I was livid.
An unspeakable amount of rage and anger flowed through every vein in my body as the reporting shinobi left my command tent. That shinobi just so happened to be Captain Yoru Nara.
Throughout the first shinobi war, no village used their 'gifts' during the conflict. They played more of a deterrent role against a full-on village invasion.
Whether that was due to the memory of Lord Hashirama still being so vivid or the fact that it wasn't so simple to control a beast that could level your village.
But through the first war, the beasts stayed home while the shinobi fought the war, it seems that after a few decades, that role was changing.
In barely a few decades the first village had seemingly broken that rule. This is unsurprising given the fact it was undoubtedly the weakest village. It was proven in real-time as they were being pushed back by barely a third of the Leaf's forces.
Reports citing the one-tail demon were initially treated with a grain of salt. Half an hour ago there was a confirmed sighting of the beast between the Suna army and their village, almost as if they had the beast guarding their village in case we broke through.
That mattered little to me, along with the fact that every strategy and tactic we had made would have to be scrapped. War plans and tactics simply go out the window when a mountain-sized beast that can control the very environment joins the fray.
Yet wasn't what had me cursing the Sage, no there was a specific squad at the epicenter of the One Tail's arrival.
My student's squad.
Who is now believed to be missing in action, along with a career genin who seemed to have led the beast away from the battlefield and bought their squadmates a chance to escape?
The amount of lives they saved for both sides easily numbered thousands. They would be considered honored war heroes if it really was the worst-case scenario.
My opinion on the matter? 'Fuck the honor. Get back home you little red-eyed bastard'
If there was a chance the kid survived I'd know by the end of the day. Thirteen of my summoned animals would see to that, but I had a sinking feeling. Few could survive a crazed jinjuriki.
Even the renowned Second Hokage fell at the hands of two pseudo beast carriers, well that and a platoon of 'rogue' anbu.
The fact remained that the kid shouldn't survive. It was callous of me to admit but logically? His chances weren't good, they weren't zero but still.
Hundreds of Kilometers from the southern coast of the Land of Fire.
"Are you sure you can eat more?" I asked in disbelief as I looked down at the bush-sized pile of tuna tins a few feet next to the bloated pair of cubs.
It had been a stressful hour, tip-toeing around these two creatures while trying not to give away my ploy to replenish my chakra.
But now after I gave them the hundredth can? I realized I'd been too cautious, these cubs had the combined maturity of two first-year academy students. It worked out though I had nearly half my chakra back and surely enough to place most of this summoning animal clan under a genjutsu.
It was a known fact that most chakra beasts were extremely weak to genjutsu. I didn't know the science of it but if I had to guess it would be because their internal chakra control was horrible compared to humans.
Even the strongest of them all couldn't stand up to the Sharingan. The nine-tailed fox fell to Madara's eyes, now I seriously doubted I could do that. Nor any other Uchiha alive for that matter. But the point still stood, I've been underestimating the power of my eyes
This might be attributed to the fact that I didn't actually wish to harm them or anything else entirely.
The next minute proved that fact entirely. After their hundredth can both felines let out burps and fell back. Exposing their bloated stomachs and lightly purring in contentment.
'I think I read once that animals will only expose their vitals to you if they trust you. Or that might just be BS'
"Belch! I…. Think you have found a friend in us hooman." The male panther cub said with a content sigh and loud burp as he rubbed his slightly bulging belly.
"Though whether that is true for the rest of us remains to be seen, we are not as easily swayed as the cubs after all." A voice spoke from behind me, heavily masculine while a feminine voice giggled in agreement. I froze. 'What could get past my chakra sensing?' I had been letting out sonar-like pulses every thirty seconds, but I should still sense a chakra beast at this range without even focusing.
I slowly turned around to find a large panther the size of a three-story building, just sitting on the floor as if he had been there for a while, which he might have been. Next to him was a tiger just slightly smaller than he
"Stealth-based ninjutsu..." I voiced as I turned my focus onto the panther whose giant slitted eyes were locked onto me as if I were prey. I could practically feel the malice in the air forcing a drop of sweat to slide down my forehead.
"I believe that symbol on your forehead means you are a...a shinobi I believe it was called." The panther commented as its eyes never left mine, this was a chance. A simple twitch and it'd be over, this was surely the "boss" of this summon clan.
"Back off, I mean no harm." And with that, both large summon animals began growling. Almost as if they felt the sliver of chakra I used to make my eyes shift. But it seemed they recognized these eyes as both large felines stopped growling and narrowed their eyes.
It was only then that there levels and names appeared above there heads, why did it seemed delayed?
(Tugaris lvl 36) (Rougias lvl 48)
"Tugaris, grab the cubs and leave us." The large panther ordered his 'partner' maybe? Which I was fine with as I kept one eye on each of them. It wasn't until she flickered to the cubs that I could feel the female tiger's chakra. Slightly less than Sakumo but a decent amount above jonin level. Given she was the size of the two-story house it made sense.
She swooped up the cubs and was gone in a few moments, a few seconds was all it took for the tiger summon to leave my sensory range.
"Now, child of Indra. What are you doing in my realm, what is the purpose of your visit" He asked as he still hadn't moved from his relaxed position. Almost as if he didn't see me as a threat or knew my eyes could win me this battle in a moment if one were to ensue.
'That same phrase, who is Indra?' I wanted to know immediately but that could wait as there were more pressing matters.
{BloodLine Quest Accepted}
The Ancestry of The Sharingan
Objective: Learn of your ancestors and the truth of the Uchiha clan's creation.
Rewards: Epic Item Cache, 40,000XP, Minor Contract-Crows
"I was in a grave battle against a monster of sand. I had learned the seals prior but never used the jutsu. A bout of inspiration hit me and poof here I am." I answered honestly as I kept my eyes pinned to the creatures. "It seems you and your people are the closest summon animals to me, oddly enough." I said in a joking manner but it seemed the panther didn't find the humor as its eye narrowed further.
"My people hmm… you assume I am the leader of Panthera?" This time his no-nonsense expression changed to a more playful gate as his mouth turned to a smirk.
"You are a particularly large summon animal, from what my sensei told me most beasts that are your size are usually the 'boss summon' of their contract." I gave him my observation as he looked at me appraisingly.
"You have our eyes, I will give you that child. And I don't mean your dojutsu." He rose, causing me to flinch and aggravate my broken ankle. "If history is to be believed you are the first human to set foot on this island in nearly four hundred years"
"Though the idea of you being our clan's summoner…..I will return you to your last locatio…." He began to speak before his mouth forcefully shut.
"No… I believe this child will follow me." An aged voice broke through the clearing causing me to flinch as yet another completely avoided my sensing. I turned slowly and tried my best to hold my reaction to the interloper.
A lion, the size of a house cat, standing on two legs and wearing a red robe.
"Elder, I have made the decision, he will leav…." Something burst through the clearing, a blast of something that rocked me and completely cowed the extremely large panther.
"You are one of five, the others aren't here to overrule my decision." The barely two-foot-tall lion said with a note of finality that shook me as the panther obeyed. Simply nodding once and laying back down in his spot, seemingly content to laze around.
He didn't feel the same as the panther, as they were talking I only paid half attention and put all of my focus on comparing the two. The most odd thing about this encounter was that even after I focused on the bipedal feline the scroll didn't attribute him a level. Which was annoying as I had been using that ability to roughly gauge threat levels. Was it something in the island that was affecting the scroll?
Where the panther just wasn't there as if he was hiding in the shadow of the tree he was under, simply a shadow. The elderly lion felt as if he was everywhere but also not there at all, akin to a tree you'd simply glance over in a forest filled with the same. As if he was blended into everything. I wasn't even sure if I was on the right track but it was what my instincts told me.
He could destroy me and the giant panther at once.
"Come child, allow me to tend to your wounds you will need your strength for the days to come" That caused my brows to scrunch and my hackles to rise. Sadly there was nothing I could do, I was stuck on this island and my only way to get off would either be to be reverse summoned back or swim.
That was even if I could get away from this 'elder' which I very much doubted.
'Though….. there is a chance. No, that could work….'
"It will not end well for you, I'm confident I can subdue Rougias before you can even leave this clearing. Listen once and listen well, your dojutsu won't help you here….." This time the diminutive animal spoke into my ear, appearing on my right shoulder the second I twitched toward the giant panther. I hadn't even managed to catch a glimpse of the large animal before my plan was foiled.
"Understood"