At Shakky's Inn, Shakky cleaned Ash's loaned room. When he first arrived with Pikachu, Rayleigh and Shakky allowed Ash to stay in a room. Recently, Robin adopted Ash and housed him and Pikachu to her flat. Now that Ash was no longer staying at the inn, Shakky was making sure the room would be available for the next customer. As Shakky straightened the door frame, a presence was felt. A silhouette of a large head was behind Rayleigh's wife. Even though she didn't turn around, she understood the presence. "It's been awhile," she mentioned. The green-haired woman wearing a green robe stood.
"Shakky, your senses have never wavered," she complimented.
"I've never been one to let my senses go to waste, Sandersonia. So, did you come on behalf of Hancock?" A snicker came from Sandersonia.
"Nothing has passed your intuitions. Here." She handed Shakky a scroll to which the raven-haired read.
"Hancock seeks interest in the Summoner…"
"I came here since I learned this is where he's staying." A sigh from Shakky told Sandersonia a problem. "Did I miss something?"
"It happened just the other day. One of Princess Vivi's protectors adopted the Summoner. I'm just cleaning up for the next guest." The news made Sandersonia sad.
"Well, you have the invitation from Lord Hancock. If you see the Summoner again, could you give that to him?" The offer made Shakky nod.
"You have my word." The acceptance made Sandersonia nod.
Shinobi! Ash's Ninja Training
At the Pinwheel, everyone there gathered to listen to Ash's story of when he learned Ninjitsu. It wasn't long ago that Ash revealed himself as a ninja while summoning Greninja. "You're not only the Summoner, but you're a ninja on top of it?" wondered Zoro as Omao handed him a bowl of miso soup.
"It's so cool!" cheered Luffy. "Do you have shurikens and kunai knives?"
"Do you go camouflage at night?" asked Usopp.
"What about Greninja?" wondered Blue-Nose. "Was Greninja your teacher?"
"And did you use these ninja skills to look up the yukatas to see all the pant-" started Brook before Onami crushed his skull with a mallet that had "100t" carved on it.
"Numskull!" she snapped. Brook looked knocked cold.
"Only Brook…" muttered Sanji. "I do believe that you could use that ninja skill to see girls naked in the open-air bat-" Onami silenced Sanji with the same mallet.
"And his cousin!" she yelled. Sanji looked out of it. "Anyone else?" The other boys shook their heads.
"So, it started out as a visit from my sensei's brother, who happened to be a ninja named Yamamoto Joe," Ash started. "Joe had been a Shinobi before I was born. A couple of years before I left for here, Pikachu and I continued to study more about the summons I had when Joe came around."
(Flashback)
"Joe, you're visiting me?" my Sensei awed. Joe wore a dark blue suit but kept cloth over his mouth and nose. Pikachu and I never understood at the time about it. We just thought it was a nice look.
"I never come on by without a reason, brother," Joe mentioned. "I heard that you've been collecting unusual scrolls. I found this one in the trees of a swamp in the distance."
"Must you refer these scrolls as 'unusual'?"
"Like you have an idea of what they are?" The reply made Joe a little silent.
"Let me explain what I found about this: When I saw this, I found a note by it." He unveiled the note after putting the scroll down. We overheard it. "Inside is a creature that has been dormant for eons. He would only awaken by one worthy of becoming a true Shinobi, be taught in loyalty into its form of ninjitsu." My Sensei seemed perplexed to the scroll's note.
"One who awakens to become a true Shinobi… Knowing it didn't react to you, it means you weren't worthy of its presence."
"My skills as Shinobi is worthy enough as it is. Still, you've had these scrolls upon you for some time."
"I do believe my adopted student isn't the one, although he has been in touch with the other summons." They turned to us. Joe was fascinated with Pikachu.
"Pardon me," he spoke.
"Yes?" wondered me.
"Did you summon this mouse?" Pikachu looked to me and then to Joe.
"I don't really know if I summoned him or he chose to come out of it."
"I see… I didn't want to think it was anything special. My brother said that you have a special skill that can summon creatures from the scrolls."
"Are you sure? I'm learning how to read and write."
"Don't think too hard about it. My brother may be stingy, but he wouldn't have taken you in without a reason." He put the scroll down where I saw it. I'm thinking he wanted me to put it with the rest of the scrolls my Sensei did have.
"You said you found this scroll, and that it's like the other scrolls my Sensei has."
"I cannot say for sure. All I know is that I wanted him to study it more."
"But if it's like the others, it must be some new creature, right?"
"Only your imagination can help." Boy, I wish he didn't say that… but then again, I had thought it was some fish. I touched it… and the scroll was glowing blue. This astounded the brothers. The scroll unfurled itself. A blinding light got all of our eyes, even Pikachu's. When it dimmed, I met Greninja… but as a small sky blue frog with frubbles around the neck and large yellow eyes. We met and the Sensei and his brother were astounded. They soon believed I would be a ninja like Joe. Quickly, Joe asked if I wanted to learn with my new summoned. I said yes. From that point on, I trained myself to be a ninja. I learned about dressing as a ninja, climbing trees, throwing shurikens and kunais, laying down traps, alerting other fellow ninja… I was even taught some sword fighting with short katanas. Joe also told me about how ninja aren't necessarily combatants as their main tasks are stealth and espionage. I wasn't exactly upset with the detail. Then again, my main background was the summoning. Speaking of, the frog that came to train with me grew into a bigger frog with a bluer head and less frubbles around its neck. It hadn't happened to other summoned creatures, so I had to wonder if any of my other ones like Pikachu could do that. It should be noted that when he did grow, the name changed from "FROAKIE" to "FROGADIER." Then one night, I was hunting for food and laid a trap down before going to sleep. "You have been pretty exceptional in your training. I've been training in ninjitsu for many years."
"I've just been following your example," I said.
"That you did. I'm not saying you're doing a bad job." He leaped down from the top before he slipped and opened a trap I made. I caught his arm before he fell onto a wire. Seeing it, I struggled to pull him up.
"Don't touch that wire!"
"I won't!" My creatures and I pulled Joe out of the trap. "Thanks."
"Yeah, I didn't want you to fall into my trap." Looking down, we saw that the elaborate trap I set was nearly triggered.
"So, the wire there is the secondary trap?"
"Yep. Frogadier, shoot a Water Pulse down there." The frog, Frogadier, shot a ball of water onto the wire which sprung katanas to slice whoever fell in.
"A well-organized trap… I believe you have what it takes." At that moment, Frogadier transformed again, now becoming Greninja. After my training, I continued back at the temple with Sensei for the couple of years before I left.
Luffy, Blue-Nose and Usopp awed the story of Ash's time as a ninja. "So cool!" they cheered as Brook, Zoro and Sanji listened in.
"I knew youteia was something special!" cheered Ocarrot. "So, Greninja was just a small froggy who grew up to a ninja? That's unreal!"
"I'll admit, you have me thinking about it," Zoro muttered. "The infamous Summoner who also does ninja work is a bit funny… but after seeing your work on Kabuki Buggy several times, I want to say that I wouldn't mind helping out." Onami became curious.
"Why would you want to help someone this powerful?" she questioned. "He's good with his creatures, he's a ninja…"
"But he could use some sword skills," Zoro mentioned. "I'm aware ninjas are not the confrontational kind, but that doesn't mean they can't use swords." Ash smirked to Zoro's offer.
"Hey, I'm not worried," he grinned. Outside, Pikachu was in Ocarrot's arms when Ash and Zoro faced each other. Zoro had a katana with a white hilt.
"Wado Ichimonji should be good enough," he chose. Ash grabbed the hilt from a scabbard strapped to his back. "Let's see your quick-draw!"
"Okay!" acknowledged Ash.
"Are you sure that Zoro can stay with Ash's speed?" wondered Usopp. Pikachu wasn't sure.
"We're about to find out," Blue-Nose warned. Ash and Zoro charged with the two unsheathing and swinging their swords. Ash's sword was 1/3 shorter than Zoro's Wado.
"Whoa, Ash's sword is puny compared to Zoro!" awed Luffy.
"Ash did say that his katana is smaller than a normal samurai sword," Omao reminded. The clash and grinding of swords lasted for a few seconds before they broke away.
"Good, that was a nice swing," Zoro complimented. "That sword has been through a few battles." They clashed some more with Ash spinning it to go backhand. He parried Zoro's strike and spun to the air with a roundhouse flying kick. Zoro ducked the strike before swinging upward. Ash parried it while upside-down before flipping back to his feet. "Nice… your reaction is superb, especially when you're out of position. Your sensei's brother didn't look hard to find a Shinobi."
"Well, technically…" spoke Ash. "He really wasn't looking for one at all."
"Oh, right… The frog was the one looking."
"Respect Greninja…" They clashed more with the swords. One time, Ash slid underneath Zoro, but Zoro swung down. He missed a spinning Ash. He countered with a downward strike while momentarily upside-down, but Zoro nudged his head to the side, allowing the blade to pass without contact.
"They're moving so fast, how can they keep missing!?" gawked Blue-Nose.
"This is monotonous," Onami sighed. The two continued to swing wildly fast with a modicum of lethal intent. Suddenly, they crossed each other with one last swing. There was a pause. Ash and Zoro stood; their bodies worn from the contest. Finally, Ash's sleeve was torn. Zoro's robe was also sliced. However, there was only some sweat that soaked the road, no blood. Both sides sheathed their swords.
"I see," Zoro smiled. "Your style has a variety of angles that can take anyone by surprise. You had me on my toes a couple of times." Ash smile back to Zoro.
"Your swordsmanship is second to none," he returned. "There were a few times I thought I was a goner." Pikachu sighed; a resolution made.
"There's a blacksmith who can carve you a sword that can fit your style or retool your kodachi. After all, isn't that what a ninja's sword is called?"
"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind." After the handshakes, they cleaned up the Pinwheel before closing it. Onami escorted Ash and Pikachu back to Robin's flat. He stitched the suit back up.
"How many people did you have to rough up?" teased Robin. Ash giggled to the question.
"Just a few, Mom," he returned. "Kabuki Buggy never seems to learn."
"The crime boss, huh? I'm not surprised." She picked up and petted Pikachu. "I can only wonder who's the next one you summon." She showed Ash a white scroll. "Maybe you can show me this one before we go to sleep?" Handed the scroll, Ash wondered why.
"Any reason with Tauros?"
"I wondered if I could snuggle with one tonight." The request made Ash smile.
"I doubt Tauros is someone to snuggle. I do have someone else." Trading in the scroll for Tauros, he picked up another scroll and unfurled it. "Its body vibrates to shake the land it's on. "COME FORTH, PALPITOAD!" The shine from the scroll brightened the room before it dimmed. There was a blue amphibious creature with blue bumps as arms and larger blue bumps on the forehead and sides of the head. The cream-colored front had a black outline that seemed to connect the eyes and around the mouth. Robin awed the decision.
"You're right, this one looks more adorable." The amphibious creature looked up to Robin.
"Palpitoad, Mom wants to snuggle with you. Is it alright?" Palpitoad croaked to agree.
"Thank you, my son." They traded Palpitoad and Pikachu for the night. Ash's secret of being a ninja was uncovered. Those who oppose him may underestimate his skill.
TO BE CONTINUED...
