Chapter 4: Whitebeard's Gift Package
Ryū temporarily withdrew his consciousness from the Dimensional Chat Group and sat up on his bed. Through the open window nearby, he gazed down at the bustling Konoha streets below.
The clothing styles were nothing like what you'd see back in on Earth. Shinobi of all kinds strolled past, some leaping across rooftops.
Proof that none of this was a hallucination. Every bit of it was real.
And if he angled his gaze just right, looking past the rooftops toward the far end of the village, he could make out the legendary Hokage Rock — the massive cliff face carved with the visages of Konoha's leaders.
Only one year remained until the Nine-Tails would descend upon Konoha. As for exactly how many months… Ryū honestly wasn't sure. Even as a hardcore anime and web novel otaku, there was no way he could remember every precise date on the timeline.
Especially the Naruto timeline. That thing was famously riddled with inconsistencies.
Continuity errors everywhere you looked.
Like Ramen Ichiraku somehow existing across the entire span of Konoha's history, for instance.
"The Nine-Tails, huh…" Ryū murmured. "The same big fox that the First Hokage used to pat on the head like a house pet. But now it takes a Hokage sacrificing his own life just to seal it away. If Hashirama Senju found out about that, would he spin in his coffin?"
A strange expression crept onto Ryū's face as the memory surfaced. Back on Earth, when he'd been binge-watching Naruto on streaming sites, there was that scene — the one where Orochimaru used the Reanimation Jutsu to bring back the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage.
The First Hokage, curious, had asked the Fourth how he'd died.
And the Fourth had been too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Because he'd died sealing the Nine-Tails.
Ryū could still picture the comment section exploding: "First Hokage: Wait, THAT thing can kill people?!"
One of the most iconic moments in the entire series.
The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to rewatch Naruto from the beginning.
Too bad watching Naruto inside the Naruto world wasn't exactly a feasible option at the moment.
"The real problem is this," Ryū continued, his tone turning serious. "Sealing away the Nine-Tails required Minato Namikaze to sacrifice himself using the Reaper Death Seal — a forbidden jutsu with devastating side effects — and even then, he barely managed to contain it."
"But before the sealing was complete, the Nine-Tails killed a lot of people. What if I end up being one of them? That would be… yeah, that would be a really bad joke."
Just as Ryū was muttering darkly to himself, a soft chime echoed inside his mind.
He dove back into the Dimensional Chat Group almost on reflex.
The first thing he "saw" was something bright and shimmering.
He tapped it at lightning speed.
[Edward Newgate's Gift Package has been fully claimed! RawrSoFierce got the best prize!]
Ryū stared in disbelief.
Someone had actually sent a Gift Package.
And he'd grabbed one.
Not just grabbed one — he'd gotten the best prize.
At this point, Ryū was starting to wonder if he had some kind of permanent luck buff. Or maybe he'd accidentally siphoned all of Yukari Yakumo's fortune? That would explain why his rolls kept coming up aces while the poor purple granny kept eating dirt.
After all, there were only five people in the group. Subtract Whitebeard — who'd sent the package — and that left four potential recipients. Three of them had claimed a prize.
The one person who got nothing?
Yukari Yakumo.
A Gap Yōkai possessed by the spirit of terrible luck itself.
Edward Newgate:
"Gurararara! So that's how Gift Packages work. You really can stuff items inside and send them to the group."
Edward Newgate:
"This is some kind of… spatial ability, isn't it?"
Kaguya-sama:
"Thank you, Newgate-san! I got a strange… giant snail? It's bigger than my fist, and it looks like it might be edible? [Image]"
Edward Newgate:
"That's a creature called a Den Den Mushi. As for whether you can eat it… hmm, I'm not entirely sure. But I suppose you probably could?"
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"…"
The Little Wandering Planet:
"Huh? I got some kind of weird fish. Wait — why does this fish have a turtle's head? Too bad I can't eat things. [Image]"
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"…I'm literally going to cry."
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"WHY am I the only one who didn't get anything?!"
Looking at the image posted by "The Little Wandering Planet," Ryū studied the enormous creature with surprise. It was technically a fish — at least, the body was fish-shaped. But the head looked exactly like a turtle's.
And it was absolutely massive.
Ryū estimated the thing was bigger than the two-story house he lived in.
That had to be a Sea King from the One Piece world.
The fact that a Gift Package could fit something that colossal inside it… the storage capacity was on par with a spatial ring from a cultivation novel.
Edward Newgate:
"Little Kaguya got a Den Den Mushi, the planet got a Sea King, which means that Devil Fruit… must have gone to the Admin!"
Kaguya-sama:
"A Devil Fruit? That sounds… ominous."
Edward Newgate:
"Ominous is right. Anyone who eats a Devil Fruit receives the curse of the sea — they'll never be able to swim again for the rest of their life."
Edward Newgate:
"But in exchange, they gain a unique and extraordinary power."
Edward Newgate:
"The one I put in was a Paramecia-type fruit. It's not as rare as a Logia or a Mythical Zoan, but if you took it to the black market auction, it would easily fetch five or six hundred million Berries."
The Little Wandering Planet:
"You gain an ability from it? If I used a Devil Fruit, would I get a power too?"
Edward Newgate:
"That's… a good question. I honestly have no idea what would happen if an entire planet ate a Devil Fruit. The very thought is terrifying."
Whitebeard could barely imagine it. A planet — consuming a Devil Fruit.
What in the world would happen?
The mental image was almost too absurd to contemplate. Imagine the Earth eating the Glint-Glint Fruit. If it used Kizaru's signature technique — the Sacred Yata Mirror — would each light projectile be the size of the moon?
That would be a world-ending level of firepower. Of course, the prerequisite was that the planet had a mouth.
No mouth, no Devil Fruit. No Devil Fruit, no power.
Simple as that.
Ryū glanced at the chat messages, then shifted his gaze to the strange, heavy fruit now sitting in his hand. He let out a dry laugh. "Whitebeard really lives up to his reputation as one of the Four Emperors of the New World. A Devil Fruit — something people would kill for — and he just tosses it into a Gift Package like spare change."
The Devil Fruit he'd snagged was roughly the shape and size of a cantaloupe. Its surface was covered in strange, curving patterns that spiraled in every direction.
And it was purple.
The color gave off an eerie, mysterious aura.
Using the chat group's built-in camera function, Ryū snapped a clear photo and posted it to the group.
RawrSoFierce:
"Can confirm — it's definitely a Devil Fruit. Thing's bigger than I expected. [Image]"
RawrSoFierce:
"@Edward Newgate Thanks for the package."
Kaguya-sama:
"@Edward Newgate Thanks for the package!"
The Little Wandering Planet:
"@Edward Newgate Thanks for the package!"
The Little Wandering Planet:
"Oh? This '+1' feature is oddly satisfying!"
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"Going back to hibernation. I need to be alone."
"…"