Konoha: Uchiha's Two-Way Travel in One Piece

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"I don't mind!"

Kushina glanced at Minato and agreed.

Although she still found Minato a bit too soft for her liking, he was at least a friend. It only seemed fair to take his feelings into account.

"Huh? Is this really okay?"

Minato looked at Kaito with a face full of gratitude.

He hadn't expected someone from such a prominent family like Kaito to be so approachable. Not only did Kaito treat him like a friend, but he was also willing to compromise and help him in moments like these.

Minato didn't know what to say.

At that moment, Kaito noticed something interesting—Minato's favorability toward him had shot up by 10 points, reaching 65.

"There's nothing wrong with it! We're going to train anyway, so why not improve together?"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

Kaito smiled and shook his head.

Even if there weren't any personal benefits involved, Kaito genuinely didn't mind befriending someone like Minato.

At the very least, Minato wasn't the type to scheme behind someone's back.

"But I don't know the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I can only train after school. Is that okay with you?"

Minato asked, a little embarrassed.

"That's a minor issue!"

Kaito waved it off casually. "Minato, I think highly of your talent and future. As an early investment, I'll teach you the Shadow Clone Jutsu and even a few ninjutsu suited to you!"

"When you grow stronger in the future, you can pay me back—and repay the village as well. What do you think? Do you dare accept this offer?"

Sensing that Minato might hesitate, Kaito threw in a little provocation.

Of course, by then, the "village" might very well bear the name Uchiha Kaito.

"Dare? Why wouldn't I?"

As expected, Minato's fighting spirit was ignited. He nodded decisively.

But as his enthusiasm ebbed, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "But wouldn't I owe you too much, Kaito?"

He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to repay such a debt.

It felt like Kaito had more confidence in him than he had in himself.

"Then repay me slowly! If I'm not worried about you owing me a lot, why should you be?"

Kaito smiled and patted Minato's shoulder. "It's settled then!"

"Thank you, Kaito!"

Minato's expression grew complicated, his eyes full of gratitude as he looked at Kaito.

This was the first time someone had been so kind to him, placing so much faith in him.

In his heart, Minato silently vowed that Kaito would always be his best friend.

Meanwhile, Kaito noticed that Minato's favorability toward him had soared to 84 points.

"Huh? That high? Could I form a direct contract already?"

Although he maintained a calm demeanor, Kaito was surprised.

"But we've only known each other for a short time. Bringing up a contract now might seem too self-serving."

"I'll wait a bit longer—at least until I've taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu and some other ninjutsu to solidify our bond," Kaito decided.

Minato's skyrocketing favorability was almost unnerving.

It only proved that Minato was a remarkably pure-hearted person.

"Let's go. Come to my place first. I'll teach you the Shadow Clone Jutsu before we move on to anything else!"

Turning to Kushina, Kaito added, "Kushina, let's call it a day here. Check with Lady Mito, and if it's not possible, don't force it."

"Got it! You two go ahead!"

Kushina nodded, waving them off before quickly heading her own way.

"Let's go!"

Kaito patted Minato's shoulder and led him toward the Uchiha clan grounds.

As they walked, several Uchiha clansmen looked at them curiously.

"Kaito's back? Is that your friend?"

One of them greeted him with a smile.

"Yes, Uncle Shiyu. How's business today?"

Kaito replied warmly.

"Not bad! Today's the last day for it, though. Starting tomorrow, I'll be helping run the family pharmacy once it opens!"

Uchiha Shiyu's tone carried a hint of excitement.

He had already seen the medicinal products that would be sold and knew how much of a sensation they could cause.

If sales went well, the clan wouldn't lack funds anymore.

Recent reforms in the clan had been expensive, especially for things like the academy, the elite police force, and the new welfare systems.

Every aspect needed money and resources.

"Really? It's opening already? That's great!"

Kaito's eyes lit up.

While he had been making medicine for a couple of hours daily, he hadn't managed the other preparations. His mother had clearly been efficient.

"Looks like I'll need to produce more medicine soon, or we'll run out of stock," Kaito thought.

Although he wanted to entrust the task to someone else, there weren't any trustworthy candidates yet. Many medicines required high-quality ingredients or advanced skills.

"I need to train more competent pharmacists—or create a reliable production line!"

With that thought in mind, Kaito led Minato to the backyard training field at his home.

There, he began teaching Minato the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

First, he explained the technique in detail. Then, step by step, he demonstrated it.

Before long, Minato succeeded in learning it!

"Not bad! I knew I wasn't wrong about you!"

Kaito gave Minato a thumbs-up.

"Hehe, it's because you're a great teacher!"

Minato scratched the back of his head, smiling bashfully.

"Practice it a few more times to make sure you've got it down. Then we'll call it a day," Kaito instructed.

"Got it!"

Minato dispelled his clone and practiced four or five more times until he had mastered it.

Once Kaito was satisfied, he said, "That's enough for now. Keep practicing on your own to strengthen it."

"As for our training plans, we'll finalize them once Kushina's situation is sorted out tomorrow."

"I'll walk you home."

"Okay!"

After leaving the Uchiha clan grounds, Minato stopped Kaito. "You can leave me here. I'll go the rest of the way myself."

"Thanks again, Kaito!"

With that, Minato ran off.

Kaito chuckled and turned back toward home, hands in his pockets.

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Back at his house, Kaito created three shadow clones:

One to study sealing techniques. Another to train chakra control and hand seals. The last to practice ninjutsu.

Meanwhile, the real Kaito teleported to the Pirate World to meet up with Mikoto for training.

They began throwing attacks at each other to hone their Observation Haki.

Interestingly, Observation Haki could only be awakened in the Pirate World. For some reason, it couldn't be triggered in the Ninja World. Kaito believed this was due to differences in world rules.

Once awakened, however, training it further in the Ninja World became possible.

The training was simple: hurling snowballs and catching each other off guard.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The sound of snowballs slicing through the air echoed nonstop, occasionally accompanied by a pained yelp.

Inside the house, Kureha frowned but ultimately shook her head in resignation.

"What did I do to deserve these two?" she muttered.

As the snowball fight intensified, both Kaito and Mikoto became fully immersed in their training.

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