"Really?!"
Mizuhashira's eyes practically sparkled with excitement when he heard this.
It was as if Yū-kun's recognition was the greatest praise he could receive.
"Of course," Hoshino Yu said as he looked at the 'Luffy' before him.
The looks were just a bit off.
Of course, he only said this in his mind.
"But if you really want to build the Going Merry, then I'll help you!"
Hoshino Yu spoke to Mizuhashira with a light smile, while bending down to pick up the wood from the ground.
The sky gradually brightened as the east turned white; a ray of light happened to shine on his back.
In Mizuhashira's eyes, however, he looked so dazzling.
His cosplay as Luffy had already begun from the moment he saw 'one piece'.
Although his parents at home supported him, he had been ridiculed by his classmates when he first arrived at school.
Later, although he used his fists to reason with those people and had underlings following him, he didn't have a single truly close friend.
Hoshino Yu's appearance was like the first ray of sunlight in an icy world, making his heart feel warm.
"Good… good!"
After saying that, the two began their shipbuilding operation.
Of course, when Hoshino Yu spoke of building the Going Merry, it wasn't something to be completed right now.
What needed to be done now was to get this unfinished small wooden boat finished first.
It was a main quest, after all.
By the time the sky was fully bright and the sounds of birds and beasts filled the forest, the small wooden boat they had built together was finally complete.
[Current Progress: 100% (Completed)]
[Rewards being distributed… Free attribute points have been issued. Rewards have been deposited into assignable attribute points. Please check the attribute panel.]
Seeing the task panel in his mind prompt completion, Hoshino Yu secretly rejoiced.
However, he was in no hurry to add them to his personal attributes.
His body was still developing; these attribute points could be kept for now. It wouldn't be too late to add them later when his physical attributes stopped increasing.
Or he could directly add them to the 'Essence' attribute to boost his spiritual power, making it easier to resist Genjutsu in the future.
After pushing the small wooden boat into the pond, Hoshino Yu's eyes flickered with a faint light as he watched Mizuhashira riding the boat and paddling forward with a wooden oar.
"one piece, huh? Interesting…"
…After testing the boat's 'performance' by the pond, the two went to buy breakfast together and then went their separate ways back home.
After all, they still had school later, and it was about time to go back and pack their things.
Hoshino Yu walked down the street, eating breakfast while observing his surroundings.
It must be said that the tech tree of the Ninja World was quite skewed—both advanced and backward at the same time.
The houses were one thing, but things like future televisions, refrigerators, and other daily necessities would actually be normal even if they appeared in this era.
However, the various nations had only recently gone through a Great Ninja War, and there were signs of conflict restarting now, so it was normal for the focus to be on military matters.
His purpose in writing 'one piece', besides drawing out the quest target 'Luffy', was also to see if he could use it to straighten out Konoha's tech tree a bit.
After all, Orochimaru, the young mad scientist, hadn't defected from the Village yet.
Stuffing the remaining bread into his mouth, Hoshino Yu chewed twice and was about to swallow when a new task appeared on the mission panel in his mind.
[You have received a Main Quest: Help Monkey D. Luffy recruit a navigator, a sniper, and other crew members to help his faction grow.]
[Quest Reward: Six Powers - Soru.]
[Current Progress: 0%]
"Tsk, shipbuilding was one thing, but now I have to recruit crew members?" Hoshino Yu felt a bit of a headache. "Where am I supposed to find them?"
"I can't just look for them in school…"
Just as he was thinking about finding Mizuhashira at school to recruit crew members, he inadvertently saw a familiar figure walking out of the Amaguriamasweets shop, holding some snacks.
Straight black hair past the waist, an unusually pale complexion, narrow golden slanting eyes… Though he wore casual clothes and looked young, the sense of pressure radiating from him was undeniably strong.
"Orochimaru? Why did I run into him here…" Hoshino Yu thought to himself.
The Orochimaru in his memory was much easier to get along with than Danzo.
At least he could be redeemed in the later stages and even live in Konoha Village.
And at this time, Orochimaru was still quite normal.
At the same time, Orochimaru, sensing Yu's gaze, also looked over.
As the distance between them closed, Hoshino Yu helplessly took the initiative to step forward and greet him:
"Orochimaru-sama! Good morning!"
Seeing the kid come up to greet him, Orochimaru was also somewhat curious and asked in that neutral, low-pitched voice:
"You know me?"
"Orochimaru-sama is a disciple of Hokage-sama and a Jonin. There shouldn't be anyone in the Village who doesn't know you."
Hoshino Yu didn't hesitate to start flattering him.
"A boring brat." Orochimaru glanced at him and was about to leave, but as if remembering something, he spoke again, "I am, however, quite interested in your brain."
"Would you let me study it, Yū-kun? I'm very curious about how you wrote that novel."
Seeing the other party lick his lips while speaking, Hoshino Yu's hair stood on end, and he felt his scalp go numb.
He took back what he just thought.
If someone else said this, he might think they were joking, but who was Orochimaru?
Slippery snake, immortal snake, perverted snake, mad scientist… He had too many nicknames to list all at once.
Seeing him like this, Orochimaru smiled and said again:
"Don't be nervous, Yū-kun. Or do you have more drafts of 'one piece'? Could you let me see them first?"
Hoshino Yu curled his lip, straightened his body, and quickly spoke up:
"I'm still writing it, Orochimaru-sama. Definitely another day!"
After saying that, he gave a deep bow and then quickly fled the scene.
"Heh~ Another day, huh? I'll remember that."
Looking at Hoshino Yu's fleeing back, the corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled slightly, and then he walked toward the Hokage Building…
Hoshino Yu went straight to Minato Namikaze's house.
After he knocked on the door, it slowly opened a moment later.
"Yu, you're already better?"
Looking at Hoshino Yu, who had looked half-dead in bed yesterday but was now standing at the door with breakfast, Minato Namikaze's eyes held a hint of suspicion.
"Yes," Hoshino Yu said with a smile as he stuffed the bread and milk into Minato's arms.
"See, I can even go buy breakfast for you. How could I not be better?"
Minato Namikaze always felt something was a bit strange but couldn't put his finger on it for a moment.
The change in Hoshino Yu was naturally seen by him.
He felt that there was light in the other's eyes, unlike his previous salted-fish attitude.
At the same time, the aura on his body had changed slightly, his movements were a bit lighter, and his hair was a bit curly.
Although not much different from before, he still noticed the subtle changes.
Minato's doubt naturally drew Yu's attention.
"I know what this kid is thinking just by the look on his face."
Hoshino Yu smiled and didn't intend to say more.
Chakra natures could only be known through testing paper, and if you didn't have an adult with you at the Ninja tool shop, you could only buy it when you became a Genin.
In the future, when he showed his lightning-attribute Chakra, he would just use that as an explanation.
After finishing breakfast, the two carried their schoolbags and went to school together.
When they first arrived in class, people were still sparse, but when they saw Hoshino Yu, who had skipped several days of school right after it started, it immediately caused a small commotion.
Most of it was the screams of girls.
There were also the resentful gazes of the kids he had beaten up before.
Hoshino Yu didn't pay them any mind, just sat in his seat and chatted with Minato.
It wasn't until Tanaka Yuichi arrived that the clamor in the class returned to silence.
Seeing Hoshino Yu sitting obediently next to Minato, he greeted him kindly:
"Yu-kun, is your body feeling better?"
"Thanks for your concern, teacher. I'm all better now."
"Good, then let's continue with the lesson."
…At first, Yu was listening attentively.
Tanaka Yuichi's teaching was actually interesting and quite vivid, but he couldn't stand that it was all basic stuff.
Minato, on the other hand, was listening seriously. Seeing this, Hoshino Yu picked up a pen and paper and began writing his novel while thinking about the development of the rumble-rumble fruit.
"On the feasibility of an electromagnetic gun…"
"On whether Elemental Transformation plus a blade can mow down enemies on the battlefield…"
Hoshino Yu kept thinking.
He always felt that Eneru's development of the rumble-rumble fruit in one piece was too immature.
The ability of the rumble-rumble fruit, just the high-temperature capability brought by that lightning alone, was already very insane.
And don't be fooled by the current peaceful times; a Great Ninja War could break out at any moment.
At least in the border regions, there were already some minor frictions.
He wouldn't simply assume that the Great Ninja War, which only broke out in the year 37 in the original work, would continue to unfold according to the original timeline.
He wouldn't even be surprised if the war broke out tomorrow.
"Yu, you still need to listen to the lesson properly," Minato reminded him in a low voice after noticing Yu was writing a novel.
"I am listening, don't worry. My knowledge reserve is probably even greater than yours."
Seeing this, Minato was also somewhat helpless, but since Yu said he was listening, then he definitely was.
This was the absolute trust between best friends.
Once the day's lessons were over and school was out, Hoshino Yu took Minato to a certain pond in the forest.
He had naturally gone to find Mizuhashira, but the result was that no one in their class wanted to go to sea for the time being.
There was nothing to be done about it; he could only take it slow. After all, the Ninja World was still dominated by Ninjas.
As for bringing Minato here to practice Ninjutsu, there was no need to worry about problems in the wild.
Moreover, the commotion created could also draw the attention of the Ninjas in the Village, which was also what he needed.
To reasonably display the talent he should have.
"Yu, I still don't know what nature transformations my Chakra has…"
"Just give it a try. If you can't use one, switch to another." Hoshino Yu took out three scrolls from his messenger bag, waved them in front of Minato, and said, "There are three of them; you can't possibly fail to use all of them, right?"
"I'll go first. I haven't tried this one yet."
Yu handed the red and purple scrolls to Minato, then pretended to unroll the white scroll and observed it closely.
After looking at it for a moment, he closed the scroll and threw it to Minato, then began to try the hand seals.
As his fingers flew, the three seals of Dog-Horse-Bird were quickly formed.
The Chakra in his body circulated through his meridians and was then guided by the seal directly to his throat, completing the Wind nature transformation.
"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"
Hoshino Yu blew toward the pond, but after blowing for quite a while, there was absolutely no change.
"Ahem, it seems Wind Release doesn't suit me," Hoshino Yu said to Minato, feigning embarrassment.
All of this was for the benefit of the Ninja using the 'Telescope Technique' to spy, as well as the Ninjas hiding in the shadows.
It was just a low-level balancing act, letting Hiruzen and Danzo clash with each other.
"It's okay, Yū-kun. Try the other two."
Minato truly lived up to his name as a little sun, encouraging him while offering comfort.
Hoshino Yu nodded and quickly formed the three seals of Horse-Boar-Tiger.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
His abdomen contracted sharply as he exerted force, and his chest swelled. In an instant, a scorching red fireball, carrying a wave of heat, erupted from his mouth, instantly engulfing the space several meters ahead. The air was roasted until it twisted and trembled!
The fireball wasn't very large, but Minato, standing next to him, narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to block the heat wave.
He was the one who most intuitively felt the power contained within the Flame Bullet.
"Yū-kun, so strong!"
Quick question do you want me to keep the technique names in Japanese, or leave them as they are?