What the newspapers had not yet reported was that after the Navy flattened Ohara, the surrounding island wreckage was still under blockade to this day. Spandine suspected that some of the scholars were hiding in an underground chamber unknown to him, so he continued to guard the island of Ohara. Could they hide for a month? Could they hide for a year? As long as he stayed on Ohara, if they were still on the island, they would eventually return!
Robin's arrival greatly changed James's life. Not only did he now have someone to take care of meals, but even when he was drawing, Robin could hand him paper, organize manuscripts—her Flower-Flower Fruit ability was as good as having an entire small team. James's drawing efficiency improved noticeably. In the past, it took a month to release a single manga volume; now, only twenty days were needed.
Robin herself also began to follow in the footsteps of Franky and Iceburg, becoming obsessed with manga and neglecting proper work.
If you asked what was the best thing about Water 7, James's top answer would be freedom!
This was a city with an extremely high degree of freedom, where shipbuilders from all over the world came in droves. More than half of the city's population were outsiders who came to buy ships or do business. Because of this, Robin's arrival drew no attention. Thanks to James's "little wings," she was never photographed by the Marines at the coast. The "Devil Child" bounty notice no longer existed, and Robin no longer had to live a life of endless darkness. This was probably the thing that comforted James the most.
Before long, Robin became familiar with Franky and the others. James could only say she was his distant cousin, currently staying at his home. Franky's group were naturally friendly; whenever they had time, they took Robin into the city to eat delicious food. Soon, Robin had adapted to life in Water 7.
Compared to the children of Ohara, Franky and the others were much more worldly. After all, their master was the Pirate King's shipwright—what Devil Fruit hadn't they seen? From these people, Robin experienced true friendship for the first time.
James, having had enough of turbulent days, admitted that his heart couldn't take it. If he'd had the strength back then to stop the Navy, the tragedy of Ohara wouldn't have happened. This pushed him to work even harder on his manga! Naruto quietly began appearing in the bookstores of Water 7.
Title: Naruto
Author: Waffle James.
Synopsis:
In the past, a demon fox caused chaos. This demon fox had nine tails; with each swing of its tails, mountains crumbled and tsunamis rose. The people, unable to endure such suffering, gathered all the ninjas of the village to face the fox in a final battle! Among them was one ninja who sealed the fox within his own newborn child at the cost of his life—this ninja was the Fourth Hokage! At the price of his life, the Fourth Hokage sealed the demon fox into his newborn son. The story begins with this child—Naruto Uzumaki…
The people of Water 7, seeing that James had released a new book, bought it without hesitation due to years of trust in his work. Some took it home to read, while others started reading right on the street. It began with Naruto at the ninja academy, failing to graduate, being tricked by Mizuki into stealing the Scroll of Seals, finally moved by Iruka's heartfelt actions, and then unleashing a Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu—countless Narutos rushing forward to KO Mizuki in style.
The plot's brilliance offered a whole new flavor compared to Claymore!
The difference between Naruto and Claymore was that Naruto's opening conveyed pure emotion! But like Claymore, it also had hot-blooded battles! Or rather, the battles in Naruto felt closer to those in the One Piece world—weren't those various ninja techniques much like the strange powers of the Devil Fruits?
However, it wasn't until a year later, when smugglers brought the book into the New World and into Wano Country, that it reached the peak of its fame! Nearly everyone in Wano became a loyal fan of Naruto, contributing massive amounts of fan points to James. Quite a number of Wano residents became convinced that this "Waffle James" must be one of their own—how else could he understand their country so well? Although Wano was ruled by samurai, the profession of ninja also existed there!
James had no idea about these future developments. For now, all he wanted was to gather enough fan points to exchange for powerful skills, so that when someone's blade was at his neck, he wouldn't be defenseless.
Meanwhile, CP9 member Robusta, disguised as a patrol policeman while on a mission in Water 7, sat at home flipping through the freshly published first volume of Naruto, muttering to himself:
"Back in Claymore, I already knew this kid James understood swordsmanship. That Flying Slash was a skill reserved for great sword masters! But this kid is smart—he deliberately introduced the concept of 'demonic aura' and changed part of the sword techniques so extravagantly. This just proves his unique understanding of swordsmanship!"
"Judging from this Naruto, he's definitely seen many Devil Fruit users. These strange abilities could only belong to Devil Fruits! Ninja techniques supposedly existed in some country in the New World, but I'm more inclined to believe James got his inspiration from seeing many Devil Fruit users in action. That new little girl in his house says a lot!"
Indeed, Robin had still caught someone's attention. In this life, she had not yet experienced the years of running and hiding to come, so her vigilance was still underdeveloped. Small everyday habits easily revealed her identity as the Flower-Flower Fruit user.
The other CP9 members on the island, aside from keeping tabs on Fishman Tom, also monitored Tom's two apprentices and the people they frequently interacted with. Naturally, James and Robin fell under CP9's watch. However, this surveillance was routine—they didn't care what James did at home, just kept a close eye to see if he made contact with certain people.
"Huh? This ninja's teleportation technique looks just like our Navy Six Styles' Soru. Could it be that James is actually connected to the Navy…?" Robusta was overthinking. At this point, James seemed more and more mysterious, harder and harder to read.
James, on the other hand, was completely unaware. As a daily "update warrior," his pen never stopped. With Robin by his side, drawing had become a joy. From his desk stretched arms of various lengths—some holding the paper in place, some handing him pens of different sizes, some collecting the finished pages, some replacing sheets with new paper. James kept his head down and just focused on drawing. Everything else—drinking water, massages—Robin took care of flawlessly. Now this was living!