Shisui stood perfectly still with his eyes widening in shock. I felt like his Mangekyo Sharingan was fighting its way out, screaming for a chance to attack as his hand moved instinctively to the hilt of his sword. Takemura was also ready. His chakra roared to life and his fingers prepared to weave hand seals at a moment's notice. Sitting squarely on his bottom on the floor, the bear simply narrowed his eyes, causing the surrounding air to freeze at an alarming rate.
Panic spiked in my chest as the tension thickened. "This is my summon! Shisui-sensei, Takemura-ojisan, please do not hurt him!"
The bear looked down at me, visibly offended I would even hint they could ever hurt him. I sweated nervously under his gaze. "I mean, please do not fight."
Shisui's posture relaxed a fraction. Takemura, however, kept eyeing the bear with deep suspicion. He stepped protectively next to his son, locking his eyes on Naruto and remaining ready to intervene.
I sighed loudly to cut through the heavy atmosphere. "Please, can we all just relax? He is my summon, so he will not do my people any harm." I looked back at the bear, whose fangs shone with an ominous crimson color that almost matched his eyes. I swallowed hard and hastily added, "Most likely."
Shisui eventually sat close to Naruto. He eyed the massive beast with clear interest and curiosity rather than hostility. The bear grumbled deep in his throat. "Why are you looking at me like that, you little brat?"
Shisui blinked in surprise and looked around the room before realizing the giant bear was actually talking to him. "Hi, Mr. Bear?"
The bear grumbled again. His breath billowed out into the room as a thick cloud of steam. "My name is Boss Snowball. Address me by it. This kid right here worked incredibly hard to find me an amazing name like this, so you had better use it."
Shisui looked at Naruto with his eyes almost popping out of his head as he did his absolute best to hold in a burst of laughter. He glanced over at Takemura, who was visibly struggling to do the exact same thing. "Boss... Snowball. I must admit, I have never seen a bear summon before."
"I am the last of my kind," the bear replied with a cold and even tone. "At least, I am the last one in the region where I lived."
Disappointment flickered across Takemura's face at the lost opportunity. "So, there is no larger bear clan we can contract with? We can offer great benefits in return."
The bear started to get visibly irritated by the interrogation. "No, not anymore. And stop asking me so many questions, I do not even know you."
I intervened quickly, not wanting things to escalate. "Takemura-ojisan is the acting head of the Senju clan. He is a retired Jonin and a powerful shinobi in his own right." I had not watched Takemura fight even once, but the sheer quality and intensity of his chakra said a lot about what the final evolution of Senju taijutsu truly looked like.
I then pointed over at Shisui. "This is Shisui-sensei. He is a very powerful Jonin as well, and he is the one who personally trained me."
The bear scratched his massive head with a claw, almost producing visible sparks against his thick fur. "Very powerful, you say? And at such a young age, too." He suddenly pointed a sharp claw directly at Shisui. "You, little brat. Let us fight right now. I want to see exactly what you are made of. You smell like death. You smell just like the powerful beasts I always enjoy fighting."
Shisui chuckled awkwardly and held up his hands. "Sorry, Mr. Bear. I mean, Boss Snowball. But I actually came here to take Noa on an important mission."
"Oh?" I answered with genuine interest. Although I was having a blast trying to understand the Flying Thunder God jutsu and using that recent breakthrough to overhaul my Stormdrive seal project, I felt a heavy fatigue slowly building. A complete change of scenery would absolutely be beneficial right now. I looked at him with growing excitement. "Where to, Sensei?"
Shisui sighed softly, looking relieved that I was not making this a hard task for him to explain. "I want you to get your gear ready for a difficult and long mission. We will leave tomorrow at dawn. I will inform you of the mission's details then."
The bear turned his massive head slowly to look at me. "You better summon me if there is a big fight."
I grumbled under my breath. "It is not exactly easy to summon you, Boss Snowball. It takes a massive amount of my chakra to bring you here."
The bear reached out and poked me squarely in the chest with the blunt side of his claw. "You have more than enough. Just make sure to call me before the real fight starts. I want to enjoy it from the very beginning to the very end. Now, I need to go get ready."
A dreamy, violent look appeared in his crimson eyes as he exploded in a massive puff of white smoke, cleanly desummoning himself from the room. As the smoke cleared, Shisui carefully supported Naruto's head and gently laid the sleeping boy down on the floor.
Takemura spoke right away to break the sudden silence. "What an incredibly powerful summon. I have not even seen him fight yet. However, I can feel how intense his bloodlust is. And yet, his thoughts remain remarkably clear. You got very lucky, Noa."
Shisui nodded in agreement. "However, I would not recommend summoning him lightly during this mission. The massive chakra cost might make things much harder for you in a prolonged engagement. Be careful, and only summon him if you are in grave danger."
I nodded firmly. "Understood, Sensei."
Shisui then looked down at Naruto and asked softly, "How is he doing?"
Genta replied with a warm smile. "He is doing great. He is really opening up to us and actually smiles a lot nowadays."
Takemura crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "That brat is an absolute handful. However, he brings a lot of loud joy with him, so we are happy to have him around."
Shisui stood back up and offered a final wave goodbye before vanishing using the Body Flicker technique.
Takemura turned and spoke to me directly with a dead serious tone. "Noa, be careful out there. If Shisui said the mission is difficult, then it truly must be. Keep your head focused entirely on the mission. Forget about complex seals and anything like that until you return."
I smiled warmly at Takemura's genuine concern. "I will."
Genta walked over and patted me heavily on the back. "Do not take too long."
I stood up and stretched lazily, ready to start my daily physical exercises. Genta grinned and decided to join me.
The rest of the day passed in peaceful training. We sparred and joked around until the sun went down. Early the next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I made sure to store far more supplies than I strictly needed into my storage seals. I walked briskly to the village gates to find Shisui already waiting for me.
We moved swiftly through the lush forests of the Land of Fire until we reached the coastal borders. There, we boarded a small, sturdy boat pre-arranged by our village. A lone Konoha shinobi manned the helm as we departed from the port, charting a direct course toward the small island nation of the Land of Waves.
The salty smell of the sea air was very pleasant to me. Shisui, however, was having a terrible time. He kept swaying around like he was completely drunk. For someone so used to the blurring speeds of movement on solid ground, he sure reacted badly to the gentle rocking of the ocean waves.
As we finally got close to the island, I noted a strange, dark red hue hanging over the horizon. I thought at first it was just the colorful light of the sunset. However, a quick glance at the sky made me realize it was still the middle of the afternoon. The unnatural color came from massive, black smoke pillars rising above multiple locations all across the island, choking out the sunlight.
The closer we got, the worse the reality became. We noticed roaring fires spreading uncontrollably on the far side of the island. Large parts of the dock were splintered and burning, casting an eerie, violent orange glow over the water. The moment our boat approached the ruined pier, our blood froze in our veins.
The port was an absolute slaughterhouse. Multiple dead bodies were strewn across the blood-soaked ground in twisted, unnatural poses. Some were missing limbs entirely, their weapons shattered beside them in pools of dark crimson. Others were already decomposing in a grotesque, horrifying manner, their flesh bloated and swarming with flies in the humid sea air. The water lapping against the wooden pilings ran thick and red. The entire place smelled heavily of copper, burning wood, and the sickening stench of rot. It looked exactly like hell.