During the second half of the night, after Takumi woke up, he patted the sleepy-eyed Ino and Sakura and sent them to bed.
Originally, Takumi planned to keep watch alone, but Hinata also forcibly got up and joined him.
Supporting the equally sleepy and dazed, confused-looking Hinata, Takumi sat outside the tent to keep watch.
Seeing Hinata's blank and not fully awake expression, Takumi's heart stirred.
He subtly shifted the hand supporting her.
'Mhm... the size is already not small!'
Takumi was very surprised.
'She really would be the bustiest among the future Kunoichi rookies.'
'Much larger than Rin's.'
…
The night passed quickly.
Morning.
After Takumi demonstrated his culinary skills, the four continued their journey.
Because the path from Konoha to the Land of Fire's border was almost entirely forest, the group traveled during the day and rested in the forest at night.
They continued using the lottery method to decide the watch order for the first and second halves of the night.
The second night, Takumi and Ino kept watch during the first half.
The third night, Takumi and Sakura kept watch during the second half.
Calculating it this way…
Takumi had kept watch with all three girls.
Unlike the shy Hinata, Ino and Sakura were both the proactive, attacking types.
While keeping watch, they constantly chattered away, pulling Takumi into conversation.
When sleeping, they actively hugged Takumi's arm, burying their heads in his chest.
Takumi naturally didn't refuse.
But he also wouldn't make a move casually, as there were too many people and it was inconvenient.
He just silently enjoyed their contact without taking the initiative.
Unknowingly…
A week passed.
In the forest, Takumi looked at the map.
They had already covered half the distance to their destination.
Coincidentally, there was a pond nearby.
The three girls, who hadn't bathed for a week, couldn't stand it anymore.
They all ran down to wash.
Meanwhile, Takumi sat nearby like a gentleman, guarding their clothes for them, and planned to use this time to conduct a simulation.
This was a long journey, and they were going to meet Tsunade. He hoped to gain some useful abilities.
'System, start simulation.'
Holding the girls' clothes in his arms, Takumi silently commanded 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: Not Human (Black Gold), Time Machine (Black Gold), Observation Haki (Red), Charge Warrior (Black)]
'Damn, Charge Warrior and Not Human again!'
Takumi frowned.
Let's not mention Charge Warrior… it basically caused trouble every time it appeared.
Not Human was also an extremely troublesome talent, though sometimes Not Human wasn't a bad thing.
But what concerned Takumi most this time was... Observation Haki!?
This was the first time a ready-made ability, one of the three Haki types, had appeared after so many simulations!
'But why was it only Red grade?'
'The top-tier Observation Haki should definitely be a higher grade color.'
Puzzled, Takumi was unwilling to accept it and pressed the system.
'System, you finally give me a finished skill, and it's only Red?'
[Ding! Red grade Observation Haki is primarily for perception and reconnaissance. Black grade allows for danger prediction and evasion. Black Gold grade allows for brief future sight.]
'Oh, so you mean this time's Observation Haki is just perception ability?'
Takumi roughly understood.
This simulation's training direction might be enhancing his vision and other sensory abilities.
A few seconds later, the system automatically displayed the detailed descriptions of the talents.
[Observation Haki: Can make a person's five senses sharp. Allows one to perceive the presence and emotional changes of surrounding beings without using eyes.]
'If I can train normally, I should be able to gain decent perception abilities, but...'
Takumi started to worry again.
The Not Human talent was just too unpredictable.
Sometimes it was very effective, like the Wolf King time when he became a living creature of flesh and blood.
But other times it was frustrating.
Like with Konan's clothes.
Takumi was worried that if this time he ended up with something that couldn't speak, and the final evaluation was too low, he wouldn't get any reward...
'Sigh... worrying now is useless. Everything depends on how the simulation goes.'
Silently sorting out his feelings, Takumi unconsciously tightened his grip on the clothes in his hands.
Then, he commanded in his mind.
[Simulation Start!]
[Carried Talents: Not Human, Time Machine, Observation Haki, Charge Warrior]
…
[Your consciousness gradually clears.]
[No vision, no sensation, but you can hear some movements around you.]
[After carefully identifying, you find you are submerged in water. After further identification, you discover you have been reincarnated as a stone on a Konoha's street! And right at the entrance to the women's bathhouse!]
'What the heck!!!'
Takumi spat out on the spot.
'I became a stone? And a stone at Konoha's women's bathhouse!?'
Takumi's expression was complex… for a moment, he didn't know whether to feel regret or envy.
That was Konoha's women's bathhouse!
The holy land for one of the Sannin, Jiraiya, to gather material!
A place like that, except for people like Jiraiya, others definitely couldn't enter.
He never thought he'd end up inside during a simulation.
'Damn, this round is probably going to cause trouble again...'
Takumi silently adjusted his sitting posture and continued the simulation.
[Becoming a stone at the women's bathhouse made your heart itch with anticipation. Combined with your innate Charge Warrior talent, it made you even more restless.]
['This is Konoha's women's bathhouse! Tsunade! Mikoto! Kushina! Kurenai! Rin! Anko! Hinata!' You shouted in your heart, longing to see everything around you, but you have no eyes.]
'I really want to see it too.'
However, the simulation screen remained pitch black.
This was, after all, the simulation's perspective.
The simulated Takumi, turned into a stone, couldn't see, so naturally the simulation screen showed nothing.
[You didn't dare to speak, afraid someone would throw you out, which would mean you'd never get to see the scenes you desired.]
[Being unable to watch made your heart itch unbearably.]
[Thoughts kept sprouting in your heart. But just then, you felt something was a bit off.]
[Logically, if you were a completely normal stone, you shouldn't be able to perceive anything.]
[But now you could vaguely see and hear some things in front of you, and you even had a sense of touch. If someone stepped on you, you could perceive it. This indicated you might possess some special ability.]
[After a month of exploration, you finally determined that you probably possessed something similar to Observation Haki.]
[Even without eyes, you could see things, or rather, use your entire body to perceive, making your aura become your eyes!]
[Knowing this information, you began to train.]
[Day after day, month after month.]
[Gradually, your perception ability strengthened. You could actually start to slowly feel the outlines of the street.]
[You thought to yourself, this must be the effect of Observation Haki.]
'Oh? Seems like things are looking up?'
Takumi's eyes lit up… the situation seemed to be changing.
---
FOR EVERY 50 POWER STONES, I'LL UPLOAD ONE CHAPTER