could bait him into it, I'd have a chance to blitz him tor a killing blow.
It wasn't a second later that huge chakra presence appeared on my radar, almost as if gravity itself increased and pushed down on my shoulders followed by a faint hint of madness.
After another few seconds, the crazed monk was standing in front of me shaking in place. I kept an urge of disgust down as I noticed his change.
Half of his body had merged or deformed into sand, followed by a jagged tail and odd pointed ear. Almost as if he was part animal and the animal had begun to take over.
"The prey stops running?" He asked in a craze as the sand around us began rising. What was odd was it was only the jagged teeth on his left side that spoke.
"Run child….." the right human half spoke with great difficulty that caused me to flinch in confusion. 'Split personality or something else?'
I didn't have long to judge him as I was forced to jump back as a spike of sand formed under me. The beast-man growled at his failed sneak attack, and I had to body flicker away constantly as hundreds of spikes rose above the ground.
I wasn't perfect, as the only thing that could tell me they would appear was a flicker of the half-beast's chakra. That'd be extremely helpful if the spikes didn't appear almost instantly.
'To have this much control over the environment? He's toying with me' it was obvious even after only thirty seconds. This 'fight' was nothing but a game and my opponent was the desert itself.
And it didn't stop. I'd try to rush in and a row of spikes would stop me. Forced to retreat I zig-zagged through a literal forest of sand spikes. This wasn't sustainable, for me that is.
The burning pain I felt in my left ankle was beginning to get distracting, it was a warning in and of itself. If I pushed it would break, but what choice did I have?
I'd capped myself at five flicker boosts since the start of this and it was obvious this beast was beginning to find a pattern in my movements. As if trying to catch a fly in an enclosed space. Eventually…..
"Argggg…." I groaned in pain as a spike pierced into my shoulder, dying the golden sand red as my blade flashed and removed it as I flickered away moments before multiple spikes appeared crashing into each other.
"No little rabbit! Running away is no fun!" He screamed as I turned and booked it for the border. I misjudged the situation, I had no chance in a battle like this.
Too much pride, too much faith in my half-baked movement jutsu. Multiple things contributed to my loss today.
But there was one thing I was sure of, I could outrun this bastard. As the desert came alive around me I leaned fully into my sensing and opened my eyes as wide as possible.
'A trio of spikes to my left, four to my right, three tendrils above me will shoot down in four seconds' by sensing and my Sharigans precognitive abilities allowed for a very potent ability to dodge attacks. I sidestepped the spikes from the right and jumped over the ones on the left moments before my sword caught fire and cut through the tendrils above me.
I flickered away as the beast again tried to encase me in a tomb of sand after he had slowed me down with a flurry of attacks.
But I didn't stop, I kept going until I heard a snap.
Coming out of my last flicker I prepared to hop into another only for my leg to collapse. A clean break, but I was now tumbling over a dune.
Blasting through the first dune I continued through towards the second as my momentum began to wane. Disoriented and in extreme pain I barely felt flying through the second.
Coming to I was laying on my back as the sun was blaring down on me, I didn't know how long I was out but not too long considering the sun was still up. That or I was out for an entire day but I doubted that.
Something crashed a few feet away from me and I could barely distinguish a figure crouched on all fours with two pointed ears and a large waving tail.
I'm dead.
Damn, wasn't that something. Didn't even last a week before a demon in human skin caught and killed me.
I almost wished I could hear the sky rumble above me, in a specific pattern that would bring with it sensei. But it was not to be, my clone still hadn't found him, it hadn't dispelled itself yet.
On my own with a broken leg and a demon a few feet away from me and not another chakra signature for four kilometers.
Wait!
It was barely a memory but one that stuck with me as the beast's clawed arm raised.
With it, I was floating in the air along with a cradle of sand that only allowed my head to stick out.
Four seals…. I just had to do four seals. 'Pig, inu, tori, saru!' In a last-ditch effort, I managed to stick my palm into the cradle of sand that held me.
I felt my chakra dip to an extremely low level as I was surrounded by a puff of smoke.
[Just Learned- Summoning Jutsu]
Flashback no Jutsu-
"Why can't I just sign your contract?" I asked Sakumo sensei after our battle in the dunes near the forward fortress.
"They wouldn't accept you, you're not blood" Sakumo said not even questioning how I knew about his contract.
What brought up this conversation was how valuable a utility jutsu like that was. And for some, it was their greatest offensive, like Jiraiya.
It seemed like Sensei's summons leaned more toward the utility aspect as they seemed extremely similar to an Inuzuka's ninken.
"How did you get your contract?" I asked curiously as I felt it would be useful to have a backup. Whether the summons were combative in nature mattered to me little.
"My grandfather saved one of their pups who wandered out of their realm. At the time he thought it was one of the Inuzuka's and if you didn't already know, my family has been allies with theirs for generations." Sakumo said, causing me to tilt my head in interest.
"They felt indebted to him and gave him their scroll." Sakumo said and I was left stumped.
"So how do I get one of my own?" Contracts were rare. Finding a wounded summoning animal was extremely unlikely and trying to travel to their realms would take months.
"In a timely manner, either you find somebody that will let you sign theirs. Given that you're part of the strongest clan that shouldn't be too difficult or…." My eyes squinted at that option as I knew for a fact the clan had a host of minor contracts. Ravens, hawks, and plenty of other small bird summons, like crows. I was not interested as the only utility they provided was an eye in the sky. There were also the ninja cats that had been under our banner for centuries but I never met them and I doubted they would be suitable for war.
"Or I could do what?" I asked as the first option didn't really appeal to em
"These days it's called the trial of the summons. You use the summoning jutsu and you will be taken to the realm of the animals most suitable to you." Sakumo said and I almost let out a childish fit of rage at how simple my problem was to fix.
"Ok, show me the seals? They'll send me back after won't they?" I asked the two questions that actually mattered but then I thought about it. I already knew the seals, I saw Sakumo do it in the vision of the past.
Soon I went through the four seals and began placing my palm on the ground, well before I took a boot to the face and was prone against a cactus.
"What the fuck sensei" I said as pulled myself off the cactus and began vigorously rubbing my bleeding nose.
"You're the most ignorant clan-born shinobi I've ever seen," Sakumo said as he held his temples and let out a heavy sigh at my apparent stupidity.
"This isn't a game kid, you're not going to some fantasy land where the summoned animal will be happy to see you. Like us humans most of the summoning clans are at war with each other." Sakumo said, bringing with it a new perspective that I hadn't considered. I could barter with the summoning animal clans, they were beasts enhanced by chakra. Meaning they could use exploding tags and other shinobi tools against their enemies.
"Most if not all won't be friendly, they'll want to test you immediately or they will simply try to kill you depending on the animal. Under no circumstances should you attempt this unless you're as strong as a Jonin." Sakumo began to explain before he had a perturbed expression on his face.
Undiscovered Location
"Ow… owww, dammit" Unluckily for me I was summoned atop a hill and after misjudging the landing I rolled down the hill into a pile of dirt.
"I'm alive, it worked…." I broke out into a fit of laughter as the euphoria hit me. But the high only lasted for as long as the adrenaline did, so I flinched as the blaring pain from my broken foot and my impaled shoulder.
I began to have spasms and shakes as I summoned a roll of bandages from my inventory.
It took a lot longer than I would've admitted for me to dress the large hole in my shoulder. As for the ankle, well, it was broken this time, not just out of place. And given my lack of ability with medical jutsu the best I could do was set it against a stick and tie it down.
I wouldn't be able to walk on it but with a walking stick, I could at least move. But why would I do that? Well if I had enough chakra I could've just summoned a clone to loan me a shoulder.
Mundane problems returned to the spoiled shinobi.
But I wouldn't complain, I groaned as I pushed myself to my feet and began to get a real look at my surroundings.
It was beautiful in a different kind of way, much like the land of fire. It was covered in trees but all of them were gigantic. Around the width of a large boulder and as tall as the ones you'd find deep in Konoha.
The florals and odd plants and weeds led me to a different idea of the ecosystem. I was in a rainforest inside of a giant jungle. The humidity and the temperature matched what I learned from the academy. But the only places like this were found on remote islands and in the lands of grass and hot water.
I highly doubt I was still in the elemental nations. That fact was proved true when an odd little pair blocked my path. Two felines one pearl white and the other strikingly opposite.
"What is that sister? He smells of boar" the darker of the pair, a panther cub! My mind finally registered as what the cub said flew in one ear and out the other.
"I'm not sure Yuras, but I believe father once spoke of these bipedal furless creatures….." the white striped tiger cub said as put a paw to her chin and seemed to be thinking pretty hard. "That's it, it's a hooman." She concluded with a sagely nod as her partner peered at me with confusion.
Though at this point I'd bet it was about whether I was edible or not.
"I guess, close enough anyway." I replied which caused them both to body flicker back. No that was just pure speed, impressive.
"It speaks!!!!" They seemed to struggle to accept that fact as it seemed that my danger level had multiplied in their slitted eyes. Taking a curious look around this clearing I noticed a deer prance through the foliage being chased by a huffing boar.
Based on this interaction I could tell a few things about the summon realm. Simply speaking, food didn't talk but enemies did. It was a simple distinction but for these cubs, it was their way of life.
Being a chakra beast seemed odd.
"I come in peace?" I asked and stated at the same time as the two cubs stared at me without flinching. It was better than them growling as they had before but they didn't seem convinced.
'Now what could I use to win them over….. wait a minute' My hand reached into my shredded jacket as the cubs began growling but it tried to put on my best disarming smile as a trio of cans appeared from my inventory.
"Now little guys no need for violence, I'm obviously half dead already. How about a peace offering?" I asked them as I put on my best salesman's smile that was copied from the sleazy furniture seller that I knew from the village.
Their eyes thinned as they held me but made no move to attack. Well, at least the realm I dropped into didn't have inhabitants that killed me on the spot. How did sensei put it? 'They will be the closest match to you....I'm probably still in extreme danger and was just lucky enough to run into a pair of cubs instead of their parents'
"What is it?" It seemed the male panther was the more curious of the pair but still held caution for the apparent metal cans of death.
"Well, my feline friends have you ever heard of Tuna? It's actually one of the best things to make sandwiches wit…." I opened the can midway through my speech but they attacked the moment I did. I was so tired, I could barely even move, not even enough chakra to activate my eyes for more than a few seconds. So I barely reacted as the two pairs of claws tore the metal tin from my grasp and reappeared in the same spot.
Deciding not to consider the fact that those paws could've ended me at that moment. I was content to stand by and watch the two cubs absolutely destroy an entire tin of premium land of Wave tuna.
The shinobi part of my mind had to stop and evaluate the two cubs. Chunin-level speed, slightly naive but obviously trained to fight. It made me wonder how powerful their parents were, which could be jarring.
They were threats to my life at that moment, my only hope being to distract them with enough treats to get a smidgen of my chakra back. As long as I had my eyes I doubted any of these Feline creatures could counter my Sharingan Genjutsu.