Kannin thought the last deficient part of his toolset was summoning techniques, most of the great shinobi of this time had some sort of summon which aided them, be it Jiraiya and Minato with toads, Orochimaru with snakes, Hiruzen with monkeys, or Tsunade with slugs. The problem was, what to summon? He spent a long time, at first it was mostly a matter of what seemed coolest: alligators, rhinos, eagles, etc. And he almost landed on bears, since they seemed totally badass, but he decided against them for the time being.
He went up to Shin one day and asked her if she had any summons, to which she responded by summoning a giant, 5 feet wide black widow spider. Impressed by the summon, Kannin reevaluated his options. His mind had originally gone to large carnivorous animals for the most part, but Shin's summon had reminded him that there were fewer rules in this world. Small animals could be gigantic, and gigantic animals could be tiny.
Shin recommended that he go on a brief trip to find what kind of summon he would choose as his foremost summon. All of the Sannin had done the same, and even Shin discovered her spider summons while in the Land of Rivers. She encouraged him to go out into the world in the time they had left before war broke out--a suggestion he took seriously.
He eventually decided to do it. He applied for a leave of duty, which was accepted. He gathered his things that evening, and told his mother that he would be leaving for the time being. His mother was, of course, terrified. He was only a chunin, and to her mind, the first thing he would encounter was a band of murderous jonin level rogue-nin who would tear him to shreds. But there was no dissuading Kannin: if there was going to be a war, he needed to be prepared.
He also gave his goodbyes to his teammates, who wished him luck on his journeys, and even considered doing it themselves. He also said goodbye to Minato and Kushina, who at this point had become close friends. They also wished him good luck, and Minato even placed his Flying Thunder God seal on Kannin's back in case he ever needed help. Kushina also gave him a gift, food. She had made him enough sandwiches to last a few months. He thanked them both, and wished them luck on their endeavors, especially Minato's work with his team.
And just like that, he was off. Koseki on his back and rations to last a while, he, for the first time not on a mission, left Konoha. It felt weird, leaving, but also exciting, like he had just unlocked a whole new world to explore.
He decided to go to the Land of Earth first, partially because it was close, but also because it would likely be the aggressor in the war, and familiarizing himself with the territory would do him well. He dressed in simple combat pants and a shirt, over which he wore a long grey cloak, with his grey hair held back by his happuri forehead protector.
-
A month later, he was staying in a small village near Kusagakure. He was eating a nice warm soup in the morning, when the kind woman who was lodging him asked him,
"Young man, what really brings you here? I know you're a shinobi."
He stirred his spoon in the broth for a moment before answering, "I guess I'm just trying to find myself a little."
"I can understand that" She said with a smile
"I won't be bothering you much longer, thank you for all your help."
He finished his soup and washed his bowl before leaving the house. He wandered into the middle of the villages, where a small monument commemorated those that fell during the Second War. He made a brief prayer for their peaceful rest before moving on.
He wandered into the endless grasslands, the sloping plains which covered the horizon. It seemed like hours of nothing but deep green earth and azure sky before the scenery changed. There was a break in the topography: the green turned to a dull brown, and then a choppy grey as a horizon of craggy rock formations as far as the eye could see entered his view.
Taking a rest to appreciate how he had finally reached his destination, he noticed something strange in his periphery. It was a rock formation, but clear within the grass. He wandered over to it to investigate. When he got within 50 feet of it, he realized what it was; it was a shrine, a small shrine dedicated to some animistic deity from long ago. Getting closer to it, he saw it was a fox shrine, and it was beautiful. The rock was carved into the shape of a kitsune, with a fox head and body, which flowed directly into the rock as if made of water.
Admiring the beauty of the sculpture, he left an offering of one of Kushina's sandwiches in front and paid his respects to the god. As he finished and opened his eyes, he saw a sealing pattern on the ground, centered on the shrine, and before he knew it, he was transported to another location.
Appearing in a puff of smoke, Kannin sat in a dark and stuffy chamber. It was so dark, in fact, that he couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of him--again he envied the Uchiha and their eyes. He looked around to find any hint as to where he was, but found nothing. He got up and dusted himself off, before walking in a random direction.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" A ghostly voice called out from the darkness.