Summoning Technique 2/2

The moon hung high overhead as Hayato returned home.

He had gained a short sword, four summoning scrolls, and a food box of three-colored dango.

The summoning scrolls were for a gecko, an octopus, a pangolin, and mushrooms.

The gecko excelled at fleeing. At most, it could teleport its contractor up to ten kilometers away. Its drawback was that the destination was random and unknown. Moreover, if the teleportation distance exceeded the contractor's current chakra reserves, it would consume their life force until death.

The octopus excelled at Water Release and could spit acid and ink.

The pangolin excelled at Earth Release and was skilled at digging holes.

The summoning mushrooms were the most interesting. There were mushroom houses for camping in the wild, umbrella mushrooms that served as umbrellas in the rain and parasols on sunny days, powder mushrooms that caused hallucinations, blue mushrooms that induced sleep, and purple mushrooms that sprayed poisonous gas.

These four summoned beasts or plants made up for Hayato's weaknesses and enhanced his survival abilities.

Among them, Hayato's mother—Pansy—had marked the gecko's information.

After biting his finger and signing the contract, Hayato pressed one hand to the ground.

"Summoning Technique!"

The basic Summoning Technique was merely a ranked ninjutsu. The rank referred to its difficulty to learn; the technique's power depended on the summoned creature's abilities.

Somewhere in the darkness, a voice seemed to answer Hayato's call. A line connected Hayato to that voice, and then space twisted, as though a door had been opened.

In an instant, one-third of Hayato's chakra was drained away, swallowed by that door.

Bang!

A gecko about two meters long appeared in the room. Its base color was grayish-brown, dotted with purple circular spots. What surprised Hayato most was the thumb-thick gold necklace around its neck and the heart-shaped sunglasses with pink frames perched over its eyes.

The gecko used its toes to push the glasses up onto its forehead. Its round eyes scrutinized Hayato from top to bottom. "Hey, kid, are you the new contractor? Where are Tetsuya and Pansy? They haven't summoned me in so long. Did they forget about me?"

Hayato said, "I'm Hyuga Hayato. Please take care of me. Tetsuya and Pansy, whom you mentioned, are my father and mother."

The giant gecko said angrily, "Why aren't they here? Are they avoiding me because they don't dare face me?"

Hayato said, "My parents have already died. They fell in battle protecting the village more than ten years ago."

After a brief silence, the giant gecko said, "So they weren't breaking their promise—they simply couldn't keep it?"

Hayato said, "I'm afraid so. Although I don't know what promise it was, whether as their child or as the inheritor of their contract, if I can, I will continue to keep that promise."

The giant gecko stared at Hayato for a while. "Are you serious?"

Hayato nodded earnestly. "Yes. I'm not joking."

The giant gecko said, "You do look a lot like Tetsuya. But Tetsuya was terrible with words. I have no idea how he managed to win Pansy over. As for that promise, it's between Tetsuya, Pansy, and me. It has nothing to do with you."

The giant gecko caught sight of the food box on the table. "Is that something to eat?"

"Oh, yes," Hayato replied.

To his surprise, the giant gecko changed the subject without the slightest transition. After a moment of stunned silence, Hayato opened the food box. "Want to try some three-colored dango?"

The giant gecko flicked out its tongue and swept it around. Half the three-colored dango in the food box vanished.

What a fast tongue!

The giant gecko smacked its lips. "You humans have awful food. Prepare mosquitoes and other insects for me next time."

"Sure." Hayato had no objection.

The giant gecko said, "Kid, my name is Gecko Guard. I specialize in the Tail Severing Technique. Summon me whenever you need to flee for your life."

With that, Gecko Guard dismissed the summoning himself and vanished into smoke. The other half of the three-colored dango vanished too.

It really was a summoned beast with personality.

Afterward, Hayato tried summoning the pangolin and the summoning mushrooms as well.

When summoning the pangolin, Hayato used only a little chakra. As a result, a palm-sized pangolin lay in his hand.

The pangolin was curled up, sleeping sweetly.

Hayato poked it with a finger...

The pangolin glanced at Hayato, rolled over, and continued sleeping.

Another poke...

The pangolin looked at Hayato with a complicated gaze. Is this guy an idiot?

Another poke...

Unable to bear the disturbance any longer, the pangolin shook its head, dismissed the summoning, and went home to continue sleeping.

After the pangolin left, Hayato continued summoning and tried several kinds of mushrooms. To his horror, he discovered that the mushrooms' attacks were indiscriminate. He would have to be careful when using them, lest he accidentally wipe out his teammates.

As for the octopus, Hayato had no desire to have a slimy mollusk appear directly in his living room.

Early morning.

Hayato brushed his teeth, washed his face, and changed into his ANBU uniform.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Hayato grinned, flashing white teeth. "Not bad, kid. I've got high hopes for you."

With a thought, Ichigo Kurosaki's Mask appeared on his finger. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, and cool when he put it on, perhaps because it was made of bone.

The system panel immediately changed:

Host: Hyuga Hayato

Age: 1

Rank: Genin

Taijutsu: 746↑

Ninjutsu: 67↑

Genjutsu: 408

Chakra: 70↑ (+0%)

Current Mission: None

String-String Fruit (Beginner): Five-Colored Strings 91%↑, Overheat 78%↑, Bullet String 1555%↑

Fused Ninjutsu (1): Gentle Fist Art: Thirty-Two Beasts Wave Palm

Titles: Grilling Master, Strongest Genin

Current Draws Available: None

Equipped Item: Ichigo Kurosaki's Mask

Hayato wearing the mask in the mirror was more than conspicuous—he was a little frightening. So he put the mask back into the system's inventory.

He put on his bird mask, strapped the short sword to his back, and set off.

The sword was an ordinary short sword, standard equipment for ANBU ninja. He had not brought Lion Maru. First, his swordsmanship was average, and Lion Maru would be wasted on him. Second, a man without guilt could still be blamed for possessing treasure; someone was bound to covet Lion Maru.

When he arrived at the squad office, it was empty.

With nothing else to do, Hayato cleaned the office, just as he had when he was still a newcomer at the neighborhood office.

Before long, Moonlight Sharoro and Hatake Kaito arrived one after the other. They praised Hayato for voluntarily cleaning the office, and then... that was it.

Hayato did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that Moonlight Sharoro was somewhat different from yesterday.

Moonlight Sharoro touched her face. "What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh." Realizing it was rude to stare at someone, Hayato hurriedly said, "Sorry, sorry. I just feel like you're a little different from yesterday."

Moonlight Sharoro said, "Am I?"

Hayato said, "It's just a feeling. I can't really say what's different."

Hatake Kaito thought from the side, What a sharp kid.

Hatake Kaito knew that Moonlight Sharoro really had changed. It was a change in her mindset. Yesterday's sneak attack had failed to blunt Hayato's edge. Instead, it had knocked down Sharoro's arrogance and stirred her ambition to improve.

Moonlight Sharoro suddenly said, "Don't you have a family heirloom mask? Why aren't you wearing it? Did you bring it? Let me see."

Her familiar tone made Hayato pause. "I left it at home. I didn't bring it with me. Maybe later."

"Oh."

Sharoro was merely curious.

After sitting in the office for a while longer, no mission was assigned. The three of them chatted in the office.

Moonlight Sharoro was the first to grow restless, touching this and scratching that like a hyperactive brat.

Hayato, on the other hand, was quite used to this kind of life. It felt as though he had returned to the neighborhood office. When there was no work at the neighborhood office, some people gathered around chatting nonsense, while others sat with a newspaper and a cup of tea for the entire day. What Hayato liked most was reading on his phone. Before transmigrating, he had been following Konoha's Superpowered Hyuga.

He wondered if that novel had flopped.

Before transmigrating, a big shot named "squiSu" had tipped the author 500 Qidian coins. If the author had any conscience, he should not have dropped the story.

But that had nothing to do with Hayato now.

After a while longer, Sharoro lightly twisted her body as if several fleas had crawled inside her. She suggested, "Hayato, how about we go to the training ground and practice?"

"Sure."

Hayato could not have asked for more than someone to spar with.

Hayato looked at Hatake Kaito. Hatake Kaito was the captain, so they needed his approval.

Hatake Kaito smiled and waved his hand. "Go ahead. I'll hold down the office. And take it easy during practice. Don't hurt anyone else, and don't hurt yourselves."

That was directed at Sharoro.

Moonlight Sharoro said impatiently, "I know, I know. You're so naggy!"

[PS] Thanks to "5740641" for 1 recommendation vote, "Demon King Pterosaur" for recommendation votes, "Other Shore" for 4 recommendation votes, and "squiSu" for 6 recommendation votes.

[PS] Special thanks to "squiSu" for the 500 Qidian coin tip. Thank you, big shot, for your support.

[PS] A new week, a new beginning. Please support this story with bookmarks and recommendation votes. See you in the next chapter at 9:00 PM.