Manda

"So late, and you're still not going home to rest?" Kenichi Amamiya looked helplessly at the Little Follower trailing behind him. Why was this little girl so clingy?

"Senior Brother, Sensei hasn't paid any attention to me lately. Is he angry with me?" Anko Mitarashi lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, her face full of disappointment.

Kenichi Amamiya scratched his head. He knew what his teacher intended. After all, his teacher had said that Anko Mitarashi was not suited to leave the Hidden Leaf Village with them.

So his teacher had other plans for this junior sister of his: to make her forget everything about him, allowing her to live well in the Hidden Leaf Village.

But although Kenichi Amamiya knew this, he could not tell his junior sister. He could only say something else.

"Of course not. Sensei has just been very busy lately. Even I rarely get to see him," Kenichi Amamiya said with a smile, rubbing Anko Mitarashi's head. This little girl was quite sensitive.

"Even Senior Brother can't see him?" Anko Mitarashi looked surprised.

Kenichi Amamiya nodded.

If you wanted to comfort someone, the best way was to first empathize with them and let them know you were in the same situation. That made the comfort more effective.

That was something Kenichi Amamiya had learned from his previous life.

"Sensei is so busy. There were rumors in the village before that Sensei could become the Fourth Hokage." Sure enough, Anko Mitarashi seemed to be feeling better, and she began chattering about other things again.

Kenichi Amamiya listened quietly, buying two skewers of dango and handing one to Anko Mitarashi.

Looking at the dango in his hand, Kenichi Amamiya thought of Itachi and Shisui. The Uchiha Clan truly produced quite a few geniuses. The Mangekyō Sharingan was really powerful.

At least, that was true in the current ninja world. Even later on, the Mangekyō Sharingan would remain a very important source of combat power.

"Oh, right, Senior Brother." Anko Mitarashi suddenly remembered something and hurriedly tugged on Kenichi Amamiya's sleeve.

"What is it?" Kenichi Amamiya asked his junior sister curiously.

"That ninjutsu Sensei taught me before... I don't really understand it. Could Senior Brother teach me?" Anko Mitarashi asked expectantly. Kenichi Amamiya scratched his head but did not refuse.

His teacher had told him to act carefully during this period anyway. Teaching his junior sister some ninjutsu was actually a pretty good form of camouflage.

So Kenichi Amamiya took Anko Mitarashi to the training ground for some practice. With his strength having grown rapidly during this time, teaching his junior sister had become much easier.

But the training session ended very quickly, because lightning streaked across the sky and deafening thunder roared.

"Thunder, huh." Kenichi Amamiya fell into thought. Speaking of which, he remembered that Sasuke would create a ninjutsu in the future—Lightning Release: Kirin. It was an extremely powerful technique, but it seemed to require the Sharingan to clearly see the path of the lightning.

It was a highly difficult Lightning Release ninjutsu that harnessed the power of nature.

Kenichi Amamiya checked the research progress of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. It had only reached twenty-three percent so far. That was not particularly slow, but he still needed to wait a while.

Without the Sharingan's assistance, Kenichi Amamiya had no intention of rashly trying to research other ninjutsu. After taking his junior sister home, he leisurely returned to his own house and lay down on his bed.

Early the next morning, Kenichi Amamiya had just gotten up when his teacher dragged him away.

"Kenichi, do you know about Summoning Beasts?" Orochimaru asked calmly. Kenichi Amamiya was stunned for a moment, then nodded. Of course he knew.

In Naruto World, the most famous Summoning Beasts were probably the toads of Mount Myōboku. After all, they often appeared alongside the protagonist.

Then there was Manda, his own teacher Orochimaru's summoning beast. But Kenichi Amamiya truly had no interest in his teacher's Summoning Beast. Manda's personality was simply...

Next came Summoning Beasts such as Katsuyu, Ibuse, Ninja Dogs, and so on. There were even crow Summoning Beasts. The varieties were extremely numerous.

In terms of pure strength, the ones from the Great Sage Lands were naturally better.

"Sensei, are you going to have me form a contract with a Summoning Beast?" Kenichi Amamiya was somewhat puzzled. Summoning Beasts were quite useful, aside from those of Ryūchi Cave, whose requirements might be rather demanding.

"No. What you need to do now is focus on refining your ninjutsu." Orochimaru shook his head. He himself had once been a student brought out by Hiruzen Sarutobi, so he naturally understood the progression from Genin to Jonin.

The Chunin level of strength was an awkward stage—neither high nor low—but it was also a stage where one needed to properly build a foundation. With a solid foundation, becoming a Jonin in the future would come naturally.

In the end, whether someone was a Jonin or a Chunin was merely a title. What truly mattered was strength. There could even be freaks among Genin who, after an explosive surge, could defeat Elite Jonin or even those with Kage-level strength.

"You're my disciple. If your strength is below that of an Elite Jonin, I'd be too embarrassed to admit it," Orochimaru said with a smile. He had high expectations for Kenichi Amamiya.

He had once thought that this disciple of his would only be able to survive by relying on him in the future. He had not expected Kenichi Amamiya's strength to improve by leaps and bounds, which greatly pleased Orochimaru.

"Hehe. I'll work hard. But Sensei, what you said earlier..." Kenichi Amamiya scratched his head, then could not help asking.

"It's this: I was wondering whether Summoning Beasts can get cancer." Orochimaru revealed a faint smile, his eyes filled with fervor.

Kenichi Amamiya's mouth twitched. Summoning Beasts getting cancer? That was truly a profound question.

In his previous life, Kenichi Amamiya would have immediately nodded. Animals were animals; getting cancer was nothing strange. But this was Naruto World, and the constitutions of those powerful Summoning Beasts were much stronger than those of ordinary ninja.

So whether they could get cancer was a question in itself. Not to mention that if they were Summoning Beasts with Sage Art Chakra, there would be even more variables.

"Sensei, that will require experiments. Could it be that you want to summon Manda?" Kenichi Amamiya rubbed his hands together and asked expectantly.

"Don't mention that guy." Orochimaru's face instantly darkened. Manda had become increasingly arrogant lately. If not for the White Snake Sage behind him...

Kenichi Amamiya coughed twice. That was true. He had only seen his teacher summon Manda during the war; at all other times, Orochimaru never summoned him. Manda's personality truly was awful.

"Sensei's Summoning Beasts need a physical examination."