A ninja who is always hungry

Chapter 8: Contract and Bloodline



Tony couldn't help but read the information on the System panel again.

[Chimera Ant Summoning Contract Acquired!]

[Description: A scroll that allows you to establish a summoning pact with the chimera ant clan, also known as gourmet ants. They have a voracious appetite and can eat dozens of times their own weight in a single day. The Queen of the colony possesses a reproductive ability called Phagogenesis, which means reproduction through food. By eating other creatures, she can pass some traits of the devoured creature to the next generation of chimera ants. As long as the Queen is safe and there's food, her clan will never disappear.]

[Contract Condition: Each time the summoner decides to summon and order members of the clan, he must satiate their hunger after they finish the task. Different levels of strength will require different amounts of food.]

[Side Note: If you stand between them and their food, you'll become part of the menu.]

"This contract isn't scary at all," Tony remarked sarcastically. "Feeding summons isn't an unusual condition. I remember Orochimaru had to give human sacrifices to his purple snake every time he called it. What was its name… Mandy? That I only have to give them food isn't a problem thanks to my devil fruit. What makes me unsure is whether the contract is for the chimera ants from my previous world, which were about ten centimeters tall, or if it refers to the monsters from Hunter x Hunter, whose Queen was two meters tall. I don't see the series label in the name, unlike the recipes, but the description basically screams that."

But whatever the case, the truth is that the contract was extremely useful to him, and many ways to use them were already occurring to him.

Tony had developed a peculiar ninja fighting style centered around food over the years at the academy, and that meant that wherever he went, he would leave food scraps behind. He could summon the lowest level of ants so that their task was simply to eat the leftovers on the battlefield. That would surely excite them.

For example, he possessed a variant of the Hidden Mist technique called Hidden Flour Technique. It not only blocked the field of vision, but the flour got into the eyes, clung to the enemy's clothes, turning them into a white ghost that left traces everywhere, and with a few sparks in the right place, it could even unleash a dust explosion.

Since Danzo revealed the secret, so to speak, I started feigning interest in strange ninja techniques like the Kazekage's gold manipulation or the Akimichi clan's signature technique to turn calories into chakra. Add a few months using genjutsu in public so that people saw rocks and sticks as food, my particular interest in cooking, my gratitude for being adopted by the Akimichi clan, and there you go: gourmet ninja techniques. It was a real headache having to act like that for months, but now I have a viable excuse to use the power of my devil fruit to some extent while disguising it as a ninja technique. And I took measures to fool even a sensory ninja who spies on my chakra flow.

The best part of all this? Since techniques are secret and of great value, not even the Hokage or bug-eyed Danzo can demand that I hand over my technique scrolls. The village had a system where, by handing over new techniques obtained or created by various means, rewards were given.

But it was all VOLUNTARY. Also, there aren't even technique scrolls because I didn't write any. I thought it was stupid to do so, since only I can use them due to the devil fruit.

One additional detail: I realized that although I can make all kinds of ingredients and food, I can't make dishes or cutlery. So when Choza asked me why I didn't use a storage scroll for those things, it was like a lightning bolt crossed my mind.

Storage scrolls!

Seriously, sometimes I think I know so much about the series that I forget the most basic things. So that same day, I went to find Tenten and after promising her a certain amount of high-quality and varied cookies, she agreed to prepare some small scrolls for my personal use. Yes, I made sure they could only be opened by my chakra signature. I don't want anyone tampering with my stuff, and if they do, I want to know. It was an interesting project for her and an added level of security for me.

Now, if the summoning contract gave me a TNT-level surprise, the next thing was atomic bomb-level.

[Host's traits successfully awakened!]

[Acquired Trait: Gourmet Cells (Toriko)]

[Acquired Trait: Gourmet Demon (Dormant)]

Yes, I wasn't dreaming! What could better combine with a devil fruit that makes food? The answer: something that gets stronger the more it eats!

"System, show me my status!"

[Status]

Name: Gluttony, nicknamed Tony.

Current World: Naruto.

Ability: Kuku Kuku no Mi Devil Fruit (No Weakness).

Weapons: None.

Traits: Gourmet Cells (Toriko) + Gourmet Demon (Dormant).

Summoning Contract: Chimera Ants.

Description: A child newly graduated from the ninja academy with such a great enthusiasm for food that his fighting style has been influenced by it. He has undergone a unique awakening, and most of the bloodline in his body has been activated, but a tiny part remains dormant within him, the most important part and the true core. He possesses the mysterious ability to transform things into food.

"Wow, it seems like weapons like kunai and shuriken aren't noteworthy enough to appear on the panel. Should I try to get one of the Seven Swords of the Mist or something? Samehada would be the best option I can think of; it's a real glutton, after all," Tony pondered.

He then turned his attention to the traits of his body.

"Gourmet Cells, huh," Tony thought. "It's like I suddenly have the abilities of a true Akimichi, but an infinitely superior version. Maybe I should try extracting some cells and giving them to the clan?" he considered seriously. "At this point, we're practically family, and I think they should have great compatibility with them. But aside from some basic knowledge from my previous world, I didn't learn much in the academy about how to do something like that. I would need the help of an expert like Orochimaru or Tsunade. Although maybe someone lower-ranked like Kabuto or Shizune could also suffice."

The problem… was the Gourmet Demon.

"What must be the demon sleeping in my cells?" Tony wondered, even after thinking about it for hours. "Seeing everything Rob has been adding, it could be anything. If I could find out, I could see which ninja techniques would be most compatible with it."

Wait, compatibility?

"The chakra paper!" Tony suddenly exclaimed. "I don't know what my chakra nature is! Why am I so clueless when it comes to these things?" But he quickly shifted from surprise to rationality. "Actually, it's not that important yet. I don't have access to information about chakra nature transformation, and almost all my techniques use the power of the devil fruit. I can afford to wait for a while."

Wait, what would happen if he used his fruit's power with the nature change at the same time?

"Let's save those ideas for later; I have to prepare for the team meeting. I can only cross my fingers!"


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