Biting

After carefully reading the description, Sarutobi Toru let out a long breath. This Devil Fruit was a Paramecia-type Hormone Fruit. It was not particularly powerful; in fact, judged purely by combat strength, it ranked near the bottom among Devil Fruits. Still, it was better than some truly useless trash.

Just moments ago, Sarutobi Toru had been prepared for this Devil Fruit to be utterly worthless. Things like the Rolling Fruit, Jacket Fruit, Artificial Fruit, Man Fruit, and Woman Fruit were all genuinely infuriating fruits. Discovering that this one was actually useful filled him with delight.

Perhaps that was because the gap between his expectations had been too great!

Without hesitating, Sarutobi Toru took a small bite of the Devil Fruit. His entire face scrunched up, and after painstakingly swallowing the indescribably foul flesh, he tossed the rest of the useless fruit aside.

Feeling the changes in his body, he found that he seemed able to control every hormone within himself. He could also fully understand the effect of every hormone, and even easily secrete all kinds of miraculous hormones. Sarutobi Toru muttered, "It may not be a powerful fruit, but it matches the Medical Ninjutsu I want to study. It suits me quite well."

Only a phone remained. Sarutobi Toru checked it over. It had infinite battery life and extreme durability, and contained the entire technology tree of the real world, along with every novel, anime, movie, and other series. It was clearly a tool exclusively for reincarnators.

"It counts as a little Golden Finger, I suppose! Real-world medicine and technology can complement the Shinobi World perfectly. And it saves me from the danger of forgetting the plot."

After leaving the Reincarnation Warehouse, Sarutobi Toru let out another long breath. Although most of the things in the warehouse had not been especially useful, he was not too disappointed.

He had already prepared himself for the warehouse to contain nothing at all. After all, reincarnators lived day to day, and it was hard to say what they would have time to store away. He had already gained something, so what more was there to complain about? Besides, while the items in the warehouse were somewhat mediocre, they were far from completely useless.

Time flew by, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.

At the Konoha Ninja Academy, Class 1-A was having a sparring lesson on the training field.

The Chunin instructor stood in the middle, reading out the match list.

"First match: Jiraiya versus Orochimaru!"

"Haha, it's finally time for me, Jiraiya, to show everyone what I can do!" White-haired Jiraiya leaped out, looking thrilled.

There were only a few students in the entire first year with truly outstanding practical combat ability. The gap between them and the ordinary students was plain for all to see.

They were Orochimaru, Sarutobi Toru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya.

However, although these few had never fought one another, every student believed Jiraiya was the weakest among them.

After all, not only was Jiraiya a complete mess in theory classes, but his performance in ninja tool throwing, the Three Body Techniques, and other areas was also unremarkable. He relied entirely on his exceptional physique and battle instincts to stand above the others.

The other three, meanwhile, earned nearly full marks in every subject, so naturally no one thought highly of Jiraiya.

Of course, Jiraiya himself did not see it that way. In his eyes, this moment marked the beginning of his conquest of the entire class!

Watching Jiraiya get excited for no apparent reason, Orochimaru's mouth twitched. He suddenly felt embarrassed to have an opponent like this...

After the two formed the Seal of Confrontation, the Chunin instructor waved his hand. Jiraiya immediately gripped a Kunai and charged forward.

Jiraiya was carefree and thick-skinned, but his battle instincts, strength, physique, and Chakra were all exceptional. Though his attacks lacked finesse, they were still powerful and his movements agile.

But in Orochimaru's eyes, such skill was far too immature. Orochimaru did not even counterattack; with a few easy movements, he dodged every strike.

"Damn it, Orochimaru! Can you stop twisting around? Do you dare fight me head-on?!"

Orochimaru answered Jiraiya with only two words: "Idiot."

Angered, Jiraiya put even more force into his attacks. Unfortunately, that only made the openings in his movements even more obvious to Orochimaru.

"It's over!"

In an instant, Orochimaru's arm twisted along a serpentine trajectory, seizing Jiraiya's right hand and pressing a Kunai against his throat.

"It's not over yet!" Jiraiya suddenly bit down on Orochimaru's right hand despite the blade at his throat.

With a bang, Orochimaru suddenly turned into smoke and vanished without a trace.

Jiraiya stared blankly. "Teacher, this is bad! I bit Orochimaru out of existence!"

The Chunin instructor was equally dumbfounded. "He can use a Shadow Clone at six years old? I remember Orochimaru came from a civilian family. Who taught him?"

Konoha Training Ground 9.

This had originally been a training ground reserved for the Hokage and the Shadow Guard, but after obtaining his uncle's permission, Sarutobi Toru had also gained the right to use it. It became the secret base for him and his friends.

At first, only Sarutobi Toru and Orochimaru trained here. Later, Sarutobi Toru invited Tsunade and Hiruko, both of whom had perfect theory scores, and the four of them began training together.

Tsunade had initially come because she was interested in Medical Ninjutsu, while Hiruko had been both surprised and flattered. Although he had excellent theory grades, his ninja aptitude was poor. When several top students invited him, he immediately came along.

On the training field, Sarutobi Toru had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to a year ago.

The Sarutobi Clan had never been known for exceptional looks, and Sarutobi Toru himself could only once have been called average-looking. But over the past year, with the power of the Hormone Fruit, his appearance had improved by leaps and bounds. If his looks had once rated only a seventy, they could now absolutely rate a ninety.

Of course, appearance was only a minor matter. The thing that had truly advanced by leaps and bounds was not merely his looks, but Sarutobi Toru's physique.

If the potential of humans in the Shinobi World far exceeded that of humans on Earth, then after eating the Devil Fruit, the potential of Sarutobi Toru's Physical Body far surpassed that of Shinobi World humans and was much closer to the humans of the One Piece world.

Over the past year, no matter how harsh Sarutobi Toru's training was, he could fully recover after eating a hearty meal. Even without using Chakra, his strength and physique could rival a Genin's. Even if he suffered injuries, he only needed to eat, drink, and sleep, and he would be completely healed by the next day.

This kind of physique was clearly the human standard of the One Piece world. Evidently, aside from manipulating hormones, the Hormone Fruit had also given him the physique of a One Piece world human.

At that moment, his Main Body was undergoing taijutsu training. Of his three Shadow Clones, one was studying theory, one was training Chakra control, and one was using Medical Ninjutsu on a rabbit. Together with the Shadow Clone attending school, he had already created four Shadow Clones.

The combination of powerful Mental Strength and a powerful physique had caused his Chakra to surge. His Chakra now exceeded that of an ordinary Chunin, allowing him to easily create four Shadow Clones.

Nearby, Tsunade's Main Body was also practicing Chakra control, while one of her Shadow Clones was studying theory with one of Sarutobi Toru's Shadow Clones.

Just then, there was a splash as Orochimaru, who had been practicing "Crossing Rivers on a Reed," fell straight into the water.

Tsunade and Sarutobi Toru both turned to look. Although Orochimaru had yet to master "Crossing Rivers on a Reed," even when he failed, he could switch to water-walking. This was the first time he had fallen directly into the water.

After climbing out, Orochimaru saw the curious looks from Tsunade and Sarutobi Toru. He wiped his face, his expression turning annoyed, and snorted. "I was careless. During that spar just now, I never expected Jiraiya to bite people!"

Among the group of four, aside from Hiruko, whose physique was too weak and Chakra too scarce, the other three all sent Shadow Clones to school. Sarutobi Toru could create four Shadow Clones to train and study, Tsunade of the Senju Clan could create two, while Orochimaru had only one Shadow Clone attending class.

Orochimaru's Shadow Clone had been bitten apart by Jiraiya, affecting his Main Body as well. That was why he had suddenly fallen into the water.