Several months passed. Volume 4 was published successfully, Volume 5 was being written, and the children trained hard.
Volume 4 ended with the conclusion of the Asakusa and Drum Mansion arcs. After maintaining a serious atmosphere, the new characters Zenitsu and Inosuke began providing comic relief, which people found quite enjoyable.
However, while Sasuke didn't openly express his dissatisfaction with Zenitsu's behavior due to his personality, he seemed quite displeased. Having someone who used the same breathing technique act like that naturally bothered him.
"Don't worry, Sasuke. Just because Zenitsu is like that doesn't mean Thunder Breathing is weak."
"I understand, Author-nim. Do you think Zenitsu will come to his senses someday?"
"Yeah, he does. But keep this a secret. It's future content."
I spoiled a little, and Sasuke seemed somewhat relieved.
'Sasuke acts tough, but he's still a child.'
From then on, I began stockpiling various high-quality meteorite ores. It solved the problem of too much money piling up, and buying ores gave me an excuse for making things. I was making almost all of the kunai and shuriken that Sasuke, Tenten, and Naruto used. Of course, I continued my donations to the orphanage and the Academy.
Time passed, and Volume 5 was finally completed. This volume began with the Mount Natagumo arc and covered up to Tanjiro and Nezuko's trial at the Hashira meeting. Particularly, contrasting Tanjiro and his friends' struggle in the fierce battle with Rui's family with the Hashira overwhelming Rui, I tried to effectively convey the Hashira's strength.
"Wow! I didn't know Giyu was that strong... So the other Hashira must be incredibly strong too."
As soon as Volume 5 was completed, Naruto, who had rushed over to read it, said in surprise. Then Sasuke said, "Hey! Don't talk about the plot! I haven't read it yet!"
"Oh, right! Sorry."
Naruto finished Volume 5 and handed it to Sasuke. Sasuke read it intently.
"Putting aside how strong the Hashira are, why is that Zenitsu guy like that when he's this strong?"
Sasuke spoke as if he couldn't understand Zenitsu.
"Sasuke, not everyone likes to fight. Sometimes people are forced onto the battlefield."
"I understand your point, Author-nim. But even so, once you go to the battlefield, I think you should steel your resolve."
"You're right, that's the correct judgment. But not everyone is that strong. In fact, more people are like that."
Sasuke himself, having seen his brother during the Uchiha clan disappearance incident, had been unable to do anything. But I didn't bring that up.
Anyway, a few days later, Volume 5 was published. The villagers seemed quite surprised by the Hashira's strength.
"Was the gap always this big? Tanjiro worked hard too. The Hashira are really strong."
"I know, right. To catch Rui, who Tanjiro struggled against, so easily... There's still a big gap between the top swordsmen and the others."
The reaction to the new female characters was also intense.
"By the way, isn't Nezuko's bound-up-in-webs pose really sexy?"
"I've decided to switch to Shinobu."
"What? You traitor!"
"Honestly, Nezuko is cute, but she's still young. I like the queen-like style. Ah~ I wish I could be stepped on by Shinobu-sama."
Listening to people talk, an unusual fetish seemed to be emerging in Konohagakure.
"I like the mother of the Spider Demon family. Her figure is just... It's a shame she's a minor character."
"For figures, the Hashira Mitsuri who appeared this time is pretty impressive too."
At this rate, the new female characters seemed to be a success. The figures were also selling like crazy.
One day, while shopping with Satoru, I saw someone walking zombie-like down the street. Looking closer, it was Yamato.
'Huh? Isn't that guy currently in the ANBU?'
Yamato was staggering, muttering something under his breath.
"Ughh... wooden figures... body lines... breasts..."
Seeing this, the people around gave him a wide berth.
'Is he being conscripted to make the figures?'
I had wondered where so many wooden figures were coming from, given there was no factory. It seemed that Yamato, who could use Wood Release, was making them. Wood Release was a high-level Kekkei Genkai using Earth, Water, and Yang Release. Few could use it. Yamato could only use it because he had been implanted with Hashirama Cells through Orochimaru's experiments.
'Wow... Poor guy. I'm sure he didn't join the ANBU to do this...'
Frankly, I had wanted to suggest making the figures in more dynamic poses because I didn't like the current ones. But seeing Yamato, I felt sorry for him and decided against it. If I asked for dynamic poses, he might go missing-nin.
'I hope he's getting paid well.'
I put my worries about Yamato aside and returned home.
Another few days passed. Various facilities began to appear in the village. Expansion of the hospital, Academy, orphanage, ninja training grounds, etc., was also actively underway. It was the result of Hiruzen using the income from the figure business for village development.
'He could have used it on something shady. I'm glad.'
Then Sasuke finally burst the last bottle. Tenten and Naruto congratulated him. I said to the celebrating Sasuke, "Congratulations. Come with me."
I took the children to the forest and handed the finished sword to Sasuke.
"This is..."
"This sword can convert the user's chakra according to their nature and store it in the blade. The sword and Total Concentration Breathing must become one for it to display its power. You could say it's a sword containing the essence of a blacksmith."
"Then, is there a passed-down method for training with this sword?"
"I don't know. If I had trained, I might know, but what's been passed down ends here. Want to try it?"
When I told him to try it, Sasuke took a stance, poured chakra into the sword, and swung it. A powerful bolt of lightning shot forward and began burning the trees in front of him.
Whoosh!
"Whoa~ Fire, fire!"
"I'll put it out."
Fortunately, Tenten, who could clumsily use Water Release, managed to put it out before it spread.
"Wow~ That's so cool!!"
Naruto was impressed. Then Sasuke said, "It's certainly powerful, but with this, training might be difficult."
I was actually a bit surprised too. The sword's power was better than I had expected.
"Hmm... You'll need to control the amount of chakra you channel into it."
"I'll try."
This time, he sent the lightning at a rock instead of a tree.
Crackle!
This time, with less chakra, a weaker lightning bolt hit the rock and was absorbed into the ground.
"Oh~ Nice. Now you need to think about how to utilize and develop Thunder Breathing with that sword. Forge your own swordsmanship."
"Understood. Thank you for everything."
Sasuke bowed his head to me in gratitude. Tenten and Naruto, watching, looked envious.
"I want mine soon."
"Yeah."
Seeing them, I chuckled.
"Alright! Since we have a graduate today, I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen! How about it?"
"Great~~!"
We went to Ichiraku Ramen and had a delicious meal. Then Sasuke asked me, "Author-nim, does this sword have a name?"
"No, it doesn't. Why don't you name it?"
Sasuke thought for a moment, then said, "Hmm... I'll combine the character for lightning 'rai' and the character for resentment 'en' and call it Raien."
"Oh~ That's cool."
Then Naruto, who had been eating his ramen intently, overheard and stopped eating, deep in thought.
"Hmm... Then mine should be something cool... Wind Scar... no... Raging Storm! That doesn't seem right either..."
"Hey! You haven't even received your sword yet, and you're already naming it? Just eat your ramen."
At that, Tenten couldn't help but giggle.
We ate our ramen happily and returned home. From that day, Tenten and Naruto, motivated, began training even harder. Sasuke trained separately.
After watching their training for a few days, I began writing Demon Slayer Volume 6. Volume 6 covered Tanjiro and Nezuko's trial and their training at the Butterfly Mansion. While the children were at the Academy and I was out shopping with Satoru, someone broke in and stole the manuscript I was writing. Since nothing else was touched, the manuscript seemed to be the target.
'Who would do this?'
I considered catching them myself, but decided to report it to Hiruzen. Formalizing the matter seemed the best way to prevent a recurrence.
"What!! Is that true???"
"Yes, someone broke into my house and stole the manuscript."
"This is serious! The village's cash cow... I mean, precious work! Let's go there immediately!"
I clearly heard him say 'cash cow,' but I let it pass. Anyway, Hiruzen led the ANBU and began a thorough investigation of the house.
"Hmm... They're no ordinary thief. There are almost no traces. By the way, your house is very clean."
"I clean diligently. With children and a dog, it just ends up that way."
"You're a diligent person. I wish my son would learn from you... Anyway, rest assured. We'll definitely catch the culprit and return the manuscript."
"Then, I'll leave it to you."
After investigating outside the house as well, Hiruzen and the ANBU left. Just then, the children returned from the Academy. When they heard the manuscript had been stolen, they were furious.
"Who could have done it, ya know!!"
"Author-nim, I'll definitely find it."
"Master, I'll find it!"
I calmed the children. "No, you don't need to get involved. The Hokage and ANBU have already come by. Honestly, I wanted a bit of a break, so this is fine. Now I have an excuse to laze around at home for a while. So you don't need to find it."
"Really? Bro, you wanted a break too?"
"Yeah. So just leave it. Even if they can't find it, the manuscript is in my head. I can just write it again."
"I see, okay."
The children agreed and didn't go searching the village for the thief. But the villagers weren't the same. When they heard the manuscript was missing, they were in an uproar.
"Who could it be? To steal the manuscript."
"I know, right. They've got nerve."
"With the ANBU involved, it's only a matter of time."
The next day, someone came to the house. I opened the door to find Yuhi Kurenai. Kurenai was a beautiful woman with long black hair and red eyes, wearing her distinctive outfit with bandages. She also had a large travel bag.
"Who are you?"
I knew, but I pretended not to.
"Hello, Author-nim. My name is Yuhi Kurenai, a Chunin. I have been assigned by the Hokage to guard you from today."
With the incident, Hiruzen had apparently assigned me a guard.
"Ah, I see. Please come in."
I offered Kurenai tea and simple snacks.
"Author-nim, you're truly handsome. I've only heard stories."
"It's nice to hear that from a beautiful woman."
Kurenai blushed slightly. "Beautiful woman... thank you."
"So, how will the guard duty work?"
Kurenai had come alone, so I was curious.
"Ah, when you're at home, I'll rest in the house. When you go out, just tell me, and I'll follow and guard you. That's it."
"So you'll be living here?"
"Yes, the Hokage said you had plenty of spare rooms."
That explained the large bag.
"It must not be easy to live in a man's house, yet you took this mission."
"To be honest, the Hokage said he would recommend me for Jonin after this mission. And honestly, I'm a fan of your work... And you live with children, so I don't think there will be any problems."
Kurenai seemed to have already been briefed by Hiruzen.
"I see. Understood."
I immediately showed Kurenai to a spare room.
"There's a bathroom and shower in each room. For the bath, you can... use it at the same time as Tenten, I suppose."
"The room is huge. It's like my living room at home. And it's so clean."
Kurenai seemed surprised by the size of the room.
"If you need any furniture, just let me know. I'll order it."
"No, I have everything I need. I don't think I need to buy anything."
"I see. Still, just in case, if anything is inconvenient, please tell me."
"Okay. Thank you for your concern. Ah, also, could I have an autograph..."
Kurenai, looking shy, held out Volumes 1 and 2 of 'Ryoma and Yurie'. I happily signed them.
Now that Kurenai would be living with us, I decided to have a small welcome party. I began preparing various dishes to be ready when the children returned from training.
"Bro, we're home! Oh~ Something smells good! What's the occasion?"
"We have a new person living with us from today, so we're having a welcome party."
"Huh? Who's living with us?"
Then Kurenai came out and greeted the children.
"Hello~ I'm Yuhi Kurenai, assigned to guard Author-nim from today. Nice to meet you."
"Oh~ A beautiful woman. Bro, is she your girlfriend?"
Sasuke, looking exasperated, hit Naruto on the back. "Didn't you just hear her say she's a guard?"
"Ah~ A guard. I guess with what happened, the Old Man (Hiruzen) sent her."
I nodded. "That's right. Anyway, we're having a welcome party, so wash up and come out. Tenten, I let her know, so she'll eat with us."
"Understood, Master."
The menu for the welcome party was beef hotpot. With so many people and children eating well, I made two large pots. Seeing this, Kurenai looked a little worried.
"Um... Isn't this a lot? Will we finish it all?"
"Don't worry, the children eat well."
"Still, it seems like a lot..."
I ignored her concern and also prepared fried food and vegetable salad as side dishes.