Chapter 48

Not a second after the question left my lips, one of the creatures leaped at me, fangs gleaming threateningly. Although, that might have just been me being hyper aware of them. Those and the metallic blades attached to its front legs. 'Because of course it has blades. If the toads can have fucking swords why wouldn't these have blades on their legs?' I thought wryly.

Jumping aside to dodge without needing to use any skills or jutsu, I regarded the group of probably very smart animals. My ears strained to pick off if something was moving behind me. Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask a question, because I really didn't want to mess up my meeting with the prospective summons, my eyes caught a thread moving towards me.

Jumping over it, I caught sight of one of the creatures holding one end of the string while another had jumped just like the first, pulling on the other end with it. Once I landed again, I looked around and clicked my tongue. I wanted to talk, but it seemed that these things weren't up for it.

"Is this some kind of test or do you just want to beat me?" I asked, more confused than annoyed. Because if they were actually trying to attack me in any way with those attempts, then I was more insulted than worried.

"So, think yourself above us, human?" A smooth voice spoke from behind me and I turned. My eyes met with beady red eyes on a pitch black body. "Think my children are too weak for you?"

"I'm just wondering if there's a point to those attacks. Because they are clearly not on my level," I replied with a shrug. "They do look rather small though, so I'm guessing they are young," I mused as my eyes moved to the first one that had jumped.

"That, they are," The only creature to have spoken so far continued. My best guess was that it was the boss, since it was by far the biggest I had seen as of that moment. "It's been a while since we've had someone come to our domain, let alone uninvited. So, let's see, human, if you have what it takes for us to even consider having you as our summoner. Kumogari, if you would," And then, a creature to her left moved.

It's size was around halfway between the smaller ones that attacked before, that were about the size of my arm, and the boss lady, who was as big as a building, and not a small one at that. It's two front legs had blades on them, although these ones looked more like spear heads than katanas as the first animal's had been. It's remaining six legs also had, although smaller, similar pointy ends. It's eight black eyes stared at me from its light brown body.

A very menacing looking spider, I would admit, and that wasn't even considering that it was freaking armed.

Just like the first one had done, it jumped. This time though, I had to Flicker away from where I had stood. It was much faster than the first one, that was for sure. The arachnids all around us started stepping back, forming a circle with us in between. An arena of our own, it seemed.

Cracking my neck as the spider turned, I took Nuibari from the sheath I had it in on my back. My left hand held the wire while my right hand gripped the sword's handle. Before the spider, Kumo or whatever, could jump again, I snapped the Sewing Needle at it. The sword flew true, but the creature was obviously no idiot. It dodged just in time.

'That's fine though,' I thought with a smirk. After all, Nuibari was now firmly set on the ground behind the spider, its thread still held in my hand. With another Flicker, the sword's wire hit the spider just like that duo had tried before with me, but that wasn't all. I instantly activated Stunning Thread and Chakra Flow, making the arachnid start to twitch madly.

It got away, of course, but that didn't matter either. I had gotten a good hit in and I could work from there. With another Flicker, I was right in front of it. Using Intermediate Taijutsu's boost, I kicked the creature as hard as I could, sending it flying away and almost hitting one of the spiders making the ring.

Then, I pulled on Nuibari's thread to get the sword to come back to me. Catching it, I pulled my arm back for another throw. This time though, I switched my titles to have Wielder of Nuibari on me. While I was at that though, I decided to go all in and activate Bloodlust and Intermediate Kenjutsu.

The result was the sword literally appearing in front of the spider. It was a good thing that I didn't aim for its actual body, or the thing would have died then and there, probably with my chances for a contract too. I didn't know how well the Spider Clan, or whatever, would take me killing one of their own. Real spiders probably wouldn't care, but I knew better than to apply logic to the world I was in.

Instead of one shooting the arachnid, Nuibari stuck itself on the ground again, this time in between the thing's legs. Letting the metallic string in my hand hang limply, I used several chained Flickers in a circle around the thing. The result was a spider bigger than a human tangled into a ball with a shining thread.

"So," I started, stopping my dash next to the now immobilized arachnid. "Does this count as a win or do I have to fry her… him, whatever?" I asked with a nod towards my incapacitated opponent.

"Hmm," The boss spider hummed, and while its red eyes didn't move, I could imagine her looking between me and her underling. 'Were they considered underlings? Was there a better word for it?' "You are, indeed, not as bad as other humans that have come before us," She admitted, and I almost let out a cheer. If only there hadn't been the hint of amusement in her voice though. "Kumoken, let's see if he is actually fit to make a contract with us, shall we?" She said then and suddenly realized that this would be a lot harder than I expected.

Still, there was a corner in my mind that felt nothing but excitement for this.

"Of course, Kumohoshi," A deeper, obviously male voice spoke from behind me. And as I turned, I realized that yes. This wouldn't be easy at all.

In a way, this spider resembled the one I had just beaten and was still held on Nuibari's thread. However, while that one seemed to have spears on its legs, this one seemed to have decided to go in a much more brutal route. This one had blades that were much longer and, on top of that, they were serrated, heralding a much more painful wound, if nothing else. Moreover, there was one more thing that made it much more intimidating than the previous one.

It was bigger than the boss spider, Kumohoshi.

"I don't suppose you'll be slow since you are so big, right?" I asked with an uneasy half-smile as I looked up at him. The only answer I got was one of the gigantic blaces snapping towards me. And when I say snapping, I mean fucking teleporting, because the thing was on me before I even realized that there was an attack coming. I Flickered to the side as I let out a nervous chuckle. "Thought so."

"Are you going to keep talking or will you ever start fighting?" Kumoken asked, sounding supremely unimpressed.

"Gotta make conversation and all that. But we'll have it your way, big guy," I replied, Flickering again. This time, when I stopped, I pulled Nuibari's string, which made the previous spider spin in the air as the wire uncoiled itself. It would have made for a somewhat comedic sight if I hadn't been focused on another arachnid.

With Intermediate Taijutsu and Kenjutsu still active, I called for Running and Free Running, my improvised plan required a little more precision than what I had with the Flicker, after all. With all my buffs up, I made a dash towards the gigantic spider. It moved fast, really fast actually, but not enough that I couldn't follow its movements if I really tried. That's why instead of being impaled by its second attempt, I jumped away and on top of one of his legs.

Immediately, I made a nick on the thing's limb with Nuibari. It probably wouldn't do anything to it, but it meant activating Bloodhound's effect and that's all I wanted. With even more speed, I could now play a little game with the spider while staying on the safe side and, thus, I laughed.

Instead of addressing my clearly disrespectful display, Kumoken continued trying to cut me down with his blades. It was for nothing though, I could avoid all his attacks with my speed. Even when I couldn't, that's when the Flicker came back in. There was just no way for it to get to me…

As long as I had Energy Points, that is.

That set a time limit to my little game, but that was fine. It wasn't like all my strategy was dodging him, no. That was just the amusing part. The more complicated part was tangling his legs with Nuibari's thread. After all, I had shown that card already, so he had to be wary of that. But, I made that less obvious, jumping around, taking some openings for attacks that wouldn't do much but made it look like I was actually trying on that front and some other things like exploding tags… and maybe all that would be enough to distract him.

At least, that was the plan, until the spider stopped, moved all his legs, and made my whole effort useless.

"It was a nice trick, that one," Kumoken commented, his voice not showing even a hint of mockery. Either he didn't show much emotion at all or he really thought it wasn't a bad plan. I decided to go for the latter, at least in my head.

"Thanks," I said with a sigh, before I smiled. "But it's good that it wasn't just that, isn't it?" I asked, cracking my neck and smirking at the spider, who shifted his legs, unsure.

"A good bluff too," The arachnid called when I just stood there for a few seconds. This time, a little annoyance slipped into his tone. But I just kept smirking, even as his bladed limb flew at me.

After all, I actually had a Plan B. Nuibari had a nice wire, that much was true. But I had been using wire before I got the sword, and having a Legendary version of my favorite ninja tool didn't make the normal one instantly obsolete. Especially so when nobody expected me to use it. Then, it became a card up my sleeve.

With a well placed Flicker, I pulled on my Plan B, and managed to trap five of Kumoken's legs, one of which was the bladed one that he hadn't used in his attack. Before the gigating thing could try and pull itself free by sheer strength and size, I activated Stunning Thread, Chakra Flow and also Living Thread, to add a little more strength to the hold that didn't rely solely on me. The result was less graceful than I would have liked, since the spider still twitched, which pulled at me and almost sent me flying away.

I still took the whole thing as a success. I was fighting an arachnid that was probably just below the boss summon, or so I assumed. Those were nothing to scoff at, at least pre-timeskip.

"It seems this one has potential, wouldn't you say, Kumoken?" The boss lady asked. 'When did she get behind me?!' I screamed in my mind as I all but jumped to the side and turned towards her. I didn't know if the amusement in her voice came from that little trick or the state that her… friend? was left in after our little battle. The big guy was still twitching, but had already managed to stand upright and seemed ready to give it another go, probably more serious too.

"It… would seem so," Kumoken replied, although reluctantly.

'Granted, saying no would be like mocking himself, wouldn't it?' I considered, holding back a snort.

"So, as I said before," I started casually, as if I hadn't been battling just a second ago. "How do we go about-?" I was interrupted by a stinging sensation on my right arm. When I turned to see what was going on, I saw a pale pink, almost white spider, slightly bigger than my hand, biting on it. Just as I was about to smack it away, it stopped, pulled back and stared at me. 'When did it even get there?'

"Now," A deep, older voice spoke from my left shoulder and I turned again, this time to see a dark blue, almost black spider sitting (standing?) on it. "You are our contractor. You may summon those of our clan if you so choose to."

"Beware, human," A feminine voice, although not less elderly, came from the pink spider that had bitten me. "That this privilege may be taken from you if you make a mistake."

"Was the double speech really necessary?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, although a bit concerned about the implications of the bite. Was it another test? Was it venomous? Would Poison Resistance's eighteen levels be enough?

Regardless of my inner worries, the big black spider spoke this time. More like chuckled, really.

"They've been practicing," Kumohoshi, 'that was her name, right?', told me, earning indignant huffs from both spiders. "As I said, it's been a while since anyone came here, let alone a worthy contractor."

"And they were bored so they practiced that, it makes sense," I nodded. After dealing with the antics of… well, everyone around me, I was more or less sure that everyone worth noticing had one or two… quirks, let's say. It was a surprisingly accurate way to tell if someone could be strong or not, as far as I knew. Most of the time, at least.

"So, Kumohoshi, was it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the big spider and for a moment wondering how it could talk. A second later, I almost smacked myself for trying to see logic in this world. I really needed to stop that. When the spider nodded, or more like leaned forward with her body, I continued. "You are the boss here, aren't you? I heard about summons having those."

"I am the Chief of the Land of Spiders, yes," She replied.

"Then I thank you and your people for accepting me," I gave a slight bow. I would have gone lower but I had on my shoulders what were probably these summons' version of the small toads that helped Jiraiya go pseudo-Sage. What were their names again? "I look forward to working with you all."

"Oh, he does have manners," Kumohoshi said, and I could almost hear the smirk on her metaphorical face. "I have to wonder where those were all this time."

"Well, we weren't allies yet," I justified, stopping myself from shrugging. At that, the spider laughed. 'I wonder how long it'll take for the talking spiders to stop being a weird sight.'

"I think I like you, brat," The boss spider commented and I smiled. Having the chief or whatever on my side would definitely be a boon. The last thing I needed was having trouble with them hearing me out in a battle like Naruto with Gamabunta. Now, I only had to hope that they would actually stay with me if I needed help with a Bijuu or something like the Toad had done in canon. It wouldn't do much for me if they liked me but wouldn't fight with me when I really needed it. "But for now, I think you should go back."

"I'll probably summon some of you guys for training, just to let you know," I told them, more to avoid them being annoyed at a random summon than anything else. I didn't know quite how that would go if I didn't at least give them a warning. "I could use some sparring partners too," I commented.

"And we shall answer the call," A new voice answered, and I turned to the side, where yet another gigantic spider stood. He was as big as Kumoken, but, instead of blades, this arachnid was armored. Every part of his body was covered in metallic armor that looked like it would be very hard to pierce. "I am Kumoyoroi, pleasure to meet you, summoner."

I withheld a laugh. 'Yoroi, really?'

"Be sure to call for me to spar," Kumoken said then, and I think I heard a smirk somewhere there. "Hopefully, I won't have to hold back next time," He added, and there was definitely a smirk hidden by his spider 'face'.

"Also, I was told that there could be variations in the hand seals and stuff...?" I trailed off at the end of the question, as a little black spider walked in front of me with a small scroll on its back. "Thanks?" I said with a slight smile. "Cheeky, are you?"

"Spiders are always prepared," Kumohoshi offered as a response, although, to me, she sounded distinctly smug.

Opening the scroll, I saw all the modifications to the Jutsu. A hand seal changed here, different chakra movements there. It wasn't overly complicated stuff, thank God. A few reads, with a few sneak peeks towards the creatures around me, were all that I needed to memorize it. It wasn't like I was going to have to wait for long to start practicing, anyway. And I would also write it down myself, just in case.

Then, with the contract out of the way, no fights in sight and all the talking practically done, I took a look around for the first time. Not at the spiders, no, but at the area we were in. It seemed to be… a hole in the ground, really. A big one, to be sure, but a hole nonetheless. Kinda like being an ant inside a rabbit's burrow. The size was obvious though, considering that this place housed spiders the size of not-so-small buildings.

Still, even though it was mostly earth and some roots hanging from the ceiling, the place had a distinct beauty to it. Or maybe it was a feeling. 'Aren't these places supposed to be legendary or something?' I thought, my eyes noting that the roots on the ceiling of the cave/hole didn't seem to be growing at random. Instead, they seemed to twist and knot themselves together in patterns of some kind.

"It doesn't look like you need to be told," The pale spider on my right shoulder spoke then, almost whispering in my ear and effectively breaking me from my appreciation of the sights. "But we spiders are hunters, and so will you be."

"Be patient," The dark one on my left continued. "care not for honor or fairness. Lay your traps, trick your prey and defeat your foes. You represent us now, hunter."

"Do us proud," The pale took over once more, and with those last words, everything turned black again.

When I blinked, smoke was clearing and there stood my teacher, looking immensely relieved.

"Any bets on what my summons are?" I asked with a smirk. Internally though, I made sure to carve the spider's words in my mind. They didn't seem to be asking for anything that wasn't reasonable and I wouldn't do anyway, but it was better to be on the safe side. A contract and a path to the Sage Arts would be great then and there but mostly in the future.

[New Skill Acquired: Summoning Technique: Spiders - Lvl 1]

[New Title Acquired: Contractor of the Spider Clan]

[New Perk Acquired: Contractor of the Spider Clan]

My smirk grew bigger.

"Wolves?" Anko asked with an interested look on her face. Someone was curious, that much is true. My face seemed to be all the answer she needed because she tried again. "Lions?"

"Spiders," I replied with a wide grin.

"Huh… not as impressive, but that's not surprising either," She shrugged.

"You wouldn't say that if you had seen the big bosses," I pointed out. Seriously, if Kumoken, Kumoyoroi and Kumohoshi weren't impressive, I don't know what was. "Also, spiders are pretty cool in general."

"You say that now, brat," My sensei said, shaking her head with a smile. "So, no problems with the contract?"

"A fight here, a fight there, nothing much," I waved off.

"Nothing much, he says," I heard her grumble and I almost laughed. I knew she would think that. Meanwhile, I called for the new screens.

[Summoning Technique: Spiders - Lvl 1

C-rank technique with which the user can summon spiders to help them.

Hand Seals - 5

Consumption - Varied

Summon List [+]]

'First time with a Consumption that outright says 'Varied',' I noted curiously. 'And the first time for that List thing,' I frowned. Mentally clicking on the + and getting an empty screen. I guessed that I would, at some point, hold the names for spiders that I knew so that I could see what I could summon? That was the only thing that came to mind, at least. It would require testing, but that was already on the plans anyway.

Then, I called for the Title.

[Contractor of the Spider Clan

Increases stats when fighting alongside members of the Spider Clan by 20%.]

'A step down from Wielder of Nuibari, that's surprising and a bit disappointing,' I thought, noting that it was 10% lower than the sword's Perk. 'Still, if I put both together, I have a 50% buff. That's crazy.'

And last, but certainly not least, the Perk.

[Contractor of the Spider Clan

Opens the possibility of Spider Senjutsu for the user.]

I had to make a physical effort not to burst out laughing. 'Perfect,' My mind screamed gleefully. 'Just… perfect.'

"Already planning how to creep people out with your spiders, brat?" Anko asked, snapping me from my thoughts, but not taking away my grin. "Done spacing out?" I just stared at her, mind still considering the possibilities now open to me. Let alone Senjutsu in the future, I could do so many things now, even with little, normal-sized spiders. "You are creeping me out without the spiders, brat."

"Sensei… I'm gonna have so much fun from now on, I can already tell," I said.

"I've created a monster," She muttered, before a grin formed on her face, mirroring mine. "I haven't ever been so proud," She added, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye. "Now, tell me all the details, Eiji. Don't leave anything out."

"Well, first of all, besides the Cursed Mark and Summoning training, I was thinking about making an Elemental Jutsu of my own," I whispered to her while she started mock clapping in excitement. "I need the books and all, but I'm confident I can make one in two weeks. Leaving two weeks to train it until I can use it with at least one or two hand seals needed only."

"You have any idea how unbelievable that sounds?" She asked, breaking the act for a moment. "Or how crazy it is that I believe you?"

"I know I'm awesome. You don't have to tell me," I said, earning myself a punch to the shoulder. "And I have an equally awesome teacher."

"That's more like it," She nodded. "Now," She continued with a grin returning. "What did you have in mind for that Jutsu?"

"So glad you asked, Anko-sensei," I started before relaying to her my plans for the Finals.

"You have no mercy for your fellow Genin, do you?" She asked as I finished my explanation and she finished laughing at my ideas. "I knew there was a reason I liked you brat."