Nonō

The orphanage currently had a dozen or so orphans, and aside from the elderly director, who could barely move anymore, Nonō was the only one looking after them.

As the "Wandering Miko," Nonō had naturally noticed during their six months of close contact that Lin Ze was far more mature than ordinary children. Fortunately, people in the Hokage World matured early; Lin Ze was simply a little more thoroughly mature.

But considering that Lin Ze came from a village whose other inhabitants had all been wiped out by rogue ninja, it was reasonable for him to be a little more mentally mature.

Thus, Nonō did not treat Lin Ze as a child at all, but rather as a little helper who could lend a hand.

If Lin Ze knew what Nonō was thinking, he would probably complain that it was not a matter of being "a little more mature"-the people in that village really were all gone, every one of them killed by rogue ninja.

The original owner of this body had died too. The only one alive now was Lin Ze, whose soul had crossed over.

“Newcomer?” Lin Ze asked curiously as he walked toward the kitchen. “War orphans again?”

"Yes, a border conflict... neither of their parents came back."

Lin Ze's steps faltered.

He knew all too well how cruel the Hokage World was. The Third Shinobi World War had not yet broken out, but small-scale clashes were already frequent.

"I'll help," Lin Ze said with a solemn nod.

Then he returned to the cheeky grin he only showed those close to him. "But, Sis, could you give me an extra piece of bread tomorrow? There's so much training, I can't keep up!"

Nonō laughed at his antics. "You're only five, yet you talk like an adult."

"That's called being mature and dependable!" Lin Ze puffed out his chest.

Obviously. I'm almost thirty mentally. How could I not seem dependable while pretending to be a kid?

In the kitchen, Lin Ze wolfed down the warm food.

Sitting across from him, Nonō suddenly asked, "Did something good happen today? You seem to be in a good mood."

Lin Ze paused with his chopsticks. Remembering Kurenai Yuhi's little tear-streaked face, he could not help smiling. "I picked up a lost little bunny on the way and took her home."

"A bunny?" Nonō blinked in confusion.

Lin Ze waved a hand. "A little girl named Kurenai Yuhi. Her dad's a ninja, and apparently his mission ran late. She was so worried she got lost."

Understanding dawned on Nonō's face. "Jōnin Yuhi Shinku's daughter... I've met that child. She's very sensible."

Something stirred in Lin Ze's mind. "Sis, you know her father?"

"Yes, I saw him a few times at the hospital before."

"He's a very skilled Genjutsu ninja. Kurenai will probably inherit his talent someday."

"Genjutsu..." Lin Ze grew thoughtful.

Kurenai's Genjutsu had indeed been outstanding in the original story, but unfortunately, she had little presence later on.

Still, now that he was here as a wildcard, there really was no telling what the future would hold.

"Oh, right."

Nonō suddenly grew serious. "You've been pushing yourself too hard in training lately. I saw the injuries on your arms. Working hard is good, but overtraining will hurt your body instead."

Lin Ze touched his nearly healed arm through his sleeve and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Don't worry, I know my limits."

"After all, I'm the man who's going to become the 'Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf of Konoha'!"

Might Guy, I'll be borrowing your title for now...

Nonō laughed at his overdramatic declaration. "What a strange title... off to bed with you. You have to get up early tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lin Ze gave an exaggerated salute, making Nonō laugh again.

Early the next morning, Lin Ze was woken by a commotion. Rubbing his eyes, he walked out of his room and saw three unfamiliar children in the courtyard, all around his age, standing timidly beside Nonō.

“Are these the Newcomers?” Lin Ze walked over and looked them up and down.

Two boys and a girl, all younger than him, with worn-out clothes and tear tracks still wet on their faces.

"Yes."

Nonō gently stroked one of the boys' heads. "These are Kenta, Xiaowu, and Reiko. Starting today, they're our family."

"Family..." Lin Ze noticed the little girl named Reiko's shoulders tremble slightly when she heard that word.

The cruel reality of the Hokage World was laid bare before Lin Ze once again.

After helping Nonō get the three children settled, Lin Ze went to the training ground to begin his daily training, but this time, the workload was twice what it had been before!

His previous training, including breaks, had taken roughly three or four hours. Lin Ze estimated that doubling it would take at least seven or eight hours. If there was not enough time, he would simply take shorter breaks!

Wasn't that how you developed a Zoan Devil Fruit?

As long as the training didn't kill him, he would train himself into the ground!

All he had to do was court death!

Time passed slowly amid day after day of training. Every morning, Lin Ze helped Nonō look after the other children while learning some basic knowledge about the Hokage World. In the afternoon, he went to the training ground to begin his hell training, and after dinner, he returned to his room to secretly develop the powers of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon.

Worth mentioning was that Kurenai Yuhi occasionally came to the orphanage to see him, clearly regarding him as a very good friend...

With a mental age of over twenty, Lin Ze certainly could not play little children's games with Kurenai, just as he could not with the other children at the orphanage.

But Kurenai always liked staying where Lin Ze trained, watching quietly from the side. When he took breaks between training sessions, she would take out the snacks and fruit she had brought and eat with him.

Lin Ze gradually grew used to Kurenai Yuhi's presence. Of course, he had no other thoughts at present, but children would grow up eventually, and children in this world matured early to begin with, girls even more so.

Just because he had no such thoughts did not mean others had none...

The faint blush he noticed on Kurenai's face when she looked at him-wasn't that just like Hinata looking at Naruto?

"Asuma..."

Thinking of Asuma, Kurenai's childhood friend in the original story, Lin Ze always felt a little strange.

After dinner, Lin Ze returned to his room and began his daily practice developing the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon.

Lin Ze divided the development of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon into four steps.

Human form, hybrid form, full beast form, and awakening.

Step one: human form. The main focus was training his physical abilities and adding elemental damage to his attacks, such as the flames, lightning, wind blades, and water vapor that the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon could control. He could also disguise them as certain similar Ninjutsu.

Step two: hybrid form. Building on the human form, he would further develop his fighting methods after transforming, freely control which parts of his body underwent Beastification, fly briefly, and improve his elemental control.

Step three: full beast form. Large-scale elemental bombardment, immensely powerful defense, and extremely high-speed flight.

Step four: awakening. Like Kaido, he would command the environment, use combined-element ultimate techniques, have limitless stamina and absurd regenerative power, and be extremely difficult to kill for good.

Moreover, late in One Piece, awakened Zoan Devil Fruits had even been given flowing sashes. Kaido's immensely powerful Devil Fruit abilities might not even have been a true awakening form!

All he could say was that Teacher Kaido had suffered from appearing too early~

And, put simply, those four steps were:

1. Human form → Taijutsu expert (near Jōnin level)

2. Partial Beastification → close-combat overlord (Base Might Guy + Sasuke's elemental enhancements)

3. Full Beastification → disaster-class combat power (Jinchūriki level)

4. Awakening → Six Paths level!

Of course, these were only the rough development ideas and benchmark levels Lin Ze had worked out based on the two anime.

If he could later get his hands on things suited to a Zoan Devil Fruit, such as the Eight Gates Released Formation or the Lightning Release Cell Stimulation Secret Technique, combining them with the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon would certainly make him stronger, not weaker.