Taking Over the Mission

As the smoke cleared, a one-foot-long, pale yellow snake appeared. Four black stripes ran from its neck down its body to its tail.

"Are you my new summoner?" the little snake asked as soon as it appeared, its voice childish and cold.

"Hm?" Orochimaru looked surprised.

A snake this small was clearly still young. Even in Ryūchi Cave, it was rare for one to be this intelligent at such a young age.

"My name is Black Fang. What do you need?" Though still young, the little snake carried itself with a professional air.

"My name is Sen Chisato. I'm Lord Orochimaru's disciple."

Sen Chisato crouched down to meet Black Fang's gaze. "I need you to keep an eye on someone. If she's ever in danger, notify me immediately and use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to bring me to her."

"That's a little tricky. The Summoning Technique can't be maintained for long, but it's not impossible. I can ask some of my kind to help," Black Fang said, flicking its tongue.

Though this was their first meeting, the kid had known to crouch down to its level, and Black Fang liked him a little already. Otherwise, it wouldn't have agreed to help without even asking for an offering.

"Thank you." Sen Chisato held out his hand.

Black Fang slithered up it and coiled around his wrist.

Sen Chisato nodded to Orochimaru, then prepared to leave.

Just then, Orochimaru said, "Take over Namikaze Minato's previous mission. Can you handle it?"

Sen Chisato's eyes lit up.

He'd been planning to come back and ask about it later.

"No problem." He accepted the mission without hesitation and hurried away.

He left the Command Tent and went over to Team Minato, who were waiting outside.

"Hey, what did you want with us?" Uchiha Obito was the first to jump in, his face nearly pressed against Sen Chisato's.

Sen Chisato leaned back a little, pushed him away, and walked over to Nohara Rin. He held out his hand. "This is Black Fang. Keep it with you, preferably hidden. If you run into danger you can't handle, have it notify me."

Nohara Rin froze for a moment, only then noticing the little snake coiled around Sen Chisato's wrist.

Obito leaned in too, glanced at it, and said with a look of disgust, "What the heck? Where'd you get that snake? You actually want Rin to carry it around? That's disgusting."

As he spoke, he reached out, intending to pull the snake off Sen Chisato and toss it away.

In the next moment, Black Fang sprang into action, opening its mouth to bite Obito's hand.

Namikaze Minato reacted instantly and yanked Uchiha Obito backward.

"Hiss! Kid, are you trying to die?" Black Fang hissed, its tail wrapped around Sen Chisato's arm as it slowly raised its upper body. Its vertical pupils glinted with a cold light.

"It—it talked! The snake talked!" Obito jumped in fright, then pointed at Black Fang and shouted.

"It's a summoning animal, Obito. Show some respect!" Namikaze Minato admonished him.

He scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I completely forgot about that. You had to remind me, Chisato."

He thought Sen Chisato was trying to remind him indirectly.

He really had forgotten, but he hadn't planned to teach Team Minato the Summoning Technique.

After all, none of the three kids had a summoning animal.

Using the Summoning Technique without a summoning animal was dangerous. They might summon something strange and terrifying, or get reverse-summoned to some other place.

Simply being reverse-summoned would be manageable. What he feared was that one slip could get them torn to pieces.

The Summoning Technique involved space-time, so until a stable contract was established, it was better not to use it—or even learn it.

Of course, he could have the three kids make a contract with Mount Myoboku.

But Mount Myoboku was an unusual place, with highly intelligent toads that were enormous.

If the three of them got into danger and tried to turn the tide with the Summoning Technique, their chakra might not be enough to summon even a suitable toad with any real fighting ability.

If they forced the summoning, they'd drain their chakra and only manage to call up some small toads. With no chakra left and a weak toad summoned, they'd be in even greater danger.

Sen Chisato shook his head. "I wasn't trying to remind you. This is... just a way of saying thanks."

He took Nohara Rin's hand, and Black Fang slithered onto her wrist.

Seeing the girl's bewildered expression, Sen Chisato casually explained, "For patching me up earlier, and for comforting me."

"That was just what I was supposed to do." Nohara Rin looked as if it were only natural, but she didn't refuse Sen Chisato's kind gesture.

She blinked, then smiled brightly. "Then thank you, Chisato."

"You're welcome."

Sen Chisato nodded, thinking, If you knew the real reason I prepared this for you, you might not be so happy.

Just then, Uchiha Obito leaned over too. "What about me?"

Sen Chisato gave him a cool look, then seemed to think of something and grinned.

"Want to sign the same kind of contract as me?"

With his personality, the guy might get a chance and summon with all his might.

If he ended up summoning something troublesome like Manda... Just imagining it was entertaining.

Uchiha Obito's eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately. He had no idea what the Summoning Technique was for; he just thought it was cool.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed. Namikaze Minato stopped him. "Obito, you can't!"

"Why not?" Uchiha Obito looked aggrieved.

"Chisato's summoning animals... Well, they're dangerous." Namikaze Minato glanced at Sen Chisato and gave him an embarrassed smile, but said it anyway.

He'd seen Lord Orochimaru summon Manda before.

He knew his own student's personality all too well. Making a contract with Ryūchi Cave would be no different from courting death.

"Minato-sensei, are you joking?" Obito glanced at the little snake on Nohara Rin's wrist, clearly unconvinced.

But he didn't insist. Instead, he looked at Namikaze Minato expectantly. "Sensei, what about you? What does your summoning animal look like?"

"My summoning animals are toads from Mount Myoboku, but I can't let you make a contract with them—not yet, at least. When you're older, if you still haven't found a suitable summoning animal, I'll let you make a contract with them," Namikaze Minato promised.

"Okay, then." Obito pouted but didn't throw a tantrum.

Toads were so ugly. Snakes were obviously way cooler.

Minato checked the time. "All right, we should get going."

He had the three students hold hands, then placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

Nohara Rin, standing at the edge, glanced at Black Fang on her wrist. Then she suddenly raised her arm and waved to Sen Chisato, her eyes curving into a smile.

The four of them vanished from the spot.

After stretching, Sen Chisato sensed chakra surging repeatedly in the direction of the Land of Wind and murmured, "It's time I got moving too."

He quickly found the Surprise Attack Squad and said, "Lord Orochimaru has ordered me to take over Namikaze Minato's mission."

The ninjas in the Surprise Attack Squad looked Sen Chisato over, suspicion in their eyes.

They'd already been preparing to move after receiving the order, and they knew Sen Chisato was taking over Namikaze Minato's mission.

But they still had their doubts when they looked at him.

Namikaze Minato was one thing. He was a rising Jonin with impressive strength.

But could this kid really do it?

Even the fact that Sen Chisato was Orochimaru's disciple couldn't dispel their doubts. He was simply too young. Even when he deliberately put on a stern face, he couldn't hide his boyish innocence.

Still, obedience was a ninja's most basic duty.

They didn't question the order and answered in unison, "Yes!"

Sen Chisato nodded.

He'd seen the doubts in their eyes, but it didn't matter. Once the fighting began, all their doubts would disappear.

He was confident in his abilities.

"Move out!"

Sen Chisato swept his hand forward and darted off. The roughly twenty members of the Surprise Attack Squad immediately followed.