Uzumaki Naruto still hadn't figured out what was going on in the classroom. Seeing Iruka-sensei hurry out, he assumed class was over.
"What's everyone doing?! Iruka-sensei's already gone, so hurry up and get fired up! Let's get this party started!"
Naruto suddenly leaped onto a desk!
Uchiha Sasuke still hadn't let his guard down. He gripped a kunai tightly in his hand.
"What an idiot!"
Haruno Sakura stormed toward Naruto, fuming. Seeing the girl he'd been pining for come straight toward him, Naruto was overcome with excitement!
"Sakura!!!"
THUD!!!!!
Sakura jumped up and slammed her fist into Naruto's head!
"Naruto!!! Be quiet! Ito Haowen has disappeared!!!"
"Yeow~~ Sakura, what'd you do that for?!
That hurt!!!
Wait! What did you say?! Who did you say disappeared?!"
Naruto quieted down at once and looked toward Haowen's empty seat.
"Haowen disappeared!!! So be quiet! Iruka-sensei has already gone to find the Hokage!"
"How could that happen?! How could he disappear?! What happened just now?!"
Naruto stared at Haowen's empty seat in disbelief.
Haowen was one of the few good friends he had.
He'd never looked down on Naruto for being the Nine-Tailed Fox, and had even been willing to share food with him. How could he suddenly disappear?!
A short while later, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Iruka hurried into the classroom.
Hiruzen looked grave.
Iruka had just explained what had happened, and Hiruzen already had a theory about Haowen's sudden disappearance.
"Did anyone see exactly what happened?"
Yamanaka Ino timidly raised her hand...
"Hokage, I saw it... Iruka-sensei was at the front of the classroom, explaining the Summoning Technique and the order of the Hand Seals. Then I saw Haowen start forming seals, and suddenly, poof! He disappeared!"
After hearing Ino's account, Hiruzen and Iruka exchanged a look. In unison, they said three words... Reverse Summoning!!!
"Iruka..."
"Yes, Hokage?"
"First, go inform Ito Aoyama, the Elite Jonin. He's Ito Haowen's father, and the head of the Ito Clan, after all!
There's no way to undo a reverse summoning. We don't know where the boy was summoned to, or even whether he'll be able to return..."
"Understood, Hokage!"
After Iruka left, Hiruzen took out his pipe and began puffing away. As he gazed at Haowen's seat, he couldn't help thinking of his student.
Jiraiya!
Back then, Jiraiya had been reverse-summoned to Mount Myoboku. By a twist of fate, he'd learned Senjutsu and soared to greatness!
Could Ito Haowen have stumbled upon the same kind of opportunity?!
Meanwhile, Ito Haowen was completely dumbfounded.
He'd only been practicing the Summoning Technique, but somehow he'd ended up in an unknown space!
Everything around him was shrouded in mist. There was no sun, no light—only endless darkness and a faint, chilling sensation...
"What the hell is going on?! Did I get reverse-summoned?!
Is this some kind of sacred land?!
But there aren't any toads, slugs, or snakes here. There's nothing at all!!!
How am I supposed to get back?!!!"
[Host detected. System binding successful! Host detected in Konoha! Binding Konoha's departed souls...] [Binding successful!]
"Wait!!! A system?!!!"
"System, what's going on?!"
"Why did you suddenly bind to me?! And where am I right now?!"
"And what did you mean by binding Konoha's departed souls?!!"
[The host should have been dead! According to the original causal line, the host should have been stillborn, with his soul entering this world's Underworld! As a result, the system encountered an unknown error when detecting the host! Using its power to invade the entire Underworld and break through the barrier between the two worlds, the system was finally able to bind to the host!]
Haowen was dumbfounded. No wonder he hadn't existed in the original story. He'd been supposed to die long ago!
But because he'd transmigrated, he—Ito Haowen—had managed to be born.
So the system had come to the Underworld because he was supposed to be one of the dead. But he'd survived, so the system had expended energy to break through the barrier between the two worlds and find him!
"System... what kind of system are you?"
[This system was originally the More Children More Blessings System! However, too much of its power was consumed when it swallowed the Underworld, so it can no longer help the host have many children! During the system's fusion with the Underworld, however, an unknown change occurred! It can now bind the departed souls and make them the host's summoning beasts!]
To be honest, Haowen had rather liked the idea of having many children. But the system had encountered an unknown error, so there was no way for him to benefit from that now.
But what did binding departed souls mean?
"System, are you saying I'm in the Underworld right now?!!"
[Correct! When the host was practicing the Summoning Technique, this system reverse-summoned him to the Underworld! It also successfully bound the entire Underworld to the host!]
"Wait, System. Didn't you just say I was binding the departed souls of Konoha? Why is it the whole Underworld now?!"
[Because the host is currently in Konoha and is a resident of Konoha, the host can summon the departed souls of Konoha! Only after the host has completely conquered the Ninja World can the entire Underworld be completely bound to the host!]
"I see. I understand... System, tell me about your functions!"
[This system was originally the More Children More Blessings System, but it changed after encountering an unknown error! It has now become the Summoning System! The host can use the Summoning Technique to summon the departed souls and make them the host's summoning beasts! White-level summons can summon ninja with the strength of Genin! Green-level summons can summon ninja with the strength of Chunin! Blue-level summons can summon ninja with the strength of Jonin! Purple-level summons can summon ninja with the strength of Elite Jonin! Gold-level summons can summon ninja with the strength of the Hokage!]
Before you continue