Cherreads

Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: Summoning Attempts

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Akira immediately left Anko's hut!

Summoning Jutsu is a special type of ninjutsu. Akira didn't plan to train at the practice field—if he accidentally summoned a massive creature like Gamabunta, it would definitely destroy the entire training ground.

Akira didn't want to be held responsible for the damages.

After much deliberation, he finally decided…

He would go to the Valley of the End!

Valley of the End

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Towering stone cliffs!

This was the legendary battleground where Naruto and Sasuke fought in the original story. Gentle streams of water flowed everywhere, constantly fed by the massive waterfall upstream. Since the gorge was wide, the water wasn't particularly deep.

Akira chose this location because it was spacious—perfect for summoning large creatures.

He found a relatively smooth boulder and sat down.

Plenty of rocks made it easy to walk around.

"This place should work."

He pulled out a massive scroll and spread it over the stone.

It was an advanced summoning scroll.

Learning the Summoning Jutsu required a contract scroll because the technique relied on a complex sealing formula. Without a scroll, he would have to write the runes manually every time, which would take too long. That's why sealing the formula on a scroll and carrying it around was standard practice.

Akira smirked as he looked at the scroll—he had bought it from the Third Hokage for 10,000 ryō. Supposedly, it was a "special deal," while ordinary shinobi would have to pay ten times the price.

"This location is perfect! The tools are ready! Summoning Jutsu test… start!"

Akira wasn't sure why he was hyping himself up, but after some pointless chatter, he pulled out a small knife and sliced his thumb open.

Summoning required blood.

Akira's scroll was a random summoning scroll.

Most summoning contracts were passed down through generations.

For example, Naruto's toad contract was given to him by Jiraiya—it was already pre-engraved with summoning runes, linking directly to the toads of Mount Myōboku.

But Akira had no such inheritance.

Since he lacked a pre-existing contract, this random scroll would summon any nearby summonable creatures. He would then have to tame them before they became his official summoning beasts.

Grinning, Akira pressed his bloody fingers onto the scroll.

"Boom!"

A puff of smoke appeared.

A tiny tadpole-like creature materialized, holding up a thumb as if giving approval.

"...What the hell? No way! With my summoning talent, how did I get a freaking tadpole?!"

Akira was baffled.

He had the chakra reserves of a Jōnin. In summoning, the more chakra used, the stronger the summoned creature. With the amount of chakra he had just used, there was no way he should've summoned something this weak!

Frustrated, he attempted another summon.

This time, he got a snail the size of a fist…

As long as the summoning contract wasn't signed, he could keep retrying, so Akira wasn't too worried about his initial failures.

He sliced his finger again.

And again.

And again.

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Meanwhile, in Konoha…

In the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was reviewing paperwork when a Jōnin suddenly burst in.

"Lord Hokage! Bad news—the storage room was robbed! A high-level summoning scroll is missing from the cabinet!"

"A summoning scroll?"

Hiruzen paused and put down the documents in his hand.

"Oh, that? Akira came to buy one this morning, so I gave it to him."

"...You gave it to him?"

The Jōnin was momentarily relieved but then tensed up again.

"Lord Hokage, that particular summoning scroll is defective. It doesn't summon strong creatures—it always produces… strange things. Are you aware of this?"

Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe and said nothing.

The Jōnin sighed and silently left the office.

Back at the Valley of the End…

Akira had failed for the hundredth time.

"DAMN IT! If this fails again, I'm going to destroy the Hokage Office!"

By now, he had realized that the Third Hokage had tricked him.

Despite using massive amounts of chakra, not only had he failed to summon a proper beast, but every single summon had been something absurd.

A worn-out sandal.

A paint bucket.

And worst of all…

A giant gray slug the size of a mountain.

Akira had almost vomited up his ramen from earlier.

In his previous life, he absolutely despised anything slimy, so he immediately canceled the summoning before the creature could even move.

"Okay, this is my last attempt. God, please let this be a decent summon!"

Akira was desperate.

By now, he was borderline anemic from slicing his fingers open over a hundred times. He estimated that if he didn't drink at least ten bowls of bone broth after this, he might actually pass out.

He pressed his bloodied fingers onto the scroll again.

"Boom!"

A cloud of smoke erupted.

A disgusting, slimy, shit-like creature slowly wriggled out of the mist.

Akira stared blankly at it.

It was… twitching.

Moving.

It looked alive.

"...No. No way."

Another failure.

Akira clenched his fists in rage.

"DAMN IT! I GOT SCAMMED! I'M GONNA KILL THE THIRD HOKAGE!"

Just as he was about to storm back to the village, the shit-like creature suddenly lunged at him!

Startled, Akira instinctively raised his hands to block it.

The moment they made contact—

A golden glow flashed.

The contract was successful.

"..."

Normally, a summoning contract required a connection between the summoner and the creature. Most shinobi bonded with their summon through friendship, aid, or mutual respect.

But there was also another method.

"Convince them with strength."

If the summoner's power vastly surpassed the summoned beast's, the creature would instinctively surrender and form a contract.

That's exactly what had happened.

The shit-like creature realized that Akira was way stronger than itself, so it immediately submitted.

"…What the hell just happened?"

Akira stared at his new summoning beast with disgust. The soft, wiggling pile of sludge twitched slightly.

He knew it wasn't actually poop—it was probably some kind of unknown mollusk or cellular mass.

But one thing was undeniable.

This thing was absolutely useless.

Based on its slow movement alone, Akira could already tell that it had zero combat potential.

Thirty minutes later…

A furious figure burst into the Hokage Office.

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