"This truly is the Gourmet World—everything here revolves around food," Setsuna thought with a sigh of relief, starting to check his stash of Senzu Beans.
"I still have 22 Senzu Beans left. Not a major problem." Setsuna relaxed. He originally brought 30 beans back from the Dragon Ball world, and only using 8 of them to save his life was definitely a great deal.
"Poor Orochimaru. Looks like he'll have to choose a new Summoning Animal. Hope he doesn't need to use the Demon Serpent (Manda) in a fight only to find it's gone."
Despite that thought, Setsuna felt absolutely no guilt. He and Orochimaru were just using each other, so screwing him over didn't cause him any stress whatsoever.
Just then, a thunderous boom shook the sky: "Little creature, what was that food that just satisfied my appetite?"
"This item is called a Senzu Bean," Setsuna said, holding up the cloth bag and looking surprised. "You can talk?"
He didn't remember much about Toriko (The Gourmet World), but he didn't recall the Eight Kings speaking in the anime or manga.
"It is merely a vibration of sound. It is not difficult for beings such as myself." The Snake King's head descended from the clouds, looking like an asteroid suspended in the air. This extreme, colossal size made Setsuna's body instinctively tense up.
"Senzu Bean? Is this the latest product of you humans' research?" The Snake King's voice was like thunder, making Setsuna's ears ache slightly.
As for the remote summoning technique Setsuna used to call the other snake earlier, the King didn't bother asking. Spatial ability—it was rare, but far from unheard of. For instance, the Sky Deer, another of the Gourmet World's Eight Kings, could create a 'reverse world' with a time flow thousands of times faster.
What truly intrigued it was the Senzu Bean. Something so tiny could make it feel full—it was astonishing.
"That's right. To be precise, it's the product of my research," Setsuna shamelessly gave himself the title of a researcher.
In the Gourmet World, Chefs were the top-tier profession—factions would fight world wars over them. While not as important as chefs, an Agricultural Scientist was still a respected role.
"You are quite remarkable," the Snake King said, without doubting him.
Though it was one of the Eight Kings, it wasn't completely ignorant of the human world.
At the very least, it had never heard of a food like the Senzu Bean, which completely defied the laws of physics by allowing something of its immense size to feel satiated with just a few bites.
"However, your Senzu Beans are too plain. They only satisfy hunger; they lack the true essence of gourmet food," the King remarked, hoping to taste different flavors of Senzu Beans in the future.
"You're right. That will be my next research focus," Setsuna readily agreed. In the Gourmet World, flavor and deliciousness were clearly paramount.
After a moment of silence, the Snake King said, "I just 'accidentally' ate your friend. As compensation, I will gift you one of my descendants to be your partner."
With that, a spherical "mountain" several hundred meters tall dropped from the sky and landed right in front of Setsuna.
The 'mountain' cracked open, and a snake baby, several times larger than the Demon Serpent (Manda), hatched from it. It looked up at the Snake King and let out a few affectionate chirps.
"Follow your new master and leave this continent," the Snake King said with some melancholy. The food on this continent was only just enough for it to survive; it absolutely couldn't support two fully grown Female Queen Snakes.
Since Setsuna had demonstrated the "Senzu Bean," letting the little snake leave with him was a viable path.
Setsuna was a little stunned. Trading Orochimaru's Demon Serpent for his own Queen Snake was, of course, a massive profit. But considering the size of the Queen Snake, if he brought it back to the Shinobi World, once it fully grew, the entire planet's ecosystem might not be enough to feed it.
Setsuna quickly considered it and agreed.
He could worry about the future later. The crucial point now was that if he didn't take this snake baby, he wouldn't even be able to get off this continent.
> His current strength was only enough to show off around the edges of the Gourmet World. In this central area, any random ferocious beast could kill him.
But taking the Queen Snake changed everything. The Snake King was the absolute ruler of the Fourth Continent; what ferocious beast would dare provoke a descendant of the Female Queen Snake?
Seeing Setsuna agree, the Snake King nodded. "I will give you one more gift."
The King opened its cavernous, blood-red maw, and the next moment, a fruit resembling a globe flew out and landed before Setsuna, radiating an indescribably sweet aroma.
Setsuna wasn't usually one for sweets, but the fragrance made his mouth water uncontrollably. Just the smell was utterly refreshing.
"What is this?" Setsuna already had a hunch but managed to restrain himself and ask.
Seeing that Setsuna hadn't been lost in the sweet scent, the Snake King's opinion of him rose even higher. "In your human legends, there is the Full Course Menu of the Gourmet God, Acacia. This is the dessert from that menu: EARTH."
"It really is EARTH!" Setsuna's breathing hitched. The cuisine of this world already surpassed that of any other, and "EARTH" was the ultimate dessert among all the delicacies in this world. Even he was eagerly anticipating this dish.
The Snake King continued, "However, this 'EARTH' fruit is not completely ripe yet."
Setsuna asked, "Then how does it ripen?"
The Snake King explained, "My clan is born with the ability to create an inner, separate space. The Gourmet Garden, known as the 'Floating Courtyard,' exists inside my body, and my descendant is the same. This fruit can be planted inside her until it matures."
Setsuna couldn't help but smile wryly. So, in the end, the Snake King was worried he'd abandon the "little snake." This EARTH fruit was essentially child support from the King.
"I understand," Setsuna flew toward the snake baby and gently soothed it. "Come on, open up."
After the snake baby swallowed the fruit, Setsuna gently stroked its scales and said, "I'll call you Titan from now on."
"Woof woof." Titan seemed quite pleased with the name, affectionately rubbing against Setsuna's palm—and accidentally sending him flying with the force.
"Seriously, what a monster," Setsuna muttered in awe. When Titan gets a little older, if he finds any village he doesn't like, he can just toss Titan in. The resulting destruction would likely be worse than the Nine-Tails' rampages.
Thinking this, Setsuna pulled out a scroll and cleverly tricked Titan into signing the Blood Contract.
Unlike the multi-generational contracts like the one at the Ryūchi Cave (Dragon Cave), this was a brand-new scroll. Titan would be the First Generation signer. Setsuna had originally saved it, thinking he might be able to use a wish to contract the Dragon God if he ever crossed back to the Dragon Ball world.
As for the issue of responding to the Summoning Jutsu, Titan was a mature baby and should just teach itself how to use chakra to help out its master.
"So this is the spatial ability you used to remotely summon that clumsy snake? Interesting," the Snake King observed with interest, but did not intervene. It sensed a rather curious power on the scroll.
"Yes. Would you like to try it, Lord Snake King?" Setsuna's eyes were sincere. If he could summon the Snake King, he could speed-run the God Tree quest.
"Heh. Are you certain your spatial channel can accommodate my body?"
"Oh. I guess not," Setsuna sighed.