"Hm? Something strange slipped in here…"
While examining the reward options presented by the system, Kumamoto Kuro noticed that the style of the second reward was suddenly very different.
A love letter to Samui…?
That was completely unexpected.
The name Samui was widely known among shinobi of the Kumogakure.
In the future, she would become one of the trusted subordinates of the Fourth Raikage, famous for both her beauty and her calm personality.
But a love letter addressed to Samui…?
Kuro paused for a moment before crouching down and searching the ninja's body with his newly transformed hands.
Aside from several military rations and soldier pills, the Kumogakure scout carried almost nothing else.
There was no love letter at all.
That meant only one thing.
The system's reward options were not items originally carried by the devoured target—they were generated independently.
Looking back at the previous devouring event, the reward options clearly depended on the traits of the consumed individual.
For example, devouring the Uchiha Clan ninja earlier had given Kuro the chance to obtain the clan's legendary Sharingan.
Of course, that result had been an extremely lucky accident.
Even ignoring the beginner reward that allowed evolution into human form, the probability of obtaining clothing bearing the Uchiha crest had been more than ten times higher than awakening the Sharingan itself.
This proved that reward options were strongly correlated with the devoured target.
Which raised a new question.
Why would a love letter to Samui appear?
The answer was surprisingly simple.
The ninja lying at Kuro's feet must have been a young man who secretly admired Samui.
"That's a bit outrageous…"
Kuro muttered to himself.
"Considering this is the 49th year of Konoha, Samui should only be around ten years old right now…"
Of course, human bodies in the Naruto world developed much faster due to chakra and intense physical training.
So the idea that a young ninja might already have romantic feelings wasn't entirely impossible.
Still—
Option two was completely useless to Kuro.
Fortunately, the probability of obtaining it was only 0.89%.
Even the worst gacha system should have triggered a pity guarantee by now.
If he somehow managed to draw that option…
Then mathematics itself might cease to exist.
"Devour!"
Kuro steadied himself and issued the command.
Immediately, a beam of white light emerged from the ninja's body and flowed into Kuro once again.
[Devouring successful! Extracting results…]
[▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓??...80%]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! Result I obtained: Evolution into Human Form]
[Reward distribution in progress…]
It worked!
As the system reward activated, Kuro instantly felt intense changes spreading throughout his body.
Deep within his cells—
DNA strands began breaking apart and recombining at incredible speed.
A warm sensation spread through his entire body.
His thick black fur gradually disappeared.
Massive bear paws reshaped themselves into slender human fingers.
His bones, muscles, and organs rapidly restructured themselves.
After several dozen seconds—
A completely new human body stood where the bear had once been.
"Phew… so this is what it feels like… to start over…"
A clear human voice echoed through the forest.
Kuro had spoken his first words in human language since arriving in this world.
[Reward distribution complete.]
[Basic ninja abilities and knowledge have been implanted.]
[Host now possesses chakra reserves comparable to an average ninja.]
[Ability acquired: Transform into bear form.]
[Ability acquired: Summon bear-shaped clones.]
[The current target is now prohibited from further consumption.]
The system rewards were far more comprehensive than Kuro had expected.
Not only had he physically become human again—
The system had also implanted basic ninja knowledge directly into his mind.
"Then let's try something first…"
"The Clone Technique."
Following the instinctive knowledge in his mind, Kuro quickly formed three hand seals.
Wei — Si — Yin.
Puff!
A second figure instantly appeared beside him.
The clone looked exactly identical to him.
For the first time, Kuro could clearly see what he now looked like.
He appeared to be around ten years old, with a well-built physique and balanced muscles.
His face was handsome enough to rival many famous shinobi.
If one had to compare—
He might be roughly on par with a young Sasuke Uchiha, though naturally still inferior to the level of the readers themselves.
The most eye-catching feature was his messy golden hair.
The overall hairstyle even resembled that of certain Kumogakure shinobi.
"Hmm… I'm starting to look a bit like Naruto Uzumaki…"
Kuro commented thoughtfully.
Of course—
Since he had only just transformed from a bear, he wasn't wearing any clothes.
So after confirming his appearance, he quickly dispelled the clone.
After all, he didn't have any strange hobbies like staring at himself naked.
Back in his original world, he had heard bizarre stories about transmigrators.
For example, one Naruto-world transmigrator had allegedly used Shadow Clones in ways that should never be described in polite conversation.
Kuro decided not to think about it further.
Instead, he searched the Kumogakure ninja's belongings again.
Eventually, he found a summoning storage scroll.
After activating it, he obtained a set of plain black night clothes with no identifying marks.
These were probably spare clothing carried by the Kumogakure scout.
For now, they conveniently solved Kuro's embarrassing lack-of-clothing problem.
Unfortunately—
There were no spare shoes.
After finishing with the first ninja, Kuro felt he had adapted surprisingly well to his new human body.
From now on, he would no longer be forced to speak in strange bear growls.
Instead—
He could make others scream in fear.
His gaze then shifted to the second Kumogakure ninja lying on the ground.
Once again, he activated the system interface.
[Specific behavior detected.]
[Possible consequences of devouring the current target:]
Improve physical speed and endurance — 94% probability Other random effects — 6% probability
[Choose to devour?]
This time, the reward list was much simpler.
The primary reward—increased speed and stamina—had an extremely high probability.
It likely reflected the abilities of the ninja being devoured.
The Kumogakure scout was probably a messenger ninja, responsible for delivering intelligence between military units.
Aside from exceptional speed and endurance, he didn't possess any special abilities.
For scouts responsible for reconnaissance and message delivery, speed and stamina were the most critical qualities.
In any effective team, there were always several essential roles:
A fierce bear.
A sharp-eyed eagle.
A cunning wolf.
An agile leopard.
And finally—
The tireless one.
The deer that never stops running.
"Alright. Devour."
Even if the reward wasn't spectacular, it was still useful.
Kuro issued the command.
Moments later, the system distributed the reward.
He immediately felt his lungs expand, his heartbeat strengthen, and the muscles in his legs grow firmer.
Finally, the devouring process was complete.
The last thing Kuro did was pick up one of the soldier pills carried by the Kumogakure ninja and pop it into his mouth.
He was still starving, after all.
"It tastes awful…"
He grimaced as he chewed.
Soldier pills were made from coarse ingredients like carrots and buckwheat flour.
They were designed for energy, not flavor.
Eating too many could easily cause indigestion or constipation.
After finishing one pill, Kuro had no desire to eat another.
Instead, he searched the two corpses again, hoping to find a few coins.
After all, he wasn't far from Konoha.
If he had money, he might even be able to sneak into the village and taste some proper food.
But at that moment—
Voices suddenly echoed through the forest.
"Be careful. Don't alert the target…"
It was a gentle female voice.
"Where's the bear? Is this the place you mentioned, Kurenai-nee?"
Another voice followed—loud and energetic.
"Hm?"
Kuro's expression immediately became serious.
The forest had been quiet before.
But today, people kept arriving one after another.
And just after he had awakened the tireless deer's stamina—
More trouble had arrived.
Kuro sniffed the air and murmured quietly:
"They've come with ill intentions..."