The next day, Ryu was making some bird nests using wood in the old workshop of his grandfather. He made 10 small bird nests. He also made a hummingbird feeder to attract more hummingbirds and encourage breeding.
Ryu thought, "I think making 10 nests should be enough for now. I will make more as more birds appear."
He was placing them in his home when Dan appeared. He was curious about what Ryu was doing in his old, outdated workshop. He asked, "What's with all the nests?"
Ryu explained, "The hummingbird I healed is back. I plan to use it for information gathering, like summoning an animal."
Dan nodded and said, "Information gathering is crucial, but you should also consider a combat summon."
Ryu's eyes lit up. "What's your summoning animal?"
Dan smiled. "A white tiger. It's quite formidable. I was lucky to find it while travelling with Mito-sama."
Ryu replied, "A tiger, huh?"
Dan said, "If you want, I can share my summoning contract."
Ryu declined Dan's offer to share the contract and said, "Thanks, Grandpa, but I have something in mind already."
Dan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What animal do you have in mind?"
Ryu replied, "I plan to ask Aunt Tsunade for a summoning contract."
Dan tells him, "That is also a good idea. Her summon is not strictly a combat summon but still very strong."
He then asked, "What summoning animals did the First and Second Hokage have? You must know."
Dan explained, "They didn't rely on summons. Not all ninjas use them; they're often unreliable for ninjas of their calibre."
Ryu pondered, "How did he learn Senjutsu then? I thought he learned from the Shikkotsu Forest. Can one learn on their own with access to such a place filled with the purest and thickest natural chakra? Perhaps there are alternative methods or sources of knowledge that were not mentioned in the manga or anime."
Dan continued, "But they did, however, have a summoning scroll of Shikkotsu Forest, but they never used it and passed it on to their children."
Ryu asked, "Shikkotsu Forest?? One of those legendary sage regions ?"
Dan was surprised. He asked, "Where did you learn about them?"
Ryu replied, "I read something about three legendary sage regions in your notes. Apparently, one can find a strong summoning contract there."
Dan nodded. "Yes, you can find a strong summoning contract in three legendary sage regions, but they have strict criteria, like high chakra reserves and superior chakra control. And even after fulfilling both, most people wanting summoning contracts of these legendary places are rejected."
Ryu thought, "But Naruto was able to sign the summoning contract without any vetting from toads. I guess the current holder of the contract has some say as well."
Dan added, "There are more summons there other than the famous three, but they are also tricky to get. You can try, but it's hard to find the contract scroll from the three legendary sage regions—Mount Myoboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest—due to their hidden and well-guarded nature. At present, the three legendary Sannin have it. This is also the reason they are called legendary sannin. Fate led them to three legendary sage regions.
Dan thought about it and then asked, "Did you plan to get the summoning contract from your aunt to learn Senjutsu?"
Ryu affirmed, "Yes, I'll ask her someday."
Dan cautioned, "I don't want to discourage you, but even the Second Hokage failed to learn Senjutsu. It's not because he lacked talent, but because it is a risky endeavour. Lord Second was not one to take big risks; he was a very calculating guy. Lord First, on the other hand, was very carefree and almost died trying to learn senjutsu when he was young."
Ryu thought, "I think this is also one thing common among all Senjutsu users. Even Kabuto at that point had nothing to lose and risked everything to learn senjutsu."
Just then, as Ryu placed a nest on his balcony, the hummingbird appeared. "Speak of the devil," Ryu said with a grin. He offered, "I've put a feeder here. You can bring your family too."
In a flash of lightning, the hummingbird vanished. Dan's eyes widened. "That bird can use lightning chakra!"
Ryu nodded and said, "Yes, and it can use the Lightning Body Flicker Technique too. He is no longer a mere bird but a ninja bird."
Dan remarked, "Ninja bird? With its speed, it would excel as a messenger bird."
Ryu countered, "That would be counterproductive. I'm working on a device to eliminate the need for messenger birds."
Dan asked, "Then how do you plan to use them?"
Ryu explained, "I am going to teach them about stealth and to spy on people and gather information for me. They are intelligent, so they can relay messages in codes, so I'm going to teach them.
I am also thinking of building a system that automatically translates bird to human and sends messages remotely to me through a communication device I specially build for them near their nests."
Dan approved, "That's an efficient way to spy. The bird is small, fast, and hard to detect, as long as it stays hidden."
Ryu added, "That's why I'll teach it stealth and how to listen to and understand human conversations. I'll assign a bird to every important person in my life to act as a bodyguard too."
Dan offered, "That is a great idea. I'll help you prepare a new summoning contract."
Ryu asked, "Grandfather, why don't we use messenger birds as summons and just have the receiver just summon them back with the message?"
Dan replied, "That's because messages are not just delivered between two points, and for everyone to share the same summoning contract is not possible. That requires high-level contracts that are mostly combat summons and rare. And there is also the issue of trust, as summons can be forcefully sent using someone else's blood. And also if everyone has a common summon and they periodically summon to check their mail, even then the sender would appear anonymous among all those who share the contract. There are many more drawbacks to this method, so it is not used."
Ryu thought, "It's mostly a trust issue. Other drawbacks can easily be managed, but trust is just rarer than gold in this world. If I could reverse summon a message, I could also summon a paper bomb with confidential written on it or that reverse summon scroll they used in the chunnin exam to team 7 to summon Iruka when they reached the tower."
Just then Ryu thought about it and asked Dan, "Grandpa, what happens if someone uses summoning jutsu without a contract?"
Dan explained, "It's dangerous. Summoning jutsu with a contract provides specific coordinates and intent, but without it, you're aiming blind, and you do not hit a target, but summoning jutsu hits you back."
Ryu pressed on, "So nothing would be summoned?"
Dan clarified, "In 99.9% of cases, nothing is summoned; you just experience a severe case of chakra exhaustion. Chakra is sucked out of your body in a failed attempt to summon the nothing out of nothing. But in extremely rare cases, you might be reverse summoned to a fated location. Even if this fated summoning works, it works only once in a lifetime and before making your first summoning contract."
Ryu thought, "It makes sense. If not, then everyone would be using contractless summoning to reverse summon themselves out of danger every time.
That's one loophole not explained in the manga. Jiraiya was also reverse summoned to Mount Myoboku just like this because he was fated to meet the toad sage."
Dan asked, "Do you want to try this method to find your fated summon?"
Ryu considered this option and replied, "I will try if there's a chance I'll get a good summon."
Dan hesitated, thinking, "I promised myself I'd never doubt him, but this method is dangerous. First Senjustu and now contractless summoning. Why is he taking the dangerous path? He is not even a ninja yet. What should I say to him?"
Dan suggested, "Okay, let me tell you this: let's put making a summoning contract for your birds on hold and try raising these birds without a contract like Aburame and Inuzuka do with their insect and animal companions. And when you become a genin, you may try contractless summoning to find your fated summon. How does this sound?"
Ryu understood his hesitation and asked, "Is it that dangerous?"
Dan warned, "Yes, summons that reject the offer often kill the ninja. There are reasons why not everyone has strong summons."
Ryu reassured him and said, "I'm not in a hurry. I already have a lot on my plate, and I don't know if it would work."
Dan thought, "Many of the legendary figures of the past were reverse summoned to their fated summon, and I can bet he will be one of these legends someday."
A/N: I made some changes from the original and also took a different path from my fav fanfic author, DevilHex. Even though I am a fanfic writer and copying others is in the job description, I needed some originality in my work. I therefore made some changes, such as- 'Why not everyone has a powerful summons.'
I already have a fated summon and location in my mind, but I am also open to fans' suggestions.
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