Chapter 26: Summoning
Compared to most shinobi, Hajime was—by all accounts—a remarkably normal person.
As an outsider to this world, it could be said that his thoughts were fundamentally misaligned with the prevailing logic of the ninja world. Or rather, as someone whose worldview had developed in complete isolation, he carried no heavy burdens from the past.
Amid the chaos that engulfed the ninja world, he couldn't afford to be blindly optimistic, but neither was he so consumed by sorrow that he viewed life with cynical despair.
He had never seen himself as some destined protagonist capable of shaping the world's future. In truth, his only goal now was to survive this turbulent era in as normal a way as possible.
Because of that, he wasn't the type to kill people just because they were in his way. That kind of extremism simply wasn't in his nature.
Yes, someone had just died in an explosion—but that was not the result of anyone's deliberate actions. It was more like an unfortunate natural disaster.
After all, which swamp hasn't buried a few corpses, right?
This whole conflict shouldn't have happened to begin with. Hajime had only wanted to ask a few questions.
Now that one of their companions was dead, things had spiraled too far to be resolved peacefully.
The remaining enemy shinobi was half-crouched on the back of a giant summoned eagle, staring down at Hajime from mid-air.
Once the explosion's shock wore off and his mind cleared, he immediately commanded the eagle to dive straight at Hajime without hesitation.
As the ringing in Hajime's ears began to fade, a sharp eagle's cry pierced through.
This beast was massive, and that alone warranted caution. Hajime knew he wasn't physically equipped to fight a chakra-enhanced monster head-on. So he made a quick decision—not to give the eagle any chance to close the distance.
In the blink of an eye, the enemy was within twenty meters.
At this range, Hajime only had one jutsu that guaranteed a clean hit—Water Style: Severing Wave.
He swiftly formed the hand seals, and a concentrated stream of water shot into the sky.
The high-speed, high-pressure jet vibrated with intense frequency, carrying enough force to slice through metal. A perfect technique against flesh and bone.
The water blade shot upward at a sharp angle. It looked soft, but it was unyielding as steel. In a flash, it pierced the eagle's body clean through without resistance.
Blood burst from the wound as one of the eagle's wings was sheared off mid-flight.
Big targets were always easier to hit—even in the air.
And for some reason, this eagle hadn't moved as swiftly as it should have.
To be honest, using such a high-tier water jutsu against this kind of opponent felt a bit like swatting a mosquito with a cannon.
But he had no choice—when dealing with long-range threats, Severing Wave offered the best chance of success.
Water Dragon Bullet had decent power and range, but gravity would mess with its trajectory against aerial targets, making it less effective.
This brought up a different question: why did most shinobi prefer to throw shuriken? The answer was simple—because shuriken had better range than over 90% of ninjutsu techniques.
Any jutsu that could hit targets beyond 20 meters was considered elite—and most shinobi just didn't have that kind of skill.
The eagle, now crippled, tumbled from the sky along with its rider.
It thrashed violently on the ground like a dying beast, completely out of control.
The shinobi, unable to rein it in through the haze of pain, summoned another creature in desperation—a huge lion-like beast with fangs bared and claws extended.
Hajime frowned. Weren't large summoning beasts supposed to be rare? How come random shinobi could just whip out two of them like they were snacks?
But what happened next shocked him even more.
The moment the lion-beast appeared, it looked ready to charge—but instead of pouncing on Hajime, it suddenly twisted its neck with an unnerving, unnatural motion and sank its jaws into the summoner beside it.
Its bite was ferocious—half the ninja's body was crushed instantly in a spray of blood, painting the lion's side red.
This death was far more brutal than the explosion. At least that guy hadn't had time to scream.
Within moments, the ninja was little more than a twitching mess, no longer breathing. The lion shook its head and flung the mangled body aside like trash.
Then it turned and stalked over to the writhing eagle, snapping its neck with a single brutal chomp.
Only after that did its gaze finally fall on Hajime.
What startled him wasn't the size or the speed—but the look in its eyes.
A summon beast… showing that kind of expression?
It was almost… human.
In its eyes, Hajime saw a kind of resignation. A silent resolve.
The beast roared and charged.
Hajime narrowed his eyes. He understood now—at least a little.
He formed the seals again. The water blade fired.
In an instant, the charging lion was sliced clean in half. No suffering. A quick death.
To Hajime, both summons had felt… incomplete. Despite their size, neither had fought like true combat beasts.
He stood still for a moment after the fight.
The whole encounter had started oddly—and ended even more so.
He cleaned up the battlefield, looted a few tools and coins from the corpses, but nothing of real value.
What did catch his eye were some markings on the summon beasts' bodies—wounds that looked less like battle scars and more like signs of modification. Embedded within them were strange seals Hajime couldn't decipher.
After seeing that—and remembering the lion's strange final gaze—Hajime couldn't help but think of something unsettling.
Something like: "Big brother… come play with us…"
Was nothing new under the sun?
Maybe his thoughts were dark—but honestly, could anyone guarantee what depths shinobi were willing to sink to in this era?
---
With no useful information gained from the two dead ninja, Hajime decided to return to the town and investigate that mysterious building.
Despite all the chaos earlier, the town was just as peaceful as before.
Hajime wasn't sure whether the people here could have heard the explosions from the swamp. Given the distance, they should've noticed something—it had been a pretty massive blast.
And yet, judging from the townspeople's expressions, they hadn't sensed anything at all.
"Yeah… something's definitely off."
Following his earlier memory, Hajime found the building tucked away in an alley. He stood at the door for a moment, then pushed it open.
Inside was a plain-looking courtyard. But maybe it was just his nerves, because he could swear he smelled blood in the air.
As he stepped further in, the door behind him quietly closed on its own.
"New face. A visiting shinobi. You've been in town a few days now. What's your purpose here? Or… who sent you?"
No one was in sight. The voice rang out from the shadows, sudden and crisp.
So they'd been watching him ever since he arrived.
Creepy and cryptic. Hajime rolled his eyes mentally as he replied:
"I was just passing through. Saw some shinobi coming in and out of this place and got curious, that's all."
"Oh? I see…"
The voice actually sounded convinced. Then it offered, quite "sincerely":
"Nothing much. Those people were just my customers."
"If you'd like, you could become one of them—my newest client."
Customers?
Hajime looked down at his filthy clothes, still caked in swamp mud and grime. He looked like a beggar.
If someone like that could be considered a "customer," then this place clearly reserved its VIP status for the P in VIP—meaning very problematic.