"Animal summoning?"

Yuki's brow furrowed slightly as he considered Kagami's request. "But to summon an animal, you need to first sign a contract with it. Plus, the first animal you sign with may not even be useful in combat. In that case, summoning tools would be more practical."

"I understand the risks, Yuki-sensei. But this is what I want to learn."

"Kagami, maybe we should start with something simpler? Tool summoning could be really useful for our missions."

"Thanks, Yugao, but I've made up my mind," Kagami replied, his tone polite but firm.

Itachi remained silent, his dark eyes observing the exchange with keen interest. What are you planning, Kagami?

For a newly promoted genin, it's true that they generally don't have access to powerful summoning beasts. If they end up summoning something like a tadpole or an ant, there's really no point in using the technique.

Yuki nodded, his expression turning serious. "Let me explain why animal summoning is challenging for genin."

He began listing off the issues: "Even if someone wants to summon a powerful beast, the size of the summoned animal depends on the summoner's chakra. If the chakra isn't sufficient, even if the summoner has a strong contract beast, they won't be able to summon it."

He recalled his own early attempts at summoning. "Trust me, it can be quite embarrassing when it goes wrong."

"Additionally, most powerful summoned beasts are prideful and hard to tame, making it difficult for them to recognize a genin as their master."

Kagami listened attentively, then countered, "But Yuki-sensei, doesn't starting early give me more time to grow with my summon?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"You know, Yuki-sensei," Yugao interjected, her earlier hesitation replaced with support, "Kagami has a point. And he's always been mature for his age."

Kagami shot Yugao a grateful look as Yuki sighed in defeat. "Alright, Kagami. We'll give it a try. But don't get discouraged if it doesn't work out immediately."

Left with no choice, Yuki pulled a scroll from his chest and laid it out on the ground. The scroll looked ancient, its edges slightly frayed but the writing still clear and bold.

"This scroll has been used by generations of Konoha ninjas to learn summoning," Yuki explained, handling it with care.

"This is called a summoning scroll, a tool to help beginners learn the summoning technique."

"As long as you form the signs and think of what you want to summon in your mind, then place your hand on the scroll and release chakra into the summoning circle, there's a chance you'll summon something."

Yuki demonstrated the hand signs slowly. "Watch closely. It's Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram."

Kagami's fingers twitched slightly as he mentally practiced the sequence.

"However, what gets summoned may not be what you're thinking of—this depends on your personal talent."

"Go ahead and give it a try."

Yuki, Yugao, and Itachi all stepped back, leaving Kagami alone in front of the summoning scroll.

"You can do it, Kagami!" Yugao called out encouragingly.

Itachi leaned forward slightly.

Kagami approached the scroll. This is it. Time to see if my plan works.

The hand signs for summoning are not the key factor, as most summoning jutsus use the same signs. The important factors are the innate affinity and chakra of the summoner.

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It could be an animal or even a non-living object.

Kagami swiftly formed the hand signs. As he did so, he activated his secret technique: Spider Vision.

Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the summoning circle of the scroll.

Bang!

A puff of smoke erupted, and as it cleared, a dark shape appeared in front of everyone.

"This is..."

"A spider."

On the summoning circle, a black spider, about half the size of a palm, appeared. Its hairy legs moved nimbly, and its eight scarlet eyes gleamed with a frightening light.

Seeing the spider, Yugao immediately took a half-step back. "A-a spider? That's... unexpected," she said, trying to hide her discomfort. Even though she was one of the top kunoichi of her age group, most girls can't help but feel disgusted by spiders.

However, Yuki and Itachi were more surprised than scared.

"Kagami, you actually summoned a spider? Summoning beasts like this are pretty rare."

"Insects have weak bodies, and powerful individuals are quite rare in nature. That's why insect summons are generally not popular. In Konoha, only the Aburame Clan regularly uses insect summoning beasts."

"But for you to summon a spider on your first try means you have a considerable talent for insect summoning."

"Don't get discouraged. With enough practice, even insect summoning can be powerful. One of the Legendary Sannin, Lady Tsunade's summoning beast is a slug, and it's incredibly strong!"

Worried that Kagami might feel disheartened by the weak appearance of his summoned beast, Yuki quickly reassured him.

Meanwhile, Itachi silently noted something to himself.

"A slug is a mollusk, not an insect, right?"

Still, his teammate's determination to learn summoning reminded Itachi that it might be time for him to learn summoning as well.

He had once seen Shisui's summoning beast, which wasn't as strong as he'd imagined—just a flock of crows.

Shisui had said that the role of summoning beasts wasn't always to fight head-on; they could serve a variety of other purposes.

For instance, his crow summon had almost no offensive capabilities but could be used to confuse the enemy's sight and hearing, making it a perfect match for the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan.

This inspired Itachi to consider making crows his own summoning beast.

Even a seemingly weak summon like crows could be useful if used properly.

But a spider, like the one Kagami summoned, seemed excessively weak. It was hard to imagine how such a fragile creature, one that could be easily squashed, could be of much use.

While it's possible to use their numbers and intimidating appearance to scare enemies, that tactic might only work against women or ninjas with weak mental fortitude.

The spider's notable traits were probably its venom and web-spinning abilities.

However, in a high-level ninja battle, these abilities would likely be too slow to be effective, as even the most agile spider couldn't match a ninja's speed.

In short, Itachi struggled to see how Kagami's spider summon could be useful.

Yuki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, spiders have venom and can spin webs. Perhaps we can work with that."

"Maybe it could be used for reconnaissance?" Yugao suggested, forcing a smile. "Spiders can get into small spaces."

Kagami nodded gratefully. "That's a good idea, Yugao. Thanks."

Itachi spoke up, his voice calm and analytical. "Shisui once told me that even seemingly weak summons can be valuable if used creatively."

"You're all giving me a lot to think about. Thank you," Kagami said, nodding thoughtfully. If only they knew what this spider is truly capable of.

What they didn't know, though, was that Kagami had intentionally summoned this spider.

While forming the summoning hand signs, Kagami had used the Spider Vision to randomly select a spider from anywhere in the world.

With just a thought, this spider was successfully summoned.

The process felt smooth, like casually reaching into your pocket and pulling something out, without any delay.

Even if other ninjas had a strong affinity for a particular summoning animal, they wouldn't be able to summon one with such ease.

But Kagami possessed the power of Atlach-Nacha, granting him the ability to command any spider with ease. Selecting a specific spider and summoning it was as simple as picking something from a pocket.

Of course, the chakra cost for summoning still existed. The larger the spider summoned, the more chakra required—this is simply the nature of summoning jutsu and wasn't altered by Kagami's divine powers over spiders.

However, the chakra cost was still manageable for his current reserves.

And after this successful experiment, his bold inner plan started to take shape.

That was to make Spidey his summoning beast and summon it whenever he needed.

Although Spidey hadn't shown any direct combat abilities so far, this was mostly because it never needed to fight.

As an avatar of the Great Old One Atlach-Nacha, ordinary people would be paralyzed or even die from sheer terror just by seeing the human face on its back. This was how it had killed a homeless man before.

Even for ninjas, a lower-level one like Hayate would be rendered immobile after a single glance.

The stronger a ninja's chakra, the weaker Spidey's mental intimidation would be, but this was only based on its current size.

As Kagami's power grew, so too would its size and its ability to instill fear.

This was likely one of the benefits of having a divine avatar as a summoning beast.

Kagami looked at the spider, a subtle smile playing on his lips. Step one, complete. Soon, Spidey, we'll show them your true power.

The spider turned, its eight scarlet eyes seeming to lock onto Kagami's gaze. There was a connection that went beyond mere summoner and summoned animal.

With this, I might just survive what's coming. No, we'll do more than survive – we'll thrive!