Giant Snake Says, Give Me Your Crow

The Konoha Sannin's Summoning Beasts, in a sense, might be even more impressive than the Sannin themselves. After all, on a large battlefield, giant Summoning Beasts possess a strategic advantage of overwhelming power.

Orochimaru's Summoning Beast is Giant Snake from Ryūchi Cave, one of the hidden villages of the Ninja World. Whether its strength is formidable isn't entirely clear, but its appetite is certainly not small...

"Orochimaru, while this sacrifice looks delicious, there aren't enough of them this time..."

Giant Snake glanced at the group of children below, who looked like ants. Having a good grasp of mathematics, it quickly counted the approximate number. The headcount was insufficient.

"Caw..."

Beiyuan looked up, gazing at the mountain-sized Giant Snake, and deeply felt he had been enlightened... Look at the awareness of a top-tier ninja beast!

And then look at himself...

Back in Konohagakure, there was a brat who foolishly spat on him all the time, and he couldn't do anything about it...

When he came out to train, a shameless old man constantly pointed out his shortcomings, such as oversleeping, being lazy, and so on. He also had no way to refute him...

The path to overcoming these challenges begins now!

"Caw!"

The crow flapped its wings and flew high into the sky.

A second later, it realized that Giant Snake was enormous, and if it attacked, it wouldn't need to fly so high...

Thinking again, it felt more comfortable on the shoulders of a youngster, and it wasn't as tiring... For Summoning Beasts like Giant Snake, it should be left to Jiraiya to handle...

"Okay, okay, hey, don't cry anymore. We need to leave here quickly..." Uchiha Itachi comforted the children who were crying uncontrollably, urging them to move. Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder.

Itachi saw the crow yawn.

It really maintains its sleeping habits well!

I can't even handle staying up late...

"Beiyuan, hold on a little longer. We'll be back in town soon." Uchiha Itachi's troubled expression softened slightly at the crow's action, and he gently rubbed its neck.

A group of little ones suddenly collapsed on the ground and burst into tears...

"Waaahhh!"

"I want to go home..."

"Big brother... that really, really big snake..."

"Dad... Mom..."

Uchiha Itachi turned his head and saw Giant Snake lunging towards them. Its immense size didn't mean it was slow; it moved incredibly fast, appearing before Uchiha Itachi in the blink of an eye.

The young boy's heart sank...

Teacher Jiraiya can't possibly stop it...

In reality, Jiraiya was completely tied up by Orochimaru, not even having a moment to perform a Summoning Technique. The two of them were still engaged in a ninja battle!

Orochimaru, with a clear objective, had a straightforward plan. He didn't need to think about how to defeat Jiraiya; he just needed to fight Jiraiya up close and then have Giant Snake take Uchiha Itachi away.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, had many more considerations, such as using this opportunity to stall for time and finding a way to defeat Orochimaru and bring him back to Konoha.

Giant Snake looked down at the little ants below and rumbled, "This must be the brat Orochimaru wants. It should be fine to just eat him secretly..."

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Itachi didn't hesitate. He formed hand seals and spat out a massive fireball!

The fireball was like a firework in front of Giant Snake. Even when it exploded on its body, it only left a few black spots... The damage was negligible.

"Hey, aren't you a brat who should just be eaten by me?" The snake's head suddenly slammed down, hitting the ground...

Uchiha Itachi looked up, a sense of powerlessness rising within him. He didn't hesitate to form hand seals again: "Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

He couldn't retreat or flee because behind him were a group of children who hadn't had time to escape...

But in front of him was Giant Snake's gaping maw...

A dragon-headed flame lunged towards Giant Snake!

The giant snake head swiftly turned to dodge. This ninjutsu had too low a hit rate against Giant Snake, and it didn't want to get injured... Life in Ryūchi Cave wasn't that easy!

"Hiss..."

"Sharingan: Release! Demonic Illusion: Gagging Technique!"

The Three Tomoe Sharingan activated. The enhanced genjutsu halted Giant Snake's movements, and Uchiha Itachi's mood gradually relaxed... During this time, it was enough for the children to get a safe distance away...

Demonic Illusion: Gagging Technique is one of the most commonly used genjutsu of the Sharingan. It utilizes the time an opponent looks directly into the Sharingan to manipulate their mental energy, making the enemy feel as if they are bound by nails.

But how long could it last?

The strength of the Three Tomoe's ocular power should be able to hold on for a while, right?

Beiyuan flew off Uchiha Itachi's shoulder, a Tailed Beast Bomb forming in its mouth, and shot towards Giant Snake's head...

The giant snake head violently dodged. Seeing the Tailed Beast Bomb blow off a section of the mountain, the leader of the snake clan in Ryūchi Cave exclaimed in fear, "Hiss! This crow!"

"Caw..."

Beiyuan didn't look at it, he just glanced at Uchiha Itachi gasping on the ground... That was too short a time!

Uchiha Itachi's progress was too fast...

Or rather, he was too young. Even if his chakra reserves and Sharingan growth were perfect, it was clearly impossible to suddenly go from shurikenjutsu to mastery of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

Honestly, being able to use genjutsu was already good enough... it was just that after succeeding, he hadn't fully grasped the movements of the opponent's mental energy.

"Hey! Sharingan brat!" After breaking free from the Sharingan's control and narrowly dodging the Tailed Beast Bomb attack, Giant Snake looked down at them and said in a low voice, "Hand that crow over to me, and I'll let you go!"

Beiyuan: "..."

One after another, why did they all like to pull this kind of stunt!

Orochimaru wanted to keep Itachi, so he sent out his Summoning Beast. As a result, his Summoning Beast wanted Itachi's crow and decided to negotiate... Truly kindred spirits!

The response to Giant Snake was Uchiha Itachi's firm shake of his head: "Absolutely not!"

The giant snake head slowly lowered, getting closer and closer to Uchiha Itachi. Giant Snake roared, "It's not a treasure you can possess!"

As a member of Ryūchi Cave, Giant Snake's focused sensory ability was equally outstanding, far surpassing that of ninja who used chakra sensing techniques.

It could clearly sense Beiyuan's uniqueness!

Both the crow's chakra and its special body made Giant Snake salivate... Eating it might allow it to become the next White Snake Sage!

"Beiyuan, let's continue!" Uchiha Itachi ignored Giant Snake. Of course, he knew how precious Beiyuan was; at the very least, the atmosphere at home had become much more lively...

Seeing that Beiyuan's unique moves were surprisingly effective, Uchiha Itachi saw hope in defeating Giant Snake. As long as he could control Giant Snake's movements, he might be able to deliver a killing blow.

The crow's mouth once again condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb. One after another, they were dodged by Giant Snake's agile movements, and the battlefield gradually became devastated...

"I'm so jealous... You possess immense power, yet you can only wield it crudely..." Giant Snake didn't dare to look at Uchiha Itachi anymore. It tightly closed its eyes, relying on its senses to dodge another attack from Beiyuan.

Beiyuan looked down at Itachi: "Caw!"

It wanted the youngster to take those children and hide far away... Its crudeness wasn't something Giant Snake could comment on; at the very least, it would have to be at the level of the White Snake Sage!

The crow flew high into the sky, and a massive amount of chakra began to gather