The fact that the Multi-Headed Hound could transform from three heads on one body into six separate bodies had completely sold Hagoromo. On that trait alone, it was a top-tier asset.
These chakra beasts, driven purely by instinct, were far from the sophisticated frogs of Mount Myoboku. They possessed raw violence but lacked high-level intellect—which was exactly why Hagoromo had been able to trap the Eight-Span Crow, the Giant Drill-Beaked Bird, and the Serrated-Horn Rhino.
Brains, as they say, are a wonderful thing to have.
Hagoromo preferred them this way. If one of these dogs actually started talking back to him, he wasn't sure how he'd react.
Faced with Hagoromo's request, a resigned Minato Namikaze moved with god-like speed. Using Flying Thunder God, he blinked to each individual hound, teleporting them one by one until they were stacked on top of each other like a pile of bricks.
Before they could scatter, Minato tossed a marked kunai into the air. Just as the blade reached the apex directly above the pile of dogs, Minato teleported to it.
Summoning Jutsu!
With a massive poof, the colossal form of Gamabunta materialized in mid-air. Before the hounds could even register the shadow above them, the giant toad crashed down, pinning them into the earth with sheer mass.
This was the Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique.
Minato's logic was simple, if not particularly "ninja-like": if you have a bunch of things that are supposed to be one thing, stack them up and hit them with a giant hammer (or a giant toad). If they're "sticky" enough, they'll surely fuse back together.
Fortunately, the hounds were durable enough to survive the impact, and Minato's gamble paid off. Trapped under Gamabunta's immense weight, the six entities finally gave up the struggle and merged back into a single three-headed form.
"Finally caught the bastard," Hagoromo sighed from the air.
The "Yellow Flash" made everything look so effortless. Even a healthy Hagoromo couldn't have pulled that off; he would have likely ended up playing a never-ending game of "zap-a-mole."
Commanding the Eight-Span Crow to descend, Hagoromo hopped off its head. He walked right up to the Multi-Headed Hound's massive face and, quite literally, "stepped on its nose" to climb onto its forehead.
The hound let out a low, vibrating growl, but it was pinned too firmly to bite.
Hagoromo wasn't interested in the dog's feelings. He pulled a kunai from his pouch—one attached to a specialized strip of paper covered in complex, swirling ink patterns. This was a Whirlpool Clan Summoning Contract Seal, perfect for binding powerful, low-intelligence chakra beasts.
He pricked the center head of the hound with the kunai, letting a small amount of blood flow. This wasn't to kill it; it was to ink the deal.
His hands blurred through a sequence of over a hundred signs. Once finished, the kunai and the sealing charm slowly sank into the hound's skull, disappearing like a stone dropped into a pond. Having done this three times already in the last 48 hours, he was a total pro.
When the ritual was complete, the hound's six eyes blinked in unison. The ferocity vanished instantly, replaced by an eerie, domestic docility.
Minato sensed the contract was sealed and released Gamabunta. The giant toad vanished in a cloud of smoke. The hound was free to move now, but it stayed perfectly still under Hagoromo's command.
With high-intelligence summons like Gamabunta, a contract is just the beginning; you have to earn their respect, or they'll simply ignore you. But with a beast like this, the seal was a hard-reset. It went from man-eater to lap-dog in seconds. If Hagoromo didn't keep a mental leash on it, the creature would probably be trying to lick him with all three tongues right now.
"Thanks, Minato-senpai," Hagoromo said, finally relaxing.
"Just helping out," Minato replied with his signature gentle smile. "But more importantly, are you okay? Your injuries..."
Minato could feel the state of the boy's body. The bandages were amateur, and the blood loss was significant.
"I'm fine," Hagoromo lied, though it was mostly fatigue at this point.
Thinking of his new "menagerie," he couldn't help himself. He started laughing—a raspy, sand-paper laugh from three days of silence and screaming.
Kushina had seen enough. She blurred across the space and delivered a legendary Uzumaki Correction Punch right to the top of his head.
Is this really the time for laughing? Finding powerful summons is great, but the timing was atrocious.
She had pulled her punch, intending only to vent her frustration and worry. But to her horror, Hagoromo's eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled into a heap, passing out instantly.