"Strange."
Four Water Elemental Spirits stood before Fuyuki. Like slimes, they stood inside the Runic Seal he had formed with Yin Release, gazing blankly at their master and waiting for him to give them orders.
Summoning a High-ranking Elemental Spirit was completely different from summoning a Low-ranking Elemental Spirit. High-ranking Elemental Spirits were elemental beings with wills of their own. There was no need to divide his attention by controlling them with the Spirit Binding Technique; they could think up their own battle strategies and cast powerful magic.
The way to summon a High-ranking Elemental Spirit was to sacrifice four Low-ranking Elemental Spirits and fuse them together.
The sacrificial summoning might look simple, but it actually required fusing the Power of Yin and Yang within the Low-ranking Elemental Spirits to give the summoned beast true life, allowing it to exist forever.
This was the highest level of Yin-Yang Release. The Sage of Six Paths had probably been at this level when he was alive.
However, the two couldn't really be compared. Fuyuki's current Yin-Yang Release was entirely based on the Summoning Book's instructions. Unlike the Sage of Six Paths, he couldn't transform yin and yang into an overwhelmingly powerful force; all he could do was create elemental life.
"Forget it. I have plenty of time. There's no need to turn into a bald Hyuga just to summon a High-ranking Elemental Spirit."
Fuyuki waved his hand. The sustained chakra output made the meridians in his arm ache faintly. Compared to his Hyuga peers, his chakra reserves were far greater. That was one of the benefits of mastering Yin-Yang Release.
This was his first time practicing, so it was no surprise that he couldn't summon a High-ranking Elemental Spirit in one try.
You had to be scientific about things. He wasn't some Godzilla of a fighter like Naruto, so he couldn't use the Shadow Clone training method.
"I think you don't have enough chakra. That's why you can't fuse all four of them together."
A magnetic voice spoke, then continued, "You should use a massive amount of chakra to forcibly compress all four of them together, then fuse them. That should give you a better chance of success than what you're doing now."
"Huh?"
Startled by the sudden voice, Fuyuki immediately turned toward it. He saw a thin man sitting on a tree in an extremely brazen pose. The man watched him with interest, as if he'd been there for quite a while.
Once he'd recovered from the shock, Fuyuki calmed down and immediately activated his Byakugan to check on Natsumi. Seeing that she was all right, he greeted the man very politely. "Good afternoon, Lord Orochimaru."
"Oh? You know who I am?"
This time, Orochimaru was taken aback. Before he defected, Danzo had set him up, and he'd used a great many Konoha comrades as experimental subjects. His reputation in Konoha ought to have been enough to scare any child into wetting themself on the spot.
"Aren't you afraid?" Orochimaru asked with a teasing smirk.
"Lord Orochimaru, you're joking. We have no grudge against each other—we just happened to meet. If you killed me, the Hyuga wouldn't let it go. They'd do everything they could to make trouble for you." Fuyuki had neither ill will nor any particular fondness for Orochimaru. Since they'd run into each other unexpectedly, he naturally had to find a way to get away.
Besides, the Snake Auntie of the future made it impossible for Fuyuki to feel afraid of Orochimaru.
Anyone who knew that the mighty Cold Lord Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, was actually afraid of bugs couldn't feel afraid of him. If they were especially weird, they might even find it so adorable that they'd swoon on the spot.
"Are you threatening me?" Orochimaru dropped from the tree, releasing a powerful killing intent along with a genjutsu.
"No, no. I'm just stating the facts. You could easily bury me, but you'd gain almost nothing from it. It wouldn't be worth the trouble."
"Why don't we go our separate ways? If we meet again someday, I'll be sure to visit and thank you in person," Fuyuki said.
By "visit and thank you in person," he meant showing up at Orochimaru's door to beat him up and force Snake Auntie to hand over the painstakingly improved cheongsam—no, forbidden jutsu.
Orochimaru was a rational man. Fuyuki wasn't important to him, but killing him would make an enemy of the Hyuga Clan. The Hyuga would surely join forces with Konoha to make trouble for Orochimaru in revenge.
Fuyuki thought that was reason enough to persuade the rational, almost cold-blooded Orochimaru.
Unfortunately, Fuyuki hadn't considered one thing: Orochimaru was the ultimate lolicon master. The more impressive Fuyuki seemed, the more Snake Auntie would like him!
"Hmm."
Orochimaru seemed to fall into thought. Then he abruptly withdrew his killing intent and genjutsu and asked, "Fuyuki, what Summoning Jutsu were you practicing just now?"
He'd been drawn to Fuyuki's Summoning Jutsu, which was why he'd gone out of his way to follow him.
Through Yota's eyes, he'd seen Fuyuki use that unusual Summoning Jutsu. As someone who wanted to learn every ninjutsu and understand the truths of the world, he naturally couldn't resist his curiosity when he encountered such an unusual technique.
When it came to researching Summoning Jutsu, he considered himself more knowledgeable than 99.9999 percent of the Ninja World.
But he'd never seen a Summoning Jutsu like Fuyuki's!
"Uh, it's Elemental Summoning. It summons chakra-made summoned beasts that can self-destruct and be modified." Fuyuki didn't mention the Multiplication Summoning Jutsu. Orochimaru would probably see Pain use the original version soon enough.
"Oh." Orochimaru nodded. "Would you be interested in helping me? I can teach you Summoning Jutsu."
He'd grown interested in Fuyuki's Summoning Jutsu and wanted to study it thoroughly.
So he directly extended an olive branch to Fuyuki. He'd been living in Konoha for some time, and with Yakushi Kabuto, his ace spy, around, he could move through the village as if he were at home.
He knew everything about Konoha. He also knew that Fuyuki was the heir to the Hyuga Main Family.
But so what? He was only taking a free look at Fuyuki's Summoning Jutsu. He wasn't going to abduct him.
After getting a free look at the technique, he could just ditch Fuyuki. The Hyuga Clan wouldn't bother searching the whole world for him.
"Hmm."
Fuyuki wore a helpless expression. "Lord Orochimaru, I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer."
"The elders of my clan taught me: win, and you eat meat; lose, and you eat grass. But anyone who surrenders without a fight deserves to eat shit!"
"Heh."
Orochimaru let out a cold laugh and said nothing, but the chakra of a Kage Level shinobi surged out of him. A powerful gale, accompanied by killing intent, swept toward Fuyuki.
"Lord Orochimaru, let me introduce one of my clan's elders: Lord Hyuga Hamura."
Fuyuki pressed his hands together and clapped them hard. His chakra erupted with even greater ferocity than Orochimaru's, startling the sneering Orochimaru so badly that his hair stood on end. His long black hair whipped through the gale like the tentacles of an octopus.
The Whirling Demon Society's Summoning Jutsu came in several types!
The first type was Elemental Summoning: the Elemental Spirits Fuyuki was practicing now, which could eventually be trained into a Spirit King.
The second type was Contract Summoning, which allowed you to form a summoning contract with a living being and create a mutually beneficial relationship.
The third type was rather special. Unlucky Summoners called it "Forbidden Summoning," while wealthy and lucky Summoners called it "Legendary Summoning."
That was because this Summoning Jutsu could use a vessel to summon beings from legends or myths into the real world. But the beings summoned through "Forbidden Summoning" were often stronger than the Summoner, and the chance of them turning on their Summoner was a full one hundred percent!
But if your ancestors had once been powerful, and a mighty figure had appeared in your family line, you could use yourself as a vessel to summon a deceased ancestor back from the river of time and have them help your descendants through a crisis.
There was no doubt that the Hyuga Clan had powerful ancestors. Tracing their lineage back far enough led to Otsutsuki Hamura, the mighty man who had sealed Kaguya alongside his brother. Even if Fuyuki could summon only one-tenth of his power, it would be enough to defeat the so-called Kage Level shinobi of today.
That was also why Fuyuki dared to swagger around the clan compound and the village with such a smug look on his face.
Because he really was that impressive!
If he was pushed too far, he could summon his Ancestor. He was the most beloved kid of all the Hyuga ancestors!
Before you continue