Chapter 227: Summoning Jutsu
"Kazahana Koyuki's mission request has already been sent to Konoha. The mission content is to maintain and expand the Land of Snow's heating system, nominally... it specifically requests that the three of you from Team 7 carry out the mission," Tsunade said, handing the mission scroll directly to Haruno Sakura and asking, "Are you going alone, or will you find someone to accompany you?"
"I'll go with Sasuke. He can be of some help."
"Alright. With that boy Sasuke by your side to watch you, I won't be so worried," Tsunade said, rocking her chair and turning gently.
Haruno Sakura's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Master actually trusts Sasuke's integrity more... even though I'm a person who can also hold the bottom line, okay!
"It won't affect Sasuke's training, right? This mission of yours is for more than a month."
"He can also train in Lightning Style in the Land of Snow. And at that time, I will teach him a new Lightning Style ninjutsu. It's very strong!"
"Hn..." Tsunade didn't press the matter of why Sakura would know a Lightning Style ninjutsu, nor did she ask what kind of ninjutsu it was. She nodded slightly and handed the girl a small, sealed bottle.
"This is a part of the tissue that was cut off when we were cleaning Yūgao's wound. I've been using medical ninjutsu to maintain its activity. You don't have much time this time, so you must hurry and try to make a new heart within this year."
Within this year? Sakura looked at Tsunade and suddenly realized that her letting her be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin so quickly also had this meaning. A Tokujō could leave the village independently to complete a mission!
However, Tsunade letting her be promoted to Tokujō was mainly because she felt it would be more convenient to order her around...
After the fight with Kakuzu, her combat power had undergone the most rigorous test. Tsunade had begun to believe that she already had the ability to stand on her own.
And then she had given her a mission that should have been completed by an Anbu squad as a Tokujō assessment mission!
Tsunade gave a few more instructions and then brought Sakura to a practice field.
"Today, I'm going to teach you a new ninjutsu, the Summoning Jutsu!" Tsunade said, taking out a scroll. "With your aptitude, you should have learned this ninjutsu long ago... Let me confirm one more time, you're not allergic to mollusks, are you?"
"It's alright..." Haruno Sakura thought for a moment and then answered.
She sometimes even found snails to be quite cute.
However, for wet, slimy mollusks, she did feel a certain sense of keeping a respectful distance.
This was human nature! It wasn't because she had transformed into a girl in this life that she was being delicate. In her previous life, she also hadn't dared to touch a slug!
However, when it came to battle, when she was circulating her Ice Style chakra at full power, she could naturally block out most of the emotions that were not beneficial to the fight and appear very calm... In that state, she should be able to deal with slugs without any pressure.
"That's good..." Tsunade saw that Sakura's expression did not show any reluctance and nodded. "Otherwise, if you're disrespectful to the Slug Sage later, that would be a very serious matter. Then, sign the summoning scroll! The hand seal order for the Summoning Jutsu is Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Let's see how much of the slug you can summon!"
Under Tsunade's guidance, Sakura completed the procedure of signing the summoning contract, and then the hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof—!
A puff of smoke appeared, and Haruno Sakura suddenly found herself rising up. The feeling under her feet changed from solid ground to something soft.
A patterned slug as tall as a three-story building lay horizontally under her feet.
The Summoning Jutsu had succeeded on the first try. After all, this jutsu was not very difficult for Haruno Sakura.
The key was that standing on the slug's back, unexpectedly, there was no strange or disgusting feeling, probably because she was circulating her Ice Style chakra.
However, the slug's back was not as she had imagined, a slimy layer. On the contrary, it was very dry, soft, and smooth. Paired with its almost transparent skin and flesh, it looked a bit like jelly.
The girl carefully touched it with her hand. She didn't touch any disgusting mucus. The touch was soft and elastic.
Hn, it feels pretty good... She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. In that case, even for normal contact outside of a combat state, there would be no problem at all. She had thought she would see a slug several dozen meters long.
That taste would surely have left her with an aftertaste for several days and given her nightmares for a week.
"Lady Tsunade, what can I do for you?" the slug asked, after glancing around and not finding any hostile chakra.
To be able to summon such a large slug on the first try?
Tsunade glanced at Haruno Sakura, smiled faintly, and said to the slug, "Hmph, slug, it wasn't me who summoned you this time. Come down, Sakura!"
"Let me introduce you. This is Haruno Sakura, your new summoning contractor. She was the one who summoned you just now," she said, waving Sakura down and patting the girl's shoulder. "This is a slug... hn, a part of the Slug Sage."
"Oh, a new contractor? It's a pleasure to meet you. Please take good care of me, Lady Haruno Sakura," the slug said, swaying the feelers on its head, as if nodding respectfully.
Haruno Sakura blinked. To have "Lady" added after her own name, this was the first time she had heard such a form of address... She immediately felt it was a bit strange. Was her status already this high?
"Please don't call me Lady. I'm still just a little kid who's just been promoted to Chunin for less than half a year," Haruno Sakura said with a smile. "Just call me by my name, or you can call me Sakura!"
The slug shook its head—if the part with the long feelers was its head—and said, "This is a sign of respect for a contractor, Lady Haruno Sakura. And with your strength, you are also worthy of the title 'Lady'."
"Hehe... let's not get hung up on the small matter of titles for now," Tsunade said with a serious expression. "Let's get down to business first!"
"Eh? Isn't signing the summoning contract the main business?"
Tsunade smiled mysteriously. "No, no, no, this is just an appetizer..."
"Besides signing the summoning contract and letting you master the summoning jutsu for slugs, there is one more important thing today, and that is to take you on a trip to the Shikkotsu Forest..."
"Shikkotsu Forest? What a familiar name!" Sakura was slightly taken aback.
This place name, she seemed to have heard it somewhere.
"Hn, you should have heard of it. The Shikkotsu Forest, Mount Myōboku, and the Ryūchi Cave are the three great sage lands, and also the places where the summoning beasts of the so-called Sannin—me, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—usually live."
"The places you mentioned, I've never seen them on a map!"
"Of course, because the civilized world that we humans have opened up is just a corner of this entire planet! Outside the territories of the five great nations and the various small countries, there is still a vast and boundless world... For example, the location of Mount Myōboku is a full month's journey from here. With a ninja's speed, this is already enough to cross the entire world map of the five great nations from left to right. And the location of the Shikkotsu Forest is even further from Konoha than Mount Myōboku!"
Haruno Sakura pondered for a while. She knew that outside the civilized world was an undeveloped and dangerous wilderness, but this was the first time she had realized that the area of human activity on this planet did not occupy the main body of the planet. No wonder the concept of "traveling around the world" did not exist here...
In the eyes of many people, the world was probably still flat, right? But the world is actually round!
As her eyes roamed, another new question came to her mind. "In that case, how did the people of the past find places like the Shikkotsu Forest and sign a contract with the Slug Sage?"
"Every era will have outstanding explorers..."
Tsunade said, pondering. This topic, if she were to expand on it, would probably take a day and a night to finish.
"Alright, let's not chat idly about these things for now. Let's not keep the slug waiting too long!" Tsunade said, waving her hand. Now was not the time for idle chat. "Experience the feeling of a reverse summoning jutsu! When you open your eyes, you'll be in the Shikkotsu Forest!"
"Slug, I'll trouble you."
The giant, dark-green-patterned mollusk nodded.
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