The higher I climb, the more seriously they'll have to take me.
Satoru needed access.
Influence.
Protection.
Resources.
Rank was simply another tool.
Satoru's thoughts continued upward.
Jōnin.
Then higher.
Eventually, his mind reached the Hokage's office.
He imagined sitting behind the desk.
Then he imagined the paperwork.
His expression immediately soured.
No.
He didn't need that.
He wanted the strength and influence associated with the position.
The access.
The authority.
The ability to make decisions that mattered.
But actually sitting there and dealing with endless administrative reports?
Someone else could have that privilege.
I'll stay one step below.
Hokage-level influence without Hokage-level paperwork.
Perfect.
His thoughts drifted back to Ren.
His chakra composition.
The change.
The thing he'd spent years regarding as a limitation.
Satoru frowned.
Too Yin-heavy.
That was what he'd been told.
Certain aspects of his Yamanaka heritage simply didn't suit his chakra composition.
He'd accepted that explanation when he was younger.
There hadn't been much reason not to.
But now?
His chakra had changed.
It was closer to balanced.
What if that changes the equation?
He didn't assume the poison had somehow transformed him into a natural Yamanaka.
That would be ridiculous.
But perhaps techniques that had once been inefficient were no longer inefficient.
Perhaps techniques he'd previously considered inaccessible were now merely difficult.
There was only one way to find out.
Test them.
He mentally reviewed what the Yamanaka arsenal actually offered.
Mind Transfer was only the most famous technique.
Mental attacks.
Interrogation.
Intelligence gathering.
Communication.
Coordination.
Sensory applications.
There was a reason the clan was so important to Konoha.
Their techniques attacked a completely different dimension of combat.
Satoru's eyes narrowed.
That's another weakness I can exploit.
An enemy could prepare for Fire Release.
They could prepare for weapons.
They could prepare for taijutsu.
But what if the attack wasn't aimed at their body?
What if he could attack their mind?
His thoughts began assembling the future again.
Sharingan for perception.
Sensory techniques for information.
Yamanaka techniques for mental attacks and utility.
Fire Release for battlefield control.
Weapons for efficient offence.
The Eight Gates for physical amplification.
It wasn't one overwhelming speciality.
It was a collection of complementary ones.
Satoru considered that for a long moment.
Before Sasori, he had imagined his future differently.
He'd had a path.
A ceiling.
An expectation of what he would eventually become.
Then poison had destroyed part of that future.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
His ceiling in one area was lower now.
But perhaps that didn't mean his overall ceiling had to be.
He simply had to stop trying to rebuild the person he'd been supposed to become.
I can't compensate for every weakness by getting stronger in the same area.
If his chakra was lower, he needed abilities that used less chakra.
If his body was weaker, he needed abilities that amplified what his body could do.
If he couldn't rely on raw power, he needed information.
If information wasn't enough, he needed control.
If control wasn't enough...
He needed another answer.
Satoru's gaze moved slowly across the room.
There were still pieces missing.
His future arsenal was beginning to look impressive.
But something was absent.
Something experienced shinobi had that he didn't.
An independent scout.
Another pair of eyes.
Another combatant.
Something that could track, scout, fight, or provide support without requiring him to personally perform every task.
Satoru's expression changed.
A summon.
He hadn't considered it nearly enough.
A contract could provide exactly what he needed.
Another set of senses.
Another body on the battlefield.
Specialised abilities.
Reconnaissance.
Potentially transportation.
Support.
And, depending on what he contracted with...
Something far more dangerous.
Satoru stared at the ceiling.
For the first time in several minutes, he smiled.
His body might still be broken.
His chakra might never recover.
His old future might be gone.
Fine.
He was building a new one.
He mentally added another item to the list.
Summoning contract.
His smile faded into his usual expression of quiet determination.
"Next," he murmured, "I need to get a summon."
A summon sounded useful.
But useful wasn't enough.
He needed to know exactly why he wanted one.
Satoru frowned.
"What problem can another intelligent creature actually solve for me?"
The question hung in the quiet room.
He considered the obvious answer first.
Another fighter.
Simple enough.
Another body on the battlefield meant another source of attacks, another target for the enemy to worry about, another opportunity to create openings.
But that wasn't particularly unique.
He could already fight.
What he needed were things that were difficult for him to provide himself.
Reconnaissance.
That was better.
A summon could investigate somewhere without exposing him. It could move ahead of him, search an area, track someone, or watch an enemy while he remained hidden.
Information.
Also useful.
A summon might know things he didn't.
Different instincts. Different senses. Different experiences.
Then there was transportation.
Depending on the species, a summon could potentially carry him, move through terrain he couldn't easily cross, or simply get him somewhere faster.
Satoru's thoughts paused.
And then he considered the possibility that interested him most.
Teaching.
A summon didn't necessarily have to be a servant.
It could be a mentor.
A creature with decades—or centuries—of experience in something he hadn't even begun learning.
That could save him years.
His eyes narrowed.
So the value isn't just another fighter.
It was another independent asset.
That mattered.
Especially now.
Every task he performed himself eventually came back to the same problem.
Chakra.
Stamina.
His body.
But if another creature could scout for him, gather information for him, fight beside him, or teach him something?
He expanded his capabilities without forcing his own body to do everything.
Satoru gave a quiet huff.
That's almost suspiciously convenient.
Then another thought occurred to him.
It was probably fortunate that he hadn't established a summoning contract before Sasori.
If he had spent years building his combat style around a summon and then lost a significant portion of his chakra capacity...
He might have been forced to rebuild everything.
Instead, he was starting over at almost the perfect time.
His old assumptions were gone.
His new limitations were known.
So don't try to rebuild the old me.
He stared at the ceiling.
Build around what I have now.
That was becoming a recurring principle.
Not—
How do I get my old capabilities back?
But—
How do I make my new capabilities work together?
Every technique had a cost now.
Every technique needed a reason to exist.
Satoru closed his eyes.
Fine.
What summons did he actually remember?
The obvious ones came first.
Toads.
His thoughts immediately brought up images of the giant creatures associated with Mount Myōboku.
Combat.
Intelligence.
Communication.
Tracking.
Reconnaissance.
And then...
Satoru's eyes opened slightly.
Senjutsu.
That was the real attraction.
The possibility of Sage Mode.
His thoughts immediately became more cautious.
Sage Mode was powerful.
Ridiculously powerful.
But natural energy wasn't chakra.
That didn't mean his reduced reserves wouldn't matter.
He still needed to gather and balance it properly.
And if his chakra pathways were already fragile...
He didn't even know whether his current body could handle the process.
Long-term project.
Not something to obsess over while he could barely train.
Still, it went onto the list.
Snakes came next.
Excellent fighters.
Tracking.
Subterranean movement.
Potential access to Ryūchi Cave.
Another possible route toward senjutsu.
But Satoru imagined the personalities involved.
He wasn't exactly convinced.
Aggressive.
He paused.
Potentially very aggressive.
That didn't automatically make them unsuitable.
But compatibility mattered.
Then the slugs.
His thoughts immediately shifted toward their medical capabilities.
Healing.
Battlefield support.
Communication through distributed bodies.
Strategically, they were absurdly useful.
But offensively?
Not what he needed most.
Dogs were another possibility.
Tracking.
Detection.
Pursuit.
Simple.
Reliable.
Useful.
Then monkeys.
Intelligent.
Capable fighters.
And potentially compatible with weapons.
Satoru's eyes narrowed.
Weapons...
That had some potential.
But he wasn't going to choose a summon simply because it happened to be strong.
He needed to ask a different question.
What can I get from a summon that I can't easily develop myself?
That eliminated some possibilities.
And elevated others.
His thoughts returned to the toads.
Senjutsu.
Training.
Intelligence.
Reconnaissance.
Combat.
Communication.
That was a rather impressive list.
Worth investigating.
But not yet.
First, he needed to recover.
First Gate.
Sensory training.
Fire Release.
Everything else could wait.
Satoru's thoughts moved to another problem.
Fire Release.
That one was already familiar.
He had always had an affinity for it.
Before the poisoning, he hadn't needed to be particularly concerned with efficiency. If he wanted to experiment with another technique, he had the reserves to do so.
Now?
Not so much.
He couldn't afford to know ten Fire Release techniques that all did roughly the same thing.
I need to actually master the element.
Not just learn more jutsu.
Better control.
Less waste.
Different ranges.
Different applications.
Techniques for offence.
Techniques for area denial.
Techniques for forcing movement.
Techniques that could be used without burning through his reserves in a single exchange.
His thoughts briefly returned to Team 5.
Mariko.
Wind Release.
More specifically, the way her Wind Release could amplify his Fire Release.
Satoru frowned.
That won't always be available.
That was another assumption he couldn't afford.
He couldn't build a fighting style that only reached its full potential when a specific teammate was standing beside him.
If he wanted that combination...
He needed to provide the other half himself.
Wind Release.
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