Right now, Minato's pupils were blood red, their shape resembling the vertical pupils of the Nine-Tails.
In that instant, his usual bright and cheerful demeanor turned sharp with fierceness. His eyes burned with chilling hatred and cold determination.
Minato could feel how his previously meager chakra reserves had suddenly become abundant—surpassing even their normal levels.
Yet he quickly regained control, suppressing all excess chakra fluctuations.
Even though his appearance had changed somewhat, his willpower remained unaffected.
In the past, when he was with Kushina, he'd witnessed several occasions when the Nine-Tails' chakra within her surged violently. The emotions carried within the Nine-Tails' chakra could influence her consciousness.
But strangely enough, his own mind remained completely unchanged.
And just now, why had he heard his future self's voice deep within his soul?
Minato possessed highly refined analytical abilities—an important reason why he'd become the Fourth Hokage at such a young age.
Under normal circumstances, these questions would certainly provoke thorough investigation from him. But now wasn't the time to ponder these questions.
The most important thing now was finding Tsunade to remove the poison afflicting Nawaki.
"Nine-Tails, although I've borrowed your power this time... This time, I absolutely must change what has already happened!"
Minato silently recited in his heart. He and the Nine-Tails had always shared something of a rivalry.
"From here on out, you're on your own!"
Minato thought. Although his chakra reserves had returned to their peak, facing twelve Suna ninja—including three jonin—he stood less than a twenty percent chance of escaping with Nawaki.
Even if they escaped, tracking down Tsunade would still be nearly impossible.
Therefore, this wasn't something accomplishable by his current strength alone.
However, for ninja, available methods weren't limited solely to personal ability.
Take someone like Hanzo, known as the Demigod. Yet even he bore an even more famous title—
Hanzo!
Jiraiya-sensei, Tsunade, and Orochimaru earned the title of Sannin not only because of their individual strength but also due to one particularly significant factor:
Their summoning beasts!
Minato bit through his finger, smearing his blood across the other palm before forming hand seals.
"Inu (Dog)—Tora (Tiger)—U (Rabbit)—Saru (Monkey)—Hitsuji (Sheep)..."
This hand seal sequence was a ninjutsu technique Jiraiya-sensei had taught him—in both this life and the one before.
[Summoning Jutsu!]
Minato slammed his hand forcefully onto the ground. A black seal spread rapidly across the earth's surface while a massive surge of chakra erupted from his body.
"There's someone!"
"This chakra... immediately alerted the Suna ninja who were about to leave the area. Even if none among them were Sensor-type ninja, any ninja could instinctively sense such a massive release of chakra.
Moreover, what happened next was absolutely impossible to hide.
"Boom!"
Thick smoke spread through the forest with a loud explosion, and shortly after, the entire mountain range seemed to tremble slightly.
An irritated voice cut through the air. "Jiraiya! What the hell made you summon me to somewhere like this?"
The Iwa ninja rushing toward the source of the chakra disturbance froze when they saw the enormous creature emerging from the woods.
One of them let out a stifled gasp. "What... what kind of creature is this?"
Hearing that slightly familiar voice, Minato—who stood atop Gamabunta's head—felt a wave of nostalgia.
Back then, he had gone through quite an ordeal just to earn this big toad's approval.
The one summoned by Minato, naturally, was none other than Gamabunta from Mount Myoboku!
As Minato was lost in thought for a moment, Gamabunta raised his eyes and spotted Minato standing on his head, along with Nawaki, unconscious beside him.
"So it's you, brat!"
Gamabunta gave a slight start. As an elite member of the toad clan, he immediately realized the chakra used to summon him wasn't Jiraiya's—it belonged to Minato.
"[Summoning] you so suddenly—I know it must've been strange, but believe me, I had no choice," Minato said carefully, fully aware of Gamabunta's temper.
Upon hearing this, Gamabunta looked momentarily stunned. He already knew Minato was Jiraiya's disciple—they'd met once before back at Mount Myoboku.
So he couldn't help but wonder: How could a kid barely ten years old manage to summon him? Even most Jonin couldn't pull off something like that.
However, Gamabunta wasn't unreasonable. Glancing at the gloomy sky and endless rain, he quickly pieced things together.
He recognized it as the Land of Rain—the setting for the Second Great Ninja War.
He also noticed the nearby Suna ninja who had stopped moving. Raising his gaze, he asked Minato, "Brat, are you surrounded by Suna ninja?"
Minato gave a slight nod. "More or less."
"In that case, I'll help you deal with them—for Jiraiya's sake."
Gamabunta declared. Though there were over a dozen Suna ninja here, with his strength, defeating them wouldn't be particularly difficult.
Yet, from atop his head came Minato's urgent shout, "No, boss! We don't have time for them right now. My friend has been poisoned by Chiyo of Sunagakure—we need to find Tsunade-sama to save him!"
Gamabunta was familiar with Chiyo's name too. Now, he turned his attention to the other boy lying on his head.
"This kid—is he from the Senju clan?"
Gamabunta had a bit of sensing ability. He could tell Nawaki's chakra, inherited from the Senju bloodline, was indeed different from ordinary chakra.
"He is the younger brother of Tsunade-sama, and the grandson of the First Hokage. His name is Nawaki." Minato immediately explained Nawaki's identity to Gamabunta.
"Quite an impressive background, being the grandson of the First Hokage..." Gamabunta muttered, clearly a bit taken aback.
Hashirama Senju, the God of Ninja and First Hokage. Even Gamabunta, who normally resided at Mount Myoboku, had heard of his legendary might.
They say that anyone who saw his power compared him to the legendary Sage of Six Paths—the mythical founder of ninjutsu.
"Kid, which direction are we heading?" Gamabunta asked directly, somewhat catching Minato off guard.
But Minato quickly pointed in one direction and called out, "Just keep going straight ahead!"
Gamabunta turned his massive body in the direction Minato pointed, causing the ground beneath them to tremble slightly.
"Kid, hold on tight with that brat named Nawaki. Don't go falling off—'cause I sure won't be stopping for you!"
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>