It was already late at night when he returned to the orphanage.
All the other children were fast asleep. Only the window of Nonō's room at the end of the corridor still had a lamp lit.
Sora lightened his footsteps, quietly slipped back into his own room, closed the door behind him, leaned back against the door panel, and let out a long sigh.
The room was small, containing only a wooden plank bed and a worn-out wooden chest. But at this moment, in Sora's eyes, it had become the safest harbor.
Sora sat on the edge of the bed and, using the faint light coming through the door crack, examined his body once more.
After taking off his upper garment, the scars left by training had now completely disappeared. His skin was smooth and firm, with the lines of developing muscles faintly visible underneath, much sturdier than other children his age.
Sora tried to circulate the newly born power within his body. The scale patterns on his skin surface became somewhat clearer, glowing with a faint blue light.
"The Zoan fruit has three transformations. Human Form, Human-Beast Form, and Full Beast Form."
"And there is also an Awakening."
"In my current state, I should still be in the most basic Human Form, only able to use a portion of its power."
Sora recalled the setting from One Piece, then tried to gather power towards his arm, wanting to test the preliminary form of the Human-Beast Form.
The scale patterns on his arm rapidly deepened, his skin bulged, blue scales gradually emerged, and his fingernails became sharp and curved, carrying a cold, fierce glint.
But this process was not smooth, as if something was obstructing it. Just as it gathered halfway, the scales vanished with a 'whoosh', his arm returned to its original state, and it felt slightly numb.
"It seems it's not that easy to control."
Sora was not discouraged, instead he found it normal. For such a powerful strength, it would be strange if he could use it freely right after obtaining it.
"However, how should I explain this power?"
Sora frowned. This was currently the most troublesome problem.
Although Konoha had clans like the Inuzuka who formed contracts with animals, their abilities were secret techniques passed down through generations, and their form changes were limited. It was completely different from the power of the fruit, which could be called fantastical.
"Perhaps, I can disguise it as some kind of special taijutsu?"
"Say I found an ancient taijutsu secret manual by the river, which can stimulate physical mutations through a special breathing method... Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, it's better than exposing the Devil Fruit."
"No, no, I don't have an actual manual either. If I can't produce it, a trip to the Torture & Interrogation Division would be unavoidable..."
Sora stroked his chin, thinking. Or, simply hide his ability and only use the power at critical moments?
But after entering the Ninja Academy, training would inevitably involve collisions. Once his abnormal increase in strength was discovered, it would inevitably raise suspicion.
Sora tossed and turned in bed, thinking all night before gradually forming an idea.
The most urgent task was to lay a foundation before entering the Ninja Academy.
Taijutsu training could not stop; he even had to train more diligently than before, using taijutsu as a pretext to cover the fruit's power, making others think his strength was trained, not an innate ability.
Moreover, the beast transformation form should definitely be avoided in the village whenever possible.
It seemed the development of his fruit abilities could only be practiced at home during the night.
"Six more years..."
"Six years is enough for me to master the power of the Seiryu fruit to a certain extent."
Sora looked at the ceiling, his eyes becoming extremely determined. He clenched his fist, feeling the restless power inside his body, a confident curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Just wait, world. Sora is here."
...
When he first transmigrated to this world, Sora was quite happy. After all, he could live a second life, and it was the Naruto world he was familiar with.
But when he discovered his ninjutsu talent was extremely poor and he had no Kekkei Genkai or family secret techniques, Sora's heart was crushed.
Being a civilian was not an option, never in this life.
Even if it was possible to avoid the battlefield as a civilian during several Shinobi World Wars, the Night of the Kyuubi and Pain's assault destroyed more than half of Konoha.
A civilian who couldn't use ninjutsu could only leave everything to fate. Having just died once, Sora did not want to gamble on that luck.
As for leaving Konoha to live elsewhere, not to mention whether he could even leave Konoha, Sora felt that without strength, it was the same everywhere. The original owner of this body's village was wiped out by a group of rogue ninjas...
But then Sora suddenly thought of a key problem. The most fatal weakness of a Devil Fruit user: fear of seawater and Seastone.
"Although this world has no Seastone, nor the Seastone factor, if I were afraid of even ordinary water, that would be utterly ridiculous." Scratching his head, Sora decided to do a simple test.
No sooner said than done. Sora found the wooden tub used for bathing and drilled a small hole in the bottom.
After filling it with water, he swiftly took off his clothes, pulled out the wooden plug, and jumped in, submerging his entire body in the water.
"According to the original setting, even bathwater would make a Devil Fruit user feel weak all over..." he muttered while soaking.
One second, two seconds... The water level in the tub slowly dropped.
A minute passed. Sora was surprised to find that he was completely fine.
"Huh? Ordinary water has no effect at all?"
This discovery surprised and delighted him, but then he felt something was off.
"Could it be because it's not seawater?"
"Or is it..."
Sora touched his chin, thinking.
He recalled that in his memories, people who ate Devil Fruits were cursed by the sea and became unable to swim.
But that curse was the curse of the One Piece world.
And this is the Naruto world!
"Excellent!"
Thinking of this, Sora was amused. In high spirits, he simply took a comfortable bath.
...
On a cold winter night in Konoha 37, the chilly wind was piercing.
Two months had passed since Sora ate the Devil fruit.
By the small river behind the orphanage, Sora wiped the sweat from his forehead, ending his three-hour taijutsu training.
Currently, Sora's daily training regimen had reached 20 km running, 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, and 200 squats, essentially a Saitama 2.0 routine.
Additionally, there were 500 straight punches and 500 side kicks. Including rest time, it took about three to four hours each day.
The recovery power brought by the Devil fruit allowed him to endure higher intensity training than ordinary children, but the fatigue was still real. Moreover, the orphanage had some basic studies he needed to participate in.
He looked up at the sky. The streetlights in the distance were already lit, casting long shadows on the snowy ground.
"Let's stop here for today."
Sora moved his sore shoulders and neck. Since obtaining the Azure Dragon fruit, he had sneaked to the small river every afternoon to practice. At night, he returned to his room to practice his fruit abilities.
His half-beastified arm could now be maintained steadily for about ten minutes, and its strength had increased considerably compared to the beginning.
"Tomorrow, I'll practice the defensive power of the dragon scales. If they can withstand kunai, my survival rate will be much higher in the future..." As Sora walked and thought, suddenly, a faint sobbing sound interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?"
Sora stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.
Under a large tree at the edge of the training ground, a small figure was crouching.
She had long black hair, wine-red eyes, and was draped in a white cotton-padded jacket. Her shoulders shook, clearly crying.