Summoning Beast, I Contracted One!

"This was the mysterious mindscape?"

It was Brando's first time entering a place like this. Before, he had only often seen Naruto and the Nine-Tails secretly meeting in this lovers' space.

"What is this place?"

Within the mindscape, the Sea King's words took shape as sound.

Sea Kings with normal body lengths exceeding five hundred meters possessed a certain degree of intelligence. The longest Sea Kings could reach five thousand meters, ancient creatures that had lived for who knew how many years.

The Lord of the Coast, on the other hand, was purely kindergarten level. This black-and-white electric eel Brando had encountered should have been around college level.

"This is your mindscape."

"Here, you can speak with humans."

Brando introduced the place to the Sea King.

After all, he was recruiting it as an employee, so his attitude was much better than it had been toward the Lord of the Coast.

"Humans?"

"You can talk to me... are you Poseidon?"

"No, Poseidon isn't like this."

This Sea King was fairly knowledgeable. After all, it had lived for nearly a century and knew quite a few things.

Mainly because there were too many Sea Kings in the Calm Belt, making it too difficult to compete for food, it had come to the Grand Line instead.

"What Poseidon? If you mean the Sea God, I only know one with the surname Tang."

"I pulled you into this mindscape because I want to talk. Become my subordinate and serve me."

Brando stated his purpose directly.

He was this bold because this Sea King's mental strength was simply too weak compared to his own.

"Arrogant human."

The Sea King wasted no words. It raised itself up and viciously rammed straight at Brando.

But within the mindscape, strength was determined by mental power. A Sea King's powerful body was completely useless here.

So Brando merely raised one hand and forcibly blocked the headbutt of this nine-hundred-meter-long Sea King.

Even it froze when it was stopped, clearly unable to accept such a thing. After living in the sea for so many years, aside from Sea Kings larger than itself, only the Red Line had ever been able to withstand its charge.

If it rammed into an ordinary island, it could practically trigger a small earthquake.

Yet its attack had been blocked by an ant like this?

Still, it had at least college-level intelligence. It understood that this situation was likely caused by being in this place, but it had no way to escape.

"Since you refuse, I can only properly train you."

Seeing this, Brando dropped his pleasant attitude and unleashed the Will of the Overlord at full force.

Then, within the mindscape, Brando activated Susanoo and fought the Sea King. Everything here was manifested from mental power, so it would not trigger the Mangekyo's side effects.

Brando directly activated his Complete Body Susanoo, more than two hundred meters tall. The pale-black Complete Body Susanoo radiated an eerie aura and looked thoroughly sinister.

Within the mindscape, the Sea King's body was repeatedly severed, restored, then scorched by Amaterasu's flames.

After a full hour, the Sea King finally submitted. Or rather, it had become terrified of being cut apart.

"Powerful human, I, Banlei, am willing to submit to you."

The Sea King lowered its body, pressing its head tightly against the ground of the mindscape as it obediently spoke to Brando.

It felt as though it would die if this continued.

Besides, it had no desire to be any king and possessed no will of a king. It found yielding completely acceptable. Animals followed the law of the jungle; obeying the strong was instinct.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that earlier?"

Brando dismissed Susanoo and patted Banlei's head.

He had not expected this fellow to also have Ban in its name. Was it because of its black-and-white striped pattern?

Still, the name was fine, and Brando had no intention of changing it.

Banlei made a rumbling sound, as if responding.

Seeing this, Brando directly withdrew from the mindscape and returned their consciousness to their bodies. In truth, only Brando's mind had returned; what he had attacked was Banlei's mindscape. Even if he ruined it, at most Banlei would lose consciousness and become a vegetable like that Celestial Dragon.

At the same time, Brando had left a Shadow Clone outside. Otherwise, he could not have focused completely on dealing with Banlei. Banlei's physical strength was tremendous, but its mental power was too weak.

Even after creating a Shadow Clone and using only half his mental power, Brando could still easily suppress it.

Once Banlei's consciousness regained control of its body, a vicious glint flashed through its eyes as it looked at Brando.

But Brando said nothing. He merely raised his right hand, and a Rasenshuriken rapidly formed in the center of his palm.

The piercing slicing sound of Wind Style instantly cleared Banlei's gaze considerably.

Brando still said nothing, simply throwing the Rasenshuriken toward the sea on Banlei's other side.

The instant it touched the ocean's surface, the Rasenshuriken exploded, instantly stirring up towering waves. Although there was no specific target for the demonstration, only seawater, Banlei could still sense the intimidation emanating from that explosive mass of energy.

Banlei immediately behaved itself.

Brando did not say much either. He took out the summoning scroll, then used Geppo to leap directly onto Banlei's head.

"This isn't a purely exploitative contract. If you encounter danger in the sea someday, you can come to me for help too. I'm very protective of my own."

Brando unfurled the summoning scroll atop Banlei's head, then bit his finger and left his name on it.

"Roar."

Banlei could not speak now, nor could it even hear what Brando was saying, but that did not stop it from responding with a gentle sound.

Seeing Banlei like this, Brando knew it had no more objections. He used a kunai to slash open Banlei's head, then used its blood to leave a mark on the summoning scroll and sign the contract.

The moment the summoning contract was formed, both Brando and Banlei experienced a peculiar sensation. They could feel a faint, indistinct presence; as long as they used the proper method, they could use the Summoning Jutsu.

Brando figured that later, he could have Banlei use Reverse Summoning as a spatial transport to help him escape.

"Looks like I've got another trick up my sleeve."

Brando was extremely satisfied.

Spatial abilities were all incredibly underhanded. The two abilities Brando most wanted to draw were Dual Kamui and Flying Raijin, the two with the strongest mechanics and the most tricks.

"The Will of the Overlord has acknowledged you. Through practical action, you tamed the rebellious heart of the Sea King Banlei."

"You have obtained Water Style chakra, Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu, and Water Style: Water Bullet."

Upon completing the contract, Brando also received the Will of the Overlord's reward.

Brando had not initially planned to use the Will of the Overlord's methods, but Banlei had reached its rebellious phase, so he could only help it calm down a little.

"I've mastered both transformations of Fire and Wind, while Lightning and Water are at beginner level. I'm only missing Earth now. If I get some chakra and Kamui later, I can pull off Kamui Earth Style: Mud Wall into a finishing move."

Brando felt that his foundation was becoming increasingly complete.

But his raw power still was not strong enough, and his mechanics still were not underhanded enough. After all, he had witnessed the stage where gods descended.

"You ate so much of my bait earlier, so you should have plenty of strength now. Swim in this direction."

Brando once again used the Sharingan to invade Banlei's consciousness with his mental power.

This time, however, he was just giving directions. He did not want to run across the sea with his feet to the next island. Why walk when he had a Sea King to ride?

"Yes, Lord Brando."

Banlei did not dare refuse and answered obediently.

Then it raised its huge head above the ocean's surface while its lower body writhed frantically beneath the waves, moving far faster than an ordinary pirate ship.