"Gekko Chizan! Don't mess with me!"
"Don't tell me… you were missing for half a month because of this scroll?"
"What? Can this scroll send you to Kirigakure or something?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's face was so dark it looked like water was about to drip from it.
But Gekko Chizan shook his head solemnly, then turned his gaze toward Pakura and Sayo.
"I don't know. I've never seen this scroll before."
"Gekko Chizan, what is this scroll?"
Pakura and Sayo both said at the same time that they had never seen the scroll.
This left Gekko Chizan completely baffled. It wasn't from them?
The next second, he untied all the ropes wrapped around the scroll.
In an instant, the character for "dragon" appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Dragon? Wait, this isn't a summoning scroll, is it?"
Originally, it was impossible to tell what the scroll was because of all the ropes, but as the bindings fell away, Sarutobi Shinnosuke suddenly found the scroll vaguely familiar.
It looked like there was a similar one in his own home.
"Yes, this is a summoning contract scroll. My teacher, Orochimaru, gave it to me."
"The reason I disappeared was because I signed the contract and used reverse summoning to form a bond with my own summoning beast."
"But when I wanted to return, I found that the original contract pathway had been shut down."
"That's why I couldn't come back smoothly..."
The more Gekko Chizan explained, the more frustrated he became.
Pakura and Sayo, standing nearby, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Even Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who had been fuming just moments ago, cracked up.
"You little brat, you're killing me! Orochimaru's summoning beast? That's a snake, right?"
"So you were stuck in a den of snakes for half a month? Hahahahaha!"
"I can't! Hahahahaha!"
As Sarutobi Shinnosuke roared with laughter, everyone at the Gekko household joined in.
Their laughter echoed throughout the entire estate.
Just as Gekko Chizan stood there, helpless and exasperated, a young and tender voice suddenly came from the doorway:
"Ahem ahem... What are you all laughing at?"
A three-year-old Gekko Hayate slowly walked into the courtyard, rubbing the sleep out of his drowsy eyes.
"Is that your little brother?"
"Yeah. Hayate, come here."
Seeing his little brother, Gekko Chizan quickly waved him over. His anger eased a bit.
After all, this little guy was his only brother in this world.
"Big Bro, you're back..."
"Huh? This scroll? Didn't I tie it up with rope?"
"Why'd you take it out again? It's not even pretty. Just a bunch of snakes."
Gekko Chizan's smiling face froze instantly.
Even Pakura, Sayo, and the others all stopped laughing and widened their eyes at Gekko Hayate.
"Hayate... What did you just say? What did you do with this scroll?"
Gekko Chizan forced down the fury bubbling in his chest and asked his little brother.
"This scroll was super scary! When I saw it open, I peeked inside and saw a bunch of snakes!"
"I got so scared I shut it right away and tied it up with a bunch of ropes!"
"Then I shoved it on the bookshelf!"
"Big Bro, I did good, right?"
Gekko Hayate had no idea what was happening. Well, of course—he was just a three-year-old! What could he possibly understand?
"Oh, I see! You little brat! So it was you who did it!"
"You tied up the scroll like a dumpling! That's why I couldn't find the way back!"
"In the end, it took Orochimaru using a summoning technique to rescue me!"
"You're dead meat, brat! I'm gonna make your butt bloom today!!!"
Gekko Chizan was furious.
So the reason he couldn't return… was all because of his own little brother.
What a wonderful brother! He's barely even grown and already knows how to backstab his big bro!
This brother needed a good spanking!
Fuming, Gekko Chizan began looking around for something to use, and finally his eyes landed on the broom by the door.
He grabbed it in a huff, ready to give his brother a good beating.
"Waaaah!!! Nii-san's gonna hit me!"
"Pakura-san, save me!"
"Sayo-san, help!"
Gekko Hayate was already three years old and could tell that things were going in the wrong direction just by looking at Chizan's expression.
He immediately cried out and hid behind Pakura.
Pakura and Sayo were laughing so hard they could barely breathe. Seeing Gekko Chizan grab the broom, they quickly tried to stop him.
"Chizan, what are you doing?"
"He didn't do it on purpose! Just scold him a bit—it's not like you can actually hit him. What if you hurt him?"
Pakura blocked Chizan and sternly scolded Hayate:
"Don't mess with other people's things again, understand?"
"Especially stuff like scrolls."
"Your brother's always fiddling with weird and dangerous things. What if you get hurt?"
Gekko Chizan had thought Pakura would properly teach Hayate a lesson, but instead, she turned around and scolded him.
He was so mad he nearly coughed up blood.
"Alright, alright, Chizan. You said Orochimaru used a summoning technique to rescue you?"
"So you ended up back at the battlefield in the Land of Rivers?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke suddenly spoke, a hint of inquiry in his voice.
Gekko Chizan put down the broom and nodded.
"Yeah, I just came back from the Land of Rivers. Things are relatively stable there."
"With my teacher around, Sunagakure won't gain the upper hand anytime soon."
"But we've suffered considerable casualties among the defense forces. I was planning to report it to the Hokage Tower."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke nodded and grabbed him by the arm.
"Come on, let's head to the Hokage Tower right now."
"ANBU had a mission earlier, and most personnel have already been deployed."
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure fought a sizable battle in the Land of Fields."
"Now the two sides are in a temporary ceasefire."
"Let's go see the Hokage-sama."
Gekko Chizan nodded and left behind a quick,
"I'll be back for dinner tonight," before heading straight for the Hokage Tower with Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
...
Hokage Tower
"I see, so you've obtained a summoning beast."
"Very good. You've truly inherited your teacher's will."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction after hearing Gekko Chizan's report.
But his expression quickly turned serious.
"Although Iwagakure and Kumogakure fought in the Land of Fields, Kumogakure's forces in the Land of Hot Water haven't withdrawn."
"There are signs they're preparing for movement."
"I've already dispatched Jiraiya to Iwa—"
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo