Ten minutes, from Yukari Yakumo's perspective, had lasted approximately one hundred thousand years. When the tir finally ran out, she let out a long, exhausted breath — her entire yōkai spirit refreshed, as though newly reborn.
The wait had been agonizing. But once it was over, there was this strange sensation — like setting down an enormous weight.
She wasn't entirely sure why she felt that way either.
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden: A certain Gap Yōkai, freshly returned from the tiout corner, makes her triumphant entrance.
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden: Ku sou! Admin-dono has grossly abused his moderator privileges!
RawrSoFierce: You were corrupting the Group's impressionable minors.
RawrSoFierce: Poisoning the tender buds of this chat group's future.
RawrSoFierce: Ten-minute tiout. Consider it a warning.
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden: My sincerest apologies — my account was hacked just now!
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden: As one of the most senior mbers of the Dinsional Chat Group, this yōkai sage believes that nurturing the psychological wellbeing of our underage mbers and supporting their healthy developnt is both this one's responsibility and sacred duty.
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden: This one shall resolutely follow in Admin-dono's footsteps, uphold Admin-dono's principles, and strive to make this Chat Group ever more prosperous and flourishing.
RawrSoFierce: …I have never witnessed such breathtaking shalessness.
Ryū's mouth twitched.
Yukari's ability to change faces was frankly faster than a Sichuan opera mask-change artist. One mont she was lambasting him for abuse of power. The next she'd apparently beco an entirely different person.
In a perverse way, it was very on-brand for her. If you hadn't seen what she'd posted right before the mute, you might actually believe she had that level of moral conviction.
Ryū withdrew his consciousness from the Group and left the mbers to their chatting.
He rolled his stiff neck with a quiet crack.
The entire shinobi world was in a state of surface-level peace right now. Plenty of bloody business happening in the shadows, no doubt — but as a civilian, none of that touched him. He wasn't a shinobi. He had no missions to run.
Which left Ryū with no clear idea of what to do with himself.
He wished Konoha had video gas.
He'd nearly forgotten how long it had been since he'd had a controller in his hands. And after spending 2,000 Points to enhance his physical constitution, his reaction ti and fine motor control had jumped noticeably. If he could play gas right now —
Absolute monster plays. Pixel-perfect full-auto recoil control. SKS with an 8x, no breath hold, twenty-nine kills in a single match. Sekiro, no-hit all the way through. League of Legends, micro-stepping backpedal with instant flash.
For soone who loved gas but had always been thoroughly diocre at them, a complete physical and reflexes overhaul was the single most beautiful possible upgrade. The tragedy was that Konoha had no gas to play. Truly the fatal flaw.
"Wait — I feel like I forgot sothing… I just woke up, so it's probably not sothing from today. Hm. Sothing from last night…"
He turned it over in his mind, grasping at sothing just out of reach.
Then he looked down at his hand.
It clicked.
Last night, before sleep, he'd been thinking about it. Relying solely on Devil Fruit ability in a seven-month window had a ceiling. Devil Fruit developnt required ti — and the kind that skipped the ti required Points. He had 502 Points. That wasn't rich.
While Points were scarce, he needed to strengthen himself by other ans. He had this enhanced body — it would be a waste not to use it properly. And he'd already had a target in mind.
The Six Powers. The Marine combat system from the world of One Piece.
The single most fitting physical technique set for his current situation.
"With my current physical baseline, training the Six Powers should be completely viable. Whitebeard is the Strongest Man in the World — even if he's not Marine, soone of his caliber, the mont he sees the Six Powers in use, can break down exactly how they work. He'd figure it out fast."
His taijutsu needed to grow. If he relied entirely on Fruit ability in close quarters, he'd have serious gaps.
In the original story, Luffy had watched CP9 agents use the Six Powers at Enies Lobby — and within minutes had independently figured out and copied Soru, the movent technique, just from observation. Whitebeard, the Strongest Man in the World, couldn't be less capable than Luffy.
The probability of Whitebeard knowing the Six Powers: ninety-sothing percent.
The question was how to get them from him.
"Trade Points for it? That works."
Ryū had no intention of taking things for free. Unless it ca out of a Gift Package he'd legitimately grabbed.
He re-entered the Dinsional Chat Group. Rather than a private ssage, he addressed Whitebeard directly in the main channel.
RawrSoFierce: @Edward Newgate — Whitebeard, do you happen to know the Six Powers?
Edward Newgate: The Six Powers? I may be a pirate, but those Marine techniques — I saw through how to use them with a single glance.
Edward Newgate: So yes, I do know them.
RawrSoFierce: I'll trade you 500 Points for the Six Powers. Going forward, the Group is probably going to get mbers from slice-of-life series and novels — people with no combat ability to speak of. The Six Powers would make a solid baseline physical technique for them.
As he sent the ssage, Ryū stuffed 500 Points into a targeted Gift Package — one that only Whitebeard could open — and sent it across.
The framing was technically true. It was also very convenient cover. Because an Admin of the Dinsional Chat Group — a figure of towering mystique in the eyes of every mber — wanting to personally learn the Six Powers from scratch would raise so eyebrows.
Better to stay mysterious. Better to let the mbers keep building their own mythology.
No harm in it, either way.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara! Is that so? Admin-dono, there's no need for Points. I'll write out the Six Powers training thod now and upload it to the Group Files.
Whitebeard accepted the Gift Package — and imdiately sent it straight back.
Because that was who Whitebeard was. In his mind, the Six Powers weren't his property to trade. He had no right to take Points for sothing that didn't belong to him.
And Admin-dono had already done him a favor. He still owed the man.
Ryū hadn't seen that coming.
It seed the mbers of the Dinsional Chat Group had, without anyone quite noticing, settled fully into the rhythm of this place.
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