Chapter 483 received a retcon, for reasons described here.
This was the original opening segment, including the original title:
January 29, 1070 AS
Something shifted above, large enough that Hazō could feel the vibrations through fifteen feet of sandstone. He deactivated the Tunneler's Friend seal that was his only source of air and froze in place, doing everything he could to become one with the stone through which he swam. There were at most thirty seconds left on his Hiding Like a Mole jutsu, but he was taking no chances of being n.ticed b\| what was uP there and the r3membeeered feel of Akane's heartbeat p0unded in his mind as he struggled to bring up the scent of h3r hair and use it as a shield for his mind and soul.
The Dr—the source of the noise settled down. Hazō held his breath for a slow count of ten but then could wait no longer. He ducked back to the tunnel, emerging from the rock before his jutsu ended. With the way the Great Seal distorted chakra effects around itself, Hazō was taking no chances on being trapped inside the stone.
Besides, he had what he needed. For days now, he had pored over the image of the Great Seal that he held stored in the Iron Nerve. He had traced its every curve, reviewed the angles and twists and thicknesses, all in a desperate attempt to seize the key insight that would let him understand what was going wrong and how to fix it. Yesterday's meditations had brought a hint of terror to the back of his mind, leaving him no choice but to return to the Seventh Path and once more infiltrate the butte atop which rested one of the Sage's greatest works. He had swum through the mundanity of the sandstone, running his hands slowly and carefully along the smooth and unfamiliar mineral that comprised the Seal.
As he had feared: There were tiny cracks all through the bottom.
o-o-o-o
January 30, 1070 AS
"Lev, this is Hazō. He's the Summoner I told you about."
"As far as I know, I'm the
only Summoner," Hazō said, amused. "At least for the Dog Clan. Hello, Cantilever. It's lovely to meet you." He sat down on the grass so as not to tower over her, his knees pulled up and arms loosely draped around them.
The knee-high dog had toasted-butter fur, bright blue eyes, and a floofy, bouncy tail that Hazō had noticed multiple other dogs watching from the corners of their eyes. He was working hard at learning canine body language, since it seemed to make up a larger portion of their communication than words did, but he wasn't entirely sure if he was seeing jealousy, desire, or simply the fact that human and canine eyes were attracted to motion.
"And you," Cantilever said, nodding politely. "Lup has told me so much about you."
Hazō raised an eyebrow. "'Lup'?"
"It's 'Cantelope' to you, human," the male dog grumbled.
"Right, sorry."
Cantilever's tongue was very slightly blepped in ladylike canine amusement, but she rubbed her head against Cantelope's shoulder in apology, or perhaps simply affection. "Anyway, he said you wanted to talk to us together?"
"Yes, thank you. If I understand correctly, you two were looking to...take some time to travel by yourselves?" He caught himself before saying 'leave your packs', since that seemed like a fraught phrasing. "I wanted to...well, somewhere between 'offer a suggestion' and 'ask a favor.'"
Buttery fur bounced as Cantilever cocked her head in amused distrust. "Not to be too crude about it, human, but I've only got eyes for my sweetie and I'm a one-dog bitch. Even if I weren't, I'm afraid you're not my type."
Hazō blushed. "That wasn't— I didn't mean—"
Cantilever laughed and bumped her head against Hazō's knee. "I was only teasing. Relax."
Hazō gave her a grumbingly betrayed glare but snorted in amusement. "I'll be clear up front: This suggestion has a heavy dose of self-interest in it, which I'll explain in a second. Anyway, if you guys really did want to go wandering, then I wanted to ask if you would be interested in traveling to Pangolin Territory? There's an embassy there where members of a ton of different clans—all the ones that Leaf has contracts with—have gathered. It lets us do a lot to benefit both Leaf and the clans." He went on to explain the summoning trade network and the advantage of essentially real-time cross-continent coordination.
"Huh."
Cantilever sat down and thought for a moment, then began nibbling at her foreonpaw. Whether she was chewing an itch or this was simply her equivalent of the Nara 'thinking pose', Hazō had no idea.
Cantelope gave her a few seconds, but the young dog wasn't patient. "What are you thinking, Lev?"
She nibbled for another moment without responding, then licked the fur back into place and straightened up. "Lup, I'm all in for wandering around with you, hunting on our own, going where the winds will take us and seeing new sights every day. And yes, we'd see new sights doing this, but think about what he's asking. He wants us to travel all the way through Hyena Territory, then cross a mountain, then stay with these bizarre...pangolins, you called them? Stay with them forever."
"Not forever," Hazō corrected. "You could leave anytime you want, obviously. It's just—"
A basso cough from behind him made Hazō jerk around, eyes going wide as his reflexes readied him for an attack.
"Oh, Cannai," he said in relief. "I didn't see you there."
"I am aware. A word, Summoner? Cantelope, Cantilever: Stay here. I'll want to discuss this with you in a moment." The massive Dog turned and strode away across the prairie, Hazō following alongside.
They had gone twenty yards before Hazō noticed the silence.
Cannai was...
solid would be the closest word in human speech. Hazō was only now realizing that, every moment he had spent with Cannai, there had been a sense of the mighty dog's presence. It was like the presence of the earth beneath your feet: So prevalent that you didn't think about it, but always there. Solid, deep, bearing you up and loaning you its strength, its touch carefully gentled so as not to harm the fragile creatures that walked across its surface. That presence was gone. Hazō could feel nothing from the Alpha of the Dog Clan.
"Sir?"
"Just a bit farther, Summoner. I wish privacy."
Hazō swallowed nervously and kept his mouth shut.
They traveled for ten minutes before Cannai stopped and turned to face Hazō.
"You will not meddle in the politics of this Path without speaking to me. You will especially never again go behind my tail in an attempt to send my pack to foreign nations."
Hazō's heart stopped, just for a moment, as he realized the magnitude of what he had done. "Sir, no, I didn't mean—"
"Be silent. I accepted you as our Summoner and I granted you permission to contract with anyone who wished to join you. I agreed to allow Canun to teach your clan member our jutsu. I sought out jutsu from the list you provided in hopes that we could have a good-faith exchange once Asuma decided what he was willing to offer."
A cold grip of fear around Hazō heart reminded him that he had never actually spoken to Asuma about that.
"I welcomed you into the Dog Clan and treated you as a pack member, and you have betrayed me. I will not remove you as Summoner in the heat of the moment, but you are no longer welcome on the Seventh Path. If I cannot trust you not to preempt my authority as Alpha then I cannot trust you to relay sensitive messages for us and I certainly cannot trust you to be working on something as powerful as the Great Seal—if it even exists, which I now must question since you are the only source of my knowledge about it. Go back to your Path. Attempt to summon Cantertot each day; eventually, after I am no longer quite so angry, I will allow the summoning to succeed. At that point you may return here and you and I will have words."
"Sir—"
"We will have words in the future. I have none for you now. Get out of my Territory."
