Tahm Descends the Mountain

At that moment, on Mount Myoboku.

Tahm had just finished the devilish training of running twenty kilometers with weights and completing another thousand chakra-enhanced frog jumps. He lay sprawled on the ground like a dead fish, his long tongue limply draped over his big belly as he panted heavily.

This kid had been putting much more effort into his training these days! Sage Fukasaku, who had been supervising Tahm's training from the side, had clearly noticed the changes in him. He had voluntarily increased his workload, and he no longer slacked off during training, working hard one day and loafing the next. His willpower had obviously improved. This change filled Sage Fukasaku with a sense of gratification. Somehow, even the fat dead fish lying on the ground and gasping for breath looked much more pleasing to him now.

Tahm himself knew that he had suddenly become a training fanatic entirely because the system had given him a desire to become stronger. When he had first transmigrated into the Shinobi World as a toad, Tahm had actually had no interest in making some grand vow to "save the world." His lazy personality from his previous life and his ordinary otaku attitude of just muddling through had made his initial wish simply to go to the Shinobi World, find a nice place, and continue lazing around while enjoying the scenery of another world. After all, even if he trained, could someone like him, who initially had nothing but a strong body and a long tongue, really compete with Young Master and Uchiha Sasuke, who had the cheat abilities of reincarnated sages? Saving the world was naturally the responsibility of those cheaters, while Tahm's innate physical qualities were already enough for him to find a foothold in the mostly peaceful, slightly chaotic Shinobi World. If Mount Myoboku had not required him to pass the ninja-toad trial before going to the Shinobi World, lazy Tahm probably would not have gone to the trouble of training under Master Fukasaku.

But beneath that carefree appearance, that air of having seen through worldly matters like some mentor of social experience, he was still unwilling to accept his fate, wasn't he? Why can't I stand at the summit and take a look? Tahm, who had been worn smooth by society and reality in his previous life until all his edges had been ground away and he had become a ball, found the long-forgotten chuunibyou passion in his heart slowly rekindling in this otherworldly life.

Finally, when the system, this golden finger, appeared, the flame that had been building in his heart for so long instantly found an outlet and burst forth:

So here, I am the protagonist!

This declaration, overflowing with chuunibyou energy, had once been buried deep in Tahm's heart after he entered society in his previous life. He had only dared to take it out and examine it in the dead of night. But now, this was his declaration! With a dream to strive for, Tahm instantly transformed into a training fanatic. He was also surprised to discover that the attributes on his system panel could not only be increased through leveling up and purchasing equipment like in a game; training his body and cultivating chakra could also raise them bit by bit. Sure enough, even with the cheat of having fate on his side, dreams still had to be achieved through hard work. He had already put a rocket under himself—did he still need God to light the fuse before he could reach the sky?

At this thought, a vigorous smile actually blossomed across Tahm's fat toad face, earning secret admiration from Sage Fukasaku.

Summon the battle system panel. Tahm called out silently in his heart.

A familiar game interface then appeared in his mind: the skill bar, health and mana bars, minimap, experience bar, and attribute panel.

After obtaining the system and undergoing several months of frenzied training, Tahm's strength had improved considerably:

His maximum health had reached 1,025, basically twice the vitality of an ordinary genin. However, compared with a special genin like Rock Lee, who specialized in taijutsu, he probably did not necessarily have any advantage.

His maximum MP, which could be called his chakra volume here, had also reached the level of an ordinary genin's 300 points. For someone with Tahm's mysterious aptitude, this was already quite impressive. Fortunately, Tahm was not a fragile mage, but... huh? A tank-class ADC?

The attribute panel was even stranger. It was completely different from the game and displayed only one overall combat rating: 63. According to the system, after being made real, forcibly displaying values like strength and speed would not actually be accurate. After all, one's condition could change at any moment during battle, so providing a reference value had little meaning. Good attribute data also did not mean one would definitely win a fight, since real battles changed in the blink of an eye. As for how this overall combat rating was calculated, the system said it had directly borrowed the framework from another world so that its host would not accuse it of being unprofessional. Apparently, that other world had a magical dragon called Shenron that could grant any wish once all seven Dragon Balls had been gathered. Tahm broke out in a cold sweat when he heard that. If the system used this framework, then even if Sage of Six Paths were resurrected, he would probably only have a few thousand points of combat power, right?

Even more baffling was the fact that the experience bar had never changed. Asking the system only got him the response, "This module is not currently available." Without experience, he naturally could not level up or spend skill points, so Tahm still had only three pitiful skills: passive, Consume, and Long Tongue. Fortunately, Tahm's digitized body was the greatest cheat of all, and he could also become stronger through continuous training, so he did not take it to heart.

The strength in his body gradually recovered, but Tahm still lay sprawled on the ground in the lazy posture of a sunbathing dead fish. He suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and asked, "By the way, old man, why haven't I been summoned to the Shinobi World yet?"

Sage Fukasaku, who had still been feeling gratified by Tahm's progress, immediately darkened when he heard this. "With the summoning scroll you wrote, it would be a miracle if you could find a contractor!"

"Uh..." Tahm felt a little embarrassed as well. "I'm going to be staying in the Shinobi World permanently and spending every day with my contractor... Of course I had to consider everything carefully... Haha."

"Heh... I think you should prepare yourself to spend the rest of your life on Mount Myoboku," Sage Fukasaku sneered.

"I bet that old lecher Jiraiya is probably peeping at the women's bathhouse right now. He must have forgotten all about finding a contractor." Tahm shamelessly shifted the blame to the golden salesman Jiraiya. His understanding of Jiraiya was, in fact, not far off the mark...

Just then, Tahm suddenly felt a strange connection appear in his mind. A complicated jutsu formula materialized beneath his feet out of thin air—what was this? A summoning formula!

"Hahaha, did I find a contractor?"

Tahm felt a force of space tugging at him, trying to pull him toward another space. In the blink of an eye, his massive body vanished into the wind of Mount Myoboku, leaving behind only one sentence:

"Don't die, old man Fukasaku! Once I've changed the era, I'll come back to see you!"

That brat actually found a contractor...

Sage Fukasaku, who had weathered the vicissitudes of countless years, watched Tahm's disappearing figure, yet felt inexplicably moved. He had originally only intended to casually train a junior and verify the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage. But now, without realizing it, had he also developed the same feelings for this little bastard that he had for Jiraiya?

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you perform, my disciple.