Everyone stood there, stunned into silence.
A tiny snake, two toads, and a small slug.
Four creatures facing off, none willing to back down.
The presence was fierce enough, but the snake was only as thick as a thumb. The two toads, one male and one female, could probably use an Ichiraku ramen bowl as a bathtub. As for the slug, it looked no different from a big lump of mochi floating in red bean soup.
Madara Uchiha, who had never had any contact with senjutsu before, twitched at the corner of his mouth. In his mind, Hashirama was living up to every expectation of being unreliable.
"Didn't I tell you to find a sage who practices senjutsu?! What is this? Why are you summoning bugs?!"
Hashirama Senju drooped under the scolding.
"I really just wanted to summon Slug-sama from the Shikkotsu Forest…"
"Hey! Brat!! Who are you calling a bug?!" Manda swished its tiny tail, glaring down at Madara Uchiha with all the menace it could muster.
"Say that again and I'll eat you!"
"..."
Awkward.
The whole scene was almost comical.
Madara Uchiha turned to the attendant beside him.
"Snake soup tonight."
The moment it heard that, and saw Madara Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, the snake that was barely two feet long and thumb-thick immediately scurried behind its natural enemies, the two toads.
"Yaa—!!"
A shrill, loli-like scream rang out, followed instantly by a frog-webbed slap that sent Manda flying.
Shima-sennin, in her sharp, girlish voice, accused Manda's pointed tail of touching her butt.
Fukasaku-sennin, deep in the throes of romance, immediately lost his cool. Puffing out his chest and planting his hands on his hips, he was ready to challenge his natural enemy on the spot.
Only the slug, with her gentle voice, noticed Hashirama and calmly asked why he had summoned her.
"Well…"
Watching the two toads and one snake glare at each other, Hashirama scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I have a few kids here. I was wondering if they could form a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, one of the Three Great Sage Regions."
Seeing the chaos and Madara already looking like he was ready to stomp them one by one, Hashirama hesitated before asking,
"Um… are these three… your friends?"
The slug replied softly,
"Shima and Fukasaku are from Mount Myōboku. Manda is from Ryūchi Cave. Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave are the other two sacred lands besides Shikkotsu Forest. As for our relationship… 'mutual restraint' fits better than 'friends'~"
Snakes eat frogs. Frogs eat slugs. Slug acid, in turn, can seriously injure snakes.
Shima's piercing loli voice finally pushed Madara past his limit. He lifted his leg, clearly planning to kick her away. Obito, who had been beaten senseless by his ancestor for days now, could tell what Madara was about to do with just one glance. Before Madara's foot came down, he lunged forward and rescued the strange-looking toad.
"Kid! I like you!"
Shima's boyfriend, Fukasaku, stepped forward like an underworld big shot and held out a fist toward Obito.
Obito, completely confused, bumped fists with him.
Fukasaku said,
"As thanks for saving my girlfriend…"
The tiny toad, not even the size of a palm, pulled out an absurdly huge, oversized scroll.
Obito: "Huh?"
Fukasaku winked at him.
"Young man, I'll allow you to form a summoning contract with Mount Myōboku! Write your name on it, press your palm print, and then drink the brotherhood contract wine with us. That seals the deal!"
Obito Uchiha: "...."
Madara Uchiha: "....."
Sasuke Uchiha: "....."
Naruto Uzumaki: "Wait! Wasn't I the one supposed to make a contract with Mount Myōboku?!"
Madara shot Obito a sidelong glance.
"You brat… what kind of luck is that?"
Sasuke and young Kakashi both felt a sting of jealousy. Why was it always the dead last types who had such ridiculous luck?! For a moment, they were seized by the helpless feeling of being "too outstanding to ever fit in with underachievers."
Seizing the rare opportunity, Hashirama quickly ordered several jugs of sake and a set of red sake cups to be brought over.
Seeing the stupid toads actually preparing to sign a contract with that brat, Manda immediately bristled with indignation.
"You've fallen so low you're signing a contract with an Uchiha?! Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?!"
Huh?!!!
A tiny snake actually knew about the Uchiha?
Ah…
Come to think of it, very few summoned beasts could speak, yet all of these could. Somehow, everyone had forgotten to be shocked by that.
Manda let out a shrill scream as the tip of its tiny tail was suddenly crushed under Madara's foot.
"Fallen so low as to sign a contract with the Uchiha?"
As clan head, Madara couldn't possibly let that slide. He ground his foot down on the tail tip a few more times.
At this age, though, Manda was still young and didn't know much about the old grudges between Mount Myōboku and the Uchiha.
Shima waved her hand dismissively, her voice still sweet and childish.
"Forget it, forget it. That's ancient history from the old grandpas' generation!"
She turned to Obito.
"Kid! I like you too! Come on, sign the contract!"
Forced into it like a duck pushed onto a perch, Obito bit his finger and wrote [Obito Uchiha] on the massive scroll.
The scroll didn't even have the names of Jiraiya or Minato Namikaze on it yet.
Only after pressing his palm print did Obito finally realize.
"Wait! I'm not even twenty yet! I can't drink alcohol!!"
"Human rules are such a hassle," Shima the Toad muttered.
Fukasaku the Toad chimed in, "Then we'll just have to make up for the contract wine after you turn twenty."
Thinking about the connection to the parallel world, Obito turned to Minato Namikaze. "Minato-sensei, once we return to our parallel future world, won't this contract become invalid?"
Minato Namikaze replied, "I believe it should remain valid. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to summon Bunta's younger form just now."
As he observed the two toads who had sealed the contract with Obito, his mind reflexively went back to his time training in Senjutsu at Mount Myōboku, where he had been forced to eat those giant insects...
"Shima-sama, Fukasaku-sama, it's truly an honor to meet you both in this era."
The two toads sized up Minato Namikaze, clearly unimpressed. "Kid, who are you?"
Minato smiled awkwardly. "About forty years from now, under Jiraiya-sensei's guidance, I'll sign a contract with Mount Myōboku. Later, while training in Senjutsu, I'll receive your care."
"Oh ho?" Fukasaku the Toad perked up. "You can actually use Senjutsu?"
Minato blushed slightly. "I'm not particularly skilled, but I can manage."
He demonstrated his Senjutsu form to the two Toad Sages.
Fukasaku and Shima both gasped simultaneously. "A perfect Sage Mode!!" they exclaimed. "What do you mean not skilled? That's clearly an exceptionally rare, perfect Sage Mode!"
Sakura, watching this exchange, asked the toads, "What exactly is a perfect Sage Mode?"
The two toads explained, "Most people, when using Senjutsu, can't balance natural energy and chakra. As a result, they manifest the physical traits of the sacred creature they've contracted with."
Minato nodded, recalling what he had seen Jiraiya-sensei look like when he used Senjutsu.
"If contracted with Mount Myōboku, you might develop webbing between your fingers, bumps on your body, and your mouth and nose might resemble a toad's."
Sakura immediately shivered at the thought of a human-toad fusion, wrapping her arms around herself.
Shima-sennin praised Minato, "Few can wield Perfect Sage Mode like the legendary Rikudō Sennin. You're an absolute genius!"
"Rikudō Sennin?!" Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha froze in surprise.
Especially Madara Uchiha—his clan, the Uchiha, prided itself on being descendants of the Rikudō Sennin, and they even had a stone monument left by the Rikudō Sennin in their clan shrine!
Naruto, watching his father's perfect Senjutsu form, felt an intense desire to gain such power himself.
Never one to hold back, and without the burden of an idol complex, he immediately pounced on the two toads, awkwardly showering them with praise while expressing his desire to form a contract with Mount Myōboku.
Seeing that their rival had gained a disciple, Manda, enraged, bellowed for Naruto to come and bind himself to their Ryūchi Cave contract instead.
This startled Minato. Their lineage, starting with Jiraiya-sensei, had always been Frog-style. If his son became Snake-style, it just wouldn't make sense... Though the mission scroll hadn't specified which sacred place he had to join...
Worse still, Katsuyu, the Slug Sage, spoke up. "Didn't Hashirama-sama suggest this child consider joining our Shikkotsu Forest? And..." She paused. "This child is of the Uzumaki Clan bloodline, isn't he? Historically, both the Uzumaki and Senju clans who pursued Senjutsu have always formed contracts with our Shikkotsu Forest!"
"Eh?! Is that true?" Minato looked stunned. "Hashirama-sama!"
Hashirama scratched his head, slightly uncomfortable. "Well... my clan and the Uzumaki clan haven't really interacted with the other sacred grounds, so..."
The situation had escalated into the Three Great Sage Regions fighting over Naruto as their disciple?!
Obito wanted to scream. "Who just said I had good luck?! Come the hell out here!!!"
Madara Uchiha: ...
Ever since meeting the Fourth Hokage, Sasuke finally understood the terrifying nature of Naruto's destiny. It was as if the entire world was somehow bound to Naruto's fate, like some invisible force had linked the two.
He sighed, noticing Manda's tiny tail still under Madara's foot.
He casually remarked to Madara, "Lift your foot, Madara."
Unlike Obito, who overly 'respected' Madara, Sasuke never called him "Ancestor" or "Old Man." He always addressed him by name.
Madara didn't mind the lack of titles. He raised an eyebrow but lifted his foot. He had been uncomfortable stepping on it anyway.
Sasuke turned to the four squabbling creatures. "Can one only choose one sacred place to form a contract? If that's the case..." His voice trailed off, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.
He felt a bit embarrassed to voice this. After all, like when he was learning to climb trees, he was still only thirteen, and he didn't want to watch Naruto and Obito get ahead of him.
So Sasuke immediately wanted to secure a chance to train at a sacred site for himself...
But unexpectedly, before he could finish his sentence, the first part alone caused the snakes, toads, and slugs of the Three Great Sage Regions to have an epiphany.
"Ahem!" Manda, sensing their faction held less leverage than the others, swiftly agreed to the proposal.
After all, the Manda, the two Toads, and even the lone "Great Slug Sage" present—though they often called others "kids"—were all still children themselves. Competitiveness and impulsiveness were perfectly natural.
By the time the sole 'adult' here, Katsuyu, had processed the situation, the other two factions had already reached an agreement: Naruto would sign contracts with both Mount Myōboku and the Ryūchi Cave simultaneously.
"No, this..." Katsuyu's teenage voice trembled slightly.
She had never seen anything so infuriating! The Uzumaki Clan should clearly belong to her Shikkotsu Forest!
The tiny slug, a mere one-six-hundred-billionth of Katsuyu's true form, was utterly miserable. Under the threats of two toads and a snake, she had no choice but to produce her contract scroll as well...
Naruto: "I can't drink either, you know! I promised my parallel world mom that much!"
Naruto's stance was firm. The toads and snakes didn't press the issue, and the slugs didn't have the custom of drinking contract wine anyway.
Naruto smoothly signed summoning contracts with the Three Great Sage Regions: the Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku, and the Shikkotsu Forest!
That level of luck left both Minato Namikaze and Hashirama Senju marveling.
"Hey! Kid, you're not half bad. Want me to sign something for you?"
Sasuke Uchiha, who had been standing there dumbfounded, got a nudge from Manda's tiny tail. The tail even had Madara Uchiha's shoe print on it, making the whole scene look rather pitiful.