Uzugakure was famous for its seals, and as a by-product, rituals.

What is the system of summoning Heroes from a distant time and place if not a ritual?

It starts with a child opening her eyes to a distant memory. In her past life, she had been an average mage. But somehow, she had saved the world with single-minded determination and the power of friendship.

Uzumaki Ritsuka was an odd child. Oh, she had the enthusiasm and abrasiveness of a typical Uzumaki child, but sometimes, her eyes would seem distant and lonely, as though seeing spirits that weren't visible to others.

Her parents worried, but with how busy they were, there was not much time they could spend to determine the source of the oddity.

Then, Uzushio fell and time was no longer of concern.

Blood, fire.

Screams as warriors threw away their lives, trying to preserve what was left of their precious hometown, to save what was left of the children.

The smell of blood reeked. So familiar that it haunted Ritsuka.

As the child of the Uzukage, Ritsuka was held to certain expectations, but not once had she ever witnessed a death.

Not in this life.

The memories of witnessing slaughter and not being able to do anything about it, of looking at the aftermath of destruction, trying so hard to save those who couldn't be saved.

Ritsuka remembered them all.

"Mash…" She sobbed quietly, memories rushing back to her head. Of faithful companions who had stood by her through thick and thin, of the sacrifices made, of those precious, precious friends who had fought so hard just because, just for her.

Ritsuka clamped a hand over her mouth and stayed huddled up in her hiding place as the fighting went on. Her parents… they were strong. They definitely were strong. But…

Ritsuka might have been a child, but she wasn't unaware of what was going on. There was a war. Three days ago, a country attacked their little island. Her father was the leader of the island, the Uzukage, and had went to the frontlines to quail off the worst of the attack. Her mother had ran for Konoha, an ally country to seek reinforcements.

Reinforcements never arrived.

Uzushio fell.

Chaldea had used a special summoning system that didn't require a chant or a circle. But Da Vinci had taught them the summoning circle to use for an actual Holy Grail War once upon a time.

Ritsuka no longer remembered why the genius Caster had done that, most probably for shit and giggles, but… She still remembered how to summon.

Even in an entirely different world, even in a body without access to magic circuits and instead with something called chakra, that ritual had been so similar to the seals that the Uzumaki used. So similar that surrounded by death and destitution, Ritsuka hoped.

The circle was drawn with her own blood. In other circumstances, Ritsuka would have preferred ink. But while the invaders were gone, she couldn't confirm that there weren't any lurkers outside. Staring at the familiar-yet-foreign circle, Ritsuke steeled herself.

"Silver and iron be the essence. Let my blood and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. To my friends from a lifetime past. The alighted wind becomes a wall. Let the four gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. Your self shall serve under me, my fate shall be with your sword."

Ritsuka wanted to continue, but this wasn't a Holy Grail War. If this summoning needed prana, she was dead.

The summoning circle was starting to glow. No. She couldn't hesitate now. Ritsuka tossed whatever was left of the verses taught to her out of her mind.

"Strangers who belong not to this world! Spirits that I once knew! Come to my side once more! I, once Fujimaru Ritsuka, call to you! O keeper of the balance, hear my words and come to me!"

A bright flash washed over the room. Ritsuka closed her eyes.

"Servant Saber, Shinmen Musashi has arrived!"

…There was no drain. Ritsuka thought dumbly before lowering her hands to stare at the familiar grey-haired woman.

"Eh? Hey, my memory's kinda fuzzy but I remember you! Ritsuka! It's been a while!"

Ritsuka ran up and hugged the woman around her waist, but only succeeded in hugging one of her thighs.

"Ahahahaha! Look at you! You're so short!"

"…"

"Huh? What was that, chibi?"

"…Thank you for coming to me."

"Heh. No biggie. What are friends for?"

"War, huh? That kinda sucks." Musashi said, looking around the desecrated island.

Ritsuka had only lived here for five years. But even five years was enough for her to miss the island's vibrancy.

"You mean it sucks that you couldn't fight." Ritsuka gave Musashi a knowing look. The swords-master laughed sheepishly.

"Well, there's that." Musashi's expression sobered up. "Maybe it's cause of you, but I really hate what those guys did to your home."

"Speaking of those guys…" Musashi drew her sword. "Oi! Come out! Face me like a warrior!"

A man with a headband appeared. Ritsuka blinked. Had he always been there?

Ritsuka's gaze focused on the headband. That wasn't the symbol of Uzushio. She glanced at one of the enemy corpses and found a matching pattern.

The man rushed forwards, his hands forming seals.

"Musashi! Watch out! Shinobi here can use ninjutsu!"

"Got it Master!" Musashi rushed forwards, dodging a blast of water that shot through a wall, and brandished her swords. The shinobi was dead before he even hit the ground. "You didn't have to worry about me, Ritsuka. See? I even made it a clean cut!" It was true, the man's head had been perfectly separated from the body. "Hey, hey, what was that about ninjutsu?"

"AHAHAHAHA! You're a shinobi!" Musashi slapped her thigh repeatedly, her other hand pointing at Ritsuka and laughing.

"Yeah, but! Shinobi are awesome! Kotarou taught me some stuff that I still remember!" Ritsuka knew that her eyes might be glittering, but… Shinobi were awesome.

"Yep, they are, aren't they?" Musashi grinned.

Musashi was seated on a bed that had belonged to Ritsuka's parents.

Ritsuka paused in the middle of her packing and stared at the summoning circle, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, Musashi. How are you here? I don't feel any drain in my chakra at all, and I don't have magical circuits to sustain you."

"It's kinda hard to say. It's a bit like I can feel energy from all around. And when I get tired, I'll just take a little bit from the earth and I'll feel better."

A world rich in energy, huh?

Ritsuka eyed the circle thoughtfully.

"Aww, planning on cheating on me so soon?" Musashi slung an arm around Ritsuka's small shoulders playfully.

"It would be nice to have a shinobi teacher." Ritsuka said thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah. Hey, why don't you summon Danzo? She was really pretty, wasn't she? Or even that Kotarou."

Ritsuka knelt down and placed her hands at the edges of the summoning circle. One more before she destroyed this, she told herself. She reached for that pull that she had felt when summoning Musashi.

Ritsuka knew the feeling now. She hadn't been pulling others from the Throne of Heroes, not really. What she had done was pull at the bonds she once held with her Servants, her companions.

The summoning circle lit up in a glow.

The light died down and a red-haired man knelt before her.

"Servant Assassin, Fuuma Kotarou."

"Huh. If I had said Danzo's name, d'you think that would've summoned her?" Musashi asked thoughtfully.

"Kotarou-!" Ritsuka hugged the Assassin.

"Ah! It's nice to see you again, Master. A-ah… W-weren't you my height before?"

That sent Musashi into another laughing fit.

Having Kotarou around really made things much more efficient. He had everything organized and packed in an hour.

"You can rest up, chibi Master. We'll set off tomorrow." Musashi patted the spot next to her. Ritsuka crawled up onto the large bed and inhaled the faded scents of her parents. It was nostalgic. She wouldn't see them anymore. Everyone she knew before, they were probably dead, amongst the corpses that lay outside this house. Even the people that had greeted her each day, the children that had played with her… She would never see them again.

"…Ritsuka? You okay?"

Ritsuka sniffled and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"Hey, you just went through a bad time. If you wanna cry, then cry! I wanna see you all cheerful again tomorrow, got it?"

Ritsuka let the tears flow. "Yeah. Got it, Musashi."