Chapter 23 - Ch.023 Ninjas and "Nin-Nin!"

[~1900 Words]

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Setting: One Week Later

The sun cast warm gold across the sea-facing side of the clinic. Haruki sat on a cushion just outside the back porch, a light breeze rustling his hair as he gently rotated his shoulder, testing his recovery. Bandages still hugged his ribs, but the pain had dulled to a tolerable throb.

He was sipping warm herbal tea when he heard soft footsteps followed by…

"OI! NINJA GUY! ARE YOU A REAL NINJA?!"

Boom—thud-thud-thud! came the unmistakable sound of sandals slapping the wood as a gangly boy practically launched himself into the yard.

Haruki blinked.

Trailing behind the blur of limbs and enthusiasm was Makino, carrying a woven fruit basket and trying to keep her voice calm, and the Mayor, puffing from exertion.

"Luffy!" she scolded, "Don't run like that! He's still healing!"

The straw-hatted boy turned back with a grin, completely ignoring her concern. "But he's a ninja! You said he's a real ninja! Like with 'poof!' and 'whoosh!' and nin-nin! Right?!"

Haruki stared at the boy. Then at the fruit basket. Then back at the boy.

Makino sighed, finally reaching him. "I brought these for you, Haruki-kun. Fresh from the market." She smiled, placing the basket beside him with a soft thud. "You've been healing well, haven't you?"

Haruki gave a polite nod. "Better than expected. Your herbs and soup have been more effective than some jutsu I know."

Mayor Woop Slap finally caught up, adjusting his glasses and huffing, "I… thought she was exaggerating, but I admit… I'm curious too. It's not every day someone claims to be a ninja. That's just a tale from the Old Era."

Makino kneeled beside him and shot Luffy a warning glance. "Don't bother him too much."

Too late.

Luffy was already rummaging through the basket. "WOAAAH! Apples! And grapes! OH! Is that a mango—?!"

Haruki opened his mouth.

Chomp~

Too late again.

"...Guess I wasn't getting any of those," Haruki muttered with a long sigh as Luffy stuffed his cheeks like a fruit-hungry squirrel.

Luffy looked up mid-bite. "Mmmf—shorry! You want—" chomp "—the peeeach? No? Cool!"

Makino gave an exasperated chuckle. "He's like this with everything. Food included."

Haruki raised an eyebrow. "I'm starting to see that."

Luffy leaned in, now practically vibrating with excitement. "C'mon! Show me! Do a ninja move! You don't even have to say 'nin-nin' but—wait, do you say that? That's what they always say in the comics!"

Haruki blinked once.

He deadpanned: "Yes. I also leap from tree to tree in a full squat and throw glitter bombs."

Luffy: ‟Sugooooiiiiii!"

Makino giggled behind her hand. Even Woop Slap cracked a smile.

Haruki rolled his shoulder again, then stretched his fingers. "Alright… You want a ninja move? You get a ninja move. But step back unless you want fewer eyebrows."

Luffy dropped the half-eaten banana he had pulled from somewhere. "YESSSSS!"

Haruki stood, wind catching his shirt as he exhaled once. Calm. Centered. Then he flashed through hand signs with practiced grace.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)

From his mouth, a volley of small, spinning fireballs burst into the air—each one trailing orange-gold flame, spinning in arcs before dissolving into harmless sparks high above the sea. One of them passed just low enough to make Luffy's hat flap wildly.

Makino jumped slightly, her mouth open in awe.

Woop Slap's glasses nearly fell off his face.

"WOAAAHHH!" Luffy spun around in a daze, eyes shining. "That was SO COOL! DO IT AGAIN!"

Haruki smirked. "Hm. Not done."

He formed a hand sign and vanished.

Literally.

A gust of wind stirred the grass where he once stood, but he was simply gone.

Makino gasped. "W-What the—?"

"Where'd he go?!" Luffy spun around, spinning in wild circles.

Then—

Tap.

Haruki reappeared directly behind Luffy and flicked the boy's straw hat. "Body Flicker Technique."

Luffy yelped and leapt five feet forward like he'd been struck by lightning. "HOW'D YOU DO THAT?!"

Makino was laughing now, even as she covered her mouth in disbelief. "You… You were gone in the blink of an eye."

Woop Slap adjusted his glasses, blinking at Haruki. "That technique… I've only ever read about something similar in old island texts. About warriors who moved like shadows. But I thought those were myths."

Haruki simply said, "Where I come from, ninja weren't myths. We were a part of life."

Woop Slap looked down thoughtfully. "But here… no one remembers such things anymore. Not in over a century. Maybe longer."

Luffy had stopped spinning, now on his hands and knees, staring up at Haruki with sparkling eyes.

"Teach me."

Haruki raised an eyebrow. "What, ninjutsu?"

"YES!" Luffy shouted. "I wanna learn how to do that flicker thing! I can already punch hard, and stretch, and eat a lot, but FIRE and disappearing? That's next level!"

Haruki snorted. "Sorry. First lesson is patience. Second is not eating your sensei's fruit."

Luffy pouted. "Awwwwwwww."

Makino chuckled, handing Haruki a small tangerine she had hidden behind her back. "I saved you one."

He accepted it with a small nod. "You're a true ally, Makino-san."

She smiled. "Just don't flicker away before lunch."

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The group had finally settled into the shade near the porch.

Luffy was lying on his back in the grass now, belly round from the fruit basket he had utterly demolished. His straw hat rested on his face like a blanket as he muttered, "That was the best fruit ever…"

Makino sighed softly. "It wasn't even your fruit, Luffy."

Haruki sat cross-legged under the shade of the porch, sipping warm water, watching the boy with an amused squint. "I'm honestly impressed you didn't eat the basket too."

The Mayor chuckled from where he stood, arms crossed. "Well, he would've if you'd waited another five minutes."

Haruki shook his head and gave a low sigh. "You're a walking stomach, you know that?"

Luffy lifted his hat just enough to grin. "Yup!"

Makino gently patted down a cloth on the now fruit-less basket, smiling as she watched the scene.

Woop Slap turned toward Haruki, adjusting his glasses again. "That fire trick… and the way you disappeared. That wasn't sleight of hand or illusion. That was real. I've never seen anything like it. Are there… others like you?"

Haruki glanced at the sea again, the waves catching the sunlight like molten silver.

"…No," he said after a pause. "There were thousands like me. Entire villages. Nations, even. Each with their own clans, techniques, bloodlines, and history - they're soldiers, scouts, assassins, guardians. Hidden Villages, we called them. Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa, Suna… the Elemental Nations."

The wind picked up slightly, tousling his dark hair as he continued.

"Where I'm from, being a shinobi was a way of life. From the moment you could walk, you were trained. Taught to fight, to survive… to protect our land."

Makino looked surprised. "You mean there are entire villages of people like you?".

Mayor Woop Slap blinked, intrigued. "So… then why haven't we ever heard of these places? Not even in old books."

"My home was one of them. A shinobi village surrounded by forests and mountains. We trained in elemental manipulation, martial arts, illusion… the kind of things you'd probably only hear in bedtime stories here."

"You wouldn't have," Haruki replied simply. "We're far… very far from here. A country well beyond your world map. Maybe beyond your entire sea chart."

Makino blinked. "So that's why… no one knows about chakra or these 'ninjutsu.'"

Haruki nodded. "Exactly. My people kept to themselves. We had our own wars. Our own history. Our own politics. We never ventured this far out."

Luffy sat up suddenly, eyes wide. "WAIT—are you saying there's a whole country of NINJAS?! That's like… a NINJA ISLAND?!"

Haruki raised an eyebrow. "Not quite an island. More like a continent. Hidden away behind nature, guarded by mountains, forests, deserts—take your pick."

Luffy's jaw dropped. "I WANNA GO THERE!"

Makino laughed, covering her mouth. "I don't think you can swim that far, If you can even swim now."

Woop Slap leaned against a post thoughtfully. "If your homeland is that far, no wonder we've never seen your kind. Maybe the reason people think ninja are myths here is because their stories came from sailors who crossed into your waters once… long ago."

"Maybe," Haruki replied, noncommittally. He wasn't about to dive into the whole truth. Though he had a vague guess when no one seemed to know what Chakra is.

He looked down at his hands, curling his fingers slowly. "When I first woke up here, I thought maybe I had been taken—kidnapped and dropped on some faraway island. A remote territory beyond the Five Nations."

Haruki nodded. "I've never heard of Devil Fruits. Never seen a ship like yours. Your maps don't show any of the terrain I know. And your people… they don't even know what chakra is. That's not just distance—that's a whole different plane of existence."

Makino murmured, "But you still act like one of us. You bleed like us. Laugh like us."

Haruki smiled faintly. "Some things stay the same no matter where you are, I guess."

Luffy suddenly popped into the middle of the group and threw his hands in the air. "WHOA, THAT'S SO COOL! Can you teach me everything before you go back?"

Haruki chuckled. "Assuming I can go back."

Luffy beamed. "You'll figure it out! But you gotta teach me the poofing! And the fireballs! And the running on walls! And—"

Haruki rolled his eyes. "You're persistent."

Makino groaned and smiled warmly. "Luffy, let him breathe." And turned towards Haruki and said, ‟He's like this with everything. He'll keep asking until you give in."

Woop Slap chuckled. "He might drive you mad before you ever teach him a thing."

Haruki leaned back on his palms, smirking. "Guess that makes me the unlucky sensei."

Woop Slap stood slowly, rubbing his chin. "If what you say is true, This kind of knowledge is dangerous. And powerful and many people want it. They will want to find your homeland too."

Haruki's eyes narrowed slightly. "That's why I'm going to be careful from now on."

The moment quieted again—until Luffy yawned, stretched, and sprawled flat on the grass like a starfish. "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates and a ninja now. That's settled."

Makino blinked. "You can't be both."

"CAN TOO!"

Haruki rolled his eyes with a grin. "If anyone could somehow mess up the laws of both professions, it'd probably be him."

Luffy pointed at him with a mouthful of grapes he had somehow conjured from the bottom of the empty basket. "BEST. SENSEI. EVER."

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