"About this sword. Sell it to the village. It's too dangerous for a civilian like you to possess. After this incident, word has spread, and people may come after it. I'll give you a fair price."
In Hiruzen's eyes, if a blacksmith who didn't even know jutsu continued to possess this sword, various problems would arise.
Truthfully, the reason I hadn't put it in my inventory and had hung it in my room was that I had intended to give it to someone worthy of using it. I didn't want a sword I had made to rot away in my inventory; I wanted it to come out into the world and be useful. Although this wasn't the way I had wanted it to come out.
"Then, make me one promise. I don't want to see that sword end up in a warehouse. If there is someone who can freely wield that sword, promise that you will give it to them. If you promise, I'll hand it over for just the cost of the materials."
"Hmm... Very well. I promise."
At those words, Danzō's eyes sparkled. He seemed to covet the sword. Since Danzō wasn't wearing bandages yet, it seemed he hadn't received Shisui's eye.
---
I took Naruto and headed home. Naruto, feeling sorry, bowed his head and fidgeted with his hands.
"Bro, I'm sorry. Because of me, the sword you worked so hard on got confiscated too..."
"The sword doesn't matter. There's no one to use it properly anyway. But you need to reflect on this. You knew it was dangerous, yet you took it out and caused an accident. That was wrong."
"It caught fire, and I thought it looked cool... I'm sorry. I was wrong."
I could understand Naruto to some extent. When I was Naruto's age, I also caused a lot of accidents out of curiosity. So I thought this much scolding was enough.
"Still, it's a relief that no one got hurt. Remember this, Naruto. I can make another sword, but I can't make another person."
"Okay."
And so that day ended. From the next day, I hired people to repair the Academy. The Uchiha clan also offered to share the cost, but I said it was fine. Since there were many people in the village who could use Water Release, the fire was suppressed quickly and didn't spread, so the repair cost wasn't that high.
Also, perhaps because of the special meteorite ore, I had received a large amount for the material cost of the sword. Strictly speaking, I hadn't spent any money on material costs, so I had actually made a profit.
And then something interesting happened. Hiruzen, who had taken the sword I made, couldn't resist Danzō's greed and eventually handed 'Kagutsuchi-no-ya' over to him. Then, news came through my clones that Danzō had been practicing with the sword outside, burned his arm, and was now recuperating in the hospital. Eventually, the sword was returned to Hiruzen.
"Puhuhuh~! I knew it."
In my opinion, to use Kagutsuchi-no-ya properly, one would need to protect their arm with a special sealing technique or Ice Release. Even if the handle didn't get hot, the blade itself radiated such intense heat that it could melt metal, so the user wouldn't remain unharmed either. It was a very tricky sword to use. That was the reason I had handed it over so readily.
Two months passed after that. The printing press seemed to have some capacity now, so they asked about the next work. This time, I thought about writing a long-form novel.
'A long-form novel, huh…'
I thought about various works, but with the recent sword incident, 'Demon Slayer' came to mind immediately, so I decided to write that.
'Demon Slayer should be easy to write. I can probably just use the names as they are.'
Certainly, Demon Slayer has a historical setting from before Japan's modernization, so it didn't seem that different from Naruto, and I thought it would be easy to write.
'The action will be important this time.'
I planned to include quite a few illustrations throughout the novel this time. The printing press's equipment had improved, so there shouldn't be a problem printing pictures. Although the color was still crude.
'I wonder if the printing press owner will dislike having so many pictures.'
First, I decided to write Volume 1 and see the reaction. Volume 1 covered up to Tanjiro's family being attacked by demons, his training under 'Sakonji Urokodaki', defeating Sabito, and cutting the boulder. For the cover, I drew Tanjiro and Nezuko standing together holding hands, with the other family members standing behind them.
"Finally, Volume 1 is complete."
Although there were few setting changes, there were many illustrations, and I put effort into making the demons frightening and the action powerful, so it took a month.
"Oh~ Is it finally finished?"
Naruto, who had been eagerly waiting for it to be completed every time I wrote a novel, rushed to my room as soon as he heard the news.
"I didn't say it that loudly. You have sharp ears."
"Haha, I've been waiting a long time."
"Really? Wait a moment."
"Huh? Is there still something left?"
I couldn't show Naruto the first edition right away. If it got ruined like last time, it would be a big problem. So I turned around, quickly duplicated it with [Material Duplication], put the first edition in my inventory, and handed the copy to Naruto.
"All done. I forgot to put the cover on."
"I see. Can I see it now?"
"Yeah."
Naruto read Demon Slayer Volume 1 for a long time.
"Huh? Bro! Why does the story cut off here? Isn't there more, ya know?"
"It's a long-form novel, that's why."
"I wanted to see Tanjiro's performance at the Final Selection, that's too bad. When is Volume 2 coming out?"
"Well, maybe in a month or two?"
"That's too late! Write it faster!"
"Hey! No matter how much you pester me, a novel that doesn't exist won't appear. You need to learn to wait."
At that, Naruto looked very disappointed.
"Haah... How am I supposed to wait two months..."
Looking at Naruto's reaction, it seemed not bad.
"By the way, I included some illustrations this time. How was it?"
"It was good. The scenes felt more vivid."
"I'm glad."
I was a bit worried that too many illustrations might hinder imagination, but it seemed not bad. Because I put care into drawing the illustrations this time, I was able to raise my [Drawing] ability to B-rank. Of course, the nanomachines helped a lot.
The next day, I took the book to the printing press. The owner read it and, as expected, grumbled a bit about the many illustrations.
"There are a lot of illustrations this time. This will be tough."
"Then, I'll remove some."
"No, I enjoyed it too much to do that. Even if it's hard, it can't be helped. By the way, when is the next volume coming out?"
"It will probably be in about a month or two."
"Can't it be a bit sooner? I'm curious about the next volume."
The owner said the same thing as Naruto.
"This time, it's a long-form novel."
"I see... That's a shame, but it can't be helped."
A few weeks later, when Demon Slayer Volume 1 appeared in the village bookstores, the reaction was intense.
"Wow... Are these monsters real?"
"No way... This is a novel?"
"'They strengthen their bodies using only Breathing Techniques.' That's an interesting setting?"
"I'd like to fight a demon sometime."
Because it was the Naruto world, some people had rather unique thoughts.
"Anyway, when is the next volume coming out?"
"I know, right. Tanjiro will do well at the Final Selection, right? Ah~ I want to read the next volume so badly."
After Demon Slayer Volume 1 was published, whenever I went grocery shopping or took Satoru for a walk, people would crowd around and ask me when the next volume was coming out. It was quite difficult. But with such great interest, the start of the long-form novel seemed good.
"At this rate, I suppose it's safe to call it a success."
I immediately started writing Volume 2. At the Final Selection, Tanjiro struggles against the 'Hand Demon', who holds a grudge against 'Sakonji Urokodaki', but defeats him safely using Water Breathing, thereby releasing the grudges of Urokodaki's students whom the Hand Demon had killed.
Then, after receiving a Nichirin sword and receiving his first mission, while fighting the Swamp Demon at a critical moment, Nezuko suddenly emerges from the box and counterattacks the demon attacking Tanjiro, ending the volume perfectly at that cliffhanger.
'This is the power of the cliffhanger.'
For the cover of Volume 2, I drew Tanjiro using Water Breathing in a cool pose.
Writing while anticipating the villagers' reactions, I finished much faster than planned. Originally, I had intended to take two months, but I completed it in just one. Naruto was overjoyed.
"Wow~ You already wrote Volume 2? I thought it would take longer. Anyway, show me quickly!"
"I'm planning to release this next month. If you tell people the contents like last time, I won't show you in advance anymore."
"Okay, I got it. I'll be careful."
This time again, Naruto sat in the living room and began reading Volume 2 intently.
"Ah! Why! Why does it end here!!! What about Nezuko's performance???"
It was the expected reaction.
"I had to adjust the length, I couldn't help it. You'll have to wait for the next volume."
"What??? I'm going crazy!!!"
Naruto, as if in agony, was tearing at his hair.
'This is the terror of the cliffhanger.'
A few days later, news came from my clones that Itachi had been appointed captain of the ANBU. Seeing that not much had changed from the original story, it seemed things would probably flow according to the original.
'Hmm... The Uchiha clan massacre will happen as scheduled.'
While I was briefly thinking about this and that regarding the Uchiha incident, I heard a strange sound from the yard, so I went out. In the yard, Naruto was holding a wooden sword, shouting something as he trained.
"Water Breathing, First Form! Water Surface Slash!"
Whoosh~!!
"What are you doing?"
When I called out to him, Naruto quickly hid the wooden sword and smiled awkwardly.
"Haha! Nothing…"
"It doesn't look like nothing. Were you, by any chance, practicing Water Breathing?"
Naruto looked embarrassed.
"Uh-huh... I wondered if I could do it too, and it looks cool."
"Really, that's impossible... Huh? Wait a moment…"
Seeing Naruto's foolish attempt, I thought for a moment. Realistically, controlling blood circulation and heartbeat through breathing was impossible. Blood vessels are not that strong. There's a reason people fear high blood pressure—blood vessels rupture easily under high pressure. If a blood vessel burst somewhere, you could just die. A cerebral hemorrhage is a prime example.
I suspected that in the Demon Slayer world, people's bodies themselves were fundamentally stronger. But then the thought suddenly occurred to me: 'What about the Naruto world?' This is also a battle-oriented world, and with the world's correction, maybe it was possible.
So I observed Naruto's body with my [Naked Eye] and calculated with the help of the nanomachines.
"Bro, why are you looking at me like that? It's embarrassing, ya know?"
"Just stand there for a moment."
"Huh? Bro, you're acting strange today."
Listening to me, Naruto stood still for a moment. He had made mistakes recently, so he listened well.
[I believe the bodies of the Naruto world can withstand even if blood flow increases through blood circulation and heartbeat. Of course, there is a limit, but the heart will likely fail before reaching that limit.]
'Then that means total concentration breathing is also possible in the Naruto world!'
Just then, Naruto, growing bored, asked me, "Bro, how long do I have to stand here?"
"Huh? Oh, it's done."
I first had dinner with Naruto, then sat in my room, opened the Playful Life store, and looked for the [Water Breathing] ability from Demon Slayer.
[(B) Water Breathing]
Swordsmanship using total concentration breathing (a derivative of Sun Breathing)
Price: 53,000 points
For a B-rank, the price wasn't too exorbitant, but it was still expensive. Fifty-three thousand points would be enough for fifty consecutive draws.
'Ah, damn it...'
I just gave up and went to sleep.
A few days later, news came from my clones that the Uchiha clan's movements were suspicious. It seemed they were plotting a coup, just like in the original story.
After the Nine-Tails incident, Konohagakure suspected the Uchiha clan might have been behind the event. Using this as a pretext, they excluded the Uchiha clan from the village center and forced them to relocate to the outskirts. Not stopping there, they placed ANBU to constantly surveil the Uchiha clan, causing them to become increasingly isolated from the village.
I was dumbfounded at the level of these pathetic leaves, who hounded an entire clan based on nothing but suspicion without any concrete evidence. In a way, for the Uchiha clan, it might have been an unavoidable choice.
'If I were the head of the clan, I would have given up even the country's support and left Konohagakure with my clan.'
It was also a problem that they hadn't engaged in politics until things reached this state. They should have participated in politics to at least put up a minimal defense.
Anyway, I ordered my clones to monitor Itachi's movements.