Mount Myōboku, at the waterfall where generations had practiced Sage Mode...
Gamabunta's enormous body stood in the clearing before the waterfall, with an unfurled scroll in front of him.
Any ninja with a summoning beast would have found the formula on it very familiar.
It was the pattern for the Summoning Technique.
"Ninja Art... Summoning Technique!"
Gamabunta suddenly opened his half-closed eyes and, as though he had received some instruction, thrust his palm down hard onto the scroll!
The markings at the center of the scroll seemed to come alive, gradually crawling out like tadpoles and spreading across the ground!
Poof!
At the same time, a sudden cloud of white smoke burst from the scroll before him!
"Feng, this really must have been hard on you."
Gamabunta shook his head and spoke with some feeling as he looked at the figure he had summoned within the smoke.
Quite a few ninja had come to Mount Myōboku to sign a Summoning Contract.
But... someone as powerful as Ning Feng, who had mastered Sage Mode and even prepared a fallback...
This was truly the first time he had seen such a cautious ninja.
"Haha... Gamabunta, it really must have been hard on you, not getting to fight outside for so long."
The dust and smoke gradually dispersed, and Ning Feng's figure slowly emerged before Gamabunta, looking a little worse for wear.
"Wait... Feng, how did you end up in such a state?"
Gamabunta had just lifted his pipe and taken a deep drag, but the sight of Ning Feng put an end to his intention to tease him.
Ning Feng's robes were now in tatters, with quite a few faint bloodstains on them.
There were even some wounds visible to the naked eye.
"What happened to you?"
The hand holding Gamabunta's pipe