Kushina Calls for Backup

Chiga did not answer. He simply stroked the crow in his arms with one hand while feeding it a piece of dry rations with the other.

Just as the crow opened its beak to eat, Chiga promptly pulled the rations away.

Then he continued what he had been doing, while the crow did not get angry and kept playing the tug-of-war feeding game with Chiga.

"I understand now. So that ninja couldn't control his Summoning Beast!"

Seeing the well-behaved crow in Chiga's arms, Kushina understood as well.

While carrying out missions, ninjas would restrain their Summoning Beasts to prevent accidents.

In such a dangerous environment, they especially could not afford to make any noise.

Clearly, that ninja could not control his Summoning Beast, which was why the villagers had been killed or injured.

Summoning a Summoning Beast did not mean that it would wholeheartedly serve its master. The master still had to conquer it through their own strength or by paying a price.

Take Gamabunta, for example. When Naruto first summoned him, he only gained Gamabunta's recognition after winning a bet. And that was merely recognition. If he wanted Gamabunta to actually help, he still had to pray to every god and Buddha he knew.

Orochimaru's Manda was even more outrageous. Every time it appeared, its fee was one hundred people as food. Summon it a few more times, and all the civilians in the Shinobi World would be eaten.

Seeing that Kushina understood, Chiga continued, "However, I can't figure out why they didn't dispel the Summoning Technique and instead let the uncontrollable Summoning Beast run wild. That could expose them."

Hearing Chiga say this, Kushina suddenly replied, "It's not that they didn't dispel it. They needed to use the Red Rock Boar."

"Hm?"

Chiga asked curiously, "Does the Red Rock Boar have some other use?"

"Your teacher likes to read whenever she has nothing to do in Konoha. The information on the Red Rock Boar is recorded in the Konoha Library. It also says that Red Rock Boars are ferocious by nature and like to eat creatures with Chakra, so they're extremely sensitive to Chakra!"

"Even if it's an incredibly tiny amount of Chakra, as long as it's within their range of perception, they can sense it. They're also one of the few Summoning Beasts that possess both combat and sensory abilities!"

After hearing Kushina's explanation, Chiga nodded and said, "They relied on the Red Rock Boar's senses to avoid the ninjas. That also explains why the border ninjas failed to discover them!"

In enemy territory, they had to stay vigilant at all times, which was why they had kept the Summoning Beast outside.

"Don't make excuses for those idiots. I'm definitely going to report this to the Third Hokage!"

It seemed that Kushina was furious that this squad of Rock Shinobi had come here. That was understandable, as this place was already extremely close to Konoha.

The thought of a squad of Rock Shinobi silently approaching this place was frightening enough.

If the Third Tsuchikage Onoki of the Land of Earth suddenly had a brain spasm and sent a Jinchuriki here, Konoha would have to pay a devastating price.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Kushina looked at Chiga and frowned. "Speaking of which, are you planning to use a crow as your Summoning Beast?"

"I've thought about it, but I haven't decided yet."

Chiga replied while continuing to tease the crow in his arms. He had been testing the crow's intelligence.

So far, it seemed pretty good.

"I remember that the Uchiha clan likes to use ninja cats as their Summoning Beasts."

"I haven't had much contact with them. I don't understand them, and I don't like them."

Chiga replied. Creatures like cats could easily turn around and become the master. With his temper, he could not raise one.

Kushina thought for a moment before saying, "If you really need a Summoning Beast, I can go ask Aunt Tsunade for a slug. If that doesn't work, that lecher Jiraiya's toads will do too!"

She had mentioned two of the Legendary Sannin, deliberately leaving out Orochimaru.

For one thing, she really was not close to Orochimaru. For another, Kushina truly could not bring herself to like creatures such as snakes, much less hope that her disciple would have one as a Summoning Beast.

"No need. I quite like this little fellow. Besides, I don't necessarily have to sign a contract with a crow for it to become my Summoning Beast."

Chiga shook his head. Kushina was genuinely good to him, but he felt uncomfortable making her owe someone a favor on his behalf.

He could look for an opportunity to do it himself.

"All right."

Kushina no longer objected to Chiga's insistence on using a crow as his Summoning Beast. After all, there was no rule saying that a ninja could only use one kind of Summoning Beast.

"Teacher Kushina, what should we do next?"

Chiga asked. Although one of them was not even at the level of a Chunin, the strength of the others was difficult to say. At the very least, there had to be a Jonin leading them.

"What should we do? Do we really need to think about that?" Kushina slammed her hand heavily on the table and continued, "They actually dared to come to Konoha to gather intelligence. Do they really think Lady Kushina is just a pretty vase?!"

"Teacher Kushina, think this through. I'm a rookie who just graduated, and you're only a Jonin. Taking on a squad of Rock Shinobi isn't exactly—"

There were four Rock Shinobi in the squad. It was two against four, so they were outnumbered.

Besides, Chiga had never experienced a life-or-death battle. He did not even know whether he could handle it.

"Hmph! Since we've come all the way here, we can't return empty-handed."

Seeing Kushina's unstoppable momentum, Chiga muttered under his breath, "I'm worried they'll be the ones returning with a full load."

It would be bad enough if they merely let the intelligence get sent out. Now they might even send them a great gift—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

The thick-headed Kushina failed to catch the deeper meaning in Chiga's words, but she knew that they were indeed at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.

"Relax. Your teacher doesn't fight battles she has no chance of winning!"

A smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Kushina's mouth. She winked at Chiga and said, "Wait here in the house for a while. I'll go get two people to come and back us up right now!"

With that, Kushina vanished from the house.

Chiga still had not figured out what Kushina meant when two startled cries suddenly came from outside.

"Ow, what the heck! Kushina, you scared me to death!"

"Kushina, how did you find us again?"

"I knew you two were hiding here."

"Kushina, don't take off my mask!"

"We're all acquaintances. Why are you still wearing a mask?"

"I'm an ANBU ninja now, at least leave me some dignity, will you?"

"All right, all right. Come inside with me first. Something went wrong with our mission."

After that exchange, Kushina returned to the house with two ANBU from Konohagakure behind her.

Only after bringing the two ANBU inside did Kushina remember that her disciple had no idea about her identity at all.

After thinking for a long while, she said to Chiga, "Chiga, do you know what title your teacher has in Konoha?"

Chiga looked at Kushina and asked, "Are you talking about the title of Second Generation Demon King?"

"Ah, yes, yes, that's the one. Your teacher runs wild in Konoha, and even the Third Hokage can't keep me under control. He's terrified that I'll cause a huge commotion, so he assigned two ANBU to follow me at all times and monitor my every move."

As she spoke, Kushina put her hands on her hips, looking as though she were incredibly impressive.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, Teacher Kushina is really amazing!"

Chiga could only play along, nodding vigorously.