Takamagahara (Supplement)

At the thought of what lay ahead, Kanna smiled again and pulled open his collar to take a look.

Beneath his slightly gaunt collarbones were layers of white medical bandages, with traces of blood faintly visible through them. As Kanna focused, a half-circle tattoo-like pattern gradually appeared on the exposed skin between his collarbone and the top of the bandages, as if answering his call.

It was a dark red circular pattern with intricate markings along its edge. If he removed all the bandages, he would see a perfect circle tattooed on his chest.

Of course, this thing hadn't been tattooed on him by the previous Kanna. It was another ability that the current "Kanna," the man from another world, had acquired after awakening his system. Perhaps it was best understood as a skill slot.

As the name suggested, this circular tattoo was designed to hold a particular ninjutsu. Its effect was somewhat like Uchiha Sasuke's Lightning Sword Manifestation, a type of Summoning Technique. Don't let the name fool you: it wasn't a technique that used Lightning Release on a sword to create a blade of lightning. It was simply a way to summon weapons. A storage formula was inscribed on a wrist guard, and by touching the "seal" on one's hand, one could summon a ninja tool instantly. Kanna's tattoo-like "skill slot" worked more or less the same way.

Kanna surmised that if a storage technique's formula could be inscribed on a wrist guard, then in theory, other ninjutsu should be able to be inscribed as well. In fact, quite a few techniques in the Shinobi World used seals outside the body to cast jutsu, such as the Second Hokage's Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags and Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. These techniques could function independently of their caster. So this "skill slot" wasn't difficult to understand: it simply broke down the seals of a ninjutsu and inscribed them one by one, simplifying the sequence of "initial seal—chakra circulation—guiding seal—final seal" again and again until it became like a skill in an online game, activated with a mere thought.

This ability had undoubtedly helped Kanna tremendously. He'd only just arrived in this world, and even though he'd spent this time doing his best to absorb the memories of this body, the difference between their scientific worldviews still made it impossible for him to use chakra proficiently. So far, he'd barely managed to get a handle on the Transformation Technique. With the help of this "skill slot," however, he could simply input ninjutsu he couldn't figure out how to use, then activate it directly through the system.

Come to think of it, this ability was rather interesting. At first glance, it seemed useful only as a stopgap while Kanna was learning to use ninjutsu. After all, he was confident that with time, he'd get used to ninjutsu and become proficient at it. Would the skill slot be useless then?

Kanna had a vague feeling that the skill slot wasn't so simple. If ordinary ninjutsu could be analyzed, then what about certain bloodline techniques? What about Space-Time Ninjutsu? In theory, any ninjutsu could be performed using the most basic seals and various changes in chakra. Once he acquired some special techniques, Kanna planned to test this, to see whether the skill slot could let him bypass all kinds of casting restrictions and use them directly.

Kanna was very satisfied with this setup. The only thing limiting his progress was probably chakra. After all, this skill slot didn't exist out of thin air; it was attached to his body and could be considered a kind of seal. Just look at the present: the pitifully small amount of chakra inside Kanna was almost entirely devoted to the circular "seal" on his chest. If he wanted, he could choose one of the seven D-rank techniques he'd acquired so far and implant it into the slot. After that, the entire process required to release the technique—including the corresponding chakra circulation—wouldn't be triggered through Kanna's body. Instead, it would take place directly within the "skill slot" seal, as if he'd gained another organ for performing ninjutsu. It was utterly amazing.

Kanna gave this "skill slot" a rather meaningful name: Highland.

In Shinto mythology, Highland was the upper world where the gods were said to dwell. To Kanna, this "skill slot," which could hold one ninjutsu after another, was like a Highland that bore the gods. The name also represented his encouragement to himself and his hopes for the future.

Becoming a man whose body could carry "gods" didn't sound so bad, did it?

As the days passed, Kanna gradually calmed down, no longer as restless as he'd been at first. During this time, aside from his parents and a few ninjas who came under orders to comfort the surviving examinees—that is, Kanna—and take statements, no one came to bother him. Zabuza, meanwhile, was thriving in Anbu.

Then again, all of Kanna's friends—childhood friends from his class and other classes alike—had been killed by Zabuza. Fortunately, Kanna said he hadn't known any of them. Otherwise, this story might have turned into a tale of Kanna seeking revenge, like Obito or Nagato.

After sorting through his memories and meeting his "parents" in person, Kanna felt that the people of this world were rather strange. At first, he'd thought he'd been born into an orphaned or ordinary family. He hadn't expected that "Kanna's" parents would be anything but ordinary.

His father, Kanna Tokiomi, was the Third Mizukage's aide, much like Danzo to the Third Hokage or Killer B to the Fourth Raikage. He was known as "Merciless Kanna" and was extremely strict. But because he championed fairness and equality, always acted with reason, and never bent the law for personal gain, people both feared and respected him. From Kanna's memories, the kid had been terrified of his father. At school, he'd even hidden his identity and had always felt inferior because of it. He was an unfortunate boy left with psychological scars by his father's harsh upbringing.

His mother, by comparison, was far less imposing. Kanna Morishita Mai, originally named Kaoruhisa Morishita Mai, had taken her husband's surname, Kanna, after marrying his father. She was a jonin of Kirigakure, but after giving birth to Kanna, she left her job and stopped serving officially. Like Kakashi and the other jonin from Naruto's era, she accepted missions as she pleased. In her free time, she took care of the house and raised her family, enjoying a relatively free life.

Kanna's parents had placed great hopes in him, but unfortunately, the kid wasn't particularly tough by nature. To put it bluntly, he was a disappointment. This time, he'd nearly been hacked to death in the exam, and Kanna Tokiomi had been so furious he'd wanted to kill him on the spot. He'd barely visited him since, and he'd even forbidden his wife from coming to see him. It seemed Kanna's performance had truly broken his heart.

Then again, if Kanna had been the one to slaughter everyone in the exam instead of Zabuza, Kanna Tokiomi would probably have been grinning in his sleep. Just look at Zabuza now. Although the families and friends of his victims would gladly bite him to death, everyone in the village gave a thumbs-up at the mention of his name and praised him as a "genius." And who remembered Kanna? If his heart hadn't been in the wrong place, his corpse would probably have turned to ash by now.

There was no denying it: the people of this world—or rather, this village—worshipped strength. Kanna figured that if he'd died in the exam, his father might actually have held his head a little higher. Of course, he also knew Kanna Tokiomi was only sulking for the moment, just like Sasuke's father seemed to favor his older brother over him. In truth, he loved both his sons deeply.

With all his friends and relatives hacked to death and his parents at odds with him, Kanna was left in peace. He'd barely managed to master one of the seven basic ninjutsu—the Transformation Technique—so there was no rush to exchange the few new techniques he'd acquired. He might as well save them up and make a big move once he was familiar with this world!

Of course, before that, he needed to build up his chakra. It was already a struggle just to maintain a "Highland" that could analyze D-rank techniques. If he wanted to construct a more advanced Highland, he'd need as much chakra as he could get.