What Did You Summon?

Naruto nodded.

"How do you plan to teach me?"

His question was blunt.

Jiraiya smiled. He knew that the usual master-disciple approach would not even get him through the door with this kid.

Instead of answering immediately, he copied Naruto's pose, folding his arms across his chest as he scrutinized the vicious Chainsword.

"What do you think is the fundamental difference between that 'saw' in your hand and an ordinary shuriken?"

The question made Naruto fall into brief thought.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. His frivolous demeanor vanished, replaced by an affected rigor befitting a technical specialist—an image more likely to earn Naruto's approval.

"First, the center of gravity. A shuriken's center of gravity is stable and singular, allowing chakra to adhere evenly. But every part of your weapon—the hilt, the blade, the saw teeth—has a different mass distribution. Its center of gravity shifts dynamically. If you inject chakra using a single pattern, the energy flow will inevitably become unbalanced."

He raised a finger and traced imaginary lines through the air.

"Second, the chakra adhesion surface and structural complexity. A shuriken is a flat plane, while your sword is a complex three-dimensional structure. Treating it as a whole when replicating it is like asking a craftsman to carve a precision clock from a single block of wood in one go. That violates the basic principles of 'manufacturing.'"

"Finally, the stability of energy flow. Chakra conducts differently through the metal saw teeth and the main body of the blade. If you force it in crudely, the clone will be like an appliance with an internal short circuit, collapsing the instant it takes shape."

Every word Jiraiya spoke was like a precisely aimed Senbon, striking directly at the reasons behind Naruto's failures.

He did not understand those technical physics terms, but through decades of combat instinct, he had forcibly pieced together an explanation that best suited Naruto's way of thinking.

He did not talk about willpower or emotions. He spoke only of technique, efficiency, and principles.

For the first time, an emotion called "recognition" stirred in Naruto's icy blue eyes as he looked at the "perverted sage" before him.

This person had "value as someone he could communicate with."

Hinata watched quietly from the side, covering her mouth, her eyes filled with astonishment.

She had never seen a scene like this before.

Naruto, who dared to defy even the Hokage and shut nearly everyone out, was now listening seriously and intently to an elder's "lesson."

Two hours later.

A dull metallic grinding echoed through Training Ground Seventeen.

Under Jiraiya's theoretical guidance, Naruto changed his strategy.

He no longer poured chakra into the Chainsword like a flood.

Instead, he first used the finest possible chakra to construct, within his mind, a transparent energy "mold" identical in structure to the Chainsword.

That mold embodied the limits of his understanding of the weapon. From the hilt's counterweight to the tiny chips in every saw tooth, nothing was off by the slightest fraction.

First build the framework, then fill in the details.

After dozens of failures caused by unstable chakra output.

Naruto formed the hand seals once more.

"Chainsword Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He carefully injected a vast, stable stream of chakra into the intangible mold floating in his imagination.

Bzzzz—

The air shook violently.

Ten Chainswords identical to the original appeared out of thin air, floating around Naruto.

Each one buzzed as its saw teeth spun at high speed, kicking up intimidating arcs of electricity and crushing wind pressure.

The entire training ground became thick with killing intent because of the presence of those ten murderous weapons.

Though they still flickered faintly, showing signs of instability, they had succeeded.

Jiraiya watched the scene, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

He was stunned by Naruto's terrifying learning ability and chakra control.

Yet deep within him, an even deeper concern coiled around his heart like vines.

He felt as though he was not guiding a lost boy, but installing deadlier components onto an already perfected, highly efficient killing machine.

His goal achieved, Jiraiya did not give Naruto much time to savor the success. He immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"Kid, this is still nowhere near enough. Even with new weapons, Shadow Clones are still too fragile."

He spoke in a more solemn tone.

"Do you want to acquire a truly independent strategic support unit with advanced intelligence?"

"For example, a summoned beast. Or perhaps a toad from Mount Myoboku—powerful and... loyal."

Jiraiya smiled. Before meeting Naruto, he had done a tremendous amount of homework, carefully analyzing everything from Naruto's speech habits to his patterns of thought.

The words were like a precision-guided missile, instantly hitting the center of Naruto's needs.

Naruto dispersed the Chainsword clones in the air and turned around, analytical light flickering in his icy blue eyes.

He immediately reached a conclusion.

A powerful summoned beast capable of independently judging the battlefield possessed immense strategic value in many complex combat environments.

It would be a true "allied unit," not merely a "consumable."

"Fine."

Naruto agreed.

Jiraiya was overjoyed inside, but his face retained an inscrutable expression.

He believed that as long as he brought Naruto to Mount Myoboku and let Gamabunta and the others—those bold, righteous fellows—give him a proper dose of their influence, they would surely melt this eternal block of ice.

Jiraiya took a massive scroll from his robes and spread it across the ground.

The ancient scroll was covered in densely packed names.

"Use your blood to sign your name here."

Naruto did not hesitate in the slightest. He bit his fingertip.

Using his bloodstained finger, he solemnly wrote his name in the blank space, stroke by stroke.

Naruto.

Every character carried his unquestionable will, as hard as steel.

The contract was formed.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Naruto formed hand seals with no unnecessary movements and slammed his palm hard against the ground.

Jiraiya watched with eager anticipation.

However, the familiar massive cloud of white smoke he expected did not appear.

Instead, there came a muffled sound of spatial distortion, as though countless metal parts were grinding and crushing against one another.

Black mist slowly rose from the summoning array.

The mist carried thick gunpowder smoke, pungent ozone, and the stale, blackened stench of blood.

The ominous heaviness of that aura froze the smile on Jiraiya's face, and his expression changed dramatically.

As the holder of the toad contract for decades, he had never seen or even heard of such a bizarre summoning phenomenon.

This was not a passage to Mount Myoboku.

That power lay entirely beyond any category of contract he knew.

"Something's wrong! Naruto, dispel it now!"

Jiraiya shouted anxiously.

But Naruto did not move.

From the ominous black mist, he sensed no threat at all. He felt only an incomparably familiar, cold sense of order belonging to iron and blood.

And an absolute loyalty toward a certain supreme "leader," engraved in the deepest part of his soul across countless dimensions and planes of time and space.