The ninja world is not like the previous world—where body and soul are tightly intertwined. In this world, chakra serves as a tool extending one's will, allowing the soul to escape the constraints of a single physical form to some degree. Under such unstable fundamental rules, the birth of something like the tailed beasts—manifestations of humanity's negative will—isn't really strange at all.
Mizuki, no longer paying attention to the shop's signboard at the entrance, led Sakura inside.
"You'll be working here for the foreseeable future?"
"Working?"
"No, I mean studying~" Mizuki kicked himself for nearly letting it slip.
Sakura simply nodded without saying anything.
"Do you feel anything unusual about this place?" Mizuki asked.
"If anything, it feels unusually quiet in here." Sakura glanced outside at the bustling street, yet barely any noise seemed to enter the shop.
Mizuki nodded approvingly. "Your attention and perception are sharp—this probably has to do with your excellent chakra control. This is an extremely beneficial trait for your future."
Without explaining further, Mizuki led Sakura behind the counter, where a cleverly hidden small bookshelf came into view. Pointing at the books and various scrolls within, he said, "Don't touch anything marked with a red label. For those labeled yellow, you can only read them when I'm around. Everything else, feel free to browse. You've got three days—see how much you can pick up." So saying, Mizuki handed Sakura a small notebook. "This is a personal reference guide and log I put together myself. Most of its contents have been verified, though I can't guarantee complete accuracy. If you don't understand something, refer to these materials. Three days from now, I'll test you."
"Mizuki, is this really okay?" Tsubaki felt uneasy. "Kakashi entrusted his student to you, and you're just letting her study on her own?"
"I am watching over her, don't worry," Mizuki replied. "Smart students don't need too much hand-holding."
"Well then, I'm off. I'll come back at noon with lunch."
"Hmm, and don't forget one for Sakura too."
As time passed and the morning rush faded, the shop grew quieter. Mizuki stole a glance at Sakura, who was deeply engrossed and hard at work—just as one would expect from a top prodigy.
Taking advantage of the moment, Mizuki also retrieved his payment from Kakashi—the Hatake clan's inherited summoning contract scroll for the Ninja Hounds.
In exchange for teaching Sakura, Mizuki used this opportunity to closely examine what a real Summoning Contract Scroll truly looked like.
Touching the scroll's cover, Mizuki subtly released his chakra, scanning for any hidden seals or abnormalities.
"This isn't ordinary paper—it seems to be made from some kind of creature's hide."
Unrolling the long scroll revealed a series of names and fingerprint marks. The first name visible was none other than Hatake Kakashi's. Scanning upward, most of the names belonged to the Hatake family. At the very end unfolded a Summoning Array symbol.
After thoroughly examining the Summoning Contract for quite some time, Mizuki still couldn't find anything unusual or special about it.
"I should have expected this from a Summoned Beast passed down through a Ninja Clan—it's definitely far superior to common ones."
The optimized effects of various runes inside, along with the techniques for spatial sensing and dimensional linkage, were far more reliable. Correspondingly, the requirements for the user's chakra were also much stricter—different chakra reserves and output methods might correspond to completely different individuals. However, Mizuki still couldn't find anything worthwhile.
"Could it really have no issues at all?" he thought. "The contract is fair—it uses chakra as fuel for the summoning process. Although slightly excessive, this can simply be viewed as payment. Just from this alone, it's practically a perfect model of mutual exchange. The decorative patterns and inscriptions around it show no signs of traps either; they're nothing out of the ordinary. Could it really just be my imagination?"
Still unwilling to give up, Mizuki pondered while slowly running his fingers across the surface of the scroll. Suddenly, his hand stiffened—he carefully felt the spot again.
"What is this?"
There seemed to be some unusual texture. Mizuki leaned in to examine it closely. As his fingers gently stroked it, traces identical in color to the original material itself became visible.
"These are naturally occurring Sealing Runes embedded within the material itself! No wonder I didn't notice them earlier. But this shape… it looks somehow familiar."
After thinking for a while, Mizuki set everything aside, stepped outside, and gazed at the signboard of Four Seasons Flower Shop, recalling how he had crafted it piece by piece.
"That's it. No wonder," Mizuki finally understood.
Reentering the shop, he picked up the scroll once again. After contemplating briefly, he copied down the natural array pattern. Then, after double-checking multiple times to ensure no information was missed, he packed it away.
"Maybe I'm just overthinking, but what I found is truly unsettling."
Hidden within this Summoning Contract was actually a Rune remarkably similar to the one Mizuki had developed himself—a formation designed to gather collective consciousness. In other words, according to this contract, the summoned creature constantly collected the mental fluctuations or spiritual radiations emitted by the contract holder. Under normal circumstances, this shouldn't pose any threat to humans. A person continuously releases bits of information through their thoughts, and even without processing, these gradually dissipate into the air like sunlight radiating heat—regardless of whether you use it or how you use it, it simply exists.
It seemed the summoned creature was collecting these otherwise useless emissions. To an average person, this was even less useful than collecting chakra—it was pure waste.
"Unless they're hiding something else, they must have found a way to turn this waste into gold. Typically, those who possess summoning beasts are either powerful military organizations like Konoha, or ancient ninja clans that have passed down secret techniques for centuries—those rare individuals chosen by fate and endowed with great power."
Mizuki stopped, his mind throbbing from too much thinking. "This goes deep. If something could be openly written into the contract, why hide it instead? Later on, I'll definitely need to study what kind of treasure lies behind this."
"Sakura brought you some water," said a sudden voice beside him as she handed him a glass.
"Thanks," Mizuki replied, taking it and downing it in one gulp, instantly feeling much more refreshed.
"You don't need to be so formal. I didn't expect the teacher would behave this way normally," Sakura said.
"Oh? Then what kind of person do you think a teacher should be? Someone who loses his temper like Iruka?"
"Not at all! I just think Teacher Mizuki is much more knowledgeable than I imagined," Sakura responded. "I looked through your research—it was full of things I could barely grasp, and most of it went right over my head."
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