On the other side, Takumi was walking while resting his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
Unknowingly, he arrived at the river at the village's entrance.
He looked left and right, then found there was no one around.
This was to be expected.
Right now, everyone had gone to watch the Chunin Exams.
There weren't many people left in the village, so it naturally seemed deserted and empty.
'This place is just quiet enough. I'll start here.'
'System, start simulation!'
Sitting on a large rock, Takumi gave the command to the system in his mind.
[Ding! Drawing talents for you!]
The system's wheel spun.
Three seconds later.
The pointer stopped.
[Ding! Draw successful!]
[You have drawn the talents: Summoning King (Black), You Have a Dad (White), Time Machine (Black Gold)]
'Huh, Summoning King?'
'Could it be the ability that guy named Asakura Yoh possessed?' (T/N: In the RAW, Shaman King and Summoning King is written almost the same.)
'Probably not.'
'There are no demons or monsters in the Shinobi World to communicate with, at most the souls of the deceased.'
'Better check the system description.'
The system thoughtfully displayed the detailed descriptions of the talents.
[Summoning King: Extremely strong summoning ability. Can forcibly summon powerful summoned beasts without needing to sign a contract. Black grade indicates extremely high talent. When trained to the highest level, not only can you summon an army of summoned beasts, you can even steal other people's summoned beasts.]
'What?'
'It can even steal other people's summoned beasts?'
Seeing this description, Takumi was quite excited.
Stealing other people's stuff, he liked that the most.
It's just that the identity talent this time is a bit lacking.
'A white-grade dad, this probably means another orphan start, right?'
[Simulation Start!]
[Carried Talents: Summoning King, You Have a Dad, Time Machine]
[A light rain falls on you, continuously carrying away the warmth from your body.]
[This is the Land of Rain, and the edge of a battlefield at that.]
[As a baby, you cannot free yourself from the swaddling clothes, and can only accept the fate that is coming.]
'No way, no way?'
'It really is an orphan start?'
[At the critical moment, you see a familiar, cute face appear before your eyes.]
['It's Konan!' You recognize her identity and become excited.]
[Although Konan at this time is just a child who doesn't know any Ninjutsu, even a Konan like this can save you.]
[As long as she reaches out her hands and takes you to a warm place to disperse the cold from your body.]
[Perhaps it was your eyes longing for life that attracted her. She picks you up, even though she isn't much bigger than you herself.]
'A Land of Rain start?'
'Although an orphan, being adopted by Konan this time is a pretty good start.'
'I might even be able to get some things from Jiraiya later.'
'And with familiarity of the plot, I would definitely intervene to change the fate of Konan and the other two later.'
[Konan cares for you deeply, treating you like a real younger brother.]
[Yahiko and Nagato also welcome your arrival warmly, even though they don't have much food to share with you.]
[You often see Konan enduring her own hunger to make sure you are fed.]
[Whenever this happens, you always keep your mouth closed, refusing to eat no matter how Konan tries to feed you. Only after Konan eats something herself will you open your mouth.]
'Seems quite sensible.'
Takumi raised an eyebrow.
'This time feels quite different from before.'
'Maybe it's the difference in origin?'
'Although I have adult memories, a different origin can slightly alter behavior patterns.'
[Because she needs to take care of you, the burden, Konan has to take you wherever she goes.]
[This makes it inconvenient for her to move, the number of mushrooms she can gather decreases, and the food becomes increasingly insufficient.]
[But even so, Konan never once thought of abandoning you, stubbornly preferring to go hungry herself to ensure you are fed.]
[The four of you depend on each other for survival, living a lonely and wretched life.]
[You eat one meal, with no guarantee of the next.]
[And so, time passes bit by bit.]
[You are two years old, able to walk and run on your own, no longer needing Konan to carry you around.]
[You also help gather wild fruits and mushrooms.]
[But the edible food is still very scarce, and you are all at an age where you are growing, needing to absorb more nutrition.]
'Such a hard life.'
Takumi never knew Konan and the others lived so difficultly when they were young.
On one hand, it was because of the war.
On the other hand, the Land of Rain's location was just too awkward.
As a small country, it borders three major countries.
This caused the Land of Rain to become the main battlefield when war broke out.
The civilians of the Land of Rain were naturally caught in the crossfire, suffering undeserved disaster.
Naturally, the number of war orphans also increased.
Konan and the others wouldn't stay in one place forever.
Because they never knew when someone might come, they usually stayed in one place for a while before moving to another.
In the Land of Rain, anyone you meet should be treated with caution.
Anyone could easily kill children like them.
And don't expect them to show any mercy.
[One day, you feel something strange in your body. It doesn't hurt, but it makes you aware.]
[It's as if something is urging you to do something.]
[You don't understand, feeling somewhat scared, but also a bit curious.]
['How much worse can it get?' You look around the simple and crude drafty house, so bare it doesn't even have furniture, and can't help but mock yourself.]
[Then, following some indescribable guidance, you open your palm towards the ground, concentrating and calming your breath.]
[With a poof sound, an ant appears under your palm.]
['This is... summoning?' You are somewhat puzzled, because you have never seen anyone summon such a small ant before.]
[But delighted with your new ability, you happily practice summoning alone every day, while Konan and the others don't notice what you are doing.]
'Talent awakened.'
'But only summoning such a small ant.'
'What use is it?'
'It wouldn't even be enough to stuff between your teeth if you threw it in your mouth.'
[As you summon more times, you discover that the summoned beasts you call forth become larger and larger.]
[From a tiny ant, they gradually become mosquitoes, flies, bees, grasshoppers, spiders. Their volume increases, and the variety also grows.]
[This discovery makes you understand that if you work hard, you might be able to summon powerful summoned beasts in the future.]
[Although in this world, top-tier powerhouses don't care much about summoned beasts, as long as you have powerful summoned beasts, ordinary Shinobi won't be your match.]
[Which also means you have a certain amount of self-preservation ability.]
[You understand very clearly that in this chaotic world, having some self-preservation ability is very important.]
[You summon very diligently, but it's clear that summoning a powerful summoned beast is a task that is long-term and arduous for you.]
[And a more important problem facing you all is that your food is almost gone.]