The Appearance of Monkey D. Dragon!

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"Alright! As long as you know what you're doing!"

Tsunade nodded nonchalantly, but she still reminded him:

"But keep in mind, my grandfather isn't exactly reliable most of the time, so don't completely count on him to keep an eye on Uchiha Madara."

"And also, watch out for Black Zetsu. If he finds out we've resurrected Madara, he might try to snatch him away."

"It's best to keep Madara sealed for now!"

Clearly, Tsunade had little faith in relying on the First Hokage's reputation.

"Understood! I'll be careful," Kaito replied with a nod.

After discussing the village's upcoming plans with Tsunade and Orochimaru, Kaito finally left the command tent to get some rest.

— — —

The next morning, Kaito gathered Kushina, Mikoto, and Minato to share his decision.

"Things here are pretty much settled. Come back to the village with me," he said.

"Alright!"

Mikoto, Kushina and Minato had no objections.

"Let's go!"

After bidding farewell to Tsunade and the others, Kaito teleported them all back to his home.

To his surprise, his mother wasn't at home.

Using his observation Haki, Kaito quickly sensed her presence at the Hokage's office, which wasn't surprising.

"Let's grab some breakfast at the base in the Pirate World and resume our morning training!" Kaito said with a smile.

"With the battlefield chaos behind us, we've missed a lot of training. Time to catch up!"

Kushina grinned and joked, "Finally! I'm starving. Let's go grab a proper breakfast!"

Without waiting, she teleported to their Base in Shimotsuki Village.

Kaito and the others followed, heading straight to the base cafeteria.

The Shimotsuki Base operated a cafeteria that catered to the three clans training there, running three shifts daily to ensure food was always available.

If there were leftovers, the staff would store them in a specialized time-sealed space connected to the dimensional gate, ensuring freshness.

Kaito had set up this system himself to reduce waste while keeping meals hot and ready whenever needed.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, they were greeted by Kuina and Tashigi.

"Wow, Mikoto, Kaito! What brings you here so early? I haven't seen you in days! Is the war still going on?" Kuina asked curiously, waving at them.

"The war's over, at least for now," Mikoto replied with a smile as she waved back.

"And your Kaito here practically ended it single-handedly!"

She grabbed a hearty breakfast and joined the two sisters at their table, chatting happily.

"Have you two been keeping up with your training?" she asked.

"Of course!" Kuina exclaimed, clenching her fists confidently. "I've set my sights on becoming the world's greatest swordsman. Slacking off isn't an option!"

"Impressive!" Kushina said with an encouraging smile as she sat down with her tray of food.

Kuina grinned. "Not as impressive as you guys, though."

To her, Mikoto and Minato were the benchmarks—people she aspired to surpass. However, realizing how difficult that would be, she decided to start with a more achievable goal: surpassing Kushina, the weakest one in swordsmanship, as her first step.

The group spent the meal chatting casually about recent events, laughter, and stories filling the air. Suddenly, Nami entered the cafeteria, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on Kaito. She approached with an eager expression, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. Clearly, she was here to hear all about Kaito's latest feats.

Mikoto and Kushina enthusiastically recounted Kaito's heroic deeds, leaving Kuina, Nami, and Tashigi in awe. Their admiration for Kaito only deepened.

"By the way, since the war is over and the bad Hokage has been captured, and Kaito is about to become Hokage... Does that mean we can visit Konoha now?" Tashigi asked suddenly.

"Yeah! I'm curious about the Ninja World and Konoha too!" Nami chimed in.

"Of course," Kaito said with a knowing smile. "But give me a few days. Once I officially become Hokage, I plan to reform Konoha."

"One of the changes includes a proper identity system. I'll set you all up with official Konoha residency papers so you can visit without any hassle."

"But you'll need to stick to Konoha and its surroundings. Leaving the village is off-limits unless you can convince Mikoto or my mother to accompany you!"

Kaito had already set up the system so that people from the Pirate World traveling to the Ninja World could only teleport to the Uchiha base in most cases.

At the base, there were designated guides to ensure no issues arose.

"No problem! Mikoto, you'll take us sightseeing, right?" Tashigi asked excitedly.

"Last time we visited that little shopping district, and it was amazing!"

Tashigi and the others excitedly asked Mikoto.

"Alright, alright!" Mikoto said with a resigned smile, glancing at their eager faces. She couldn't help but relent.

After breakfast, Kaito created multiple shadow clones to focus on their daily training. Of course, the real body also participated since certain techniques, like his Eternal Life technique, required his personal effort.

Once the morning training was over—after about two hours—Kaito left some shadow clones to continue working in the Pirate World or returned to the Ninja World to practice ninjutsu, sealing techniques, and swordsmanship.

Meanwhile, the real Kaito was called over by Koshiro.

— — — 

Inside a tea room at the dojo, Koshiro poured tea for himself and Kaito, as usual, before asking about the details of the war.

After listening, he nodded thoughtfully and said, "It's good that the war ended early. The Ninja World is far too twisted. Hopefully, it'll unify soon. For such a small place to remain divided and war-torn for so long—it's no good for anyone."

"If you need my help, don't hesitate to ask. With my strength, dealing with Kage-level opponents shouldn't be an issue. As for stronger ones… I could hold my own initially, but prolonged battles might be tough."

He didn't boast unnecessarily—after all, the Ninja World was full of bizarre and unpredictable techniques. While he had explored chakra to some extent, his focus was still primarily on swordsmanship.

"Got it!" Kaito smiled and nodded. "If I run into any trouble, I won't hesitate to ask for your help."

"Oh, by the way! I've made a deal with Hatake Sakumo from the Ninja World."

"I'm trading our Pirate World's swordsmanship training methods for their family's samurai swordsmanship techniques and ninja sword techniques!"

"When the time comes, I'll pass it on to you to practice. You've always been interested in blending swordsmanship and ninjutsu, haven't you?"

"Haha!"

Koshiro's eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. "That's great! I've been itching to see those ninja sword techniques for a while now."

"He is Sakumo—the White Fang of Konoha mentioned in the information you shared with me?"

"Exactly," Kaito confirmed with a smirk. "What, are you interested in him?"

"Of course!" Koshiro said with a nod. "From what I've seen, he's a top-tier swordsman with incredible talent. Naturally, I'd like to meet him. If we could spar, even better!"

"With his talent, if he trained in our world's swordsmanship, ate more of the Sea King beasts and fierce creatures we have here, he might even reach the level of a great swordsman in the future."

To Koshiro, someone who became a top swordsman in a world where swordsmanship had declined couldn't be underestimated. Sakumo's environment and resources had been his only limitations. If he were exposed to the Pirate World's resources, his growth would skyrocket.

"Well, if that's the case, you'll have to visit the Ninja World. I can introduce you two, and you can spar to your heart's content."

"I could even arrange for him to personally teach you the ninja sword techniques," Kaito said. "Although he hasn't fully met the conditions for the contract yet. If he had, things would be much simpler."

Kaito was also curious about how fast Sakumo could grow in the Pirate World with access to its techniques and resources. Seeing Sakumo go head-to-head with someone like Mihawk in the future would undoubtedly be exciting.

"In that case, I'll visit the Ninja World to exchange ideas and spar with him. Let's hope he signs the contract soon," Koshiro replied with a slight sigh of regret.

He understood that only by signing a contract with Kaito could Hatake Sakumo rapidly grow and break through his limits. Otherwise, even with access to the Pirate World's swordsmanship, his potential would remain capped.

"It should happen soon. Sakumo is straightforward and easy to deal with. Building rapport with him won't be difficult," Kaito said with a confident smile.

"True," Koshiro agreed with a laugh. "For someone to achieve such feats of swordsmanship in your world, they must be sincere and determined."

The two chatted for another half hour.

Just as Kaito was about to leave, Koshiro suddenly said, "Oh, right!"

He looked at Kaito with a serious expression. "A few days ago, Monkey D. Dragon visited Shimotsuki Island. He was recruiting people."

"What?" Kaito was stunned. "Dragon? The Revolutionary Army's leader? Has he already defected from the Marines and started building his revolutionary force?"

"Did you agree to join?"

Kaito hadn't expected Dragon to act at this point in time. Then again, Dragon had likely left the Marines years ago to start the Revolutionary Army and had already connected with figures like Vegapunk.

"Speaking of Vegapunk, he should've been forced into working for the World Government not long ago. If Dragon still has secret ties with him, maybe I can use this opportunity to meet and recruit Vegapunk myself."

Kaito rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

This was an opportunity he couldn't afford to miss.

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