Garaga, the Summoning Beast, Come Forth

Three months of life beneath the Sound Village had been like a precise, merciless grinding machine, slowly wearing away every trace of the "Konoha Hyuga Clan genius" in Neji, revealing something harder and more real beneath—the most essential core of a transmigrator's soul: the desire to survive, the obsession with freedom, and the determination to grow stronger at any cost.

That day, after finishing another brutal sparring session with one of Orochimaru's specially made puppets, he dragged his nearly broken body to Kabuto Yakushi, who was mixing reagents. Sweat mingled with blood as it ran down from his brow, dripping onto the stone floor and spreading into dark stains.

"Chakra nature testing?" Kabuto looked up from his microscope and adjusted his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses sweeping over Neji's battered body. "You already know your nature, don't you? Every member of the Hyuga Clan undergoes basic testing before entering the Ninja Academy."

"I want to use the Sound Village's equipment for another precise measurement." Neji's voice was slightly hoarse from exhaustion. "I want to see whether these three months of training have caused any changes."

That was the truth, but not all of it. He had indeed known long ago—attribute-less chakra was an instinct carved into his body. Hizashi Hyuga had taken him to Konoha's medical department for testing when he was six. He still remembered every word on that report. But now, in an environment filled with Curse Marks, forbidden techniques, and human experimentation, he needed to confirm whether his essence had been contaminated or distorted.

Kabuto was silent for two seconds before rising and retrieving a multifaceted crystal far more complex than Konoha's equipment, along with a set of sensing talismans, from a secured cabinet. "Put your hand here. Infuse chakra five times, each time focusing on the sensation of only one nature."

Neji did as instructed. Each time, the crystal's core flashed.

Attribute-less, exactly matching the data in his memories. There were no new natures and no mutations.

"Attribute-less," Kabuto said as he recorded the instrument's readings, a nearly imperceptible trace of surprise in his voice. "Yet you can draw upon chakra of all five natures, though only in negligible amounts."

"The Hyuga Clan has no ninjutsu training centered on any single nature. We only inherit taijutsu and the Gentle Fist." Neji withdrew his hand, his tone calm. Over the past three months, he had indeed been secretly researching and trying to discover his chakra nature. The protagonist Naruto's Wind Release was the sharpest, while Sasuke's Lightning Release was fast and his Fire Release was flashy yet practical. So why was his own chakra nature attribute-less? He was a Hyuga Clan genius too, an Ōtsutsuki Clan descendant just like the main cast. Wasn't this bullying an honest man?

Kabuto gave him a long look and did not press further. He merely recorded the data onto a scroll. "Attribute-less is a good thing. The Byakugan is already a Kekkei Genkai." He did find it strange. As one of Konoha's traditionally powerful clans, the Hyuga Clan had inherited attribute-less chakra to this day, and the Byakugan was a publicly recognized Kekkei Genkai. What was the reason behind it? I should report this to Lord Orochimaru.

Neji nodded and left the laboratory carrying the application scrolls for basic Fire Release, Earth Release, Water Release, Lightning Release, and Wind Release that he had just received.

Three days later, Neji stood before Orochimaru.

"I want to learn the Summoning Technique," he said bluntly.

Behind the experiment table, Orochimaru set down the scalpel in his hand. A hint of amusement flashed through his golden vertical pupils. "Why?"

"I need more combat options." Neji's answer was the same as before. "The Gentle Fist and the Eight Gates lack long-range attack capabilities. Summoning beasts can make up for that weakness. Besides, a powerful summoning beast is a tactical unit in itself."

He did not mention Sage Arts. Not a single word.

Orochimaru stood and slowly circled to Neji's side, his pale fingers lightly tapping the edge of the experiment table. "The Summoning Technique... You've chosen an interesting field. But Neji, do you know what signing a summoning contract means?"

"It means establishing a connection with a clan of summoning beasts and gaining the right to summon them."

"It means bondage," Orochimaru corrected in a low voice. "It means your name will be inscribed on a scroll, listed alongside countless predecessors and successors. It means that after you die, your descendants or inheritors can continue using that contract."

He paused, staring at the Caged Bird Seal on Neji's forehead. "You are already bound by one contract. Do you want to add another?"

Neji met those serpent eyes. "This contract is one I choose for myself."

Silence spread through the laboratory. The oil lamp's flames flickered across their faces, casting shifting shadows and light over their outlines.

After a long while, Orochimaru smiled. "Very well. Which clan do you wish to form a contract with? I have quite a few options here."

"Ryūchi Cave." Neji did not hesitate.

Orochimaru's brows rose slightly. "Ryūchi Cave? Why not Mount Myoboku or Shikkotsu Forest? Those two sacred lands have far greater reputations."

"Ryūchi Cave's style suits me better," Neji said. "And the stealth, lethality, and single-strike kills of snakes have something in common with my fighting style."

That was also the truth. The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was a taijutsu style built around precise chakra point strikes and defeating enemies in a single blow. It truly resembled a snake's hunting philosophy.

Orochimaru did not ask further. He pulled out the enormous Ryuchi Cave contract scroll from a hidden compartment and spread it across the experiment table. Densely packed names ran from top to bottom. At the very top was "Orochimaru," its ink the freshest.

"Sign it," he said. "With blood."

Neji bit his finger and wrote "Neji Hyuga" at the bottom of the scroll. Blood seeped into the parchment, giving off a dark red glow before settling into place and becoming part of the contract.

"Come with me." Orochimaru put away the scroll and led Neji through layers of corridors to a summoning chamber covered in runes.

Standing beside a bottomless pit, Orochimaru said, "For your first summoning, you must establish the initial passage here. Place your hands at the center of the array, infuse chakra, and call the name of Ryūchi Cave. But Neji... the snakes of Ryūchi Cave all have different temperaments. Who answers you, and whether that is good or bad, depends entirely on your luck."

Luck? Neji sneered inwardly. He had never believed in luck. He believed only in preparation and choice.

He pressed both hands onto the cold runes and slowly infused chakra. The array lit up with a dark purple glow, and hissing rose from the depths of the pit—countless snakes hissing, first distant, then closer and closer, louder and louder.

The first creature to emerge was an emerald-green two-headed snake. Both heads spoke at once, one voice high and the other low. "A new contractor... Your chakra carries the mark of bondage..."

"I want a stronger companion," Neji said directly.

"Stronger?" The two-headed snake let out a hissing laugh. "Are we not strong enough? Boy, there are no weak snakes in Ryūchi Cave."

"Then call out the strongest one." Neji refused to yield an inch.

The two heads glanced at each other before slowly sinking back down. Next came a winged flying snake, a thorn snake covered in bone spikes, an illusion snake capable of creating duplicates... Every one of them was powerful and bizarre, and every one tried to demonstrate its strength.

But Neji merely shook his head.

"Not enough," he said. "If Ryūchi Cave only has this much to offer, then there is no need to sign this contract."

It was provocation, and it was also a test.

An eerie silence fell over the pit. All the snakes vanished, and even the hissing stopped. The air in the stone chamber grew heavy enough that even Orochimaru frowned slightly.

Then a different sound came from within the pit—not a hiss, but something deep and heavy, like enormous boulders grinding together. The runes along the pit's edge began to heat up, and the chamber's temperature rose sharply.

A crimson snake head slowly emerged.

There was only one head. Where its other eye should have been was a savage scar. Its remaining eye was golden and slit-pupiled, containing no emotion at all—only the indifference of one that had endured too much.

Garaga.

It did not climb all the way out of the pit. It merely gazed down at Neji with that one eye for a long time.

"You want me?" Garaga asked, his voice as hoarse as a broken bellows.

"I want a companion," Neji corrected. "An equal companion."

"Equal?" Garaga gave a piercing laugh. "A human talking to a snake about equality? Boy, do you know how my last contractor died?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Neji looked directly into that single eye. "All I care about is whether you are willing to form a contract with me—not a master-servant contract, but an equal one. We help each other and bind neither of us. You help me fight, and I'll take you to see the outside world."

Garaga fell silent. The indifference in his single eye slowly changed into something more complicated—scrutiny, doubt, and a nearly imperceptible... interest.

"I've seen the outside world," he finally said. "It isn't very interesting."

"Then what about strength?" Neji asked. "Don't you want to become stronger? Don't you want to know where your limits are? Don't you want to... find some interesting opponents?"

Garaga's single eye narrowed slightly.

He stared at Neji for a very, very long time. The air in the stone chamber nearly froze solid, while Orochimaru stood by the wall, an unreadable light flickering in his golden eyes.

"What is your name?" Garaga suddenly asked.

"Neji Hyuga."

"Hyuga..." Garaga repeated. "The Caged Bird clan. No wonder you want an equal contract."

He slowly sank back into the pit, but before disappearing completely, he spat out a small crimson scale. The scale drifted before Neji and hovered in the air.

"Take it." Garaga's voice came from the depths of the pit. "This is my Reverse Scale. When you need me, activate it with chakra. But remember—this is not a summons. It is an invitation. Whether I come depends on my mood. And I do not accept orders. I only accept equal requests."

Neji caught the scale. It was warm in his hand, like a living thing, still faintly pulsing.

"Then the contract..." he asked.

"This is the contract," Garaga said. "You carry my Reverse Scale, and I can sense your chakra. No scroll, no oath, no bondage. The day you think I'm not strong enough, or I think you aren't qualified, the contract ends automatically. How about it?"

Neji clenched the Reverse Scale. "That is fair."

Garaga completely sank away. The pit returned to calm, and the temperature in the stone chamber slowly returned to normal.

Orochimaru walked to Neji's side and looked at the crimson scale. A strange gleam flashed through his golden pupils. "Garaga... You actually earned his recognition. That snake is the most unusual individual in Ryūchi Cave. Even the White Snake Sage cannot control him."

"He only wants an equal companion," Neji said.

"An equal companion?" Orochimaru smiled, and there was some mockery in it. "Garaga's last 'companion' tried to kill him and dig out his eye to make medicine. He lost one eye saving that human, only to receive betrayal in return. Since then, he has never trusted another contractor."

Neji tightened his grip on the Reverse Scale. So that was how Garaga had lost his eye.

"I will not betray him," he said. "Because I have no need to. There is no conflict of interest between us, only a shared goal—to grow stronger and survive."

Orochimaru stared at him for a long time before finally turning away. "Do as you please. But since you now have a summoning beast, your training plan must be adjusted. Starting tomorrow, add two hours of cooperative combat training with your summoning beast every day."

"Yes."

In the days that followed, Neji began his true "007" training regimen.

At five in the morning came chakra control training—maintaining the stability of a chakra membrane in simulated extreme environments.

In the morning came taijutsu and Gentle Fist refinement—Orochimaru arranged for a group of Sound Village ninja in Curse Mark states to act as his sparring partners, every one of them a fearless madman.

In the afternoon came theoretical study—there was an abundance of material here, all kinds of forbidden techniques, Kekkei Genkai, and even research manuscripts on Kekkei Tōta, allowing Neji to roam through the knowledge of the Shinobi World.

In the evening came medical ninjutsu—he learned more advanced healing techniques from Kabuto Yakushi. Kabuto taught without holding anything back because Orochimaru had given an order: "Though the possibility is small, many years from now, he may be me."

Only after ten at night did Neji have time for himself. Carrying Garaga's Reverse Scale, he would quietly go deep into the training grounds and attempt to communicate with the one-eyed crimson snake.

The first time he called, Garaga did not come.

The second time, he came, but only looked at Neji from afar before leaving again.

The third time, he finally spoke. "You have plenty of chakra, but I cannot sense an affinity."

"My chakra is attribute-less," Neji said truthfully.

"Five natures?" Garaga snorted. "I cannot sense chakra of any nature from you."

"Not the number five. Attribute-less means none." Neji was a little speechless. "Because I have no chakra nature, I have no way to practice ninjutsu or elemental releases. But I have to become stronger, so I will do whatever it takes to make myself stronger." Then he showed Garaga his scars.

Garaga paused. "You really are a little insane. You dared speak to me of an equal contract, and you even dared make a living under someone like Orochimaru."

"I only want to survive," Neji said.

"Survive?" Garaga narrowed his single eye. "Then why don't you return to Konoha? At least you would be safe there."

"Safe?" Neji touched the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead. "Inside a cage, that is not living. That is merely existing."

"Interesting way of putting it." Garaga rolled his single eye. "Then are you not afraid of death?"

"No one is unafraid of death." Neji paused. "But I would rather choose death than exist without freedom or dignity."