Drip...
Drip...
Blood stained Uchiha Chiba's black clothes a dark red. Bracing himself against a nearby tree, he coughed up blood, the Three Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spinning wildly.
Then
He returned to the little house where he had first met Konan. He pushed open the door. Everything inside was spotless, even the leaky roof had been repaired. Katsuzuki had specifically arranged for it earlier.
"Honestly..." Uchiha Chiba leaned against the wall as pale green chakra gradually spread over his body. His wounds and scars were slowly healing.
"Right, I think I had a Summoning Scroll before... If the contract is with a combat-type summon, I can leave it here to protect them..." Uchiha Chiba reached for his ninja tool pouch. A bloodstained Summoning Scroll appeared in his hand.
It was covered in dark red bloodstains.
There was no need to wonder. The Summoning Scroll was probably unusable now...
"Come to think of it, aren't summoning contracts decided through the contractor's own blood? Since there's so much blood on this Summoning Scroll... could that mean..." Uchiha Chiba took a deep breath.
The next second
Crack!
His teeth pierced his finger.
Blood dripped.
"Summoning Jutsu"
Uchiha Chiba pressed both hands to the ground. Just as he had expected, countless symbols spread out from beneath his hands, crawling away in every direction like a spiderweb!
Boom!!!!!!
The smoke cleared.
A silver-haired girl stood silently before Chiba, her gaze gentle.
"Who are you...?" Uchiha Chiba blinked. He had only wanted to see whether he could actually summon something, and never expected to get lucky and succeed! But... his summon was a person?
"Uchiha Chiba, this should be the first time we've truly met since you and I formed our contract." The silver-haired girl spoke gently, her eyes and brows full of admiration for Chiba. She paused, then continued, "It's nice to meet you, Chiba. I'm... Katsuyu."
Uchiha Chiba looked up in disbelief at the silver-haired girl's words.
Katsuyu?!
The one from Shikkotsu Forest?
According to the original story, all the Katsuyu in Shikkotsu Forest were split off from the Great Katsuyu Sage. The amount of chakra a person had determined how large a Katsuyu they could summon. As far as Uchiha Chiba knew, no one in the entire Ninja World could summon the Great Katsuyu Sage in her entirety. Even Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, renowned for his vast chakra reserves, had never managed it.
His chakra might be a little low,
but surely that didn't mean
he'd summon a girl?
"Chiba, are you wondering why I'm in human form?" The girl's figure flickered. Then Uchiha Chiba felt a slight change in weight on his left shoulder.
He turned his head.
A pair of fair, jade-white feet rested one above the other on his shoulder.
"I do have that question." Uchiha Chiba forced himself not to look up at the girl. Even if she was known for her gentleness, this was the Great Katsuyu Sage. If she got angry because he accidentally saw something he shouldn't, it would be game over...
"What an interesting little one. You don't need to worry about that. I certainly don't mind you seeing me. After all, my original body isn't covered by any clothes. Hehehe." The silver-haired girl chuckled. She seemed able to hear what Chiba was thinking.
Chiba: What am I, a walking audiobook player?
"First, I am indeed the Katsuyu Sage you imagined. Second, I don't have the ability to read minds. I'm simply very compatible with you, so this body of mine has remained inside yours. The green light you're giving off is my chakra~" The silver-haired girl spoke gently, a silver strand of hair curling over her shoulder.
"In other words, some of my Natural Energy remains in your body... Oh my, little Chiba probably can't understand the concept of Natural Energy... Well, it's just a rare kind of energy." The silver-haired girl explained.
Natural Energy.
The purest energy in the world, formed from the essence of heaven and earth. It was scarce, and absorbing enough of it could produce Senjutsu Chakra, depending on the kind of Natural Energy one was guided by. Senjutsu Chakra could put a person into a special state—Sage Mode!
"Oh? Little Chiba actually knows about Sage Mode?" The silver-haired girl had appeared in front of him. The girl Katsuyu had transformed into was more than a head shorter than Chiba, so she had to tilt her head back to look into Uchiha Chiba's eyes.
"Uh... I saw some similar information at Hanzo the Salamander's place." Uchiha Chiba's mouth twitched. He hadn't actually learned about it from Hanzo the Salamander.
"Hm? Even a summon without intelligence like Ibuse knows about absorbing Natural Energy from the world?" The silver-haired girl touched her lips, seemingly lost in thought.
"Ah... Well, anyway, let's not worry about that anymore. Lady Katsuyu, could you tell me why you were the one I summoned?" Uchiha Chiba shook his head and asked the question on his mind.
The silver-haired girl fell silent for a long while.
"Oh, that. Little Chiba, did you know that whenever humans form a Blood Pact, all summons can sense their chakra?" The silver-haired girl said calmly, blinking.
"..." Chiba stared at the girl in silence.
"I sensed your Blood Pact, too. Normally, a Blood Pact only needs a tiny bit of blood. But when I saw that the blood on yours had soaked through the entire page, all the other summons refused to form a contract with you. I got curious about what kind of idiot would make a Blood Pact like that, so I came." The silver-haired girl smiled.
Chiba: As if I wanted to bleed that much!
"Oh, right! I got so caught up chatting that I forgot to ask. Sorry, little Chiba. Was there something you needed when you summoned me?" The silver-haired girl suddenly remembered.
"Uh... I don't need anything."
"Then I'll head back."
"Goodbye, Lady Katsuyu."
Their brief conversation over, the silver-haired girl vanished, leaving the bewildered Uchiha Chiba alone...
I seem to have contracted with someone incredibly important.
Uchiha Chiba raised his head and looked at the ruined scene outside. He shook his head calmly. "If I stay here... those three will be caught up in it, too... I'd be better off following the original story..."
With that thought,
Uchiha Chiba picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on one of the few scraps of paper left...
The gist was:
He wasn't suited to Amegakure and was going to another village. The three of them should take care of themselves. Remember, never... never trust anyone's false face. Peace could only be secured by holding it in your own hands, not by leaving it to others...
Before you continue