Beginning Training

"Right, this is the place!"

After walking for about half an hour, Yu finally arrived at the training ground he had been looking for.

It was a low-lying canyon, with a clear stream flowing through the middle and a magnificent waterfall pouring down from the mountain.

There wasn't a soul within a kilometer, and the area was surrounded by dense woods, so he didn't have to worry about anyone spying on him.

"Before I start training, I should check what nature my chakra has."

Yu reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a piece of Chakra Paper.

He focused, channeled chakra into his hand, and fed it into the Chakra Paper.

Soon, Yu saw the paper change in his hand. As soon as he infused it with chakra, it became damp, then crumpled up.

"Water and lightning nature transformations?"

Watching the changes in the paper, Yu murmured thoughtfully, "If I could fuse them together, I'd get lightning that I could control as freely as water—Storm Release."

Storm Release was a Kekkei Genkai created by combining the water and lightning nature transformations.

It could be understood as either "electrified water" or "pliable lightning"—a tremendously powerful Kekkei Genkai ability.

For example, during the final Ninja World War in the original story, Uchiha Madara used Senjutsu Chakra to perform Storm Release.

He spat out a laser-like technique—Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang—powerful enough to sever the Truth-Seeking Orb staff created by Naruto Uzumaki after he inherited Six Paths Senjutsu.

Since he was a transmigrator,

once he learned his chakra natures,

Yu naturally began thinking about how he could develop his abilities more effectively.

"But a chakra nature transformation on the level of a Kekkei Genkai isn't something I can consider just yet."

"For now, I should focus on training and developing the power of the String-String Fruit."

It was a nice fantasy, but the reality was that Yu was still just a little kid who hadn't even started at the Ninja Academy.

So the wisest choice for him right now was to work hard at developing the power of the String-String Fruit inside him.

"Single-Color String!"

He stopped letting his imagination run wild.

His gaze fixed on the small tree trunk in front of him.

Yu curled one hand into a claw and struck at a small tree before him.

A thin, transparent strand, almost impossible to see with the naked eye, formed between his fingers.

"Thwack!"

Sharper than piano wire, the strand sliced through the air.

Fueled by the full force of Yu's swing, it cut straight through the small tree trunk, which was as thick as a bowl.

The cut was smooth and even, as if an invisible sickle had sliced through it.

"Excellent..."

Looking at the trunk he had cut down with a single strike, Yu nodded in satisfaction.

To have this kind of destructive power just after acquiring the String-String Fruit's ability was impressive. With diligent training,

as long as he didn't face one of those freakish late-game bosses, Yu could make a name for himself in the Ninja World using the String-String Fruit alone.

The String-String Fruit was an incredibly powerful and overpowered Devil Fruit.

It allowed him to create strings from his body, control people remotely like puppets, and tie strings to clouds so he could fly through the air.

He could control the movements of multiple targets at once, and use invisible strings to slice through people and objects—even metal harder than steel.

With further development, he could also stitch up wounds and automatically sew his internal organs back together.

If he trained until he reached the Devil Fruit Awakening stage, his terrifying power could turn all the inanimate objects around him into transparent strings.

He could then gather thousands upon thousands of strings together and launch an attack that pierced through anything in its path.

Doflamingo from One Piece had already developed the powers of the String-String Fruit to an incredible degree.

But Yu intended to develop it even further, and better, than Doflamingo had.

"Then... Five-Color String!"

His gaze sharpened. Facing the small tree trunk he had just cut, Yu continued training.

He unleashed the full power of the String-String Fruit inside him and curled his hand into a claw.

Yu aimed to create five invisible, razor-sharp strings on his fingers at once and slice the remaining trunk into six pieces with a single strike.

Whoosh!!

But after he swung,

nothing happened. There was nothing in front of him.

"Tch..."

"Still can't do it..."

He hadn't managed to pull off the move he'd imagined.

Yu pursed his lips in annoyance. "Looks like I've got a long way to go..."

But Yu wasn't too disappointed. Instead, he trained even harder, focusing completely on his practice.

After all, he had only gotten the String-String Fruit's ability yesterday. Being able to use it this well was already impressive.

The sun shifted across the sky.

Before long, afternoon arrived.

The scorching sunlight filtered through the trees and fell on Yu.

"Huff... huff..."

After training continuously, Yu was soon drenched in sweat.

His chest heaved as he panted heavily.

"I've trained my Taijutsu and the String-String Fruit's abilities enough for today."

"All that's left is..."

He sat beneath a large tree and rested for a while, gradually recovering his strength and chakra.

Then Yu walked to the stream, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate chakra in the soles of his feet. Once he felt the chakra there, he slowly set one foot on the water.

"Splash!"

But caught off guard,

Yu plunged his whole foot into the water, splashing himself in the face.

"Tree walking and Water Walking are basic skills every ninja has to learn."

"I mastered tree walking in half a day, but I've been trying to learn Water Walking for ages and still can't get it. It makes no sense!"

He climbed out of the water in a sorry state.

Standing by the stream, Yu couldn't help looking baffled.

Compared to the original story, where Naruto and Sasuke had taken almost a week to master tree walking and Water Walking,

Yu, with his exceptional talent, had learned to walk effortlessly on trees and walls in just one day after successfully extracting chakra.

But for some reason, he still couldn't master Water Walking, even though it was another basic skill every ninja had to learn.

"Splash!"

"Splash!"

Unwilling to give up, Yu tried several more times.

He kept falling into the water, making a complete mess of himself.

"Hehahaha..."

Just as Yu was starting to feel frustrated,

someone suddenly burst out laughing.

"Who?!"

The unfamiliar laughter startled Yu.

He had been so absorbed in practicing Water Walking that, in a moment of carelessness, he'd forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings.

"That's not how it works. Tree walking and Water Walking are different."

"For tree walking, you gather chakra in the soles of your feet, using it like a suction cup to keep your body attached to an object."

"But Water Walking is the opposite. You gather chakra in the soles of your feet and then release it gently, increasing the pressure you exert on the water so you can walk across its surface with ease."

As the unfamiliar voice continued,

Yu turned around and saw a boy who looked about his age.

The boy was sitting on the trunk of a large tree not far from him, his dark eyes watching him with an amused, enigmatic smile.