It had been three whole days since Seimei returned to Konoha, and now he was ready to form the summoning pact with the giant, white wolf from the Deepwood Forest.

It was Sunday.

He had no academy classes, no appointments, no missions, and no get-togethers to attend. He had already completed all the potioneering research he was supposed to do for his father, Senju Tobirama, who was too busy with his duties as Hokage to focus on research at the moment.

However, strangely, his father still had time to check his progress and beat him black and blue in the name of assessing his strength on the very day he returned home.

Strange, indeed.

Still, looking at Tobirama's frustrated expression and almost bloodshot eyes, he could grasp just how troublesome and time-consuming the duties of a Hokage were.

Little time to rest. Almost no time for personal hobbies. A very short time to train each day. And always slumped with work, work, and more work.

This was especially true during these troubled times, when the other major elemental nations were itching to start a Shinobi world war.

In short, Tobirama felt incredibly drained and mentally fatigued every day, especially after pulling several all-nighters.

Fortunately, as a Super-Kage-level ninja, Senju Tobirama's vitality and mental strength were very high.

If it were normal people in his place, such work pressure might have left others completely hollow-eyed, as if dementors had sucked the very souls out of their bodies.

So, even though Tobirama's expression looked like he had been completely wrung dry by an essence-stealing succubus at the end of the work, he would still bounce back full of energy after some good food and a few hours of sleep.

Anyway, looking at his father's condition, Seimei decisively wiped out any thoughts about taking up the Hokage position in the future.

There was no fucking way he was going to fall into that deep pit of inhumane torture in the name of work by becoming a Hokage unless it was absolutely necessary.

Nope.

Not at all.

If others wanted this position of Hokage, let them take it.

As long as it isn't Danzo, anyone else can become Hokage all they want.

That guy was too dark.

Seimei wouldn't let him linger anywhere close to the Hokage position, not even as a Hokage advisor, elder, or a mere Hokage guard.

He was a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.

Let's send this guy to the distant borders for a long-term mission…cough cough…vacation. Yes, vacation.

This way, he could still contribute to Konoha.

After all, everything Danzo does is for Konoha, doesn't he?

Well, Danzo's words, not his.

So, Seimei was willing to fulfill his father's dear disciple's dream of serving Konoha for the rest of his life.

Perfect! (Evil, shady chuckles echoed in the air!)

Ah…

He was getting sidetracked again!

Never mind.

Let's get back to the main event.

That's right.

It was time to finally sign the summoning contract with that wolf and get a powerful, trustworthy summoning beast as his aid.

----------------------

Konoha, On the Top of the Cliff of the Hokage Rock…

Seimei could have signed the contract in his house's private training ground and summoned the giant, white wolf there.

But on a second thought, he changed his plans.

That big wolf wanted to watch the world outside the Deepwood Forest freely and enjoy the new scenery.

Summoning it in the closed space of his private training ground would have surely disheartened it.

So, Seimei chose to come to the top of the Hokage Rock and sign the summoning contract there.

This place had a great view. You could see the whole Konoha from the top of the Hokage Rock. The view was indeed breathtaking.

This was the perfect place to summon his new summoning companion and let it play wildly for a while without disrupting the ninjas and residents of Konoha.

He had already notified his father, Senju Tobirama, about his plan to make sure no one disturbed him and the wolf there today.

With that thought, Seimei, who was watching Konoha and the area surrounding the hidden ninja village from the top of the Hokage Rock, put his hands inside the ninja pouch attached to his right thigh and took out the scroll containing the special summoning contract.

He looked at the summoning contract in his hand and exhaled deeply.

"Who would have thought that my first summoning beast would be a nature beast with S-rank or higher danger rating?"

Seimei murmured and let out a chuckle.

"Well, at least I won't have to go through the gatcha pull-like scenarios and risk my life to find a suitable summoning beast."

"It's way better this way."

Normally, finding and contracting a suitable or powerful summoning beast was a process no different from infinite gatcha pulls.

You had to learn the summoning technique and the contract method first.

Then, when you used the technique, you would be randomly transported to the areas close to nature beasts who might be interested in becoming your summoning companions.

As for where you would be transported during that process…

No one could say for sure.

It all depended on luck.

If you were lucky, you could find a suitable summoning beast within a few attempts.

And if you were cursed by destiny, you could be transported to hundreds, if not thousands, of different places without finding a suitable summoning partner.

After all, to sign a contract, both you and the summoning beast had to be willing.

The process, of course, could also be incredibly perilous.

Just imagine getting transported to a nature beast while they were fighting a group of powerful chakra beasts.

Or you could be transported near a nature beast with a foul mood, who would swat you like a fly and send your soul to the Pure Land.

Or you could be transported underwater, where huge sharks would rip you into pieces.

Of course, to get out of there, you just needed to use the reverse summoning technique fast enough to get back to your original location.

Otherwise, let's just say you will definitely be hit by the truck-kun and start your new life somewhere else.

Now, since there was no truck in the Shinobi continent, you could also meet Shark-kun, chakra beast-kun, Shinobi-kun, or other grim reaper-kun.

Well, those who understand, understand.

In short, the usual method of signing a summoning contract and getting a summoning companion is fraught with danger.

People die in the process every year.

Other methods could work, too.

For example, you could manually search for a suitable summoning beast, beat it into submission, and forcibly sign a summoning contract by sparing its life.

Later, you compensate the beast by taking good care of it.

Or, you could raise animals from scratch, supply them with chakra, proper nutrients, and right potions to make them grow stronger and more intelligent, and then sign a contract.

A lot of ninjas did that, especially those contracted ninja birds for various purposes.

Then, if you had a good relationship with a clan of nature beasts, you could sign a summoning contract with them.

For example, the Uchiha clan had a good relationship with the ninja cat clan. As a result, a lot of Uchiha clan ninjas had signed a summoning contract with ninja cats to use them to deliver intelligence.

However, the most convenient way to sign a summoning contract was to get the summoning contract created by the potential summoning companion itself and directly sign the contract with your chakra and blood.

Signing summoning contracts with Sage Beasts worked this way.

And now, since Seimei had the giant wolf's custom summoning contract in his hand, he just had to open it and engrave it with his chakra, name, and blood.

Once he did that, the wolf would sense it. As long as the wolf approved the summoning pact with the owner of the chakra signature and blood, the pack would be established.

And that was exactly what Seimei was going to do.

"Alright. Let's get started."

---------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and read up to 17 Advanced chapters!

patreon.com/Seigan

You can also help me by sharing the story around. Thank you for reading!