The Summoned Toad Sage?

"Of course, kid, you probably don't know how great a being the Toad Sage truly is."

Bringing this up seemed to restore Jiraiya's spirits.

He started from the first time he stumbled into Mount Myōboku and met the legendary Toad Sage.

Over the decades since, he'd traveled to every corner of the Ninja World to complete his missions.

Though he hadn't achieved results yet, he felt it was close.

Because the Toad Sage had been dreaming lately, saying the Child of Prophecy would appear by his side.

Eiji's head throbbed as he listened. The Child of Prophecy is right there sleeping, you know?

Jiraiya suddenly patted Eiji on the shoulder.

"Strange, I don't know why, but I feel like teaching you a bit of ninjutsu."

"I'll learn."

No point in refusing. Even if Jiraiya loafed around all day, those big toads from Mount Myōbaku were pretty fierce when they fought.

Jiraiya formed hand seals and slammed his palm to the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu."

A black formation slowly appeared, and a puff of smoke rose from it.

When the smoke cleared, a toad with a plaque appeared inside.

It delivered a scroll to Eiji.

"This is the summoning scroll our generation signed with Mount Myōboku. Write your name on it, and you'll establish a contract with Mount Myōboku..."

Eiji bit his finger and wrote his name in the blank space at the scroll's beginning.

Ahead of him was written the name Minato Namikaze.

"The Summoning Jutsu is essentially a Space-Time Ninjutsu. Since you've mastered the Flying Thunder God, this should be no problem for you."

[Ninja World Scientist: You have mastered the Summoning Jutsu]

Jiraiya was guessing which toad Eiji could summon.

Gama Bunta—tough in both offense and defense, but with a strange temper.

A very strong ally.

Gama Ken or Gama Hiro would be good too—one balanced in attack and defense, the other skilled in Swordsmanship.

If Eiji could summon Fukasaku or Sage Shima, that would be even better.

And with the Ninja World Scientist's help, Eiji quickly mastered the Summoning Jutsu.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

He slammed his hand down!

At the same time, many toads on Mount Myōboku felt the call.

Fukasaku looked at the sky. "Someone's summoning us again. Is it Jiraiya, or his student?"

"Maybe little Jiraiya's student is practicing. No need to panic, right, Toad Sage?"

Toad Sage?

The Toad Sage had vanished!

Shima and Fukasaku's heads buzzed.

Was this for real?

Mount Myōboku's most, most, most revered and highest-ranked Toad Sage had disappeared!

What exactly was that person trying to do?!

Meanwhile, atop Konoha's Back Mountain, a giant toad suddenly appeared.

It groggily opened its eyes, not yet knowing what had happened.

"I feel like... I had a dream. What was it about? Can't remember clearly."

Seeing the Toad Sage before him, Jiraiya nearly fainted from shock.

"You, you, you, you—how did you summon the Toad Sage?! What did you do?!"

Eiji looked innocent. "I just put my hands together, first like this, then like that..."

"Who asked how you formed the seals?! I'm asking what method you used to summon the Toad Sage!"

"I don't know either."

And at that moment, the Toad Sage woke up.

It shook its head and noticed someone sitting on top of it.

"Who are you?" Then it pointed at Jiraiya. "And who are you?"

Jiraiya only then remembered that Eiji was still on top of the Toad Sage's head. He first pulled him down, then apologized to the Toad Sage.

"I'm truly sorry, Toad Sage. Today's matter was purely a misunderstanding. I'll send you back right now, please don't be angry."

Jiraiya kept apologizing profusely, but the Toad Sage still had a face full of question marks.

This little one seemed vaguely familiar, like he'd seen him somewhere before.

But the other one, the younger one, he had no recollection of at all.

He hadn't appeared in his dreams either.

"Hm?" The Toad Sage strained to open his eyes wide. "Your chakra... it's familiar."

"I remember now, you're little Jiraiya! No, wait, this isn't Mount Myōboku either."

For the first time, Jiraiya felt that being forgotten was a pretty good thing.

"Toad Sage, I'll send you back now. Just pretend today never happened."

As he spoke, Jiraiya frantically signaled Eiji with his eyes.

Hurry up, what are you standing there for, waiting to invite the Toad Sage for afternoon tea?

Soon, under Jiraiya's urging, Eiji sent the Toad Sage back to Mount Myōboku.

"Phew."

Jiraiya plopped down on the ground and only then realized his clothes were soaked through.

Something Jiraiya couldn't do, hadn't even heard of, was accomplished today by a kid barely in his teens!

How bizarre was that?

Eiji asked Jiraiya curiously, "Lord Jiraiya, may I ask, is this Toad Sage very powerful?"

"How do you still not get it? He's not just powerful—he's the greatest of all!"

"Oh. So can I summon him to help me fight?"

Jiraiya nearly fainted. "Listen carefully, Eiji. Under no circumstances should you ever summon the Toad Sage. He has no combat ability and can't help you.

But without him, no one knows what would become of Mount Myōboku.

Do you understand?"

Eiji spread his hands. "Got it."

If he can't fight, what's the point of summoning him? Use him as a meat shield like Manda?

That actually didn't sound like a bad idea.

Jiraiya wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Alright, that's enough for today. I need to go to Mount Myōboku and apologize to the two sages."

"Then when will you teach me ninjutsu next, my esteemed Lord Jiraiya?"

"We'll see. You go ahead and do your thing."

Jiraiya didn't dare teach Eiji anymore.

This time he summoned the Toad Sage; who knew what he might pull next time.

With that, Jiraiya used the Reverse Summoning Jutsu and arrived at Mount Myōboku.

The moment he landed, he was met with a barrage of toad beatings.

"Jiraiya! Do you have any idea how big a mess you've caused? That was the Toad Sage, and you had him fight for you!"

Jiraiya covered his head. "Please, let me explain. How could I possibly have done that? The one who summoned the Toad Sage was a brat!"

"Stop, hold the beating. Let's hear him out."

Fukasaku and Shima, the two sages, stood before Jiraiya. After hearing his story, their expressions were as complicated as a pie chart.

"Two seniors, have you ever heard of anything like this?"

The two toads exchanged glances, thought hard for a long time, then shook their heads.

"We've never heard of such a thing. How about we wait until the Toad Sage wakes up and talk then?"

Jiraiya sat cross-legged on the ground, his mind already in chaos.

"Now there's a very important question: what if that brat Eiji summons the Toad Sage again during a fight someday? What do we do?"

"Is there a way to break the contract?"

"No. Jiraiya, you've really taken on quite a student!"

Jiraiya flopped onto his back on the ground. How was this his fault?

Who the hell could have predicted something like this?

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