Konoha, Year 12.
In a forest somewhere near the village…
“Shanks, hurry up!
Haruko and I are starving.
Why are you so slow?”
A little blond girl’s childish voice rang out.
“I know, I know.
Stop nagging.” A red-haired boy crouched beside a roaring fire, skillfully turning the meat on the grill.
“Whose fault is it?
Someone insisted on eating all the honey, so I had to run around looking for more.”
“Haruko ate two bites too.
Why don’t you blame her?” the little blond girl argued.
“You fed those two bites to her yourself.
Is that the same thing?” Shanks rolled his eyes.
“Besides, if you hadn’t gambled away all my allowance, I’d be taking you to eat dango right now.”
That’s right.
This little blond girl was the future legendary healer, Princess Tsunade.
As time passed, Senju Hashirama’s body continued to decline.
Now, he could only move around indoors from time to time.
Little Tsunade, meanwhile, had grown older and reached the age where she was lively, playful, and impossible to keep still.
Because of that, Shanks was usually the one who played with her.
Otherwise, this adorable little girl would definitely run off to a gambling house again.
Ever since Tsunade learned to talk, Shanks had tried his best to control how often she gambled with Hashirama.
But some things were simply inborn.
Last night, while Shanks was not home, Tsunade had taken all the allowance he had hidden in his cabinet and contributed it to Konoha’s gambling industry.
A three-year-old brat already knew how to go to a gambling house.
Could anyone else do that?
If they had found her a little later, she might have already taken out a high-interest loan.
“Hmph!
It’s only a few thousand ryō,” little Tsunade said proudly, not putting the money in her eyes at all.
“Once I win money, I’ll pay you back right away!”
Shanks looked up at the sky.
“You’re amazing.
By the time you can win money, I’ll already be Pirate King.”
No, wait.
This was Konoha Year 12.
If he remembered correctly, that old fool Hashirama would probably be gone within the next year or two.
Didn’t that mean the First Shinobi World War was about to begin?
Damn it.
Shanks suddenly remembered.
The First Shinobi World War began not long after Senju Hashirama died.
After all, the two bosses suppressing the great shinobi villages were both gone.
Once the landlords disappeared, the farmers could finally start fighting over the fields.
“I need to hurry up and develop Armament Haki,” Shanks thought, a little anxious.
“In a world war, even jōnin can die.”
Once the war began, many people would be sent to the battlefield.
The Senju Clan went without saying.
They would definitely be placed at the front.
From the scattered memories of his previous life, Shanks remembered that by the time of the Second Shinobi World War, the Senju Clan had already dwindled until only Tsunade and Nawaki remained.
After Nawaki died, only Tsunade was left.
In other words, the Senju Clan had likely been wiped out almost completely during the First Shinobi World War.
“Could it be because Hashirama beat everyone up for too long, so after that old fool dies, the other villages take revenge on his clansmen?”
The more Shanks thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
“Shanks, what are you thinking about?
The meat is burning.”
Haruko, who was holding little Tsunade, noticed Shanks staring into space and spoke up.
“Ah, nothing.”
Shanks quickly recovered and handed over the grilled meat.
“Here.
Shanks’s secret honey-glazed barbecue.”
“Wow, it smells so good!”
Little Tsunade grabbed the meat and stared at the golden honey glaze covering the fragrant barbecue.
Then she abandoned all dignity and began her battle against the food.
“Tsunade, eat slowly.
Be careful, it’s hot.”
Haruko looked helplessly at little Tsunade’s complete lack of manners.
“Oh, right.
Haruko, when is Sister Koharu arranging for you to help at the hospital?” Shanks asked while continuing to grill.
“I’ve noticed there have been a lot of patients there recently.”
“Maybe in the next two days,” Haruko said while feeding Tsunade.
“Originally, I wasn’t allowed to go since I’m not a genin yet.
But Teacher Koharu said the hospital is too busy, so she wants me to help with simple tasks.”
“Looks like war really is coming.”
Shanks grew uneasy again.
The conflicts around the borders had already begun intensifying.
He had lived among the Senju Clan for so many years.
He knew full well that many of them would die in this war.
Most importantly, Senju Tobirama would also die.
But Shanks did not know how to stop it.
Was he supposed to run up to Tobirama and say, I’m a transmigrator from another world?
Whether Tobirama believed him or not, if Shanks put himself in Tobirama’s position, even he wouldn’t believe it.
“Ugh.
What am I supposed to do?”
Shanks felt helpless.
He knew what the result would be, but he had no way to prevent it.
“I’m still too young.
If only I were a few years older.”
Right now, Shanks was only eight and a half.
His strength had already reached the level of a special jōnin.
At his age, that was already the limit.
Because of Shanks, Hatake Sakumo’s strength had also reached chūnin level.
That was already outrageous.
After all, Sakumo did not have a body that carried the rules of two different worlds like Shanks did.
Even if he wanted to improve faster, there was only so much he could do.
“Unless I find a way through ninjutsu.”
Shanks’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m a man with a ridiculous chakra pool, after all.”
Over the past two years, Shanks had made great progress with left-handed seals.
His speed had basically reached the level of a genin.
For someone aiming to become a close-combat mage, that was still too slow.
There was no helping it.
Training the reaction speed of fingers was far more difficult than training the reaction speed of arms.
Once the idea appeared, Shanks acted on it.
He had Haruko and Tsunade return home after eating, while he went to find Senju Tobirama himself.
Bang!
The door of the Hokage’s office was smashed apart by a violent impact.
Before anyone even saw him, his voice came in first.
“Second Uncle, give me a few Water Release techniques!
Huh?
Why are there so many people here?
Hello, uncles.
Hello, elders.”
Shanks swaggered in with the kind of walk that recognized no relatives.
He had thought Tobirama would be the only one inside.
Instead, all of Tobirama’s students were there, along with several clan heads.
“Do you not know how to knock before entering, you little bastard?”
A vein appeared on Tobirama’s forehead as he roared.
Several clan heads were stunned.
In their memories, Senju Tobirama rarely lost his temper.
Almost no one dared to provoke him, either.
He had always been such a rational man.
Hiruzen and the others, however, looked completely calm.
This was nothing.
“Hehe.
Don’t mind the details,” Shanks said with a grin, acting as if he had not noticed Tobirama’s anger at all.
“Just give me a few Water Release techniques and I’ll leave.”
“Hiruzen, take Shanks outside,” Tobirama said, waving a hand.
“Give him a Water Release technique while you’re at it.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Yo, Uncle Sarutobi.
Long time no see.”
“Shanks, can’t you address people properly?
I’m only nineteen.”
As soon as they stepped outside, Hiruzen’s face darkened.
“Then who told you not to shave your beard?” Shanks said.
“Look at Brother Kagami.
He shaves every day.
This year, the women in the village even voted him the most desirable man in Konoha.”
“There’s an award like that?
Why didn’t I know?”
Hiruzen immediately lost his composure.
“Of course there is.
Ask Sister Koharu.
I even saw her secretly vote for Brother Kagami.”
Shanks opened his mouth and started talking nonsense without hesitation.
Still, now that he thought about it, if Kagami and Koharu somehow ended up together because of this rumor, would they have to thank him?
The only question was whether Uchiha Shisui would still exist by then.
Shanks looked up at the sky.
“All right, enough nonsense,” Hiruzen said, interrupting his wandering thoughts.
“What level of Water Release do you want?”
“A-rank or above, of course.
Just give me a few powerful ones.”
“Do you think A-rank ninjutsu grows like cabbages?
And you want several above A-rank?”
Hiruzen was speechless.
“Then take me to the Scroll of Seals.
I’ll look for Second Uncle’s ninjutsu myself.”
Having connections and not using them was a waste.
“No.
I have to report this to Teacher first.
You can only see it if he permits it.”
Hiruzen immediately understood what this little brat was planning.
“It’s fine.
Even if I look at it, Second Uncle will at most scold me.
He won’t scold you.” Shanks waved it off.
“He promised me before that once my strength reached jōnin level, he’d let me look.”
“But you still haven’t reached jōnin level.”
“Is special jōnin not a jōnin?
Stop wasting time.
If you won’t take me, I’ll go myself.”
Shanks was too lazy to keep arguing.
If Tobirama came out of the meeting, he would lose his chance.
Hiruzen looked at Shanks helplessly but did not stop him.
After all, special jōnin was still a kind of jōnin.
Shanks’s only real problem was that his seal speed was slow.
He was not suited to high-level ninjutsu because the higher the level, the more seals the technique usually required.
With Shanks’s speed, by the time he finished one A-rank ninjutsu, the enemy might have already launched two at his face.
Only after Shanks had been gone for a while did Hiruzen return to report to Tobirama.
“So this is the Scroll of Seals?”
Shanks looked at the enormous scroll in front of him and quickly opened it.
“Damn it.
Manga really does mislead people.”
Why was the Scroll of Seals called the Scroll of Seals?
Because it was sealed, obviously.
Shanks gritted his teeth.
“Fine.
I’ll take it back first.
When it comes to sealing, everyone is an amateur in front of Auntie Mito.”
Shanks hurriedly carried the Scroll of Seals away.
The two Senju guards at the entrance merely glanced at him.
Neither of them realized that what Shanks was carrying was the Scroll of Seals.
The moment Shanks returned to the Senju compound, he went straight to find Mito.
Right now, he was racing against Tobirama.
Learning even one more technique would be worth it.
“Auntie, hurry!”
Shanks reached the doorway of Tsunade’s room just as Mito walked over.
“What’s wrong?” Mito asked.
“You’re already this old, but you’re still so impatient.
Do you want your aunt to go propose for you?”
As usual, she teased him the moment she saw him.
“We can talk about proposing later.
First, help me deal with this.”
Shanks immediately placed the Scroll of Seals in front of Mito.
“Isn’t this the Scroll of Seals?” Mito looked at him.
“Why did you bring this here?”
“Second Uncle promised before that once I reached jōnin level, he’d let me look at it.
Today, I went to get it, but before he could undo the seal, he had to attend a meeting.
He left me in the office, so I had no choice but to come ask you to unseal it instead.”
Shanks rubbed his hands together and lied without blinking.
“Hurry, Auntie.
I can’t wait.”
It didn’t matter if the lie was exposed later.
Tobirama had promised him before.
At worst, this was only taking it a little early.
He would not truly punish Shanks for it.
Before long, Mito finished unsealing the scroll.
“All right.
Come take a look.”
Shanks’s eyes lit up.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
This one is useful.
It’ll make training ninjutsu much faster.”
His gaze moved quickly.
“Flying Thunder God.
There you are.”
Shanks had come with a purpose this time.
After choosing the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and Flying Thunder God, the most important thing was to memorize Tobirama’s Water Release techniques listed inside.
As much as he could.
As fast as he could.