When Shanks saw Might Duy fail to complete three thousand punches and prepare to run laps, the great Shanks decided he had to offer a reminder.
“If you keep training like that, your body is going to break down.”
Might Duy had only run two steps when he saw a red-haired boy about his age standing on the tree he had just been punching.
The boy had three claw-like scars near his left eye, giving him a faintly domineering look.
“Hahaha!
It’s fine!” Duy raised his thumb at Shanks and grinned.
“I’m very strong!
This is a man’s youth!
If I don’t work hard, I won’t be able to enter the ninja academy next year!”
His teeth were so white they practically flashed in the sunlight.
Shanks froze for a moment.
“What toothpaste do you use?”
“Oh, right.
My name is Shanks.
What’s yours?”
Shanks pretended not to know.
“Yo!
I know you!” Duy said with surprise.
“One of Konoha’s Twin Supernovas, Uzumaki Shanks!
My name is Might Duy.”
“Hahaha!
What Twin Supernovas?
Empty fame, empty fame.
My friends are just giving me face!”
His tone, however, did not sound humble at all.
If Hiruzen and the others had been present, they would definitely have beaten him up.
“By the way, why didn’t you register for the ninja academy last year?”
“Ah, my father and I only came to Konoha this year,” Duy answered.
“I see.”
Shanks nodded.
“Still, your training method isn’t scientific.
From the look of it, you’ve been training like this for a long time, right?
I suggest going to Konoha Hospital for a body check when you have time.
If hidden injuries build up, it’ll be bad.”
Shanks admired people like this, people who could keep working toward a dream in their heart.
The process of persistence was boring, exhausting, and painful.
Only people like Might Duy and the future Emperor Guy could repeat brutal training day after day, year after year, until they opened the Eight Gates.
Shanks had seen the Scroll of Seals.
The Eight Gates were not recorded inside.
That meant this forbidden technique could not have been developed by Senju Tobirama.
The only other possibility was that Might Duy developed it himself.
Shanks had watched the original story, so he knew the basic principle behind the Eight Gates.
Training the Eight Gates itself was not the truly difficult part.
The difficulty lay in the terrifying physical strength needed to open each gate.
That kind of body had to be built little by little.
For Might Duy, an ordinary person, to develop a forbidden technique beyond S-rank from nothing was almost unimaginable.
Shanks would bet money that Tobirama could not have developed this kind of technique.
After all, Tobirama was not a taijutsu specialist.
In the end, it was possible that Duy wanted to leave Guy a complete Eight Gates technique, so he repeatedly used his own body to test it.
Eventually, his body could not withstand the power of the Seventh Gate, which led to his sacrifice during the battle against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
“Hahaha!
I will.
I’m going to train now.
Sayonara!”
After saying that, Might Duy continued running laps.
“Ugh.
Talk no Jutsu really is a chosen-one skill.”
Shanks sighed.
“As expected, people in Naruto are all stubborn.
They’re not that easy to persuade.
Otherwise, the world would have been at peace long ago.”
Since he could not persuade Duy this time, it would be even harder in the future.
After Duy had a child, he would probably become even more extreme.
Shanks shrugged, then habitually created a thousand shadow clones and arranged their training before returning to the village.
Right now, he was still in the stage where he needed to develop quietly.
He could not act too recklessly.
Only after awakening Conqueror’s Haki would it be time for him to soar into the sky.
What was Four Emperor Shanks strongest at?
Conqueror’s Haki that could produce physical effects.
If even the strongest people in the One Piece world recognized him as one of the most domineering men alive, then his Haki was definitely terrifying.
“The problem is… I don’t know how to awaken it.”
Shanks returned to his room and fell into thought.
“Observation and Armament were still manageable.
I saw Rayleigh train Luffy, so at least I had a direction.
But Conqueror’s Haki can’t be trained normally.
It just awakens in a blur.”
His strongest potential skill had no obvious unlock method.
“Damn it.”
After thinking for a long time, Shanks still could not find a good solution.
“Forget it.
I’ll train the other two types first.
Even if Conqueror’s Haki awakens, I still don’t know how to cultivate it properly.”
Conqueror’s Haki had always been a mysterious thing in One Piece.
And now he was in the Naruto world, where no one could explain it to him.
Shanks took a ninjutsu scroll from his cabinet.
Written inside was the training method for the Flying Thunder God, along with some of Tobirama’s analysis.
Unfortunately, the analysis was far too advanced.
Shanks could not understand it.
Even Tobirama himself had said that some things could not be fully explained in words.
It was just like when Shanks described the awakening process of Observation Haki to Tobirama.
Even if he explained it, people who had never experienced that state could not truly understand it.
And Shanks did not know whether he had talent related to space.
There was no way to test it.
Tobirama still could not perform space-time jumps while carrying another person.
That was something Minato Namikaze would develop later.
“Wait.
I can sign a summoning contract, then try reverse summoning to see if I feel anything.
That should tell me whether I have any talent for space.”
Once the idea appeared, Shanks acted on it immediately.
If it failed, he would think of something else.
That had always been his principle.
“The three great summoning lands… I don’t know where the toads or snakes are.
But isn’t there a slug right here?”
The more Shanks thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
“Slugs aren’t bad.
I don’t need one to fight for me anyway.
It can just stand nearby and shout encouragement.
I’ll carry the whole battle myself.
That is a man’s romance.”
“My dearest uncle, your beloved nephew has come to see you!”
Before Shanks even entered the room, his voice had already arrived.
Inside, Mito was watching Tsunade and the old fool Hashirama play dice.
Hashirama laughed loudly from time to time.
The moment they heard Shanks’s voice, the room fell silent.
Countless experiences had taught all three of them one thing.
The sweeter Shanks’s mouth was, the more likely he wanted something.
This time was clearly no exception.
“You want to sign a contract with Katsuyu?” Hashirama asked in surprise.
“Didn’t you say before that Katsuyu looked like a slug and was disgusting?”
When Shanks was three, Hashirama had wanted to give him the contract as a birthday gift.
Shanks had refused because he thought Katsuyu looked too much like a slug.
Now he had come asking for it himself.
“Hahaha, wasn’t I young and ignorant back then?” Shanks laughed it off.
“Now I’m a man.
How can that be the same?”
“Oh?” Mito’s eyes lit up the moment she heard that.
“Shanks, when did you become a man?
Why didn’t I know?
Did Haruko agree to give herself to you?”
“Auntie, where did your mind go?
I’m still too young.
Even if Haruko agreed, I’m not old enough for that.”
Shanks looked up at the sky.
“Then why are you saying you’re a man?” Mito said with some disappointment.
“You’re still just a little brat.”
“Ahem.
I meant I now have a sense of responsibility to protect Konoha and my family.
Responsibility.
Do you understand responsibility?”
“Hahaha!
The little brat has finally grown up.”
Hashirama threw a scroll to Shanks.
“Use your own blood and write your name.”
Hashirama had watched Shanks grow up.
He knew exactly what kind of person this little brat was.
He did not believe Shanks’s nonsense about responsibility.
But when he heard Shanks say he wanted to protect Konoha, Hashirama was still happy.
He also knew Shanks would never leave the village.
Shanks opened the scroll.
The first name written on it was Senju Hashirama.
After that was Tsunade.
This was also the birthday gift Tsunade had received when she turned three.
Apparently, everyone liked giving summoning contracts as birthday gifts.
Hashirama did it.
Tsunade received one.
Jiraiya would get one too.
Shanks signed his name with blood, then tossed the scroll back to Hashirama.
After that, he stayed and played dice with Hashirama and Tsunade.
They kept playing until his shadow clones disappeared and the flood of memories made his head spin.
Only then did the game end.
The next morning, Shanks created shadow clones, arranged their training, and crawled back into bed, planning to sleep until he woke naturally.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Shanks!
Get up!”
“Who has so little public morality?
I already got up this morning!”
Shanks poked his head out from under the blanket, answered once, and prepared to hibernate again.
The person outside sounded helpless.
“Shanks, it’s Brother Sarutobi.
Teacher wants you at the Hokage building.”
“I know!
Let me fix my hair!”
Shanks knew Tobirama must have something important to say.
Normally, Tobirama discussed things with him at home.
Calling him formally to the Hokage building meant this was serious.
White shirt.
Black cropped pants.
A large Marine-style cloak from the One Piece world, with a huge character for “sake” written across the back instead of “justice.”
This outfit had arrived yesterday after more than a month of custom work.
Shanks stepped outside, then suddenly felt like something was missing.
After thinking for a moment, his eyes lit up.
“Right.
I still need a sword.”
He went back inside and strapped on his blade.
“Mm.
Now this look has style.”
“Morning, Uncle Hiruzen.”
“…”
Hiruzen’s face darkened.
Then he saw Shanks’s outfit and froze.
“What are you wearing?”
“Style.
Presence.
Don’t you understand?”
Shanks lifted his chin.
“As a genius famous throughout the shinobi world, how could I not have style?
No wonder Brother Kagami is about to get married while you still don’t even have a girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend…”
“Friend…”
Hiruzen felt as if he had taken ten thousand points of damage.