Summoning Technique 1/2

The moon hung high overhead as Hayato returned home.

He had an extra short sword on him, four summoning scrolls, and a lunchbox of three-colored dango.

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

The gecko excelled at escaping and could teleport its contractor as far as ten kilometers away. Its drawback was that the destination was random and unknown. Also, if the teleportation distance exceeded the contractor's current chakra reserves, it would consume their life force until they died.

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

The pangolin excelled at Earth Release and was an expert 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 rain and parasols in sunshine, pink 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 strengthened 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 against the ground.

"Summoning Technique!"

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

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

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

Bang!

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

The gecko pushed its glasses up onto its forehead with its toes, its rolling eyes sizing Hayato up and down. "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?"

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

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

"My parents have already died," Hayato said. "They fell in a battle to protect the village more than a decade ago."

After a brief silence, the large gecko said, "So it wasn't that they failed to keep their promise. They simply couldn't?"

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

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

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

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

The large gecko spotted the lunchbox on the table. "Is that food?"

"Oh, yes," Hayato answered.

Hayato had not expected it to change the subject so abruptly. After a moment's pause, he opened the lunchbox. "Would you like to try some three-colored dango?"

The large gecko lashed out its tongue, and half the three-colored dango vanished from the lunchbox.

What a fast tongue!

The large gecko smacked its lips. "Your human food is awful. Prepare mosquitoes and other insects for me next time."

"Sure," Hayato readily agreed.

"Kid, my name is Gecko Guard," the large gecko said. "I specialize in the Art of Tail Severance. Summon me whenever you need to run for your life."

With that, Gecko Guard dismissed the Summoning Technique himself and vanished in a puff of smoke. The other half of the three-colored dango vanished as well.

It really was a summoned beast with personality.

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

When he summoned 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 soundly.

Hayato poked it with a finger...

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

He poked it again...

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

He poked it again...

Unable to endure the disturbance any longer, the pangolin shook its head, dismissed the summoning, and went home to keep 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 the next morning.

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

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

With a thought, Ichigo Kurosaki's Mask appeared on his finger. It was slightly heavy in his hand and a little cold when he put it on, perhaps due to its bone-like material.

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: Barbecue Expert, Strongest Genin

Current Draws Available: None

Equipped Item: Ichigo Kurosaki's Mask.

Hayato with the mask on in the mirror was more than conspicuous—he looked 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 only average, so Lion Maru would be wasted on him. Second, an ordinary man could invite trouble by possessing a treasure, and someone was bound to covet Lion Maru.

When he arrived at the team office, it was completely empty.

Since he had nothing better to do, Hayato cleaned the office, just as he had when he was a newcomer at the neighborhood office.

Before long, Moonlight Sharoro and Hatake Kaito arrived one after the other. They praised Hayato for taking the initiative to clean the office, and then... that was it.

Hayato was not sure whether it was an illusion, but Moonlight Sharoro seemed different from yesterday.

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

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

"Am I?"

"It's just a feeling. I can't say what's different."

Standing to the side, Hatake Kaito thought, What a perceptive kid.

Hatake Kaito knew that Moonlight Sharoro had indeed changed. Her mindset had shifted. Yesterday's sneak attack had not blunted Hayato's edge. Instead, it had knocked down Sharoro's arrogance and stirred her desire 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 caught Hayato off guard. "I left it at home. I didn't bring it with me. Maybe another time."

"Oh."

Sharoro was merely curious.

They sat in the office for a while longer, but no mission came in, so the three of them chatted there.

Moonlight Sharoro was the first to grow restless. She touched this and scratched that, like a hyperactive brat.

Hayato, on the other hand, was quite accustomed to this kind of life. It felt as though he had returned to the neighborhood office. When there were no assignments, some people would gather to chat nonsense, while others would sit with a newspaper and a cup of tea for the entire day. Hayato's favorite thing had been reading on his phone. Before transmigrating, he had been following Konoha's Superpowered Hyuga.

He wondered whether that novel had flopped.

Before transmigrating, some big shot named squiSu had tipped the author 500 Qidian coins. If the author had any conscience, they should not have abandoned it.

But that had nothing to do with Hayato now.

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

"Sure."

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

Hayato looked at Hatake Kaito. As the team captain, Kaito needed to approve it.

Hatake Kaito smiled and waved a hand. "Go ahead. I'll watch the office. And take it easy while practicing. Don't hurt anyone else, and don't hurt yourselves."

That was directed at Sharoro.

Moonlight Sharoro impatiently said, "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, boss, for your support.

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