A New Member

After signing a contract with humans, most summoning beasts continued to live in their own summoning spaces.

They only came when summoned by the person they had contracted with, lending their strength in battle.

The length of time they could remain in the world also depended on the summoner's ability. Once that time was up, they returned to their summoning space.

After returning from Firefly Cave, Kamizuki stood by Rose Lake, looking utterly bewildered.

When he got back to the lake, he discovered that Adou had somehow appeared there with him.

Kamizuki had thought that, according to the script of Naruto, the proper way to do this was to use the Summoning Technique to send himself out of the cave—which was like a summoning space—while Adou stayed behind in Firefly Cave.

But the script of this story had gone completely off track! Why had Adou come along too?

Kamizuki wanted to ask Adou if it knew what was going on, but after following him back to Konoha, Adou had turned back into a dumb dog that only knew how to act cute and play the fool.

Kamizuki had no idea what to do with Adou, so he took it back to the Hyuga Clan compound with him.

It seemed that all animals were adorable when they were young.

So, as soon as Kamizuki brought Adou home, it became the new pet for Hinata and Hanabi to fuss over.

Kamizuki glanced at Adou, who was rolling around and acting cute in front of Hinata and Hanabi. It certainly seemed to have the makings of a good pet, and he smiled before heading to Hiashi's study alone to pay his respects.

As Kamizuki was about to leave Hiashi's study, Hiashi seemed to remember something and called him back.

When Kamizuki returned, Hiashi said, "That little girl from the Sakura Clan came by this morning looking for you."

Kamizuki nodded, and Hiashi continued, "She asked me to tell you that Genma Shiranui wants you to meet him at Kage Rock at eight tomorrow morning."

After hearing Hiashi's message, Kamizuki respectfully took his leave. He spent a little while playing with Hinata and Hanabi—and Adou, who was behaving like a pet—before finally coaxing the girls into bed.

The past few days of exploring Firefly Cave had left Kamizuki feeling tired, so he took Adou back to his room to rest.

The next morning dawned fresh and clear. Kamizuki, Hinata, and Hanabi finished their morning training, changed, and ate breakfast. Hanabi had school, so she headed out early.

Not long after she left, Kamizuki and Hinata set out as well. Hinata and her team had a mission to complete under Kurenai Yuhi's leadership.

At a fork in the road, Hinata and Kamizuki went their separate ways. Hinata dashed off toward her team's meeting place, and as Kamizuki watched her leave with a happy smile, he couldn't help being infected by it.

Only after Hinata's figure had disappeared did Kamizuki continue toward Kage Rock.

Of course, a cute little dog was still following close behind him. It was Adou, the dog he had brought out of Firefly Cave.

Kamizuki hadn't planned to take Adou along. In fact, before leaving, he'd told it to stay home, and it hadn't objected.

But they hadn't gone far before Hinata noticed Adou sneaking after them. In the end, Kamizuki had no choice but to bring it along.

As soon as he reached Kage Rock, Kamizuki spotted Sakura Mangetsu chatting happily with another girl.

Seeing Sakura Mangetsu so cheerful put him at ease. It seemed she had recovered from Taichi's sacrifice.

Kamizuki went over to greet Sakura Mangetsu, then turned his attention to the other girl, who had been talking with her.

The girl wore a bright red kimono she had made herself. She had a stunning figure, long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and looked about the same age as Sakura Mangetsu.

Taking in her appearance, Kamizuki asked uncertainly, "Are you... Mai Shiranui?"

The girl turned to face him. With a sweet smile, she said, "Hello, Kamizuki. It's been a long time. I'm Mai Shiranui."

As Mai Shiranui turned around, that sweet smile of hers made Kamizuki's heart skip a beat.

He froze for a moment before coming to his senses. Awkwardly rubbing his head, he said, "Sorry, Mai. It's been a few years, and I almost didn't recognize you."

Mai Shiranui found Kamizuki's silly expression amusing, and his words gave her the urge to tease him.

She sashayed over, swaying her slender waist, and rested her left hand on Kamizuki's right shoulder, leaning against him.

"Have you almost forgotten what I look like?" she whispered into his ear, her breath sweet as flowers. "That's really disappointing."

Kamizuki had been a single guy for more than twenty years in his previous life, and now he was a boy under fifteen. When had he ever been teased by a girl like this?

Oh, right. Mai Shiranui was only a young girl who hadn't fully grown up yet.

Even so, Kamizuki couldn't resist her teasing.

Just as his face flushed and his blood began to race, Genma Shiranui finally arrived. The injuries he'd received on his previous mission had almost completely healed.

When Kamizuki saw Genma Shiranui, he felt as if he'd spotted his savior. Taking the opportunity, he slipped away from Mai Shiranui's hand on his shoulder and went over to Genma.

Genma Shiranui saw that all three of his subordinates had arrived. He cleared his throat, touched the senbon clenched between his teeth, and began with a serious expression:

"Mai Shiranui, fifteen years old. Starting today, she will replace Kato Taichi and join this team. That's all!"

Yesterday I told the group chat I'd post three chapters today, and got several middle fingers in response.

Heh... all right, you win. I didn't manage it.

This proved once again that plans never keep up with change.

Ever since I received some generous tips yesterday, I haven't been able to see the names of the people who sent me recommendation votes in the backend. They're all just numbers now, so from here on, I won't read out the names of the friends who send me recommendation votes.

But I'm still very grateful to everyone who keeps voting for me.

If you can't find a book by searching its title, try searching for the author. Maybe it was just renamed!