As the welcome party began, Kurenai watched the children eating with astonishment.
"Beautiful lady, aren't you eating?"
"Uh-huh, I'll eat."
Encouraged by Naruto, Kurenai began eating the hotpot.
"Oh, this is delicious!"
"Right? Our home-cooked food is the best!"
From then on, Kurenai ate happily.
"Wow... I ate so well..."
"Wait a moment, I'll bring dessert."
"Huh? Dessert?"
I made fruit punch and handed a bowl each to the children and Kurenai.
"Wow... This is delicious too. I'm going to get fat at this rate..."
I said to her, "Just eat in moderation. You don't need to eat as much as the children, who are training."
"Right, we use our bodies a lot."
Actually, Naruto and the others had larger appetites because of Total Concentration Breathing. Not knowing that, Kurenai looked flustered.
After the meal, Sasuke asked me, "Author-nim, is there a passed-down method for chakra control training?"
Sasuke's question suggested he was still having difficulty controlling the amount of chakra he channeled into his sword.
"Nothing like that has been passed down... Ah, I know! We could ask an active ninja."
Kurenai, who had finished eating and was resting, overheard and stood up.
"Alright, I'll teach you. Everyone, come outside. It'll be a good after-meal exercise."
We all went to the yard. Kurenai pointed to a large tree in the yard.
"Climb this tree."
"That's too easy."
Then she smiled. "Heheh, if it were that easy, it wouldn't be training. Climb using only your feet, without using your hands."
"Huh? Is that possible?"
"Of course. Watch!"
Kurenai, without using her hands, walked straight up the tree, and at a branch, even hung upside down. As expected of a ninja qualified for Jonin recommendation.
"Wow~ How do you do that?"
"Focus chakra on the soles of your feet and adhere to the tree. If your chakra control is good, this is possible. The soles are the hardest place to focus chakra. Mastering this will be a great help."
She said this and then came down from the tree.
"I'll try!"
I stopped Naruto, who wanted to try immediately.
"Start tomorrow. It's getting dark now. Walk Tenten home. And don't practice this in the yard. The neighbors might complain about the noise."
Actually, I was worried he might damage the tree.
"That's too bad... Okay."
Naruto and Sasuke walked Tenten home. From that day, the children also began practicing tree climbing, and their curfew grew later. Since I wasn't writing, I lazed around at home, going shopping with Kurenai and Satoru, and preparing lunch boxes and meals.
Naruto and Tenten, finding tree climbing difficult, kept asking Kurenai for tips.
"Big sis, big sis, isn't there a trick to it?"
"Hmm... a trick? I don't know... other than maintaining a constant amount of chakra."
"I already know that~"
"If you know, then practice more."
"Grr..."
I was curious to see Kakashi's reaction when the children, having mastered tree climbing, graduated from the Academy. Naruto and Sasuke were already incomparably stronger than in the original.
'I'll definitely have to go see that.'
A few days passed, and Naruto and Tenten climbed the tree in the backyard and proudly showed us. Sasuke, who had already finished this training, was nonchalant.
"Oh~ You finally climbed it."
"Heheh, this is easy~"
"After begging Yuhi-san to teach you the trick, now that you can do it, you say it's easy?"
"Well, that's..."
Naruto tried to make an excuse, but I just patted his and Tenten's heads.
"Anyway, well done. Now you need to break the last bottle."
"Got it."
At that, Kurenai asked curiously, "What bottle?"
"Ah, that's..."
I told her the truth. Kurenai was astonished.
"What? The techniques in the novel actually exist? And they've been passed down through Author-nim's family..."
"Please keep it a secret. I think it would be a headache if it became known."
"Hmm... I suppose so. Understood."
Given the popularity of Demon Slayer, Kurenai understood.
"Before assigning me this mission, the Hokage said you were the most important person in our village and that I must protect you well. Now I see he was right."
Hiruzen probably meant something else, but I let the misunderstanding slide.
Time passed, and a month had already passed since Kurenai came to our house.
"Bro! Tenten and I broke the bottle too!"
"Oh~ Really? Okay, wait a moment."
I went to the workshop and took out two swords from my inventory, identical to Sasuke's sword, 'Raien'.
"Let's go outside."
"Okay. So now we get real swords, not training swords."
We moved to the forest behind the village. Of course, Kurenai came along as guard.
"Naruto, you try first. Don't forget to control your chakra."
I handed Naruto the sword.
"Alright, watch!"
Naruto took a stance, channeled chakra into the sword, and swung it. A powerful blade of wind cut through the trees.
SWISH-SWOOOSH~!!
"Wow!! Did I do that?"
Naruto was amazed at the cut trees.
"I told you to control it, and you're destroying nature."
Naruto wasn't the only one surprised. Kurenai, watching from the side, was also quite astonished.
"Th-This is... what is this..."
I immediately handed Tenten her sword.
"Tenten, aim at the rock. Control it, don't be like Naruto."
"Understood, Master."
Tenten also channeled chakra into her sword and swung it toward the rock. A jet of water flew out like a crescent moon and cut the rock in half.
Crack!
"Really, I told you to control it."
"Haha! It's my first time using it..."
Honestly, I understood how the children felt. Receiving such a sword for the first time, it was natural to want to test its power.
"As I said to Sasuke, now you need to think about how to utilize and develop your breathing techniques with these swords. This is where the real work begins. Understood?"
"Yes!!"
"Good, both of you graduate! You know where we're going?"
"Ichiraku Ramen~!!"
We went straight to Ichiraku Ramen and ordered ramen, chatting about this and that. Naruto, while eating, looked at his sword and thought.
"Hmm... I want to give it a cool name too..."
"How about 'Chun-Chun Maru'?"
"Huh? What's that? That's so corny. A cool name... Wind of the Storm... Tornado Scar... No..."
While Naruto was thinking, I asked Tenten, "How about you, Tenten?"
"I've decided on 'Dokoname' (Constant Flow)."
"Endless flowing... That's a good name."
Naruto, overhearing, scratched his head. "Ah~ I want a cool name too..."
"Yeah, Chun-Chun Maru."
"It's not Chun-Chun Maru!"
At my words, Sasuke nodded. "Naruto's sword will be called Chun-Chun Maru now."
"I said it's not..."
Then Tenten also poked Naruto's sword with a smile. "Chun-Chun Maru. Pfft!"
"Ah~ Really! You too!?"
Naruto got angry, and we all laughed together. Just then, an ANBU in a cat mask approached and said quietly, "Author-nim, we've found your manuscript. The Hokage requests your presence."
"I see. Understood."
I paid for the ramen and said to the children, "They've found the manuscript, so I'll go. I've paid, so finish up and go home."
"Really? That's good. Okay."
Kurenai and I followed the ANBU to the Hokage's office. There, we found Yamato tied up with rope. Hiruzen, holding the manuscript, was pinching his brow as if he had a headache.
"Ah, perfect timing."
"Hello, Hokage-sama."
"It took a while to find it. Here you are."
Hiruzen handed me the manuscript. For an ANBU, it had taken too long, so I had suspected it might have been stolen by another village. But seeing Yamato tied up, he was the culprit.
"This person is the culprit?"
"That's right."
Yamato, head bowed, sobbed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Author-nim... Making the wooden figures was so hard, I just..."
"Excuse me? Hard to make the wooden figures?"
When I asked, Yamato complained that whenever a new character appeared, he had to make a new figure, and when it was a woman, Hiruzen kept rejecting them, complaining about the bodylines and breasts.
Hearing this, Hiruzen cleared his throat and quickly cut Yamato off.
"Ahem! Given the circumstances, please be lenient this time."
Kurenai and I looked at Hiruzen with disbelief. Flustered, he said, "Th-That's right! Compensation! I'll compensate you. You need meteorite ore, don't you? I have some good ore. I'll share it with you."
I decided to just take the ore. I was a bit angry, but honestly, I felt sorry for Yamato.
On the way back home with Kurenai, she asked, "The wooden figures were bad enough, but what were those swords you gave the children?"
"They're swords made specifically for Total Concentration Breathing. Passed down through generations."
"But their power was extraordinary. From what I saw, they weren't even at full power..."
I gave her a prepared answer. "They've been improved and refined over generations. Our family was originally famous for making special swords. That's why many people coveted them. To protect the family, we continued to research and develop."
"Hmm... I see. If I weren't on guard duty, I'd like to learn it myself."
Having answered without hesitation, she seemed to believe me for now. But she didn't seem to have fully dismissed her suspicions.
Another month passed, and Volume 6 was completed. This volume covered Tanjiro and Nezuko's trial, the Butterfly Mansion arc, and even the scene where Muzan eliminates all the Lower Moons except Enmu. With the appearance of Muzan's female form and the Butterfly Mansion residents, I thought Yamato would suffer again.
'I can't worry about that while I'm writing. Good luck, Yamato.'
I cheered for Yamato silently.
This time, the manuscript was completed during the day, so Naruto and the others weren't around. I made a copy and was about to go to the living room for some coffee. Just then, Kurenai came out of her room and asked me casually.
"Um... have you finished Volume 6?"
"Yes, I just finished. I was about to rest a bit."
"If it's not too much trouble, could I read it..."
Kurenai seemed to have been waiting for me to finish the novel.
"You can read it, but please don't tell anyone the contents or leak them."
"Of course. I promise."
I went to my room and handed Kurenai Volume 6. She sat on the living room sofa and began reading. I put out drinks and snacks on the table and rested while drinking coffee.
"Ah~ so this is what the children were training with the bottles."
"Yes."
She seemed to finally understand the meaning of the training I had assigned, reading Volume 6. After finishing the book, she said, "As expected, your work is enjoyable. But I didn't know Muzan would dispose of his subordinates so cruelly. Did he lose his humanity from living so long?"
"That's part of it, but... Ah, that's future content, so I'm afraid I can't say."
"I see. Understood."
When evening came, Naruto and the others returned. Naruto read Volume 6 first, then the others. Sasuke, as usual, seemed displeased with Zenitsu's behavior in the Butterfly Mansion arc.
The next day, Kurenai, Satoru, and I took the manuscript to the printing press. The owner was overjoyed. He had already heard that the manuscript had been stolen.
"I was very worried. I'm glad it was found. I'll print it immediately."
"Aren't you going to check it this time?"
"I don't have time. There are higher-ups waiting for it. I'll read it after printing. Since it's your work, I trust it, so I don't need to see it now."
"Understood."
The 'higher-ups' probably referred to the nobles of the Land of Fire. On our way back, we were shopping for ingredients for that evening's dinner when a figure who practically screamed 'I am Jiraiya!' was sitting in front of our house, waiting.
'Huh? Why is he here? I thought I wouldn't meet him until much later...'
I approached Jiraiya and spoke. "Excuse me, who are you? It's a problem to sit like this in front of someone's house."
Jiraiya immediately stood up and bowed his head to me. "Oh! Author Jin! You've arrived. It's an honor to meet you. I also write novels. Please take care of me!"
"Ah... yes... nice to meet you."
Jiraiya greeted me with unexpected politeness, and I returned the bow. Kurenai, watching, tilted her head and then asked him, "By chance, aren't you... Jiraiya-sama?"
"Oh! To be recognized by a junior here. And such a beautiful one at that."
"As expected of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama. I thought I remembered you from somewhere."
As a ninja, it wasn't strange for Kurenai to recognize Jiraiya.
"Please come inside. We can't continue talking out here."
"Understood, Author-nim."