Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 65 Gambling Game and Undercurrents

When summoning the contract scroll, Jiraiya remained calm, having been completely stunned by Naruto's series of incredible feats. However, when Naruto formed the hand seals for the first time, he still felt a small surge of anticipation.

Who will be the first person Naruto summons? With such an outrageous amount of chakra, will he summon the most difficult one?

Unexpectedly, Naruto did not unleash his full chakra output, but instead cautiously chose a smaller amount, and a small orange toad appeared with the smoke.

"Where is this? Jiraiya, what do you want! I'm not playing with you if you don't give me some snacks!"

Naruto was overjoyed to see his childhood friend, but it was a bit difficult for him to conjure up something that a toad likes to eat.

"I summoned you, little toad."

"Who's the little toad! My name is Gamakichi, and I'll grow bigger than a mountain someday!" Gamakichi retorted loudly. This guy was very impatient, having inherited his father's temper tenfold. Back then, apart from those days at Mount Myōboku, every meeting with this little guy was extremely dangerous, and there was no time for a proper chat. I never expected little Gamakichi to be so fun.

"Yes, yes, they will grow up in the future."

Mount Myōboku... for the continuation of this world, they offered up almost everything.

"I thought you'd attract something even bigger. Are you tired?" Jiraiya deliberately chirped, intending to motivate Naruto and get him to test his limits.

However, Naruto was long past the age of comparing himself to others. Instead, he teased Gamabunta with his finger and said, "Summoning Jutsu is the second space-time ninjutsu I've encountered, and it's very easy to learn. I'm a little curious about what guidance through bloodlines is like."

Jiraiya asked curiously, "The second one? What was the first one then?"

"Flying Thunder God Technique." Naruto complained exaggeratedly, "This technique is super~ hard~ to learn! Sasuke and I studied it over and over again but we still couldn't learn it, so we had to put it aside for now. So this is what spatial transfer feels like!"

"By the way, since it's a blood pact, can the toads also communicate with me? How about letting them try it once? I'm a little curious about my ability to enter a spatial teleportation state..."

Jiraiya thought he was beyond surprised, but Naruto continued to redefine his understanding. Having only just learned ninjutsu, he could already guess that the Summoning Jutsu could be used in reverse, and even showed interest in the Flying Thunder God Technique… Truly, he's Minato's son! It seems he perfectly inherited Minato's talent…

"Your father knows reverse psychic abilities? We can try it if we just bring him here?"

While someone was distracted, the two little ones inexplicably got along well and even started discussing the possibility of activating the spell.

"Then let's give it a try!"

Before Jiraiya could react, Naruto formed hand seals again. This time, his eyes visibly turned blood red, and the chakra emanating from his body was a chaotic mix of red and blue, on a completely different level than before! Jiraiya was too late to stop him; he could only watch helplessly as the hand slammed down. Then, the two of them and the toad instantly rose more than ten meters above their heads, making even the surrounding forest seem adorable.

"Jiraiya! Why did you call me out here?!"

Damn it, how come this kid is so accurate every time he summons someone!

The idea of ​​experiencing reverse psychic communication ultimately failed. Gamabunta isn't a frog that's easy to talk to; you can forget about standing safely on his head until you gain his approval!

Gamabunta refused to believe that Naruto could summon him alone, so they made a bet. By then it was already getting dark, and they naturally couldn't bet on the same thing as in their past lives—that the sun wouldn't fall off their heads before sunset—and clubbing at night would be a bit of a disturbance, so they made a simple bet.

They bet on who could reach the opposite hilltop first.

Gamabunta was confident of victory; after all, he was a toad, and this distance could be covered with a single frog leap. He was sure he could laugh at the overconfident kid from the top of the hill. If the kid could just shine a little and make it to the finish line, he might even consider taking him on as a follower. However, Naruto's performance was too dazzling. He transformed into his One-Tailed form, showcasing his "Yellow Flash" technique to everyone. Despite the numerous obstacles on the ground, Naruto almost won the race.

"Do you feel anything unusual? Like a bad mood, or inner turmoil?" Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and played with him from head to toe, making the kid both laugh and cry.

"No, I just feel warm all over and full of energy."

That's strange. Is the Nine-Tails really that kind? Giving power but not negative emotions?

"Perverted Sage, I told you Kurama has a very good temper." Naruto slapped away the hand that had been messing with his head for a while and asked expectantly, "Do I consider myself to have finished learning the Summoning Jutsu?"

"...Uh, yes, of course it counts!" Being able to summon Gamabunta on the very first day is even more outrageous than Minato's feat.

"So what will we learn tomorrow?"

Because of his experience taking on apprentices, the master, who hadn't expected Naruto to finish learning everything in a day, was silently drenched in sweat. If Naruto continued learning at this pace throughout the month, wouldn't his savings... be completely depleted?

"...Of course it is! A super powerful ninjutsu! Created by the Fourth Hokage!"

"Really? That's great!"

"Lord Jinlun, we might need some help..." One of the two men on a mission to track Maki sent out a distress call, though it wasn't very urgent.

〖What's wrong?〗

We... uh, picked up someone?

〖？〗

"Let me explain," Hui, the one more skilled at intelligence gathering, interrupted Lang's ambiguous remarks—words that should absolutely not appear in the report. "Maki had a meeting with Kabuto today, and we were lying in ambush nearby in plain clothes. A Konoha ninja stumbled upon the meeting and, unsurprisingly, was chased down and killed by Maki."

Seeing that the battle was going against the ninja, we had no choice but to intervene and rescue him. Now he's injured and unconscious, and we don't know what to do next. That's all.

...They actually dared to attack and kill Konoha ninjas in Konoha. What audacity!

"Did Maki see you?"

[I just covered my face and went on stage, I'm not sure.]

Wait for me, I'm coming right away.

While making excuses to refuse Jiraiya's offer to take him home, Naruto contacted the four-man group to discuss countermeasures. They weren't worried about the injured ninja bleeding to death; the Senju clan was skilled in medicine, and even those without medical ninjutsu could perform basic first aid. Besides, Ryō was one of the Senju who excelled in medical ninjutsu. Their only concern was how they, a group of living dead, would get past Konoha's inspection if the trouble reached the higher-ups.

"Gentlemen, I believe this is an opportunity," said the far-sighted First Hokage. "This ninja is a member of the Hokage's Guard, and the two we sent are also key members of the future 'East Wind.' A life-saving debt is extraordinary; we can give that child the power of choice and forge a good relationship."

Compared to the distant "East Wind," which is still assessing the cooperative environment in Konoha, shouldn't the Konoha Crush Plan be the most pressing issue?