The sea sparkled under the sunlight as the three-masted sailing ship continued its journey toward the border of the Land of Fire, its sails full and taut with wind.
Minato Namikaze and Uzumaki Honoka stood hand in hand at the bow of the ship, laughing and chatting while sharing stories about their childhoods and growing-up experiences.
Though these peaceful days had already stretched on for three days, they still felt like there was never a shortage of things to talk about between them.
On the rear deck of the ship,
Two crows cawed mockingly at the falcon chained to the mast.
Occasionally, they would fly around from all corners of the ship, grabbing rags, splinters of wood, rusty nails, and other bits of debris to drop on the bound falcon from above.
Their smug expressions perfectly captured what it meant to be petty creatures who'd just tasted power.
If Kei Yamanaka hadn't outright banned them from pulling truly cruel pranks,
These two troublemakers constantly trying to mess with the falcon probably would've already dive-bombed and unleashed a couple of "bird bombs" right on its head.
And now, after three full days of torment, the falcon whose ankles were chained—unable to take flight or even fight back—had finally resigned itself to defeat.
Its earlier struggles and anger not only proved useless but also drew even more mocking laughter from the two crows.
What else could it do besides just give up?
"Your stubbornness isn't doing you any favors. Why not just come with me? You'll have all the good food and drinks you want," said Kei, wearing oversized sunglasses and an old pair of his previous life's classic beach shorts, sprawled lazily across a beach chair without caring about appearances.
He shot a sidelong glance at the falcon still sprawled motionless on the deck.
He spoke gently, attempting to reason with this hotheaded, stubborn creature.
"Kreeee..."
A feeble screech echoed through the air.
Kei immediately sat up straighter.
This was the first time in three whole days that the falcon had responded to him.
He leaped up from the lounge chair, made one-handed seals, and activated the Mind Body Transmission Technique of the Yamanaka Clan,
Establishing an emotional link with the falcon.
He repeated what he'd just said.
The falcon, lifeless and sprawled on the deck, gave him one glance before tucking its head beneath its wing again, clearly in no mood to interact with anyone.
But through the technique, its emotions surged into Kei's mind.
Sadness? Grief? Despair?
Nope, buddy.
You're just being asked to be someone's summoned beast, occasionally serving as a flying mount. Is that really such a bad deal?
Better dead than live without freedom?
"Being my summon means free food and lodging. Most of the time you can hang out in the animal house hitting on cute female falcons. So why are you being so damn stubborn?" Kei squatted beside the falcon, irritated, giving its wing a light slap.
"Kreee!!"
The falcon shot its head out from under its wing and let out an angry screech.
This time, the emotion that accompanied the cry came through stronger and clearer than before.
"I killed your… wives?! *Wives?!*"
Kei blinked in surprise, then immediately smacked the dumb bird's head right on the spot.
Damn it!
He, a World Traveler, hadn't even dared to claim a harem—yet this falcon had gone and started one already?
What about justice? What about the rules?
Hmm...
Didn't birds even have a Summoning Realm?
Wait, aren't eagles and falcons both monogamous?
What's your deal?
While everyone else turns bad things good, you somehow flip good things into bad ones.
Wait, didn't eagles and falcons have reproductive isolation? How in the world did you end up with such a messed-up bloodline?
Damn!
The ninja world really was one weird place!
These thoughts flashed through Kei Yamanaka's mind.
Seeing the eagle-falcon hybrid glaring at him murderously, like it wanted to tear off a bite of his flesh, he irritably unleashed a [C-Rank Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique].
There were only six raptors total on the Summoning Island.
He wasn't stupid enough to even consider killing one.
Those massive beasts were priceless treasures to Konoha—plenty of people would kill just to get their hands on one.
Once he got back to Konoha, wouldn't the families that bought female eagles jump at the chance to raise some adorable baby eagles?
The eagle-falcon Kei had chosen might've lacked slightly in size, but as the apex predator among raptors on the Summoning Island,
its speed and power eclipsed all others of its kind—what ninja wouldn't want it?
All those sly old clan elders were shrewd as hell. They'd probably be called saints if they didn't drug it and force it to breed.
Would they really try to keep a couple from reuniting?
A C-Rank [Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique] could wrap whatever the eyes saw in a thin layer of illusionary skin.
Using this technique's mechanism,
Kei directly pulled scenes from his Memory Palace—memories of what the bird summoning aviaries looked like
and how summoned beasts lived after being bonded with humans.
Then, he re-created the six female eagles he had seen that day in the aviary—one by one.
"Chirp?"
The eagle-falcon tilted its head, looking at the shifting scenery with a cute, clueless expression.
Ten minutes later,
after experiencing the scenario Kei crafted with illusion techniques, the beast finally understood—its mates were already living the good life elsewhere.
And if it became Kei's summon, it would soon join them there.
"Screee-chirp? Screeee!"
The desperate, defiant look vanished from the eagle-falcon's face. Its sharp gaze swept over the two crows before locking onto Kei, letting out excited calls.
In the ninja world, powerful animals generally had higher intelligence than normal creatures.
Though this eagle-falcon hadn't gone through special summoning beast training, its intelligence was roughly equivalent to a ten-year-old child.
Once it believed Kei's story,
it felt no resistance whatsoever toward becoming a summon—it actually thought it had scored a great deal.
After all, feeding six mates wasn't exactly easy!
Free food, free housing, and no worrying about starving himself or his kids—
how could it possibly refuse?
But it sure as hell wouldn't forget how royally messed up the last three days had been!
The two crows, who had been watching the show while grooming each other with their beaks, suddenly felt icy needles pierce their spines when the eagle-falcon's gaze fell upon them.
They trembled in fear, shielding each other with their wings, and turned pitiful looks toward Kei.
"Ahem... They were pretty scared by you earlier, so it's normal for them to be a bit upset, right? As the saying goes, leave a path when dealing with eagles—you never know when you'll cross paths again..."
Kei Yamanaka patted the eagle-falcon's wing while he started sweet-talking the bird whose intelligence barely scraped by, though his heart was pure.
He'd been raising those few crows in the coop for years now.
Honestly, he couldn't bear letting this guy bully them.
"Lii lii~ lii~"
"Exactly! Exactly!" Kei said, ruffling the eagle-falcon's feathers. "They're so tiny—barely big enough to get stuck between your teeth! How about letting them serve you tea and fetch water in the future instead?"
"Lii lii~"
"No problem, no problem at all! From now on, they'll be your little bros—they'll have to obey you!"
"Lii~"
"Alright alright, come on! Let's go sign this contract—mutual agreement, no cheating young or old!"
After some smooth talking, Kei saw the eagle-falcon finally nodding reluctantly.
Without hesitation, he pulled out a blank scroll from the side pocket of his Jonin flak vest, then used his own blood to draw out a blood summoning contract.
Guiding the eagle-falcon to drip one drop of its blood onto the scroll, pressing its claw print into the parchment—the summoning contract was officially completed!
"Let's go! I'll take you somewhere amazing to feast and live it up!"
Kei patted the eagle-falcon's big wings, smiling wider than ever before.
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