Seeing Luffy carried off by the giant bird, Zoro grew anxious and unsure of what to do.
He didn't have a flying slash technique yet—and even if he did, it wasn't something he could use casually. A ranged slash might accidentally injure Luffy. The rubber man wasn't immune to blades, after all.
"What now? Naruto, use one of your invincible jutsu and think of something!" Zoro turned to Naruto, expecting the usual miracle. If anyone could pull off a rescue, it would be him.
"It's flown pretty far. We'll catch up," Naruto said casually, molding chakra beneath his feet to control the Fengshui current and propel their boat forward.
"Don't worry. Luffy can take care of himself. He can walk on water—sort of—so even if he falls, he's not helpless."
He remained calm, unbothered by the situation.
After all, this was how the story was supposed to go. Luffy would be taken to the island, meet Nami, and everything would follow the original path.
There was no need to interfere. Let the plot develop naturally.
The fox boat sped forward. Along the way, they heard desperate cries for help—several people had fallen into the sea and were flailing around helplessly.
"You can swim and catch up yourselves. We're in a hurry—we don't have time to stop," Naruto called out bluntly.
He could tell at a glance these weren't civilians. They were pirates—victims of their own missteps. Probably tricked by Nami. Classic.
Zoro, of course, had no objections. Naruto wasn't being unreasonable.
Sure, when people are in danger at sea, the decent thing is to help.
But pirates? That was a different matter.
Zoro had been a pirate hunter once. He could smell the stink of scum from a mile away. Just because he was a pirate now didn't mean he respected fools like these.
"Hahaha! You two idiots! This ship's been requisitioned by the Buggy Pirates!"
"Follow our orders and head toward the nearest island!"
"In this day and age, people still stop to rescue others at sea? You're too soft—we're pirates!"
Several pirates had managed to swim fast enough to scramble aboard, panting and dripping, ready to take over.
Naruto couldn't help but be impressed. The people in this pirate world really had absurd physical endurance.
Even after he tried to speed up the boat, they still caught up.
Zoro sighed. He didn't even bother drawing his swords—just delivered a few clean punches, and the pirates were down, whining and calling him "Uncle Zoro" in defeat.
Pathetic.
They began rambling about their misfortune, and one name kept popping up in their stories—a woman. No doubt it was Nami.
With his chakra sensing, Naruto confirmed that Luffy had safely landed on the island. Everything was going according to plan.
All that was left now was to bring Zoro ashore and eliminate Buggy quickly.
That said—Buggy was a Devil Fruit user.
And for Naruto, that was worth some attention.
He was curious whether he could analyze Buggy's ability, maybe even replicate it with his own Devil Mode. That would be entertaining.
"Our boss is Buggy. If you know what's good for you, you'll let us go!"
"Yeah! Captain Buggy's taken over a whole town!"
"He kills without mercy! He's terrifying! And he ate a Devil Fruit!"
The pirates puffed up Buggy's reputation as they pleaded for their lives.
Naruto scratched his head, looking a little baffled.
Zoro shared the confusion. Why did "people with powers" seem so common now?
"Buggy the Clown, huh?" Naruto muttered. "He's definitely something."
In a way, Buggy was an important supporting character. Despite the jokes, the man would go on to become one of the Four Emperors.
People said he rose through dumb luck—but luck was still a kind of power.
To go from an East Blue small-timer to a Warlord, and eventually a Yonko?
You couldn't do that with luck alone.
He had something—just enough to matter.
After all, he was a man who once sailed on Roger's ship. How could he possibly be a nobody?
If he were truly useless, he wouldn't have seized the opportunities that fate placed in front of him.
"I've heard of Buggy the Clown too," Zoro said, squinting at the horizon. "Didn't expect you to speak so highly of him, though."
Back when Zoro was a bounty hunter, he'd seen Buggy's wanted poster plenty of times.
If they took that guy down… maybe it could be traded for a decent stash of booze.
"His Devil Fruit ability is tricky, especially for swordsmen," Naruto said with a smirk. "Even someone like Dracule Mihawk—Hawkeye—couldn't cut him."
As if to make a point, Naruto casually tossed a smoke bomb at Zoro.
"What? You're comparing Buggy to Hawkeye? That guy's a legend! What kind of pirate from the East Blue could even survive one move from him?" Zoro said, incredulous.
"I'm not joking," Naruto replied, nodding. "During the Marineford War, Hawkeye's slash didn't even faze Buggy. He sliced right through him—and Buggy just put himself back together like nothing happened."
Luffy, as a rubber man, could shrug off blunt force. But Buggy?
Buggy was something else entirely—a man who could separate his body into pieces, immune to conventional slashing attacks.
And even now, Naruto wasn't sure whether Haki—Busoshoku Haki, in particular—could negate that kind of power.
Back during Marineford, the One Piece world hadn't been fully "updated," so to speak. Haki existed, but it wasn't fully explored or widely understood yet.
So who knows what really happened when Hawkeye's blade passed through him?
Slashing didn't work. But stabbing? That might do the trick.
Worst case scenario? Just kick him in the face.
"In that case…" Zoro cracked a grin, gripping the hilt of his sword. "I definitely want to test myself against him."
"I was just messing with you," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "But if you do end up fighting him, don't slash. Stab."
"Or use the back of your blade. Or the pommel. Whatever works."
He gave a small sigh.
"It's just one strange Devil Fruit ability. You'll get used to them eventually. Once we hit the Grand Line—especially the New World—you'll see a whole parade of monsters with abilities that bend reality."
"Some guys can turn their bodies as hard as a black blade. Others might melt into smoke or become living magma. Are you ready to fight that kind of enemy?"
Naruto clapped a hand on Zoro's shoulder.
The outline of an island appeared in the distance.
Even from afar, they could hear shouting.
Up ahead, Buggy was toying with a cannon. With a single blast, he obliterated a row of buildings—the force alone was jaw-dropping.
"You'll need to master the art of cutting iron soon," Naruto muttered, already adjusting the chakra current to boost their ship's speed.
Zoro was quiet for a moment, deep in thought.
...
TN:
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