Honoka stared blankly at the person holding her, whose smile was as warm as the sun.
She instinctively tightened her delicate arms around Minato just slightly.
The pounding of her heart made her act without thinking, she leaned in.
Kei looked at Minato, who had a dazed expression and was clumsily starting to respond.
Grabbing the back of a peregrine falcon's neck, he dragged along the dumb bird, which had been hit by a sealing jutsu and knocked out, heading toward the research facility's entrance.
The temperature at the volcanic crater was extremely low.
For him, with chakra protecting his body, it wasn't a big deal. But if he let this falcon stay down much longer, it would be better off plucked, cleaned, and roasted.
In the shinobi world, the ability to fly was extremely rare.
As a result, flying summoning beasts were highly sought after.
This peregrine falcon-like creature, while not as massive as some of its kind, could still carry up to two adult passengers.
However, as the leader of the island's birds of prey, its speed and strength were exceptional.
On top of that, it could be taken care of by Konoha's summoning beast aviary, meaning it wouldn't require too much effort to maintain.
Kei was already considering forming a contract with it.
Instead of standing around watching Minato and Honoka flaunt their affection, wouldn't it be better to do something more productive?
Konoha Training Ground Zero was once an almost abandoned training ground, nearly overtaken by wild animals, it was now crowded with Konoha ninjas.
And as time passed, more and more people continued to gather.
Summoning beasts were a rare resource in the shinobi world.
Not to mention the ninja clans and civilian ninjas who had none. Even clans like Uchiha, Sarutobi, and Shimura, which had summoning beast lineages, weren't willing to miss this auction.
At the edge of the hastily constructed auction platform, Shikaku moved among the various ninja clans and powerful civilians, seemingly calm as he tried to regulate the atmosphere, but deep inside, he was panicking like crazy.
He was praying that Kei wouldn't mess this up.
The first batch of three summoning beasts had been out for a long time now, why hadn't the rest arrived yet?
If this continued, he wouldn't be able to hold this auction together!
Behind the auction stage,
Jiraiya sat cross-legged on a large rock, resting his chin on one hand.
He looked up at the blazing sun and felt the warmth on his nose tickle slightly. He rubbed it absentmindedly.
He, too, found it strange.
With Kei's obsessive attention to detail, and Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, which put him above most ninjas in speed and power, how could there possibly be a problem?
Jiraiya suddenly caught a whiff of a strong smell.
He sneaked a glance at his right hand—the same hand that he had just scratched between his toes with.
Guiltily, he looked left and right. Seeing that no one noticed, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He was one of the Sannin. If anyone saw him sniffing his own toe-hand and finding the scent strangely addictive…
That would be embarrassing.
A brief, fleeting surge of reverse summoning energy pulsed through his summoning contract.
Jiraiya immediately perked up.
He quickly leaped up from the ground, bit his thumb for the second time, and performed the Summoning Jutsu.
A massive chakra-infused smoke cloud erupted.
Two giant birds, their feathers soaked in stomach acid, their bones clearly broken in several places, yet sleeping as soundly as the dead, appeared behind the auction stage.
Shikaku, who had been on edge for ages, instantly flashed onto the auction platform.
After confirming the multiple wounds on the two giant birds, he cautiously checked their breathing, and let out a relieved sigh when he confirmed they were still alive.
Couldn't Kei go easy when using genjutsu?
Even with broken bones, these two giant birds were still fast asleep—he had almost thought they were dead.
With their huge wingspans and massive frames, these birds could carry more than ten people while flying—undoubtedly strategic-level flying summoning beasts.
If they had really died, that would have been an absolute waste.
The clan leaders of various ninja families all stared at the two suddenly appeared giant birds, their eyes practically glowing with greed.
Clearly, they had also realized the birds' immense value.
Their long wait had finally paid off!
"Two female eagles, only minor fractures—after some treatment, they'll fully recover within one to two months."
"Starting bid: 2 million ryō each. Let's begin."
Standing on the auction platform, Shikaku loudly announced after assessing the birds' condition.
"2 million ryō—the Shimura clan will take them!"
"The Kurama clan bids 3 million ryō."
"Uchiha clan—4 million ryō."
"You guys don't even contribute to the village—why do you need such big birds? The Shimura clan bids 4.5 million ryō!"
One by one, clan leaders and elders started competing aggressively.
Female eagles were far more valuable than males to them—because they could lay eggs.
If properly nurtured, they could continue the bloodline for generations!
The auction was heating up.
Meanwhile, the civilian ninja who lacked financial resources simply watched the clan leaders argue and bid furiously without feeling anxious.
Flying summoning beasts were rare, sure—but they weren't a necessity for everyone.
For those without a clan background, "strategic value" meant nothing.
What mattered to them was a summoning beast that could directly boost their combat power.
Within moments, the six giant female eagles and hawks—which had been summoned in three separate waves—were completely snatched up by the clans.
After a brief two-minute pause,
Giant rhinos, lizards, hippos, bears, wolves, and other land-based beasts started appearing one after another.
The civilian ninjas and those who preferred to train their own summoning beasts finally joined the bidding war.
Watching wave after wave of massive beasts appear, Shikaku could barely contain his grin—his face was practically about to split from smiling.
It didn't even matter how much money they made.
Whoever bought a summoning beast would owe the Ino-Shika-Chō trio a favor. After all, these beasts were becoming increasingly rare in the ninja world!
And, thanks to this auction, the Ino-Shika-Chō clan trio would almost certainly gain another seat at the high council meetings.
That was far more valuable than any amount of money.
"… Why isn't this over yet?"
Jiraiya felt a sharp pain in his thumb, wincing slightly.
He secretly vowed, once this was over, he was definitely going to have Kushina create a personal blood-storage seal for him.
He used to laugh at Kei and Minato for being too delicate, but now, after using the Summoning Jutsu nearly twenty times in a row, he finally realized, those two had been right all along!
All this effort, just for a little extra money…
Even he had his thumb nearly bitten into raw meat!
At that moment, Jiraiya sensed a toad signaling him once again to use the Summoning Jutsu.
With a vengeful expression, he wiped his wounded thumb against his palm, gritted his teeth, and used the Summoning Jutsu once more.
Once this was over, he was definitely going to find beautiful women to heal his wounded heart!