Naruto woke up the next morning at around nine. He recalled the events of yesterday, his fight with Kakashi and his interaction with Ino. He also remembered seeing Sakura which slightly angered but he quickly forgot about it, he couldn't keep loosing his cool at the simple thought of his old team. The other thing on his mind was that he had no clue what he was going to do today. He had been on a vigorous training regimen while away in Kushimaru's cave but he really couldn't go all out in Konoha or he'd reveal more of his skills, which he really didn't want to do. He had decided it had been long enough since he had read any scrolls from Kushimaru so he decided to read through some more.
Typically the scrolls Naruto read contained advice and tips on using Nuibari. Although Naruto still had more to learn with regards to Nuibari, he sometimes got board reading about it. He was never the type of guy who would read anything when he was younger, in fact he despised it. It took ridiculous amounts of concentration to memorize or remember the information present in Kushimaru's scrolls, especially since he was basically teaching himself.
There was no one teaching Naruto to use the blade, he learned everything he knew from reading those scrolls for hours upon hours. Naruto didn't even know how he managed to read so many scrolls while he was away in Kushimaru's cave, but it had paid off. He was now extremely proficient in using the legendary sewing needle and was proud of it.
While sorting through Kushimaru's scrolls while in his cave, he noticed that there was one shelf of scrolls that had nothing to do with Nuibari.
Naruto didn't spend much time reading these scrolls due to him mainly focusing on the ones that would help him in learning to use the blade he had recently obtained. He did read one or two of them, and these scrolls contained the various water ninjutsu that Naruto knew. Naruto guessed there were around twenty scrolls on that shelf and he had read around two of them so when he was packing things in the cave up before he left he sealed the ones he hadn't read in a specific sealing scroll. He guessed that they probably contained other various water based ninjutsu.
Naruto walked into his closet where he had his various sealing scrolls and found the one where the remaining scrolls from jutsu shelf were sealed. Naruto then walked back to his bed and sat down on the edge of the bed. He pumped chakra into the sealing scroll, causing around 18 smaller ones to fall onto the ground.
Naruto looked over all of them, dreading the fact that he would have to read again until he noticed something, one of the scrolls was considerably larger than the others. It looked familiar to Naruto, and then it hit Naruto, it was a summoning scroll.
Naruto had been a previous summoner of toads before he left the village. While in Kushimaru's cave he had tried to summon a toad multiple times. He went through the signs over and over again but still nothing happened. It finally hit Naruto that for some reason he was unable to summon any toads. For a couple weeks Naruto pondered why this was happening until he remembered some vital information. The Toads were a summon that was loyal to Konoha. Since Naruto abandoned the village, his contract with the toads must have been terminated.
This saddened Naruto since summoning was one of his strongest abilities. The ability to summon an ally in battle was sometimes crucial. He remembered how important Gamabunta was when fighting Gaara. Without Gamabunta Naruto would be dead now. Naruto dwelled over this for sometime but eventually forgot it due to submerging himself in training
From what he had read about Kushimaru, he didn't use any summons so he figured Kushimaru must have received or taken the scroll from someone. Naruto hesitantly picked up the scroll an opened it up. At the top of the scroll read Clam Summoning Scroll. The blonde haired boy sweat dropped, 'Wow a clam summoning….' thought Naruto, a bit disappointed at what the contract was for.
Naruto continued to read and only saw one signature on the scroll, signifying that only one person had ever used this summon. Naruto thought about the ability to summon once again and figured it certainly couldn't hurt, but he didn't know how a clam would benefit him in combat. It couldn't even move! However, it wouldn't hurt to try summing the creature to see what it could do, plus it could potentially add another element to his arsenal of attacks. It wasn't like summoning contracts were common items. They were all rare and each summon served some purpose so he figured he might as well see what the clam could do. He decided he would just sign the contract and see the clams abilities, then choose whether or not he'd use the creature.
Naruto realized he probably shouldn't pump chakra into the summoning scroll in his apartment, if the summon was too big it would destroy the apartment. Naruto left his apartment, making sure he had his mask, Nuibari and the new summoning scroll as he made his way to one of the most distant training ground he could find. If the clam summon did accept him, he didn't want anyone knowing he had this ability. It would be best if it was a surprise for whoever he was fighting.
Naruto still didn't want people knowing his full arsenal of techniques, especially the Uchiha. He definitely planned in having a rematch with Sasuke, but that would come eventually, he had already caused enough chaos in the village the past couple days. The council would probably summon him soon to talk with him. Tsunade had full power of the shinobi force and who could join it, but the council also held a considerable amount of power. If they didn't want Naruto being a shinobi, they could make life very difficult for Tsunade.
Naruto soon got to the most discreet training ground he could find. It was far away from the center of the village and a considerable distance from the more convenient training grounds that were only a short distance from the inhabeted part of village. It contained a large field of open grass that was surrounded by trees. Naruto then sat down on the light green grass and opened the scroll. Naruto then pumped a small amount of chakra into the white scroll causing a poofing sound to be heard along with appearence of a large amount of smoke, indicating that something had been summoned.
Naruto quickly summoned 40 shadow clones to surround the training ground to make sure no one was spying on him as the smoke began clearing. The smoke from the summoning began to vansih, revealing a giant clam. The clam had the mist logo ingrained on its shell. Naruto was slightly confused because although the clam was large….. it was still just an ordinary clam. It had no sword like Gamabunta, and he doubted the clam could speak, after all it was just a shell. He didn't understand what use the clam could possibly have.
Then the clam's shell slowly opened revealing two large siphons. All of a sudden the siphons began emitting some strange type of haze. It definitely wasn't anything similar to actual mist as Naruto had no control of it. Naruto took out Nuibari, thinking that the creature was probably trying to test him.
Naruto threw Nuibari at the giant clam, attempting to at least test how much damage could be dealt with his blade, but to his surprise the blade seemed to go straight through the clam. The blade continued to soar through the air, not making contact with anything, causing Naruto to pull the wire to his blade back, returning the legendary sword to his hand. Naruto was extremely confused by this, there was definitely a huge clam in front of him. The clam probably couldn't move since it had no limbs, and if it some how could, it definitely wouldn't be able to do so discretely or quickly. Naruto summoned two clones who both charged at the clam. They both got to point blank range until they lunged their swords into the image of the clam, only to find once again that their blades simply went through clam. Naruto then dispelled both clones, trying to think of an answer to this strange situation he was in.
Naruto thought for a couple of seconds and figured that maybe physical attacks wouldn't but maybe ninjutsu would. Naruto went through some hand signs before activating his next jutsu, one of his relatively powerful ones.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Said Naruto as water from the atmosphere was gathered into a shape of a dragon with yellow eyes. The dragon shot out from in front of Naruto in the and headed straight for the image of the clam, only to find that this also went straight through the creature until crashing into the woods surrounding the field, destroying a large amount of trees due to the power of the jutsu. Naruto gritted his teeth, what the hell was going on!
Naruto continued thinking about what had happened since he saw the clam until he remembered the clam had emitted some type of haze from its siphons. 'Its gotta be an illusion!' thought Naruto as he began to think of a way to find where the actual clam was. He didn't know any sensory techniques which put him at a huge disadvantage. An idea then hit Naruto. He may not be able to sense its chakra but he could find it in his own way.
Naruto summoned around 200 shadow clones, the most he had summoned in a long time and it drained him a little. The clones spread out in a huge circle around the exterior of the training ground. He then activated his next jutsu as all the clones took out their copy of Nuibari and prepared to throw them.
"Longsword Ninja Art: Raining Needle Web!"
Yelled Naruto as his two hundred clones threw their Nuibaris in different directions until they impacted different locations along the training field. Naruto then looked at all the wires that were present along the field. Most of the wires from the clones of the blade would collapse to the ground as his clones weren't pulling the wires tightly. Any wire that wasn't laying on the ground would be resting on something, and that would have to be the clam. Naruto looked around and saw two wires that were seemingly floating in air. Naruto ran towards the two wires that were resting in what seemed like midair and activated a rasengan in his right hand. Naruto slowed his pace as he walked towards the vicinity of where he guessed the clam was and stopped, signifying that he had found the clam and could potentially defeat it.
The giant clam noticed the masked figure who had summoned it walking towards him with a swirling mass of chakra in his hand. It was definitely rather impressed with the boy's creativity. It had only had one previous summoner ever and that was the Second Mizukage. The clam definitely demanded that the people who summoned him were highly skilled.
A couple of people prior to this boy attempted to be granted the privilege of summoning it however, they failed miserably in attempting to see through the clam's illusion. The clam would poof out of existence when in the presence of these people, none of them came even close in skill to the Second Mizukage and he doubted anyone ever would, until now. Sure the boy didn't actually sense him but he had come up with a very clever way of finding it. The clam hadn't had anyone find it in any form of combat since that pesky Tsuchikage Mu found him. That was back during the Mizukage's final battle against Mu which resulted in the death of both the Tsuchikage and himself. This boy definitely showed promise, especially with that strange weapon he used, not to mention a huge amount of chakra reserves.
It was true that the giant clam couldn't see, after all it had no eyes. However the mirages it exerted contained chakra in it, which allowed for the creation of the mirages. With the chakra present in the haze that it emitted, it was able to sense where each shinobi was and even types of weapons and jutsu the enemy were using. However, the clam's main problem was it couldn't avoid any attack since it didn't have any limbs but it was extremely sturdy, capable of taking powerful blows on its shell and still be able to continue to battle. The clam decided that this boy was definitely worthy to become its next summoner however, there was the issue that this boy wasn't a Kiri shinobi.
The clam was extremely comfortable in Kirigakure's moist climate and could tell when it wasn't there. Since this boy was obviously summoning him, he clearly wasn't a Kiri shinobi. The clam was loyal to Kiri due to the fact that his previous summoner, who he was very fond of, was from there, however he was dead now and this boy was clearly a worthy predecessor to the Second Mizukage. Now that the Mizukage was dead, he could be summoned by anyone from any region as long as it approved of the summoner. After all its not like it controlled where its summoning scroll went.
Naruto looked on as the mirage cleared, revealing the giant white clam with the black symbol of Kiri going around the top of the shell. Naruto really didn't know what to do now. He guessed he had passed the clam's test…. but the thing couldn't talk. This would be an issue since he didn't know any of its abilities and he hadn't even signed a summoning contract yet, he had just summoned the clam by pumping chakra into the scroll he had.
While these thoughts ran through his head, two scrolls popped out of the clams two siphons. Naruto picked it up as the clam's shell closed again as it poofed out of existence.
Naruto was slightly confused by this but picked up both scrolls. One was larger then the other, and he picked it up and opened it. He became elated when he read the words at the top, Summoning Contract. Naruto look down on the list of names present on the contract. He could only see one but couldn't quite read the hand writing since it was smeared in blood, whoever he was must have had terrible hand writing.
Naruto bit his finger, just like he use to when summoning toads and wrote his name in blood on the contract, signifying that he was the new wielder of the Clam Contract. The scroll had a sling over it, similar to the one Jiraiya had for the toads. Naruto slung it over his shoulder. He then picked up the smaller scroll and opened it. It read Giant Clam Information in bold at the top of the scroll. Naruto began reading the scroll which he figured would give information on the strange clam that he could now summon.
To whoever was strong enough to be deemed worthy to summon the giant clam, I am the Second Mizukage and proud descendent of the Hozuki clan in Kirigakure. Whoever is reading this will be the next summoner of the Giant Clam who has greatly aided me in combat during my life. If someone is reading this, I will be dead and you will be taking up the ability to summon this great creature. I know you might be relatively hesitant to summon a creature who can't move or talk, but its abilities are just as useful as any summon's and if used correctly, can even be more deadly. As you have probably witnessed, the clam emits a weird haze out of its siphons. This haze creates a genjutsu that displays mirages to your enemy of both you and the clam. This hides your location and the clam's. These mirages prevent the clam's immobility from becoming a hinderance in combat as most enemies won't be able to sense it. Only extremely gifted sensors can find the clam when in this state, even Konoha's byakugan fails to find the clam when the mirages activate. These mirages provide great distractions. It can give you time to rest or escape, but more importantly, it allows you to launch sneak attacks in the haze since the enemy can only see the mirage of you. The mirage of you is also able to use ninjutsu, since its created out of chakra. I hope this information is helpful to the next summoner because its the only pre hand knowledge you can get since the clam can't speak. As I stated earlier the Giant Clam is extremely useful in combat and I hope you continue to make its legacy grow during your lifetime.
Naruto finished reading the scroll and took in all the information he had gathered. He was a slight bit concerned before reading this scroll about having a summon that couldn't speak or move, however this scroll definitely put all of his worries at rest.
If the Second Mizukage used this summon, then there was no way it was a hinderance. Based off of what the scroll said, the clam's abilities suited him perfectly. The mirages allowed him to make silent and lethal surprise attacks on enemies with Nuibari while they were distracted by the mirages. Plus the mirage could use ninjutsu which was a huge plus.
Sure Naruto would need some time to practice with his new summon but from the information he had just gathered, his new summon had increase his overall power a great deal. The clam provided him with so many new possibilities for jutsu and use of Nuibari. Naruto smiled under his mask as he placed the smaller scroll in his pocket as he began his walk back to his apartment. He dispelled the 40 clones he had created to check for anyone spying on him and was happy to see that the clones hadn't spotted anyone following him.
Naruto made his way back to the center of the village within 30 minutes of walking. The training ground was a considerable distance from the main part of the village. Naruto walked down the busy street, ignoring the stares and whispers he saw and heard along the street. He was too entranced in thought about what had happened to today.
It was now around 3 o'clock and he was sure he now had nothing to do. He was done training for the day after his encounter with his new summon. He thought back to his childhood days and what he use to do. He remembered all the pranks he pulled to simply get attention. He shook his head slightly at the thought of how immature he was when he was younger. Desperately seeking approval and attention from people who would clearly never give it to him.
There were the few people who were nice to him who were older. He remembered Teuchi and Ayame from the ramen stand and Iruka who were some of the few people who were always nice to him despite what was sealed within him. Naruto's thoughts turned to ramen, which he hadn't had in over three years. Sure he didn't eat anywhere close to what he use too and had completely altered his diet while he was away, but that didn't erase his apparent obsession with ramen.
His mouth began to water under his mask at the thought of his favorite food that he hadn't had in years. He decided he would have that for dinner tonight. He couldn't believe that he hadn't had ramen since he'd arrived in the village.
Naruto continued to walk down the main street of Konoha, completely ignoring any stares or comments from the villagers. Most of the civilians were still terrified of him. They had heard of his outburst at one civilian over a comment about Sasuke Uchiha and definitely didn't want to piss the man off. Many shinobi had grown even more scared of the mysterious masked man after news of his fight with Kakashi. Reports of him nearly killing Kakashi while destroying the entire truing ground seven struck fear into many of the Konoha shinobi's hearts.
Anyone who could nearly kill Kakashi and destroy an entire training ground was not someone to mess with, regardless of what they had done previously to piss them off. If they got in a fight with that man, chances are they would most likely be killed.
Naruto made his way back to his apartment and walked up the stairs and unlocked the door to get into his small room. He removed his clothes and entered his bathroom. He still kept his mask on incase anyone was spying on him that he didn't notice. Naruto took a long shower and put on a clean set of his new choice in clothing. Naruto then laid down in his bed, somewhat tired from the day and from his return to Konoha as a whole. It was now around four o'clock in the afternoon and he set an alarm for six as he drifted off to sleep.
Naruto slept for two hours. He had fallen asleep rather quickly and felt relatively refreshed after his short nap. He woke up and grabbed Nuibari before walking out his apartment door. He made sure he locked up and began his walk towards his one time favorite restaurant.
He wondered what Teuchi and Ayame made of his departure. They were some of the nicest people to him as a child, and the only restaurant who would serve him any food. Naruto had quickly made his way to Ichiraku's and his mouth was watering once again at the thought of having his favorite food once again.
Naruto pushed the familiar white curtains that shielded the outside of the outside of the restaurant from the customers, however his mood was quickly destroyed at the sight of who was sitting in front of him. A pink haired kunoichi and a raven haired boy sat at two stools enjoying ramen. Sasuke was rapped in tons of bandages around his torso and right shoulder but was still managing to move both arms. Naruto glared under his mask at the backside of the two figures. Naruto continued to stare at their backside until Teuchi called out to him in a timid and questioning way.
"C..Can I help you sir?"
Asked Teuchi who was obviously rather scared of his new apparent customer. He like almost everyone in the village had heard of the masked shinobi.
Sasuke turned his head slightly to see who the cook was talking two, only to lay eyes on the one person he wanted to see least in the entire village, the insane masked swordsman who had apparently saved his life.