Simply put, Naruto intended to trap their minds in an illusion while their bodies continued doing tugboat exercises.
Of course, remaining in a genjutsu for too long can make it hard to tell illusion from reality—which isn't ideal.
But Naruto had long since mastered how to adjust the flow of time within illusions. He could accelerate time inside the genjutsu while barely any passed in the real world. What used to take a month could now be experienced in just an hour.
This kind of mental and physical multitasking wasn't difficult for him. His real body kept moving while his mind operated in the illusion. A minor adjustment to the technique—really, a simple operation.
He shared the idea with Zoro and Luffy.
"You're a devil!" Luffy groaned, looking horrified.
"Oh?" Naruto smirked. "With this, we can train faster and get stronger together. Isn't that amazing?"
Zoro's eyes lit up. "Yeah. Lock your mind into the illusion so your body doesn't wander off."
Naruto glanced at him and gave a quiet sigh.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but you are directionally challenged."
"I am not!" Zoro frowned, clearly displeased.
Still, Naruto thought it would be better to hear their thoughts before proceeding.
"No doubt, it's efficient," Zoro admitted. "And it can reduce a lot of pain…"
But he shook his head. "Still not for me."
Dragging that heavy tugboat was exhausting—and painful. But to Zoro, that pain was part of the training. A form of discipline. If his mind was immersed in illusion, the burning ache of torn muscles would vanish.
And that, to him, wasn't training.
So after a moment of silence, he declined.
"An hour for a month of progress. Isn't that efficient enough already?" Zoro muttered as he tightened his grip on the rope and resumed hauling.
"True," Naruto nodded. "But it's boring to pull a boat in silence, isn't it?"
"I'll give you something fun to watch."
With a grin, Naruto clapped his hands together, channeling chakra into a new jutsu.
"Wait… what is this?" Zoro and Luffy both blinked in surprise as something began playing in their minds.
"Battle recordings," Naruto said, still grinning. "I believe that watching real masters fight can be a great way to improve."
"You two keep hauling the boat. These illusions won't interfere. The images are beamed straight into your minds. Study them carefully."
In short, Naruto had installed a "video playlist" directly into their heads—high-quality replays of legendary shinobi battles. Now they could train and be entertained.
The tugboat exercise was monotonous. But this trick? It added excitement.
"Wanna dance too?"
A long-haired man stood with arms crossed, his expression cold as he stared down a massive army—then charged headfirst, cutting through them like grass.
"My pain is greater than yours!"
With his face twisted in fury, the orange-haired Deva Path roared as he launched a devastating attack at a towering red beast.
Naruto had shown them real events from the original timeline—uncut, unfiltered shinobi history.
He could've shown his own memories, but honestly, there wasn't much point. His journey was too personal and the reference value too low. Instead, he pieced together these legendary battles from memory and transmitted them to Zoro and Luffy.
"Are you sure this is what ninjas are like?" Zoro asked, visibly thrown. "Feels... strange."
He remembered an old man from his childhood who once spoke of ninjas—silent, loyal assassins. Not this. Not giant chakra monsters and planetary devastation.
As he watched the scenes from the Fourth Great Ninja War, his mind reeled.
"Susanoo! That's so cool!" Luffy shouted, eyes gleaming. "Naruto, can I learn that too?"
"Nope," Naruto replied with a sigh. "That's a Sharingan ability. Besides, you don't need it."
When Luffy entered Gear Fifth, his body suddenly expanded—his arms, legs, everything became cartoonishly large and elastic. With that, he really didn't need Susanoo anymore.
"Try inflating your bones with air. That's how you get giant limbs,"
Naruto said, raising a brow as he casually revealed the core principle behind Gear Third.
Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement.
Previously, it was the Eight Gates technique that gave him the inspiration to develop Gear Second. And now, this new insight from Naruto handed him the key to Gear Third.
It was a breakthrough. His mind started buzzing with possibilities.
After finishing another round of their training, Naruto brought both Zoro and Luffy back onto the ship.
Physical strength could be restored quickly—especially with food and rest—but mental exhaustion was another matter. That required peace and quiet.
So after a feast, both Zoro and Luffy sprawled out on deck and quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.
Naruto, meanwhile, took the wheel—literally and figuratively.
He found the right heading, and then activated a combination of Suiton (Water Release) to manipulate ocean currents and Fūton (Wind Release) to fill the sails.
"It can't be too fast or too slow. I just need to make up for the time we've lost," Naruto muttered to himself, adjusting the chakra flow with practiced ease.
After all, in the pirate world, timing was everything. Certain events happened at specific moments. If they fell too far behind, they might miss a key event. Go too fast, and they could arrive before a story arc even began.
Since Luffy and Zoro had been towing the ship at a snail's pace during the day, Naruto made up for the lag at night.
With a bit of quick calculation, he adjusted the currents and stopped just before dawn.
The next morning, Luffy and Zoro woke up groggily—completely unaware of what had happened overnight.
Naruto didn't say a word. He simply clapped his hands.
"Alright, up you two! Time for more training!"
And so, their strange daily routine continued:
Tugboat training during the day. Secret speed boosts at night.
This kept their journey on track without interfering with the core training process.
But then—during lunch—something unexpected happened.
"I'm so done eating fish every single day," Luffy grumbled, slamming his hands on the deck. "I need something good today!"
Naturally, Naruto had been the one cooking. His culinary skills weren't just decent—they were amplified by his ability to understand the structure and flavor of ingredients at a molecular level. Every meal was balanced, nutritious, and full of flavor.
But even so—fish every day was still fish every day.
Luffy finally snapped.
"I think the fish is still delicious," Zoro said between bites. "Naruto's cooking is top-notch."
"Besides, just by running a small lightning current through the water, he can catch a whole batch. It's convenient."
To Zoro, Luffy was just being picky.
"There are birds in the sky," Luffy said suddenly, pointing upward. "So let's have bird meat today!"
He grinned, stretched his rubbery arms toward the sky, and aimed at a flock of birds circling overhead.
Naruto sighed, sensing chaos was about to begin again.