Salamanders Never Be Slaves, Unless...

"So you used up so much Chakra to summon me, then picked a fight with me on top of that, all just to make Poison Gas Bombs?"

The salamander looked up at the young man standing on its head, at a loss for words.

Back in the day, it had been Master Knife, feared throughout the surrounding towns and villages. Who would have thought it would end up reduced to producing raw materials for someone else?

At that, Jingū Kiraku raised an eyebrow.

"What, you can't?"

"I can. I can."

The salamander simply closed its eyes, looking as though it had resigned itself to its fate.

"Good."

Jingū Kiraku clapped his hands and leaped down from its head.

"Since you have no objections, I'll summon a few more salamanders next."

With that, he immediately pressed his palm to the ground and performed the Summoning Technique again.

Seeing this, Master Knife the salamander showed no expression at all, as if it had already gone numb.

Before long, five salamanders emerged from the smoke at Jingū Kiraku's summons.

"They're a little small, but they should be enough for making Poison Gas Bombs."

Jingū Kiraku muttered as he looked at the salamanders before him.

As expected, they were much smaller than Master Knife.

Even compared to Hanzo's salamander, they were considerably smaller.

Still, they should be enough to make Poison Gas Bombs. There were five of them, after all.

"Huh?"

"Poison Gas Bombs?"

The five newly summoned salamanders were rather bewildered when they heard Jingū Kiraku's words.

They all turned to look at Master Knife, their eyes full of confusion.

"Chief, what's going on?"

Under the gazes of these youngsters, Master Knife, usually so composed and imposing, immediately looked somewhat uncomfortable.

But in order to preserve his image as their chief, he still did his best to put on a dignified expression.

"Just follow the arrangements. Amegakure is our ally now."

The five salamanders tilted their heads, clearly unable to make sense of the situation before them.

Still, since it was their chief's order, they would obediently comply.

Thus, six salamanders in total, including Master Knife, followed Jingū Kiraku along Amegakure's main road toward the factory in a grand procession.

Because of their enormous size, every step they took made the ground tremble continuously.

At first, the villagers thought those damn Konoha ninja had invaded again and ran outside to look.

Oh, salamanders. Then it was fine...

No, wait!!

Why were there salamanders this huge in Amegakure now?

That thing was a whole size bigger than Hanzo's salamander, wasn't it?

Only when they saw the figure standing atop the salamander's head did they finally relax.

So it was Lord Jingū. Then it was fine again.

Amemura, on the other hand, wore a shocked expression when he saw this.

"What exactly is going on?"

Erika suddenly appeared beside him and looked at the giant salamander at the front of the procession as she asked.

Amemura swallowed before answering.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure either..."

"I went to report the shortage of raw materials for making Poison Gas Bombs, but I didn't expect the chief to pull out a contract scroll from who knows where."

"Then he summoned that huge thing. I heard it's even the Salamander Clan's Chief."

"At first, the big guy didn't seem willing to cooperate, but then... the chief beat it into submission."

After hearing that explanation, a hint of blankness appeared on Erika's cold face.

Because he wanted to make Poison Gas Bombs, he had directly summoned the Salamander Clan's Chief and beaten it up?

Wasn't that a little too overbearing?

But when she recalled how Jingū Kiraku had effortlessly crushed Hanzo and beaten up Konoha's envoy, this sort of thing somehow also seemed...

Pretty normal?

At the same time, atop a distant rooftop, three little kids were excitedly standing on tiptoe.

"Is that Sensei?"

"Is that really Sensei?"

"Wow, Sensei's Ibuse is huge!"

"Just as expected of Sensei..."

Yahiko chattered away, while Konan and Nagato's faces were also filled with amazement.

Only now did they truly and directly realize just how powerful their teacher was.

"One day, we'll definitely become ninja as strong as Sensei too!!"

Konan suddenly smiled, waving her slender arm as she spoke.

Hearing that, Yahiko cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"I, Yahiko, will definitely become the greatest ninja!!"

Nagato looked at his two companions beside him, gently clenched his fist, and finally revealed a faint smile.

"We definitely will."

Jingū Kiraku did not hear his subordinates' gossip or his disciples' shouts.

At that moment, he was fully immersed in the cheers of the villagers.

Soon, amid everyone's applause, the procession of Ibuse finally arrived at the factory that manufactured Poison Gas Bombs.

"L-Leader, what is this?"

The factory manager stared at the Ibuse, each several stories tall, his face deathly pale.

If Jingū Kiraku had not been there, he would have run off already.

Seeing this, Jingū Kiraku leaped down from atop an Ibuse's head and said:

"Didn't you say there weren't enough raw materials for producing poison gas?"

"Well, with them helping out, that should be enough, right?"

The factory manager looked at the Ibuse and could not help swallowing.

"It should be enough, but I'm afraid these scrawny arms and legs of mine won't be enough to feed these big fellows."

He was practically about to cry. Even the smallest Ibuse could probably swat him to death with one slap!

Jingū Kiraku raised an eyebrow and reprimanded him:

"As a soldier of the Land of Rain, how can you be so cowardly?"

Upon hearing that, the factory manager hurriedly straightened up.

With a resolute expression, he slammed his fist against his chest.

"Dedicate your heart to the Land of Rain!!"

Seeing this, Jingū Kiraku finally nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Very spirited."

He patted the man's shoulder, then reassured him:

"Don't worry. These big fellows are my Summoning Beasts. They won't hurt you."

When the manager's expression instantly relaxed, Jingū Kiraku turned to the Ibuse and said:

"From now on, this will be your workplace."

"Your daily task is to completely release the poison gas from your venom sacs."

"As for food, you don't need to worry about that either. I'll send fishermen to catch fish from the lake and make sure all your living needs are met."

Hearing Jingū Kiraku's assurance, the Ibuse exchanged glances, seemingly deep in thought.

After all, their Ibuse clan had no tradition of working for humans.

Ibuse would never be slaves!

But...

This place provided food and lodging?

That actually sounded pretty good...

Thus, after exchanging a few looks, the Ibuse broke into simple-minded grins and patted their chests.

"Leave it to us!!"

Seeing this, Master Knife could not help slapping his forehead.

What a disgrace to fishkind!