Taking Over the Mission

As the smoke cleared, a foot-long, pale yellow snake with four black lines running from its neck to its tail appeared before them.

"A new summoner?" The moment it appeared, the little snake spoke in a voice that was both childish and cold.

"Oh?" Orochimaru looked somewhat surprised.

A snake of this size was clearly a juvenile, and for it to possess such intelligence at this stage was extremely rare, even in Ryuchi Cave.

"My name is Black Fang. What are your orders?" The little snake named Black Fang, despite its youth, maintained a professional attitude.

"My name is Sen Chisato, and I am a disciple of Lord Orochimaru."

Sen Chisato crouched down halfway, meeting Black Fang's gaze levelly. "I need you to help me keep an eye on someone. When she encounters life-threatening danger, notify me immediately and use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to bring me to her."

"That's a bit troublesome. The summoning connection can't be maintained for too long, but it's not impossible. I can help you find others of my kind to assist," Black Fang said, flicking its tongue.

Although this was their first meeting, the fact that this brat knew to crouch down made her like this human a little; otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to help, let alone without asking for a sacrifice.

"Many thanks." Sen Chisato extended his hand.

Black Fang took the opportunity to climb up and coil around his arm.

Nodding to Orochimaru, Sen Chisato prepared to leave.

At this moment, Orochimaru said, "The mission Namikaze Minato had earlier is now yours. Can you complete it?"

Sen Chisato's eyes lit up.

He had been planning to ask about that later.

"No problem." Accepting the mission decisively, he walked away quickly.

Stepping out of the Command Tent, he arrived before Team Minato, who were waiting outside.

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

Sen Chisato leaned back slightly, pushed him aside, and walked up to Nohara Rin, raising his hand. "This is Black Fang. Keep it on you at all times, preferably hidden. If you encounter danger you can't handle, have it notify me."

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

Obito leaned in as well, glanced at it, and said with a look of utter disgust, "What is this? Where did you get a snake, and why should Rin have to carry it? It's disgusting."

As he spoke, he reached out, intending to grab the snake from Sen Chisato's hand and toss it away.

In the next second, Black Fang lashed out, opening its mouth to bite at Obito's hand.

Namikaze Minato reacted with lightning speed, pulling Uchiha Obito back by the collar.

"Hiss! Brat, are you looking to die?" Black Fang flicked its tongue, its tail wrapped around Sen Chisato's arm as its upper body rose slowly, a pair of slit pupils gleaming with a cold, chilling light.

"It—it talked! The snake talked!" Obito was startled at first, then began shouting and pointing at Black Fang.

"That is a summoning animal, Obito! Show some respect!" Namikaze Minato scolded.

He rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "My apologies. I didn't even think of that, and I had to have you remind me, Chisato."

He felt that Sen Chisato was giving him a subtle reminder.

He had indeed forgotten, but he hadn't intended to teach Team Minato the Summoning Jutsu.

After all, none of these children had a summoning contract.

Without a summoning animal, using the Summoning Jutsu casually was a dangerous affair. Not only could one summon something strange and terrifying, but there was also the risk of being reverse-summoned to some unknown location.

Simple reverse-summoning was one thing, but the real fear was being torn to shreds by a careless mistake.

After all, the Summoning Jutsu involved space-time; until a stable contract was established, it was better not to use it—or better yet, not to learn it at all.

Of course, he could have these three children sign a contract with Mount Myoboku.

But Mount Myoboku was too unique; the toads there were highly intelligent and massive in size.

If these three fell into danger and tried to turn the tide with the Summoning Jutsu, given their current chakra levels, they might not even be able to summon a toad suitable for combat.

If they forced the summoning, they would drain their chakra only to summon some tiny, weak toad. By then, without chakra and with a weak summon, they would inevitably be in even greater danger.

Sen Chisato shook his head. "I wasn't trying to remind you. This... consider it a token of gratitude."

Taking Nohara Rin's hand, he let Black Fang coil around her wrist.

Seeing the girl's bewildered expression, Sen Chisato explained casually, "For the bandaging earlier, and the comfort."

"That was just something I should have done," Nohara Rin said as if it were only natural, yet she did not refuse Sen Chisato's kindness.

Blinking, she gave a radiant smile. "Then thank you, Chisato."

"You're welcome."

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

At this moment, Uchiha Obito leaned in again. "What about mine?"

Sen Chisato gave him a cold look, and as an idea struck him, the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Do you want to sign the same contract as me?"

With this guy's personality, he might just jump at the chance to summon something with all his might.

When that time came, if he summoned something troublesome like Manda... the thought was quite amusing.

Uchiha Obito's eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately. He didn't know what the Summoning Jutsu was for, he just thought the technique was cool.

Unfortunately, his expectations were dashed as Namikaze Minato stopped him: "Obito, you can't!"

"Why?" Uchiha Obito looked aggrieved.

"Chisato's summoning... well, it's very dangerous." After glancing at Sen Chisato, Namikaze Minato gave an embarrassed smile before finally speaking up.

He had seen the scene where Lord Orochimaru summoned Manda before, after all.

He knew his student's personality all too well; signing a contract with Ryuchi Cave was no different from courting death.

"Minato-sensei, are you joking?" Obito looked at the small snake on Nohara Rin's wrist, looking unconvinced.

However, he didn't insist, instead looking at Namikaze Minato with anticipation: "Sensei, what about you? What are your summons like?"

"My summons are the toads of Mount Myoboku, but I cannot let you sign a contract with them, at least not yet. When you grow up, if you haven't found a suitable summon by then, I will let you sign," Namikaze Minato promised.

"Alright then." Pouting, Obito didn't make a fuss.

Toads or whatever, they were just plain ugly; they didn't look nearly as cool as snakes.

Checking the time, Minato said: "Alright, it's time for us to head out."

Having his three students hold hands, Namikaze Minato reached out and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

Nohara Rin, on the far end, glanced at Black Fang on her wrist, then suddenly raised her arm and waved at Sen Chisato with a bright, crescent-eyed smile.

The next second, the four of them vanished from the spot.

Stretching his back and sensing the chakra constantly erupting in the direction of the Land of Wind, Sen Chisato muttered: "It's time for me to get moving as well."

Quickly locating the Surprise Attack squad, Sen Chisato said: "Lord Orochimaru has ordered me to take over Namikaze Minato's mission."

The ninjas of the Surprise Attack squad sized Sen Chisato up, their eyes filled with suspicion.

They had already prepared for action upon receiving the previous orders, and they were aware of the news that Sen Chisato would be replacing Namikaze Minato.

Yet, looking at Sen Chisato, they still harbored doubts.

Namikaze Minato was one thing; he was a rising Jonin with formidable strength.

But this kid—could he really handle it?

Even though Sen Chisato was Orochimaru's student, it wasn't enough to dispel their misgivings. After all, Sen Chisato was simply too young; even if he tried to keep a straight face, he couldn't hide that underlying childishness.

However, the essence of being a ninja was to obey orders.

They didn't voice their doubts, responding in unison: "Yes!"

Sen Chisato nodded.

He saw the skepticism in their eyes, but it didn't matter; once the battle began, all doubts would vanish.

He possessed that kind of confidence—a confidence born from his own strength.

"Move out!"

With a wave of his hand, Sen Chisato darted forward, and the twenty or so members of the Surprise Attack squad followed immediately behind.