Seizing the Advantage

Furen left the Sound ninja base and headed back toward Konoha.

He had to admit, his luck had been pretty good. He had randomly chosen a base and happened to run into his target, Tayuya.

In Furen's mind, his system panel displayed:

Tayuya: Favorability 74% (Two remaining draws available)

Seeing this level of favorability made Furen thoughtful. He came to a conclusion: "It seems that the favorability value is related to the personality of each target."

As one of Orochimaru's Curse Mark subjects for many years, Tayuya likely had lost all affection for anyone. For her, Furen's presence had become the most important thing in her life.

"The last bit of favorability will take some time to increase..." Furen licked his lips, deciding to put the idea of fully conquering Tayuya aside for now.

"Time to draw the reward!" Furen ordered the system. Before the draw, he had already checked the prize pool for Tayuya.

There wasn't anything particularly useful to him in the 25% and 50% favorability prize pools.

Ding!

Host has drawn the 25% favorability reward: Genjutsu enhancement!

Furen glanced at it casually and added the Genjutsu enhancement to his abilities, slightly boosting one of his stats.

"Continue drawing!" Furen commanded.

The wheel in his mind spun once again, and when it stopped, it flashed a gray light, just like when he had drawn the reward from the Konoha Crush Plan. Seeing the 50% reward made Furen curious: "Another item without a system rating?"

The gray light faded.

Congratulations, Host! You have drawn the 50% favorability reward: Blank Summoning Scroll!

"What's this blank scroll for?" Furen asked the system. A blank summoning scroll usually indicated the death of the contracted summoning beast!

System: "It can be used to sign a new contract with another summoning beast. The beast originally contracted to this scroll was of a very high level."

Furen thought for a moment, then smiled in delight. "It's like fate!"

If the Konoha Crush Plan followed its original course and the Third Hokage died... then the Monkey King Enma would be left without a summoner!

He might be able to use this blank scroll to sign a contract with Enma!

"By gaining Tayuya, I've planted a spy by Orochimaru's side. This Konoha Crush Plan scroll has lost its value to me," Furen thought as he tossed the Konoha Crush Plan scroll in his hand and started contemplating his next move.

"When I show this to the Third Hokage, I can't reveal everything... Also, what kind of reward can I get from the Third Hokage in return?"

...

"Lord Hokage... please take a look at what I found on the Sound ninjas' corpses..."

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage took the scroll Furen handed him. As soon as he opened it, his face immediately darkened!

His expression turned even grimmer as he finished reading the Sound and Sand's plan to destroy Konoha.

The Third Hokage didn't doubt the scroll's authenticity. Along with the scroll, Furen had handed him a bloodstained Sound ninja forehead protector as evidence.

The Third Hokage took a few puffs of his pipe, deep in thought. After a long while, he remembered Furen was still standing there. He spoke: "Furen, you must keep this matter strictly confidential!"

Furen nodded.

The Third Hokage let out a sigh of relief, then asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

Furen pretended to think for a moment before replying, "Lord Hokage, I've been wanting to sign a contract with a summoning beast, but I'm not sure how to interact with one. Could you teach me?"

The Third Hokage, his mind preoccupied with the Konoha Crush Plan, didn't want to seem too distracted. So he summoned his own summoning beast, the Monkey King Enma, right then and there.

After a puff of smoke, the massive Enma appeared on the roof of the Hokage building.

Enma first looked around cautiously, ensuring there were no enemies, before addressing the Third Hokage. "Sarutobi, why did you summon me?"

The Third Hokage exhaled a long breath, finishing the last bit of his tobacco. He pointed to Furen. "Help him learn how to interact with a summoning beast. I have some urgent matters to attend to."

With that, the Third Hokage tightly gripped the Konoha Crush Plan scroll and returned to his office.

Enma scratched his head but, seeing the seriousness on the Third Hokage's face, understood that something important was happening. He said nothing, turning his attention to Furen.

After hesitating for a moment about how to teach him, Enma finally spoke: "Kid, summon your beast so I can take a look."

Furen shrugged. "I haven't signed a contract with any beast yet."

Enma: "Then how am I supposed to teach you?"

Furen hesitated, then tentatively said, "I have a blank summoning scroll... How about we try signing a contract together? I can familiarize myself with the process."

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A/N:

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