"But I'm just an ordinary chūnin," Tōya blurted out instinctively.
Maybe his newfound strength had come too suddenly, or maybe it was just his personality, but his first thought was still to play it safe and stay under the radar.
Back at the Academy, he had deliberately kept all his grades hovering just above the passing line.
He believed being too outstanding, or too terrible, would draw unwanted attention. Only by being perfectly average could he slip by unnoticed.
That pattern continued even after graduation. For the first four years, he rejected recommendations for the chūnin exams on the grounds of insufficient strength. Then he failed three times before finally "successfully" advancing.
So, to most people, Hakusei Tōya was just that, an ordinary ninja. Handsome, sure, but not particularly talented.
"Your rank may be chūnin," Minato said with a knowing smile, "but I know your strength is far beyond that."
"If even you are just an 'ordinary chūnin,' how many people in the shinobi world could truly be called powerful?"
He didn't know exactly how strong Tōya was, because Tōya was always hiding it. Not even Minato dared claim he understood his friend fully.
But based on what Tōya had shown so far, he was easily among the elite jōnin.
And knowing Tōya's habit of keeping things under wraps, there was a decent chance his true strength rivaled even Minato's.
No one knew Hakusei Tōya better than Minato did.
Tōya scratched his head, glancing at Minato's overly confident expression.
Had he overplayed the "low-key" act and caused Minato to fill in the blanks with fantasies?
…Though, in a way, Minato wasn't wrong.
Now that he had the Whitebeard Template, Tōya really was a top-tier powerhouse in the current shinobi world.
Lowering his head in thought, Tōya began weighing the pros and cons of joining the ANBU.
He used to hide his strength out of fear. Chūnin and jōnin faced very different types of missions on the battlefield.
More importantly, he didn't want the shinobi world's scheming old foxes sniffing out anything strange about him.
But now that he was bound to Konoha, any damage to the village directly endangered his own life.
And with the Whitebeard system backing him, he finally had the power to change his strategy, to take action on his own terms.
"…Fine. I accept. I'll do my best, though I can't promise I'll meet your expectations," Tōya replied.
"Mhm. I understand. After all, you're just an 'ordinary chūnin.'"
Minato chuckled teasingly, clearly pleased by the answer.
"I'll send for you again in three days. The full transition of authority isn't finished yet," Minato added.
Tōya gave a slight nod and turned to leave the Hokage's office.
This was celebration time for the newlyweds. He didn't want to stick around and get force-fed any more couple vibes.
After leaving the Hokage Tower, Tōya didn't return home.
Instead, he made his way into a secluded forest at the edge of the village.
The blazing sun overhead was filtered through the lush canopy, with only a few golden rays slipping through the leaves to dapple the forest floor in spots of soft green light.
Tōya walked quietly through the forest before stopping in a clearing.
This was his personal training ground.
Because he needed to hide his strength before, he avoided the village's official training fields.
Instead, he'd picked an unremarkable corner of Konoha and set up his own spot.
He even learned a bit of sealing jutsu from Kushina and placed a simple trigger seal on the area.
If anyone breached it, their chakra signature would vanish, and he'd know the place had been exposed. Then he could just relocate.
After all, it only bore traces of standard training, no research notes or anything sensitive.
The clearing held wooden stakes, targets, and a few large boulders.
When training more powerful techniques, like the Rasengan, wooden targets didn't cut it. He needed something more durable, like solid rock.
Tōya stepped up to a towering five-meter-tall boulder and raised his fist.
But this time, unlike before, he didn't use any ninjutsu. Not even chakra.
Instead, he drew on the power granted by the binding system, Armament Haki.
In a matter of seconds, his entire arm was covered in a black, iron-like coating, gleaming with hardened power.
Bang!
Tōya struck the rock with a single punch.
Boom!
The boulder instantly shattered, shards flying in every direction as a cloud of dust filled the air.
Looking at the destroyed rock, Tōya smiled in satisfaction.
Neither his Armament Haki nor his raw strength had even reached half power.
Yet one punch like that, if aimed at a regular jōnin, would have been lethal on the spot.
"If I add chakra control on top of that… wouldn't it be…"
Tōya couldn't help but imagine sparring with the Fourth Raikage using pure taijutsu.
And he was genuinely looking forward to reaching full fusion.
At just 40% sync, his physical strength had already undergone a dramatic transformation. What would 100% feel like?
Next, Tōya activated Observation Haki to scan the area.
He was about to do something big. Getting caught wouldn't be ideal.
While Whitebeard's haki and physical prowess were already monstrous, the true source of his world-shaking power was the Gura Gura no Mi, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
It was a Devil Fruit born for destruction, capable of triggering earthquakes and tsunamis like natural disasters.
'Thankfully, I reincarnated into the Naruto world. No Seastone here…' Tōya thought.
In the One Piece world, Devil Fruit users feared water due to the presence of Pyrobloin. But in the Naruto world? That substance didn't exist.
Tōya activated the Gura Gura no Mi's power, and a glowing white ring of energy formed around his right hand.
He slammed his fist into the ground.
Crack!
The very air splintered like fractured glass, radiating with visible shockwaves.
Boom!
The earth split open with a thunderous roar. Chunks of earth flew into the air, smoke and dust billowing everywhere.
The moment his punch landed, Tōya used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.
And that was him holding back.
The destructive force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was just that overwhelming.
Tōya realized that if he ever fought inside the village, he had to be extra careful, otherwise, even if he defeated the enemy, Konoha itself would be in ruins.
Moments later, two ANBU agents wearing animal masks arrived in the forest.
One of them surveyed the wreckage and frowned slightly.
"There's no residual chakra… Could it be a natural collapse? But it doesn't really look like one..."
The other rummaged through the rubble and spoke up.
"Some of these look like pieces of wooden training dummies. Maybe this place used to be a training field."
The two ANBU relaxed slightly.
If it was just a training site, they could probably rule out enemy infiltration or sabotage.
No spy would bother making a mess like this just for fun.
Still, out of caution, they searched the area thoroughly. Finding nothing suspicious, they eventually left.
The peace treaty with the Land of Earth had only just been signed, and tensions in the shinobi world still simmered beneath the surface. There was no room for carelessness.
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