A/N: Remember when I did a poll to decide Noa's summon? Well, we had a winner! However, to acknowledge the second and third place results, I promised the creative readers who suggested them that I would write about Noa encountering those summons too, to honor their efforts. So, an awesome new mini-arc begins! (None of my suggestions even made it, by the way XD). Anyways, enjoy this amazing saga as we meet the winner of the poll's third place in this chapter (Raijin - shape shifting lightning spirits, different animal forms) [added by savio]).
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After taking a deep breath I began reading the scroll. Luckily it opened with the notes of the only people who can currently perform the technique. Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami were taught directly by the Fourth, and their insights were far more grounded. They offered a perspective that suited my current rudimentary understanding rather than getting slapped by high technical jargon from a once in a lifetime prodigy.
As per their understanding, the jutsu was built upon the concept of reverse summoning. It consisted of several components, starting with a seal formula that acted as a miniature summoning contract. This was paired with an incredibly complex spacetime equation which defined the location of the branded marker at all times. Upon activation, the user was essentially reverse summoned to that contract. They used the formula to ensure they materialized at the correct coordinates rather than in a random void or inside a solid wall.
The seal formula itself was the most daunting obstacle. It required a profound mastery of advanced seal concepts and relentless calculations to prevent fatal accidents. Beyond the math, the user had to visualize the seals and their mechanics in 4D. This was a feat few could perform reliably under the pressure of combat without risking a gruesome death.
This extreme difficulty was exactly why it required the combined efforts of three elite Jonin just to perform an inferior version of Minato's technique. The village simply could not justify risking a seal master or grandmaster on such a perilous jutsu. At that level of expertise, they were far too valuable as strategic assets to be lost to a teleportation error.
My eyebrow twitched as the realization dawned on me. Fugaku was essentially gambling with my life for a high reward. However, given that he had read Master Shuzo's feedback on my progress and my unique way of thinking, I knew he held a genuine hope that I would be the one to finally succeed.
I opened an empty scroll and started to copy their understanding of the summoning seal formula. They began by explaining the normal summoning jutsu with all its steps and hand seals. They then explained the concept of a reverse summon. This is where your summon, whom you must have a very good relationship with, spends chakra to use that summoning contract as an anchor to yank you to them instead of the normal way.
I tried to analyze the reverse summon concept, however it did not make sense to me since I did not know the basic jutsu to begin with. I then realized that I had to learn the summoning jutsu and study it. I would need to get my summon to reverse summon me, and only then would I get a true feeling for it. That was the only way to make my understanding complete.
And so I started reading the summoning jutsu in detail, understanding its chakra pathway through the body and the hand seals required to activate it. After going through the process of inventing a whole new jutsu, learning an already well established jutsu was relatively easy for me. After all, kid Naruto could do it, and he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed.
After a full day of training and getting my chakra pathways familiar with the activation sequence and memorizing the hand seals to guide the chakra through it, I was ready to perform it. Before I did, I stopped for a moment. I had a vague feeling, like I was missing something critical regarding the summoning jutsu, however my memory was hazy since it had been so long since I came to this world. I shrugged, talking to myself, which had become a dangerous habit due to the self-imposed isolation since I started working on my current projects. "Well, if I can't remember it, then it must not be important."
Since I was still high on my previous success, I recklessly waved through the hand seals. The chakra flowed slowly but through the correct pathways. Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram. With the final hand seal, I felt the world warp before my eyes widened as the memory finally came to my head. I remembered the Third Hokage panicking at Jiraiya using the jutsu without having a seal contract, which was extremely dangerous. The last thing I said before I was warped away was, "Oh shit."
I was thrown into chaos. It felt as if the world were flinging me in random directions, and had it not been for my resilient body, the experience would have been dangerous. I was hurtling through a tunnel of smeared, iridescent colors while simultaneously feeling multiple unseen forces trying to snag me and yank me toward them. However, one force was pulling me with tremendous power, until suddenly, the world snapped back into focus and I hit the ground hard.
I activated my Stormdrive the moment I made contact, using my highly unoptimized version of the lightning chakra cloak to shield myself as I plowed through several trees. I crashed violently into a boulder, vaporizing it into dust, but I finally managed to stick my landing and skidded for a long distance before coming to a halt.
I immediately deactivated Stormdrive to avoid draining my reserves. After all, I did not want to be stranded in an unknown land with low chakra.
Looking around I found myself in what appeared to be a vast swampland. A heavy, suffocating fog coated the world. Enormous trees loomed out of the mist, their trunks so massive that the canopy was completely hidden from view. I had landed in a relatively dry patch, but in every direction, the earth was broken by stretches of wet ground, thick mud, and stagnant pools. Some of the water was boiling, sending plumes of sulfurous steam into the air, while other ponds were green and completely still.
I finally noticed a pair of what looked like eyes made of unstable lightning in the fog. The mist began to rotate around them, taking the form of a massive cloud with lightning flaring through its core. It grew larger by the second, and behind it, a drum circle materialized. My eyes widened as I gripped a kunai, sweat appearing on my forehead with Stormdrive ready to roar back into action, but then a wicked, devious laugh sounded from behind me.
I looked back to find nothing. By the time I turned forward again, the massive stormy cloud and those lightning eyes were gone. I stayed still for a long time, sending out chakra pulses to scan the area, but I found nothing. The environment was so saturated by an ungodly amount of chakra that the entire place felt like white noise.
Eventually, I started to move slowly in a random direction. No matter how far I walked, there was nothing but fog and those impossibly tall trees. Sighing to myself, I decided to redo the summoning hand seals to see what would happen. That was when I sensed something behind me. I spun so fast that lightning carved a line through the air as it crawled around my kunai, my eyes sharp and ready for an attack.
What I saw bewildered me. On the floor sat an orange cat. She was cross eyed with her tongue hanging out, looking as if she had been trying to collect a single thought since birth but hadn't quite reached it yet. I stood there, mouth open and frozen in shock. How did this cat survive here? She looked like she forgets how to breathe on a regular basis.
I slowly approached her, but the cat turned with comical slowness and started walking away. It tripped shortly after, face planting into the mud, stood up to lick the filth off its face, ate it, and then wandered back into the fog. I remained frozen before finally collecting myself to follow, but she was gone.
It was as if she had simply vanished. I scratched my head and turned back, deciding to keep moving in the same direction. I figured I would eventually find something if I just kept at it, but then I froze once more. I felt something behind me. I looked back and felt my brain stall again.
A small tree had appeared out of nowhere. It had spindly, weak branches that looked like they would snap if I so much as sneezed in its direction. Growing from one of the twigs was a single grape, so malnourished it looked like the plant didn't understand its own biology. I was positive there had been nothing there a moment ago, but I couldn't deny what I saw. I disrupted my chakra just in case, but the weird sensation of a Genjutsu never came. My instincts were usually perfect at picking up illusions, yet the tree remained.
I groaned and turned to continue my walk, but then I heard a rustle. To my horror, as I turned back I saw the tree walking on its roots, shaking comically as it moved. The moment it realized I was looking, it froze and immediately slammed its roots back into the ground. I could have sworn I heard a faint whistling sound coming simultaneously from the small tree and from somewhere within the fog as the plant tried its best to act like a normal plant.
I shook my head, desperately trying to escape this weird fever dream, but then the plant suddenly decided to start mirroring my movement, shaking its branches just like me. My mind was blank and my face was frozen in absolute bewilderment as I whispered, "What the fu….."
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A/N: I had sooooo much fun writing this mini-arc. You all are going to have a blast reading it Hahaha, enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments.