Bang!
A huge cloud of smoke suddenly appeared.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
A thick, long, dark-purple forked tongue emerged from the smoke, while a crimson body flickered in and out of view.
"This is... A human actually summoned me?"
A deep voice came from within the smoke.
Then a crimson snake tail suddenly shot out of the smoke, sweeping straight toward Souya like a bolt of red lightning.
Bang!
The tail slammed into a wall of Gold Sand that had risen from the ground, erupting in a violent blast.
"Hmm? You've got some strength... human!"
The deep voice sounded again, this time tinged with surprise.
By now, Souya had gotten a clear look at the creature he had summoned.
It was a gigantic crimson serpent, its yellow eyes flashing with a dangerous hunger.
But its right eye socket bore a patch of charred gray, as if it had been struck by lightning long ago.
A raised, triangular crest jutted forward from the top of its head, then swept back along its skull. It looked imposing.
Two sharp, pointed fangs showed inside its open mouth, with its tubular, forked tongue resting between them.
Souya could tell at a glance that he had summoned Garaga, a serpent even larger than Manda.
"Haah..."
Souya sighed to himself. The creature clearly had no intention of having a proper conversation with him, so he had no choice but to try having a little "physical discussion" first.
After all, unlike Naruto, he couldn't rely on the "ultimate genjutsu: Talk no Jutsu."
After blocking Garaga's tail, Souya planted the Starfall Rod from his back into the ground, then formed Hand Seals.
A rumbling came from underground. The ground began to churn like boiling water, and in the blink of an eye, the hard earth turned into swirling golden dust.