*Manda had been resting peacefully beside Sasuke. But the moment Naruto mentioned a challenge, Manda immediately lunged into battle.
And now they wanted to pin the blame on someone else?
Orochimaru had plenty of dirt on his name—he didn't care about getting a little more.
But if Jiraiya was the one throwing the blame his way? That was another story.
"I didn't know they'd start fighting!"
Naruto looked like he was about to cry.
"So what now?"
Jiraiya was starting to get a headache. Even if they tried to stop the fight, Manda had to back down first.
If Gamabunta stopped but Manda kept going, things would get even messier.
The battle was causing such a huge commotion that ninjas from all over the village were rushing toward the scene.
Even ANBU squads were racing to the training grounds.
Hell, even the retired Third Hokage, who had been enjoying his peaceful days at home, had shown up.
From a distance, he watched the two massive beasts locked in combat, frowning in confusion.
Why was Manda fighting Gamabunta?
Did Orochimaru and Jiraiya get into a fight again?
"What else can we do? Just let them keep fighting. It's already come to this, so once they've had enough, it'll be over.
Shizune, go tell the people outside that it's just two summoned beasts sparring. No need to panic.
Just have the Anbu guard the area to make sure no one gets caught up in it and gets hurt."
"Huh?"
Shizune was momentarily stunned but quickly snapped back. "Understood."
Since Yan had spoken and Tsunade had no objections, they would just go with it.
Shizune hurried outside to inform the nearby shinobi and the approaching Anbu squads, telling them to stay back and just guard the perimeter.
It was an order from the Hokage's advisor—following it was all that mattered.
Let them fight it out?
Tsunade had a helpless look on her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something but, in the end, didn't call for a stop.
Jiraiya scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"Yan, isn't this going a bit too far?"
The relationship between Ryuchi Cave's snakes and Mount Myoboku's toads was already tense, and Gamabunta and Manda never got along.
A fight wasn't a big deal—at worst, he'd just have to listen to Gamabunta complain later.
Jiraiya had already accepted his fate of getting chewed out.
But just letting these two summoned beasts go at it like this… Wouldn't that be a bad look?
"It won't get out of hand. If two summoned beasts fighting could really cause chaos, then this village wouldn't stand a chance anyway."
"Manda, put some more effort into it! If you win, I'll have Orochimaru prepare a whole bunch of supplements for you!!!"
Yan, clearly enjoying the chaos, shouted out.
Orochimaru: "..."
Why are you dragging me into this?
You talk, and I have to do the work?
"Yes, sir!!!"
Manda, hearing this, immediately perked up, biting down on Gamabunta with even more force.
Gamabunta felt like cursing. What the hell did I even come here for?!
He had somehow ended up in Konoha, got randomly bitten, and was now being forced into a fight with Manda.
And to top it off, someone was actually cheering Manda on, offering rewards if he could beat Gamabunta.
Can you guys at least try to be decent people?!
Seeing Manda getting even fiercer, Jiraiya, not wanting to be left out, suddenly shouted:
"Gamabunta, don't lose! If you take Manda down, I'll dig up some special bugs for you!!"
"Screw you!!!"
Gamabunta, barely holding on, nearly coughed up blood in anger when he heard that. He turned around and swore on the spot.
"Tsunade, what's going on here?"
The Third Hokage entered the training grounds, frowning as he asked:
"Why are Manda and Gamabunta fighting?"
"Don't ask me, I have no idea either."
Tsunade replied helplessly.
Even I'm confused myself. You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?
"???"
What does that even mean?
Can someone explain this to me?
The Third Hokage's gaze shifted between Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru gave a faint smile but stayed silent. Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to explain.
Luckily, Yan spoke up. But the moment he did, both the Third Hokage and Tsunade felt their blood pressure spike.
"It's nothing major. Jiraiya just suggested that Sasuke and Naruto compare their Summoning Jutsu skills and the strength of their summoned beasts. So, they let them have a fight. Turns out both of them were itching for a brawl anyway, so it worked out."
"...."
This is insane. Completely insane!!
Manda lost it.
Gamabunta had fought Manda before.
In fact, they used to clash all the time. Orochimaru looked down on Jiraiya, and Manda had no respect for Gamabunta. Of course, Gamabunta wasn't the type to just take that lying down. If Manda looked down on him, he'd fight back.
Given the bad blood between the two great summoning realms, their summoned beasts often ended up fighting.
But never had Manda gone this berserk—chasing after Gamabunta like a mad dog.
It didn't even care about getting hurt as long as it could land hits in return.
It was pure insanity.
Manda's relentless attacks left Gamabunta struggling to keep up.
"You're a lunatic!!!"
After trading blows for a while, Gamabunta noticed that Manda was only getting more and more aggressive.
So, he decided to bail.
He didn't mind fighting Manda, but he sure as hell didn't want to fight a snake that had completely lost its mind.
Winning wouldn't bring any benefits, and losing would just be embarrassing.
"Damn you, Jiraiya! You better give me an explanation for this!"
Cursing, Gamabunta immediately canceled the summoning jutsu and returned to Mount Myoboku.
Now, things were really bad.
Jiraiya felt like crying.
Yan shot him a look:
That was exciting, wasn't it? Was it as thrilling as you imagined?
Enough, enough! I don't need any more excitement. I don't even dare to try anymore.
Jiraiya swore that from now on, he would never involve Sasuke when teaching Naruto.
Otherwise, if Yan decided to stir things up again, he'd be the one taking the fall.
After all, Naruto and Sasuke were just kids.
And the one who'd be blamed for everything would be him, Jiraiya.
Since he was the one who came up with the bright idea in the first place.
"Sir."
After successfully driving away Gamabunta, Manda was feeling quite pleased with itself. Dragging its massive body, it happily slithered toward Yan.
Even though Manda was even larger than Gamabunta, its speed was incredibly fast—faster than Gamabunta's, in fact.
"Not bad. Go back and rest. Orochimaru will prepare your reward."
"Understood."
With that promise, Manda happily left. Everyone turned their gaze toward Yan, who looked confused and asked:
"Why are you all looking at me? Manda isn't my Summoned Beast."
"That thing is strong, but you'd better work hard to keep up. You wouldn't want to end up getting looked down on by your own Summoned Beast—that would be embarrassing.
Not just for you, but for your whole clan. Got it?"
At the end, Yan gave Sasuke a serious piece of advice, making sure the others were mentally prepared as well.
From now on, Manda would be Sasuke's Summoned Beast. Just because the kid was young didn't mean he could be pushed around.
After all, Manda wasn't something an average ninja could handle.
So now, Sasuke makes a promise, and I have to clean up after it?
Orochimaru was already starting to regret coming here to watch. Wouldn't it have been better to just stay in his lab?
Now, thanks to this mess, he had to prepare all kinds of supplements for Manda—a whole bunch of them.
Compared to how hard it was for a ninja to grow stronger, a Summoned Beast's strength could be improved much more easily.
For example, in Manda's case, just eating the right kind of food could speed up its growth.
The problem was, finding the right kind of food wasn't easy.
And on top of that, Manda was a picky eater.
Damn it, Yan! You're digging a hole for me here, aren't you?
Yan just announced in front of everyone that Manda was Sasuke's Summoned Beast… so where did that leave him?
Noticing Naruto looking at him, Jiraiya suddenly wanted to dig a hole and hide.
There was no way he could convince Gamabunta to become Naruto's Summoned Beast.
Unless Naruto proved himself strong enough to earn Gamabunta's approval.
If Jiraiya dared to go to Mount Myoboku and suggest something like that, the toads would probably beat him up.
The toads of Mount Myoboku didn't like the Uchiha, and Yan had no problem making things even more difficult for them.
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