Summoning Beast

The group saw that the door ahead was open and the light was on inside. Uzumaki Hane said, "Let's go take a look." They walked toward the room.

They entered and found a dining room, with plates and food still on the table. Yamano Koromo checked the food and said, "The dishes are still warm. Was someone here just now?" Uzumaki Hane and Hyuga Tanaka also began examining the room, but found nothing at all.

Uzumaki Hane looked at the portrait in the center. The scene felt familiar, but he couldn't remember why, so he began searching his memories with all his might.

Hyuga Tanaka said, "Everything here is strange. It looks like we'll have to split up and search the castle." Yamano Koromo said, "All right, we'll split into three groups. Hane, you'll protect Mr. Yamamoto."

Uzumaki Hane was still concentrating on his memories. Hearing them, he said, "All right."

Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo left the room. Yamamoto Satoshi had barely spoken throughout the journey, but now he looked anxious. "Uzumaki Hane, let's go out too," he said.

Uzumaki Hane didn't answer. His eyes slowly swept over the room, until he suddenly saw the eyes in the painting on the wall seem to move. He immediately remembered why the scene was so familiar. Wasn't this the capital of that Land of Neck? And this castle was a transformed summoning beast. Uzumaki Hane shouted, "This is bad! Tanaka and Koromo are in danger. Mr. Yamamoto, let's hurry and find them." He rushed out with Yamamoto, but behind him, Yamamoto Satoshi wore a guilty expression.

Uzumaki Hane rushed out of the room, but he had no idea where the two had gone. He shouted, "Tanaka, Koromo, where are you?" Neither Hyuga Tanaka nor Yamano Koromo answered.

Uzumaki Hane grew anxious and hurried left with Yamamoto Satoshi. After running for a while, he still found no sign of them. Suddenly, a person stepped out of a mirror. It was the castle's owner from earlier. Uzumaki Hane knew the summoning beast was trying to swallow them.

Finding Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo was the most important thing now. Uzumaki Hane didn't want to fight it, so he took Yamamoto Satoshi's hand and said, "Yamamoto, this way." He was about to turn and leave, but found that Yamamoto was gripping his hand tightly and wouldn't move. The floor then turned into a wall of flesh and began to writhe. Yamamoto Satoshi didn't resist and was swallowed. Uzumaki Hane was still holding tightly to Yamamoto's hand. This is bad, he thought, as he was swallowed along with him.

After Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo left the room, they split up and went in opposite directions. Yamano Koromo came to a library, where the scrolls recorded what had happened in this Land of Neck. Yamano Koromo instinctively sensed danger. Suddenly, a beast's strange cry rang out in the room. She tried to leave, but it was already too late, and she was swallowed whole.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Tanaka was walking down a corridor when the floor suddenly began to writhe. He shouted, "Byakugan!" He saw that everything around him, both the floor and the walls, was covered in chakra. Hyuga Tanaka was shocked, and a possibility suddenly occurred to him: he might be inside a gigantic creature.

Hyuga Tanaka shouted, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" His hands blurred as he struck the wall. The wall turned into flesh and writhed continuously, dispersing the force of his palm strikes. The floor beneath his feet also turned into writhing flesh and swallowed him.

Uzumaki Hane landed on the floor, went over to Yamamoto Satoshi, and woke him. Yamamoto Satoshi looked around in confusion and asked, "Where are we?"

Uzumaki Hane was annoyed. He had noticed something odd about Yamamoto Satoshi, but he had still fallen for his scheme and ended up inside the summoning beast's belly. If Tanaka and Koromo were in danger, that would be terrible.

Uzumaki Hane got straight to the point. "Stop pretending. You know where we are, don't you? I thought you were acting strange throughout the journey. You brought us here on purpose, didn't you? Our mission was to help you wipe out the bandits. This isn't part of it."

The confused expression vanished from Yamamoto Satoshi's face, replaced by an apologetic look. "When did you figure it out?" he asked.

Uzumaki Hane said, "It was only a guess. You were obviously anxious to get back to your village, yet you brought us here. What you were really anxious to do was come here, wasn't it? Tell me, what did you bring us here for?"

Yamamoto Satoshi said, "I'm sorry. I did bring you here on purpose. Our village was attacked by bandits, and the village sent me and my companion, Yamamoto Naka, to Konoha Ninja Village to ask you to help us wipe them out. But it started raining heavily on the way, and we came here to take shelter. My companion was swallowed by this monster. Although I was lucky enough to try to escape, there was no way I could save my companion on my own."

Uzumaki Hane cut in, "So you deliberately withheld information because you wanted us to come here and save your companion. Why didn't you explain everything? If we weren't strong enough, not only would we fail to save your companion, but you'd die too." Yamamoto looked flustered and couldn't find an answer.

Just then, Hyuga Tanaka's voice came from the distance. "Hane, where are you?" As soon as he finished, Yamano Koromo called out too. "Hane, where are you?"

Uzumaki Hane shouted, "Koromo, Tanaka, I'm here!" Then he said to Yamamoto, "I'll help you save your companion, but my companions have to agree first."

Yamamoto Satoshi looked at Uzumaki Hane in surprise. He had thought that once Uzumaki Hane learned the truth, he would cancel the mission and return to the village. He hadn't expected him to agree, and instinctively asked, "Why?"

Uzumaki Hane said, "I've been itching for a fight lately, and this opponent is just right." Yamamoto Satoshi fell silent, and neither of them spoke again.

Before long, footsteps sounded, and Tanaka and Yamano Koromo came striding around the corner.

Uzumaki Hane asked, "Tanaka, Koromo, are you all right?"

Yamano Koromo said, "We're fine."

Hyuga Tanaka told them what he had discovered and said solemnly, "We should be inside the belly of some kind of gigantic summoning beast."

Uzumaki Hane revealed what Yamamoto Satoshi had concealed, then said, "My Kekkei Genkai should be able to break through this creature's belly easily, so I've decided to save Yamamoto's companion. What do you think?"

Yamano Koromo said, "I agree with you, Hane." Uzumaki Hane looked at Hyuga Tanaka.

Hyuga Tanaka said, "We're already here anyway, so let's save Yamamoto's companion while we're at it."

Uzumaki Hane said, "Sorry for the trouble, Tanaka."

Hyuga Tanaka nodded and shouted, "Byakugan!" The walls before him were covered in chakra. He struck one with his palm, and it turned into flesh and began to writhe. The surrounding walls and floor soon began to writhe as well, turning into flesh.

Suddenly, a girl's scream came from the distance. Yamamoto Satoshi shouted anxiously, "That's Ou's voice!" He ran straight toward the sound.