Summoning: An Army of Slugs

"Before you assassinate the Hokage, you've already lost one subordinate, haven't you?"

"Ah—?"

Kakuzu's interested remark made the veins in Diejian's temples bulge.

Senju Diejian was a transmigrant.

He knew Senju Hashirama had noticed the truth—and Diejian had realized it.

Memories had begun to surface, returning as he grew older.

Those memories and experiences that should not have existed tormented the young Diejian.

They were not clear recollections, but vague colors, like moonlight wavering on the surface of water. Even so, Diejian understood that he was different from other people.

Diejian worried, feared, and suffered over his own existence.

At times he had nearly gone mad, but a terrifyingly calm knowledge and reason, rising from somewhere within him, had held him back.

To reassure the people around him, who were bewildered by this change, Diejian had even gone so far as to "act naturally lively and cheerful." His efforts had paid off: those around him were easily fooled, all agreeing that "it was just a sensitive phase."

Only Hashirama had noticed Diejian's "decline."

Perhaps it was just Diejian's imagination.

But he had a vague sense of certainty.

One day, Hashirama took Diejian out and stood with him on his own carved face in the cliff.

The view offered a clear look over the village, but Diejian felt nothing.

Hashirama pointed out places, saying, "That's my house," and "That's the Sarutobi Clan's home." Diejian only pretended to look.

Only Hashirama's voice rang strongly in Diejian's ears.

Hashirama couldn't entirely hide the "emotion" seeping into his voice.

Hashirama's voice got on Diejian's nerves.

Watching Hashirama's bright smile, Diejian inexplicably wanted to punch him.

Perhaps it was the irritation of someone taking out his frustrations on another, thinking, "Don't act like my grandfather in front of me. You don't understand my troubles at all."

Just as Diejian's mind was growing hazy with irritation, Hashirama's question—"Do you like the village?"—brought him back to reality.

Diejian couldn't answer.

Hashirama paid no mind to his reaction and began to speak.

"I love it. The village is my treasure!"

So what? Diejian thought.

He even dangerously considered, "You sure have a way with words. How about I smash your mouth to pieces?"

Just then, Hashirama fell silent.

When Diejian looked up, Hashirama was gazing at the village with a serious expression.

Diejian braced himself for what he was going to say.

Hashirama's sudden change of mood swept him up.

"The village is home, and the villagers are family. It's the Will of Fire, connecting everyone—family—beyond all divisions."

His voice held a powerful conviction, yet was impossibly gentle.

Diejian held his breath.

Hashirama crouched down until they were eye to eye.

Diejian was confused.

Hashirama's serious expression softened into a faint smile. He grinned and tapped his Forehead Protector with his thumb.

Carved into it was the sharp-tipped spiral symbol of Konohagakure.

It was proof of the bond shared by the village's members—a sign that they were "shinobi of Konohagakure."

Hashirama untied the Forehead Protector and fastened it around Diejian's forehead.

He tightened the band, then gently patted Diejian on the head.

Then he stood up and started talking about something dull again, like "There's a pretty good casino over there..."

Diejian quietly watched Hashirama's profile.

The irritation was gone now.

After that, Hashirama treated Diejian as he always had.

Sometimes he took him on patrol around the village; other times, he indulged his love of gambling with him.

He never treated Diejian "specially"—and yet he continued to "treat him specially" with reckless indulgence, simply because he wanted to spoil his eldest grandson.

It was the gaze of this "Grandfather" that filled Diejian, the vessel, with love.

Diejian thought it must have been incredibly difficult.

Diejian loved and respected his great grandfather from the bottom of his heart.

He knew the sight of his grandfather's broad, generous back.

When he told his grandfather, "I want to become Hokage," those words came from a genuine desire to repay him.

If anyone were to defile that.

If anyone were to destroy the way of life, the dream, the shape of love that was the family called Konoha—Diejian wouldn't hesitate to become a demon to protect them.

Strangely, this was exactly the same resolve his grandfather, Hashirama, had held to during his decisive battle with his dearest friend, Madara.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

Flame-like passion surged from the depths of his gut, and Chakra followed.

The Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, taught to him by Tobirama.

A unique jutsu that divided one's Chakra evenly to create solid clones.

It was an advanced jutsu designated as a Forbidden Jutsu, one that weakened anyone with a small Chakra reserve and could even kill them.

First, he would test the enemy's strength with expendable Shadow Clones.

"Shadow Clones? Never heard of that jutsu."

Kakuzu tilted his head.

Shadow Clones were a relatively new jutsu, developed by Tobirama during the war.

Only Tobirama and his disciples used it.

Tobirama kept a tight hold on his information, especially from shinobi belonging to other villages in small countries.

The Shadow Clones at the front spread out to surround Kakuzu, throwing the wooden swords hanging at their waists at the enemy.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

The Shadow Clones in the rear leaped up and launched the jutsu at the thrown wooden swords.

The fire dragons swallowed the wooden swords and bore down on Kakuzu and the others.

"Fire Release: Wooden Sword Shadow Clone Technique!"

The wooden swords wrapped in fire dragons multiplied several times over.

The flames of countless fire dragons spread to the surrounding trees, lighting up the area.

The hidden shinobi couldn't help revealing themselves.

There were four of them.

Including Kakuzu and the man he had killed, there were six in total.

It seemed Sakumo's detection had been accurate.

"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"

The Shadow Clones focused their attacks on one of the enemy shinobi who had first emerged from beneath the trees.

The Water Severing Wave pierced through the wall of fire and surged toward the enemy shinobi.

At the same time, the Shadow Clones in the rear charged at the revealed shinobi.

Dozens of Diejians rushed each enemy. The shinobi hastily stepped back to create distance, scattering in every direction.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"

The water dragons launched by the pursuing Shadow Clones were blocked by an earthen wall created by an enemy shinobi.

Spray from the water splashed onto the wavering flames.

As the water evaporated with a hiss, white fog filled their field of vision. Taking advantage of the opening, Diejian used Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage to dive underground.

As if to follow up with another attack, the Shadow Clones closing in on Kakuzu launched Fire Dragon Flame Bullets.

Mist and fire dragons mingled, plunging the area into chaos.

"Did we get him...?"

"You underestimated me. I never thought a brat would actually dare challenge me..."

Kakuzu emerged from the flickering flames.

His clothes had burned away, exposing his upper body, but he showed no signs of injury.

Instead, glossy black tentacles writhed across his body, previously hidden beneath his clothes.

"Ugh..."

Diejian couldn't help grimacing.

But despite the grotesque appearance, he studied it carefully, deciding it was probably some kind of secret jutsu.

The joints all over Kakuzu's body had cuts and stitch marks, as if his body parts had been sewn together. Tentacles writhed among them.

He looked like a tentacle monster wearing human skin.

Kakuzu glanced around, and Diejian, keeping a wary eye on him, reflexively moved his fingers.

In the direction of Kakuzu's gaze lay a shinobi covered in blood.

Diejian's jutsu had probably hit him directly.

His body had been split in two, upper and lower, and was riddled with holes.

"But you're no ordinary brat, are you? The Hokage's grandson lives up to his name. You're impressive."

As he spoke, Kakuzu's tentacles moved.

They closed in from all directions, trying to punch holes through Diejian.

The tentacles bundled together to increase their piercing power. They could easily punch through a human body.

The Shadow Clones at the front, sent to intercept them, were pierced and vanished with ease. Even the Water Formation Wall raised by the Shadow Clones in the middle ranks was as flimsy as paper before Kakuzu's tentacles.

The remaining Shadow Clones created more clones.

They weren't Shadow Clones, but clones formed through the nature transformations of Water and Earth.

Unlike Water and Earth Clones, which used water or earth as a medium and required relatively little Chakra, Shadow Clones were made entirely from the user's Chakra.

Diejian used the water and earth he had created with Water Release to make a large number of clones with only a little Chakra.

But—

"You're annoying."

—His work was cut short.

A huge fireball appeared in front of Diejian.

Fire Release: Searing Migraine.

The huge fireball Kakuzu unleashed easily swallowed the clones.

At the same time, a heavy thud came from the ground.

Diejian, who had been hiding underground, sprang up to the surface and used Water Dragon Bullet Technique from directly beneath Kakuzu.

"You thought I hadn't noticed?"

"Guh!"

Kakuzu stepped back to dodge Diejian's attack and slammed a powerful kick into his stomach.

Diejian couldn't help grunting as he was sent flying, crashing hard into a tree trunk.

"Die!"

To evade the tentacles closing in, Diejian forced himself to his feet despite the pain.

As expected, he couldn't hide the location of his real body.

A surprise attack like that wouldn't work against a skilled shinobi.

Diejian grimaced as he dodged the tentacles, his gaze fixed on Kakuzu's back.

Kakuzu was certainly being kept at bay.

But the remaining shinobi, using the same tactics to fight back, had managed to hold the enemy in place.

Then—

"Earth Release: Earth Mountain Jutsu!"

Earthen walls appeared on both sides of Kakuzu and began closing in, attempting to crush him.

Kakuzu used his tentacles to block the walls, then leaped easily into the air and dodged the attack.

While his tentacles were occupied with defense, Diejian created Shadow Clones and sent them toward Kakuzu.

"Being toyed with by a brat. Pathetic..."

The Shadow Clones couldn't get close, blocked by the swinging tentacles.

Meanwhile, more tentacles emerged from Kakuzu's back, swelling his body and forming a thick wall of writhing appendages.

Masks seemed to be embedded in that wall, each with a different expression. Just as Diejian noticed them, three of the masks slipped free from the tentacles, and the tentacles beneath them began to writhe.

Gradually, they took on human shapes.

The sight could only be called grotesque.

Seeing an opening, Diejian immediately unleashed his strongest Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, but the violent wind produced by Kakuzu's Wind Release: Pressure Damage extinguished it.

Furthermore, the shock wave sent Diejian flying.

The masks, now with bodies of their own, ran off in different directions.

They headed for the battlefield, where dozens of Diejian's clones were holding the Takigakure shinobi in place.

This is bad.

Guessing it was probably some kind of Puppet Technique, Diejian gritted his teeth in frustration.

Fighting with the resolve to kill Kakuzu, he had only barely managed to hold him off. It was undoubtedly a hard battle.

The Shadow Clones fighting the other Takigakure shinobi were also struggling, and their numbers seemed to be dwindling. Some of the Chakra used to create them had returned to Diejian.

Though he was the Hokage's grandson and possessed an immense amount of Chakra, he was still just a child who hadn't yet become a full-fledged shinobi.

There was no way he could match the strength of shinobi who had, at the very least, taken part in the audacious mission to assassinate the Hokage.

Kakuzu was the strongest among them.

He was, of course, formidable.

Unlike Diejian, who had been fighting at full strength from the start, Kakuzu hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.

Meanwhile, under the relentless attacks of Kakuzu's tentacles, Diejian was steadily getting hurt and worn down.

That was the difference in strength between their original bodies.

Shadow Clones, which were weaker to begin with, would only be destroyed as easily as the ones just had been.

Once the puppets from before reached the battlefield where the Shadow Clones were fighting, the clones would be wiped out sooner or later.

The battle between the Shadow Clones and their opponents was also at a stalemate.

The moment the enemy committed more forces, the outcome would be obvious.

It was even safe to say that the scattered Takigakure shinobi would inevitably converge on this battlefield.

That first fierce barrage of ninjutsu, which had taken out an enemy, had succeeded only because they'd underestimated him as a child and let their guard down. Now that they were on alert, he couldn't use the same trick to pick off the shinobi as they converged.

I have to decide the fight before they meet up.

Diejian made up his mind.

He created several Shadow Clones and used Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall to raise a barrier.

The tentacles smashed through it, but even a momentary opening was enough for Diejian.

"Summoning Technique!"

He formed the Hand Seals and lightly bit into the flesh of his thumb.

Letting the blood drip, he slapped his palm against the ground.

The summoning formula spread across the earth, and in a cloud of smoke, a summoning beast bound to Diejian by contract appeared.

It swept through the trees with its enormous body as it emerged—the giant slug said to dwell in Shikkotsu Forest, home of the Katsuyu Sage.

The colossal slug that lived there.

"Lord Diejian! What on earth is going on?!"

"Katsuyu, there's no time to explain. Kill that wriggling bastard. Lend me your strength."

The enormous slug was named Katsuyu.

She was one of the slugs who had signed a Summoning Contract with his grandfather, Hashirama, and one of the summoning animals Diejian had inherited.

Katsuyu voiced her surprise in a distinctly cute voice that didn't match her appearance or manner of speaking.

Slugs had no gender, but Katsuyu's personality was essentially masculine.

This was the secret behind the sensing trick Diejian had shown during his battle with Sakumo.

He had summoned a little slug in the moment when splashing water obscured their vision, then hidden it in his hair and so on, letting it sense Sakumo's location.

By blending in with Diejian's Chakra, a slug was difficult to detect unless one was an exceptionally skilled sensory shinobi.

Ina could sense it, but Sakumo couldn't. That was the difference in their skill.

"A slug...? How revolting. All slimy and gross."

"You're one to talk! Hurry, Katsuyu!"

The amount of Chakra consumed by the Summoning Technique varied depending on the size of the animal being summoned.

Summoning Katsuyu, a slug as big as a mountain, consumed an enormous amount of Chakra—even for Diejian.

And there was a limit to how long the summoning could keep the creature in this world.

Unable to unleash another major technique after spending so much Chakra, Katsuyu's summoning was an all-or-nothing gamble.

"—It's nothing special. Just a bluff."

Kakuzu's tentacles stabbed through Katsuyu as they approached from Diejian's blind spot. The corners of his mouth curled up.

"Scatter!"

At Diejian's unwavering command, smaller Katsuyu began appearing one after another across the giant slug's body.

Great Slug Division—a technique that split Katsuyu's enormous body into countless tiny slugs.

They weren't clones, but divisions: each shared the same consciousness and had a physical body.

The little Katsuyu multiplied like a spring, crawling along the tentacles toward Kakuzu.

The tentacles were gradually swallowed by the army of slugs, but Kakuzu couldn't escape because Katsuyu's main body had pinned them down.

Diejian formed the Hand Seals for Water Severing Wave and aimed at Kakuzu's head.

"Behind you!"

"Gah..."

"Lord Diejian!"

Just as the Katsuyu were about to engulf Kakuzu, a jet of water shot in from behind and pierced Diejian through the abdomen.

If he was swung around like this, his body would be cut in half.

Nearly losing consciousness from the pain and impact, Diejian's eyes rolled back. Through sheer force of will, he came to and knocked the water jet aside with a kunai infused with Earth Release Chakra.

"Don't you think it's a bad idea to turn your back on an enemy in the middle of a fight?"

"Ghk!"

"Treat him at once!"

As he knocked the water jet away and turned to defend himself, Kakuzu's tentacles pierced both Diejian's shoulders.

The smaller Katsuyu had blocked most of the tentacles, but the remaining two had gotten through.

Kakuzu twisted the tentacles lodged in Diejian, trying to drag him away, but Katsuyu's divisions clung tightly to Diejian's legs.

The Katsuyu divisions spat acid, dissolving the tentacles and freeing Diejian.

Released from the tentacles' grasp, Diejian coughed up blood and sank to his knees.

The Katsuyu divisions poured out from around his feet and hurriedly covered him.

At the same time, the ground beneath Diejian sank, and he disappeared among the Katsuyu.

A second and third water jet skimmed over Diejian's head.

"So there's someone who can use Water Severing Wave... As I thought, they're seasoned..."

The enemy shinobi who had been drawn away by the Shadow Clones had regrouped.

And the water jets that had pierced Diejian—

There was no doubt that they were Water Severing Wave, a technique Diejian himself was skilled in.

Had they copied it in the brief time they'd just had, or had they been keeping it in reserve all along?

Either way, there was no denying that this move had decided the battle.

"Katsuyu... they're here... how many?"

"...Two. There's one more, apparently a little behind them and heading this way."

"I see... They're even more seasoned than I expected. Forget killing them—I can't even stall them."

Three in total—the same number of enemies the Shadow Clones had been holding off.

Crunch—Diejian took a Blood Replenishment Pill from his pouch and swallowed it.

The wounds on his shoulders and abdomen visibly disappeared.

It wasn't the effect of the Blood Replenishment Pill, but Katsuyu's ability to heal wounds—a gift of Medical Ninjutsu.

His wounds were healed, and the blood he'd lost was replenished.

But his lost Chakra hadn't returned.

Katsuyu had few direct means of attack because of her healing ability. For now, protecting Diejian from the enemies around them was already taking all she had.

Would Sakumo and Ina, who had gone to call for reinforcements, make it in time? Not much time had passed since then.

If anyone nearby noticed the enormous body of the summoned Katsuyu, they might make it in time—but unless they were exceptionally seasoned, they'd be no help.

This was only a glimpse of Kakuzu's power. His Fire Release alone was far more powerful than Diejian's.

Unless it was his senior, Sarutobi Hiruzen, or a member of the Uchiha Clan skilled in Fire Release and able to see through every technique and taijutsu with the Sharingan, going there would be tantamount to suicide.

As he thought, Katsuyu was also being worn down.

There was no time left.

In this desperate situation, Diejian clenched his trembling fist and resolved to return to the battlefield.