[send power stones please]
Masashi Kishimoto is just some manga artist—what the hell does he know about Naruto?
Hikaru had heard that line countless times before he transmigrated. How many ridiculous arguments and meme wars it had spawned… he couldn't even be bothered to judge anymore.
But one thing was undeniable:
Everything Hikaru knew about this world—every scrap—had come from Masashi Kishimoto.
So when that name suddenly appeared on the scroll, Hikaru wasn't exactly shocked. In fact, he vaguely remembered this scene existing.
Still… it was hard not to feel a weird kind of helpless amusement.
Because in a certain sense, that name was practically the "creator god" of this world.
"This guy…" Hikaru thought, half laughing and half exasperated, "did he seriously leave himself a backdoor in case he ever got isekai'd?"
He shook his head, then rolled the scroll up and secured it.
"No wonder Kakashi's been acting strange. No wonder that summon acted so loyal. No wonder it was eating people, yet still looked… restrained."
"So it's all Kishimoto's doing, huh?"
Hikaru was grinning internally as he cursed him—though, to be fair, he didn't actually believe this "Masashi Kishimoto" had anything to do with the person who'd created the Naruto world in his previous life.
Back then, it had been nothing but a gag. An easter egg.
In this world, it was far more likely to be someone with the same name.
With the scroll put away, Hikaru finally let out a breath of relief. He dropped down and sat on the ground beside Kakashi.
"That was terrifying," Kakashi said, watching him sit. He let out a long sigh. "That thing… but it looks like we handled it."
"Yeah. Terrifying." Hikaru nodded, staring at the bare foundation where the "castle" had been. "It really exceeded my expectations."
It truly had.
The moment Hikaru signed his name on the contract, he could feel a thread of connection form between him and the lizard. And through that connection, he'd sensed a few things about it as well.
He'd underestimated it.
The beast's name was… painfully plain.
Lizardmaru.
And as for its strength?
Even trapped here for thirty or forty years, even after losing its summoner, even after being starved for who-knew-how-long—its current power was probably only a fraction of its peak. Maybe even one-tenth.
Yet even in that weakened state, it had left Hikaru and Kakashi in a sorry condition.
So what was it like at full strength?
Hikaru didn't even want to try imagining it.
All he could say was—
It really lived up to being "Kishimoto's summon."
"What now?" Kakashi forced himself upright, bracing on one arm. "Is it obedient?"
"Obedient?" Hikaru shook his head. "I haven't even talked to it yet. How would I know?"
Hikaru had never personally contracted a summon before, but he'd seen enough in his old life.
Naruto's Gamabunta, for instance—if you were being honest, that temper wasn't exactly friendly. Naruto had suffered plenty while trying to negotiate with him.
And as bad as Gamabunta could be, he was still better than Orochimaru's. Manda had threatened his summoners openly; Sasuke selling that snake out later was practically deserved.
If you wanted to talk about a truly easygoing summon…
Probably Katsuyu, Tsunade's slug.
But Hikaru wasn't overly worried.
Lizardmaru's loyalty was obvious—he didn't need to guess. Just the fact that it had held this place for decades in the middle of nowhere was proof enough. It had done right by its original summoner to the very end.
And like Orochimaru's, Jiraiya's, and Tsunade's summons, Lizardmaru wasn't alone.
It had a clan.
The lizard clan operated on a strict hierarchy: the lower ranks were mostly useful for observation and scouting, while the strongest were monsters like Lizardmaru at the top.
They didn't seem to have Sage Mode—understandable, since they didn't live in a sacred land the way the toads or snakes did.
But for Hikaru, that was fine.
He already had Sage Mode.
And now that he had this lizard, he could even use it as a cover in the future—if his Sage Mode ever had to be explained publicly, he could claim it came from the lizard clan's methods.
After all, the Senju were known to have ties to Sage-level power… but Hikaru had never been able to obtain Katsuyu's recognition.
He still remembered trying to sign a summoning contract when he was ten.
That enormous slug had rejected him with a single sentence: "You are not recognized."
No explanation. No reason.
Not a word more.
"Let's go," Hikaru said after sitting for a while. He stood and stretched lightly. "We need a place to rest. Sitting here looks stupid."
"And I need to properly talk to that big lizard."
"Mhm." Kakashi stood as well, rubbing his still-aching waist. "Yeah. I also need time to think about that new technique."
"New technique?" Hikaru blinked, immediately recalling what had happened inside. "You mean that Chidori variant?"
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "It was kind of… accidental. You told me to cover you, and things were too urgent. I started thinking about how to defend against the tentacles, protect myself, and still keep you moving, so…"
So you improvised an offense-and-defense technique built on Chidori—and it worked.
Hikaru's expression turned a little strange.
Was this what real genius looked like?
A sudden crisis. A sudden insight. The nerve to try it on the spot.
And then—success.
Hikaru had always been called a genius within the Senju remnants too, but compared to someone like Kakashi… there was a gap.
"…Then again," he admitted to himself, "my 'talent' isn't talent. It's my cheat."
He shook his head, unwilling to sink into that kind of comparison, and asked casually, "Your technique is really interesting. Offense and defense in one—its potential is ridiculous. So what are you going to call it?"
"I haven't decided yet." Kakashi shook his head, then looked at Hikaru. "Do you have an idea? It's not like I would've thought of it without that situation. You basically helped create it."
"You want me to name it?"
"Yeah. Tell me your thought."
Hikaru paused a beat, then smiled.
"How about…"
"Chidori Stream."
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