Konoha Orphanage

? But with the Third Shinobi World War breaking out and the village facing an extreme shortage of resources,

Konoha Orphanage was already struggling to cover the daily expenses of all its children with aid from the Land of Fire and Konoha alone.

And today, she had brought another child back with her. It was clearly unrealistic for Yakushi Nonō to come up with the tuition Yu would need to attend the Ninja Academy.

"No, Matron."

Yu looked up at the guilt written all over Yakushi Nonō's face.

He shook his head. "You brought me back from the battlefield, took me in, and taught me how to refine chakra and use Medical Ninjutsu."

"I'm already very grateful to you. Besides, I know exactly what things are like at the orphanage right now..."

As he spoke, Yu opened the ninja tool pouch on his clothes, took out a black bag, and handed it to Yakushi Nonō.

"What's this?"

"Five thousand ryō?! Where did you get so much money?!"

Yakushi Nonō took the bag Yu had offered and opened it. Inside were coins worth a full five thousand ryō.

Her face was filled with astonishment. That was the reward a fully fledged ninja in the village would earn for completing a D-rank mission.

"Have you forgotten that I've already learned the Healing Technique, Matron?"

Seeing the surprise on Yakushi Nonō's face, Yu gave her a playful blink with his big eyes. "Lately, I've been helping treat the injured ninjas in the village. This is the money I've saved up. I hope it can help you and the orphanage."

"As for the tuition for the Ninja Academy..."

Although he desperately wanted to get into the Ninja Academy as soon as possible, so he could become a ninja and learn to support himself,

now that he had awakened a Demon within him and gained the incomparably powerful String-String Fruit, Yu wasn't in such a hurry anymore.

Besides, he had seen how the orphanage's expenses kept rising while its income dwindled.

So Yu continued, trying to reassure Yakushi Nonō. "I'll find another way to handle it myself. There are still a few months before the Ninja Academy term starts, after all, aren't there?"

"Yu..."

"You're only five..."

Night had fallen, and they stood outside Konoha Orphanage.

Staring at Yu, whose pale hair was as pure and bright as the moonlight overhead, Yakushi Nonō suddenly had no idea what to say.

She had only taken Yu in a year ago, after bringing him back from the battlefield. Yet the young boy made Yakushi Nonō feel that he was completely different from every other child.

Though only five years old, Yu always kept his clothes exceptionally neat. He could think through problems like an adult, and his words and actions were remarkably composed and proper.

"Think of it as my way of repaying you and the orphanage for taking me in, Matron."

Just as Yakushi Nonō was about to say something else, Yu smiled and pointed at the clock above the wooden building. "Besides, it's almost nine..."

"It's already bedtime at the orphanage."

"I'll head inside first!"

With that, Yu turned and walked into the wooden building.

He left Yakushi Nonō standing there, filled with emotion, with only his small, thin back to look at.

This child...

He really was different...

"That's great!"

"If I can develop the String-String Fruit's powers to the level Doflamingo reached in One Piece,"

"then at least I'll be able to protect myself in this world before those terrifying Six Paths-level figures show up later on!"

It was the middle of the night. All the children around Konoha Orphanage had fallen peacefully asleep.

Cicadas chirped outside the wooden building, but Yu stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

He thought back over everything that had happened that day.

If he couldn't clearly feel the String-String Fruit's power moving around inside his body,

Yu would almost have believed that everything he'd experienced that day had been nothing more than a dream.

He gently shifted in bed.

Watching the moon climb higher outside the window, Yu's thoughts began to wander again.

Such a bright, pure Full Moon...

Who would have thought it was a vessel created by the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, with Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei to seal the Ten-Tails?

He wondered if the Otsutsuki Clan really lived on the moon...

After being sealed for a thousand years by her own two sons, betrayed by those closest to her, it was no wonder Kaguya Otsutsuki had wanted to destroy the entire world as soon as she returned.

Thinking ahead to how, twenty years later, the Otsutsuki Clan's descendant, Otsutsuki Toneri, would use his Tenseigan to cleave the moon in half with a single strike, Yu couldn't help yearning for that supreme, world-shattering power that seemed almost divine.

"No matter what, starting tomorrow, I'm going to train hard."

"Along with developing the String-String Fruit's powers, I won't neglect anything I can train in: ninjutsu, Taijutsu, genjutsu."

"Then I'll find a chance to get my hands on the Human Puppet technique and unlock all the powers of Devil Law. After that, I won't have to fear anyone!"

After tossing and turning for a long time, Yu finally fell into a deep sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, when a ray of warm sunlight fell across Yu's face, Yu finally woke up.

He hadn't slept well the night before. Perhaps it was because so many unbelievable things had happened the day before.

As the saying went, what occupied the mind during the day appeared in dreams at night. Yu had one strange dream after another.

Sometimes he dreamed that he defeated Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara and rose to the pinnacle of the Ninja World.

Other times, he dreamed that, like Hyuga Neji, one of the Konoha 12 with no protagonist's destiny, he died in the Fourth Shinobi World War.

He also dreamed that, like the lowest-ranking ninjas, he eventually became nothing more than cheap cannon fodder on the battlefield.

"Too much happened yesterday. The excitement must have overstimulated me and left me dreaming all night."

After getting up and washing, Yu looked at himself in the mirror.

A delicate, handsome face and a pair of big amber eyes, paired with tousled white hair as bright as the moonlight overhead.

Even Yu had to admit that he'd been born with a fine face in this world—a perfect pretty-boy face.

Once he had finished washing up,

Yu put on the distinctive black kimono worn at Konoha Orphanage.

A white robe draped over his shoulders. Its style was a little like the clothes worn by priests and nuns in the churches of his previous life, making him look even more delicate.

"Good. From now on, training as hard as I can is the only thing I need to do," Yu murmured to himself, looking at his reflection.

"Beat him up!"

"He doesn't even know who his parents are!"

"You spies from the village!"

Just as Yu was about to head out and train,

a sudden commotion rose outside Konoha Orphanage.