The message Haruto sent was only a few hundred to a thousand words long, yet it took Kaguya Shinomiya more than ten minutes to reply.
That was because the contents of the message had a huge impact on her young heart.
Even now, her face still carried a look of disbelief.
Her crimson eyes shifted between expressions—shock, daze, astonishment, and even darkened frustration, before settling into sudden understanding.
After she finally digested all that massive information, she entered a state that could only be described as… bizarre.
To "see" her own future, to know more or less what would happen… even to witness her most embarrassing moments—to Kaguya, this feeling was beyond strange.
There were no words that could properly describe it.
It was like discovering that in the future, she would fall in love with someone she currently had no interest in—someone she wouldn't even bother talking to.
Her only internal reaction?
"What the hell?! Am I stupid in the future?!"
That was exactly what was going through Kaguya's mind.
She was convinced her future self…
Must have been hit with some kind of intelligence-reducing curse.
Let's take a simpler, more vivid analogy:
Imagine finding out that in the future, you'll say some Canadian guy sings amazingly, or that some random trainee plays basketball like a pro and is "so cool" and "so manly."
How would you react?
Yeah… exactly.
These examples perfectly capture what Kaguya Shinomiya was feeling at the moment.
Why would I become like that?!
That's totally illogical!
No way that's happening!
There's no way I would ever become like that!
Kaguya pursed her lips, trying to calm herself down.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally replied to Haruto's message.
Lady Kaguya: "Even though I feel a bit conflicted after reading it… I still want to thank you, group admin, for letting me see what my future could be."
Lady Kaguya: "If there's anything you want, please don't hesitate to ask. If it's something I can get, I'll do my best to help you obtain it."
Awuu the Ferocious (Haruto): "…Forget it, I don't need anything for now."
Awuu the Ferocious: "Looks like you've come to terms with your future?"
Lady Kaguya: "Not really. I just keep reminding myself it's an anime. Even if it's really my future, as long as I stay true to who I am now, there's no need to overthink it."
Awuu the Ferocious: "Alright, fair enough."
Haruto wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that last sentence.
Maybe something like: Just focus on being the best version of yourself now?
That was the closest interpretation he could come up with.
Still, he was surprised by how calm Kaguya remained, even after learning about her future.
There was no hysterical reaction, no breakdown.
Then again, with Kaguya's personality, if she had actually freaked out—that would've been the real surprise.
Haruto shook his head and gave up trying to figure out what was going through her mind.
He exited the Dimensional Chat Group and turned his gaze toward the window.
It was already noon.
The time read exactly 12:13 PM.
He looked down at his right hand as a soft white glow began to swirl in his palm.
Haruto muttered to himself, "Next, I need to figure out how to develop my Devil Fruit power."
To develop a Devil Fruit power, you didn't just need stamina.
You also needed imagination—a really big one.
And, unfortunately, you also needed a decent knowledge of physics, biology, and chemistry.
All essential for refining and advancing your Devil Fruit abilities.
But here was the problem…
Haruto had none of those.
Stamina? Not enough.Physics? Clueless.Biology? No idea.Chemistry? Complete gibberish.
He felt like one of those web novel protagonists—totally useless without a cheat code.
And to think, he used to mock those kinds of protagonists while reading novels…
Now it looked like he was no better than them.
"There's no quick way to boost stamina," he grumbled. "So for now, I have to focus on the finer, more precise applications of my fruit power… but that takes a ton of theoretical knowledge. Ugh."
His head was already beginning to ache.
Was he really going to have to study again?
Even if he wanted to, there wasn't enough time.
The Nine-Tails attack on Konoha would happen in about a year.
Even if he had all 366 days to prepare…
Would it even matter?!
What could cramming do?
"Wait… I almost forgot!" Haruto's eyes lit up. "There was a notification before—something about using group points to eliminate Devil Fruit side effects. If that's possible, then surely the points can be used for other things too, right?!"
He wasn't entirely sure how these group points worked.
Many of the group's features only had vague explanations.
He only knew of two uses so far:
Using points for cross-world travel
Using points to remove Devil Fruit drawbacks
But were there more?
As the group admin of the Dimensional Chat Group, he should know this stuff!
Maybe he just hadn't opened the right tab yet?
"If group points can be used to boost stamina… then I might be saved," Haruto thought. "But how do I do that exactly? This group doesn't come with a proper manual…"
Muttering to himself, he opened the [Group Points] tab.
He slowly scanned the interface in front of his eyes.
His brows furrowed in concentration.
Just then—DING-DONG!—a notification popped up in his mind.
Actually, it wasn't just one—several came in at once.
Either someone had messaged him directly, or multiple people were tagging him in the group chat.
Or maybe… there was a new system alert.
Pushing aside his thoughts, Haruto's consciousness entered the group interface again.
And right away—he saw several people @mentioning him, the group admin.
It looked like… something serious had happened.
Whitebeard's tone seemed unusually agitated.
Haruto scrolled up to read the chat logs.
Within about thirty seconds, he more or less understood what was going on.
Edward Newgate: "I can't stay calm at a time like this. I don't understand why Teach would do something like that… but he did! Sigh… it's my fault—I didn't notice the evil in his heart soon enough!"
Edward Newgate: "A red-haired man once warned me to be wary of Teach…"
Edward Newgate: "And now… damn it!! Marshall D. Teach!!!"
Lady Kaguya: "Please try to stay calm, sir. Didn't you just say that one of your sons killed another? This is something we should bring to the group admin. After all, he knows your future, right?"
Eternally Seventeen Girl: "Agreed. Now's the time for a level head."
Wandering Little Planet: "@Awuu the Ferocious, Group Admin! Something big just happened!"
Lady Kaguya: "@Awuu the Ferocious, Group Admin!"
Eternally Seventeen Girl: "@Awuu the Ferocious, Admin! Admin!"
After reading the relatively short string of messages, Haruto's expression turned serious.
Whitebeard's timeline… had reached that point already?
That meant that in less than a year—
He'd die in the Marineford War.