10 The Sage who rules the sky
Naruto was gobsmacked as he circled around the three eggs. Looking around he found that he was on a birds nest that was circular in size with around 40 meters in diameter. Three closely packed eggs lying at the center with him walking around them suspiciously.
As Naruto went forward to touch the egg, a giant shadow formed on top of him as a violent gale shook his hairs. All the hairs on Naruto stood up as he found a dangerous presence behind him.
"Oh, never thought I'd be seeing a human again. What more impressive is that he managed to reach my nest without me knowing. Hmm. Human! Care to give this sage an answer on why I should let you live for touching my precious babies" An authoritative voice came from Naruto's back as he slowly turned to face his doom.
Naruto was truly scared at the moment as the pressure he was subjected to was immense. It was comparable to Kurama's but he was mentally prepared to face Kurama so it never bothered him much. The pressure from the creature behind held the killing intent and it was not joking when he asked for a reason to let him live.
Turning around Naruto saw a majestic Golden Eagle standing at 30 meters tall. The feathers at the end of its wings looked like razor blades and its claws looked like it was made of gold capable of crushing any metal and in his case a human skull.
"I...I...I was trying summoning jutsu and somehow managed to end up here. I am sorry to disturb your younglings. I hope you'll show some mercy on this insignificant soul." Naruto was stuttering at first but managed to calm down his raging heartbeats. He bowed down showing respect and moved a few steps away from the eggs.
Naruto didn't raise his head and waited to for the great Eagle for the reply. His mind racing about how to escape but another giant pressure came down on him. This time another giant Eagle landed beside the golden one. It's feathers all white and graceful and while looking at it 'beautiful' was the only word that came to Naruto's mind.
"Stop bullying the kid Gorudo." The White Eagle said in a mature feminine voice as she used her wings to smack the head of the Golden Eagle. "Its been centuries since a human came to this place. Don't be rude to our little guest." The White Eagle said while sizing up Naruto from top to bottom.
"Human child don't mind him. He can be over-protective at times but has a soft heart. Why don't you introduce yourself and the goal of your visit first." The White Eagle said as she sat down on her eggs covering them with her feathers. The Golden Eagle was still vigilant and kept a strict eye on Naruto and refused to sit down.
"Ah, ok. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a shinobi from Konoha village and I tried to reverse summon myself through the contract of my messenger Eagle out of curiosity. I was eager to find where they come from and that is how I ended up here." Naruto decided to mix a few lies in his answer and trying to make it seem like he was a child doing harmless tricks.
It was best not to reveal his true intentions which were to look for a combat summons proficient in sage arts. Looking at their size Naruto was drolling as he dreamed of being able to summon them and he wouldn't mind even if they were not a sage. But there was a high chance that both of them were a sage.
"Reverse Summoning to explore your summoned beast world. I see your curiosity is too big for your own good kid. Unless your contract beast allows it, you could end up in a different place than the one you were hoping to go and low-level beast can't make such decisions. You're quite lucky to have ended up here." The Golden Eagle said with a snort.
"My summon was only a little eagle so I didn't think it would be dangerous. Hehe" Naruto scratched his head as he gave out a helpless smile. His decision to reverse summoning had its consequences but he ignored it after remembering Jiraiya had done the same and ended up in the Mount Myoboku.
"Hmph, why don't you try to reverse summon yourself out to your world and you'll understand." The Golden Eagle said again with a smirk.
Naruto thought the Golden Eagle was trying to send him away but he tried it anyway. Since he reversed the hand signs to get to this world so he did the summoning technique according to the contract but a small eagle appeared in front of him. He didn't manage to summon himself back to his world. Naruto again performed the reverse-summoning technique but nothing happened. Sweat started to appear on Naruto's head as he looked towards the giant eagle for help.
"I see you've noticed the grave situation you are in. Like I said you can come to this world when your summon allows you to but you didn't come here because that little chick allowed you to." The Golden Eagle pointed at the small eagle on Naruto's head. "This place belongs to me so unless I allow you to leave you can only search for another high-level beast in the area and ask for permission after forming a contract with them."
"So will you please let me leave." Naruto said
"No, of course not. I'd have to sign a contract with you in order to do that. And do you think I'd sign a contract with you?" The Golden Eagle replied with arrogance
"I don't think you will. So where can I find another high-level beast such as yourselves." Naruto asked with disappointment. All his problem would be solved if the Golden Eagle signed a contract with him but the beast had high requirements and it didn't even bother to look at a kid.
"Just jump down the nest and head south. The toads from Mt. Myoboku will agree to your demands." The Golden Eagle said as he moved towards the White Eagle and tried to sit down beside her. His attempt was futile as he stopped in his track after receiving a cold glare from his spouse. She was clearly dissatisfied with how he was treating the human child.
Naruto went to the edge and looked down and he could see anything as thick fog circled around the mountain where this Eagle nest was. Naruto was on top of a mountain and looking at the fog below which was probably a cloud he figured the mountain was several thousand meters above the sea level. The only thing weird about this place was its temperature as there was no snow around the peak.
"Can I get a lift down the mountain?" Naruto asked moving away from the edge. There was no way he was going to jump and going down on foot could take several days. A lift from one of the Eagle could help a lot.
"I have a better solution." This time the White Eagle spoke. "Since you ended up here trying to look for a beast to contract, I will let you sign our contract but only if you pass our test."
"That's even better. What do I have to do?" Naruto asked in delight.
"Become a sage under my husband guidance. If you can manage within 5 years, I'll let you sign a contract with us. Of course, you can choose to refuse and I'll send you down the mountain myself." The White Eagle laid out her requirement and waited for Naruto to think this through.
Her tested asked Naruto to leave his home for at least around 5 years and he could only sign the contract if he managed to become a sage.
"I accept your test." Naruto thought for a while and accepted the test given by the White Eagle. The test given the by the Eagles was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and it wasn't something he was willing to walk away from.
The test period was for 5 years but he could leave if he succeeded before that time frame. If he didn't succeed then he would be away from his home for 5 years but he'd still get to learn from the Golden Eagle.
There wasn't much to learn in the academy anyways and he was worried about Yugao but this was more important at the moment.
"Very well then. Since you've accepted then let me introduce myself. I'm Gorudo, the sage who rules the sky and this is my wife Fuyumi. I hope you don't regret your decisions kid" The Golden Eagle said with as he extended his wings trying to appear as majestic as possible.