The Animal Path's abilities were truly impressive, Ito Makoto thought.
With the Animal Path's control, he no longer had to worry about training the Golden Eagle.
However, those eyes bearing the Rinnegan's pattern were a problem. Ito Makoto found them rather troublesome.
In the Naruto world, Nagato Uzumaki was still around. Since he also possessed the Animal Path's abilities, the moment he saw a Summoning Beast with the Rinnegan's pattern, he would immediately realize there was another Rinnegan wielder.
But Nagato's legs were crippled, and he stayed cooped up most of the time, so he probably wouldn't discover it easily. However, there were also the White Zetsu. They were an ever-present threat in the Ninja World. They knew all kinds of secrets about the Rinnegan, and they could hide underground and change their forms at will. They were the real threat that was impossible to guard against.
Besides, even ordinary ninja would let their imaginations run wild if they saw the Golden Eagle's pattern, which was almost exactly like the legendary Rinnegan.
What a pain. He'd better see if he could hide it.
Using the connection through the Rinnegan, Ito Makoto controlled the Golden Eagle. Just as he concealed his own Rinnegan, he issued a command in the eagle's mind to hide its Rinnegan.
Purple light appeared, and the Golden Eagle's body began to change. Its purple eyes gradually disappeared, and it returned to its previous appearance.
At the same time, the Golden Eagle's independent consciousness returned, and it continued struggling, trying to break free of the ropes.
Ito Makoto realized what had happened, too. Before, the Golden Eagle had been like a robot anyone could manipulate. Now, it had become an independent living creature again.
So that was how it worked. Removing the Rinnegan also removed the forced control.
Ito Makoto pondered.
The connection through the Rinnegan was still there, so he could turn the Golden Eagle back into its previous, controlled state at any time.
That wouldn't do. Without the Rinnegan, he couldn't control it. That was far too inconvenient.
At that moment, Ito Makoto discovered that although he had released it from his control, he could still sense the Golden Eagle's thoughts through their connection and send it messages.
In other words, he could communicate with the Golden Eagle.
That made things much easier.
Using their connection, Ito Makoto began trying to communicate with the Golden Eagle.
"Submit to me," Ito Makoto sent.
"No." The Golden Eagle sent back. Because its intelligence was limited, it could only convey simple messages.
"Obey my commands and you'll get food," Ito Makoto continued.
"No. Let me go. I'll tear you apart."
As expected, this eagle wouldn't be tamed in a day or two. But with communication possible, training would be much more interesting. At least he could tell whether his methods were working.
He wasn't in a hurry. He could always leave it hungry for a few days. No living creature could escape the fear of starvation.
In just two days, the Golden Eagle, starved for that long, could no longer endure it and accepted Ito Makoto's commands.
There was no need for any eagle-taming techniques. Faced with nature's cruelty, dignity simply didn't exist. An animal's greatest fears were always death and hunger.
Once was all it took. Through communication and training, the Golden Eagle became extremely obedient and followed all kinds of commands. At first, it still tried to escape, but after Ito Makoto summoned it back twice with the Summoning Technique, it realized escape was impossible and gave up on the idea.
Besides, following Ito Makoto meant it had food and drink. No eagle could resist the lure of food. Not even a wolf.
As Ito Makoto's control over the Rinnegan deepened, he discovered that its Summoning Jutsu seemed to have a special ability.
When infused with the Rinnegan's special chakra, the Golden Eagle's eyes didn't just turn into the Rinnegan; its body underwent a special change as well. Chakra began to form inside it.
Ordinary beasts had no chakra in their bodies, but the Ninja World was special. Some beasts naturally produced chakra, as if it were an instinct they were born with. Unlike humans, they didn't need to learn how. These beasts were natural candidates to become Ninja Beasts.
Some Ninja Beasts raised by powerful clans also had chakra in their bodies. The Inuzuka Clan's Ninja Dogs, the Toad Clan at Mount Myoboku, and Kakashi's Ninja Dog Summoning Beast were all considered true Ninja Beasts because they possessed chakra.
The fact that chakra had formed inside the Golden Eagle meant it had gone from being an ordinary beast to a true Ninja Beast. If it were sold at the Ninja Beast Market, its price would probably multiply tenfold or more. The Golden Eagle could easily fetch three or four hundred thousand ryo now.
That was a pretty good way to make money, but he had too many secrets already and didn't want to add another complication. Ito Makoto thought to himself.
But now that the Golden Eagle had chakra, it had the foundation needed to use ninjutsu. And since the Rinnegan let him forcibly control Summoning Beasts, didn't that mean he could use the Golden Eagle to perform the Reverse Summoning Jutsu?
That was a great idea. Ito Makoto's eyes lit up. There was still one problem, though: ninjutsu generally required Hand Seals, and the Golden Eagle had no hands. Even with him controlling it, it probably couldn't perform the Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
Still, the idea wasn't entirely hopeless. There were ninjutsu in this world that didn't require Hand Seals. Powerful ninja could precisely control their chakra and use ninjutsu without making Hand Seals.
But Ito Makoto still couldn't perform the Reverse Summoning Jutsu without Hand Seals. For now, he could only use the Three Body Technique without Hand Seals.
After thinking it over, Ito Makoto came up with a new approach. If it had no hands, he could just make it grow some. Was the Transformation Technique just for show?
Although transforming into something didn't give it that thing's functions—for example, turning into a rock wouldn't make it hard, and turning into a woman wouldn't let it give birth—he should still be able to make two hands for forming Hand Seals. Birds were born with chakra pathways, after all. He didn't need to transform those.
Having made up his mind, Ito Makoto prepared to give it a try.
He controlled the Golden Eagle's body through the Rinnegan, gathered chakra, and used the Seal-less Transformation Technique to turn its wings into arms.
However, he awkwardly discovered that because the Golden Eagle's bones were different from a human's, its wings couldn't form complex Hand Seals.
If its wings wouldn't work, he could use its claws instead. Their bones should do the job.
In the original story, Jiraiya had once formed Hand Seals with his feet to use Barrier Ninjutsu.
He controlled the Golden Eagle to lie on its back, transformed its claws into hands, and tried to use ninjutsu.
This time, he actually achieved his goal.
Poof—
A cloud of smoke filled the room. Ito Makoto disappeared and appeared where the Golden Eagle had been. The Reverse Summoning Jutsu had succeeded.
"I can't believe it actually worked." Ito Makoto was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that his wild idea would really let him use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
Now he could use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu whenever he wanted.
And the special nature of Space-Time Ninjutsu ensured that no one in the Konoha Hidden Village could catch up with him.
Before you continue