Kiba's forked tongue flickered as he spoke, his golden eyes locking on Izumi with a serious glint.
"Alright, next up is the most important part. If you're going to be a summoner of Ryūchi Cave, you can't just stop at small or mid-sized snakes. You need a massive snake—one that can dominate a battlefield by sheer size alone. Summon the largest you can with your strongest Chakra, and I'll introduce you!"
Izumi tilted her head slightly. "You mean… one of those legendary huge snakes?"
Kiba's thick tail thumped against the ground. "Exactly. The kind that makes even veteran shinobi hesitate."
Izumi couldn't help imagining herself standing triumphantly atop a serpent's head, hair whipping in the wind, the enemy trembling below. Just the image made her grin. "That would be… so cool."
"Then do it," Kiba encouraged, his own voice carrying a strange mix of anticipation and unease.
Drawing a deep breath, Izumi gathered every drop of Chakra she could muster, her body vibrating faintly from the strain. She slammed her blood-marked palm into the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a deafening BOOM, a violent burst of smoke erupted in the middle of the canyon. The air seemed to shift as a massive shadow loomed over them. The ground trembled beneath Izumi's feet as the dust began to clear.
What emerged was unlike any snake Izumi had seen before — a colossal purple serpent, his thick body filling the canyon floor from wall to wall. His scales were jagged, gleaming like polished armor plates, and his head alone was large enough to crush a boulder. He moved slightly, and the sunlight vanished, his shadow swallowing both Izumi and Kiba whole.
Izumi's jaw dropped. "Whoa… just looking at him feels powerful! Kiba-senpai, who is—" She turned, but Kiba wasn't answering. He was staring at the snake with wide, almost panicked eyes.
"How… much Chakra do you even have to be able to summon Manda?" he asked finally, his voice carrying disbelief.
Izumi blinked. "Manda? Oh, so that's his name? Wait… Manda? Don't tell me it's—"
Kiba gave a small, tense nod. "Yes. That Manda. The most brutal and temperamental serpent in all of Ryūchi Cave." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm out of here."
"Wait—" Izumi grabbed his tail before he could slither away. "Senpai, aren't you supposed to introduce me?!"
"Introduce you?!" Kiba hissed. "He'd eat me before I finish my sentence. You deal with this yourself. Good luck!" With that, he slipped from her grasp and vanished into the shadows.
Izumi stared after him in disbelief. "Seriously? You're the one who told me to use all my Chakra, and now you're running away?!"
A low, rumbling chuckle drew her attention back to the towering serpent. Manda's eyes narrowed as he leaned closer, his massive head tilting slightly. "Hmm. Not Orochimaru… just a child. Tell me, little one, did you summon me?"
Izumi straightened her back and nodded cautiously. "Yes."
"Then you know the rules, don't you?" Manda's voice was deep and slow, like rocks grinding together.
"Rules?" Izumi asked, unease curling in her gut.
"One hundred live sacrifices," Manda declared. His roar made the very air vibrate, a gust of hot wind blasting from his mouth and forcing Izumi to brace herself. Her hair flew sideways, nearly parallel to the ground.
"Uh… this is my first time summoning you, so I didn't know there were rules," she admitted, forcing a weak smile. "I was hoping maybe you could—"
"No."
Izumi blinked. "I haven't even finished my sentence!"
"Everyone I've eaten starts their excuses the same way."
She paused, then nodded as if she understood completely. "Right…"
Her eyes darted behind him. She gasped suddenly and pointed. "Oh, look! There's a flying pig behind you!"
Manda didn't even bother turning his head. He simply stared.
Izumi dropped her hand. "Yeah… didn't think that would work."
She took a small step back, lifting her hands in a placating gesture. "Big brother, I'm just a small-time ninja. Where would I even get a hundred people for you? Please let me go."
Manda's tongue flicked out once, tasting the air.
Thinking quickly, Izumi raised her voice toward a cluster of shadows along the canyon wall. "Rosha-senpai! Please put in a good word for me!"
This time, Manda turned his head toward where she was looking.
In that instant, Izumi spun and bolted, muttering under her breath, "Guess even snakes can be distracted… though that size difference is insane."
But Manda's head whipped back almost immediately. His eyes flashed with irritation, and he lunged, his gaping jaws descending like a falling boulder.
"Ahhh! No, no, no—!" Izumi sprinted, her sandals kicking up clouds of dust as the giant serpent's head smashed into the ground behind her. The canyon shook violently with every strike. Chunks of rock tumbled from the walls as Manda's enormous body slammed back and forth in pursuit.
"Fine! You asked for it!" Izumi skidded to a stop, spinning on her heel. Her hands blurred through seals. "Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"
Dozens of concealed Exploding Tags she had prepared earlier ignited at once, detonating across Manda's scales with thunderous BOOM-BOOM-BOOM bursts.
Smoke engulfed the canyon floor. Izumi's Sharingan flared as she scanned the haze — and then she saw a huge silhouette moving inside it.
"Tch—" She turned and ran again.
Manda burst from the smoke completely unharmed, a deep, amused hiss rumbling from his throat. Without warning, he reared back, jaws opening wide.
"Water Release: Water Torrent!"
A massive surge of water exploded from his mouth, roaring down the canyon like a river in flood. Izumi's feet left the ground as the current swept her away, tumbling her head over heels.
When the water finally ebbed, a huge squid now occupied the space where the torrent had been. With a wet slurp, Izumi was spat out of its mouth and landed on the ground, coughing. She winced, clutching her right hand — the one Luo Snake had only just healed.
"Great… injured again." She turned to the squid. "Thanks for the save, though."
The squid gave a lazy wave of its tentacles before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Dripping wet, Izumi glanced back toward Manda and muttered, "So that's Water Release at his level… terrifying. Good thing I reacted fast, or I'd be paste right now."
She formed a fresh set of seals. "Alright, let's see how you like this! Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade!"
A spiraling column of water formed in her palm, its tip sharp and focused. She hurled it at Manda's head. Upon impact, it expanded into a massive whirlpool that swallowed half of his face.
But when the water fell away, Manda simply shook his head, unharmed.
"Seriously?!" Izumi backed away rapidly.
With a low growl, Manda spat several enormous water bullets in rapid succession. They slammed into the ground around her, throwing up columns of spray and sending her tumbling through the mud.
Flat on her back, she wheezed, "I can't keep this up—stop! Stop!" She scrambled to her feet, raising a hand. "Alright! I don't have live sacrifices, but I can give you something else!"
Manda's head tilted. "What?"
Reaching into a scroll pouch, Izumi unsealed a large stack of clay jars. "Medicinal wine! All for you. Just please, don't chase me anymore. This place is too close to Konoha — if the ninja here show up, I'll never be able to explain this!"
Manda's forked tongue darted out, tapping one jar, then another. He seemed to consider it for a moment before flicking them into his mouth one by one. After swallowing the last, he closed his eyes, savoring the taste.
"Hmm… not bad. I'm satisfied. This time, I'll let your ignorance slide. And since your offering pleased me, I'll even help you once for free in the future."
Izumi's brows rose. "Wait… you're actually this reasonable? I thought you'd treat me the same way you treat Orochimaru."
Manda's eyes snapped open, a cold gleam in them. "Orochimaru? That ungrateful wretch. Do you really think I care about offerings as food? A hundred sacrifices wouldn't even make a decent appetizer. What I want is respect. And he can't even bother to offer me anything, yet expects me to risk my life for him? Foolish."
He leaned closer until his head filled her vision. "Remember, this is your beginner's benefit. One free help, then after that, you will provide proper offerings. I despise freeloaders. Who risks their life for free? Only the insane."
Izumi gave a small, awkward laugh. "Noted. No freeloading. Got it."
With a final snort, Manda vanished in a loud bang.
Izumi released a long breath, her shoulders slumping. "Well… that was something." She wasted no time in leaving the canyon.
Moments after she disappeared, several masked figures flickered into view — Anbu operatives, their gazes sweeping over the shattered canyon walls and flooded ground.
"What happened here?" one muttered, crouching to inspect the massive scale marks in the earth..
None of them had an answer, but the evidence was clear: something very, very large had been here.
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