On Cocoyasi Village, Nami knelt on the ground, her eyes hollow.
Just moments ago, she had watched helplessly as the treasure she had painstakingly gathered over eight years was forcibly taken away by Marine Captain, Nezumi.
Even though Luffy and his crew hadn't arrived in Cocoyasi Village as they had in the original work, the theft of her treasure still happened.
This meant that her plan to save her hometown from Arlong and his crew had been completely ruined.
If that were all, she might have been able to steel herself, telling herself that she could start over.
But what truly broke Nami was the fact that Nezumi didn't even deny that he had been called by Arlong to seize her wealth.
This meant that her every move had likely been under Arlong's surveillance all along, and the so-called promise of 'pay 100 million Berries, and we'll leave Cocoyasi Village alone' had been nothing but a cruel lie.
And for that lie, Nami had resorted to theft, deception, and even betrayed Luffy, who had once treated her with sincerity.
"What have I done… I'm such… an idiot."
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
She couldn't stop them, just as she couldn't stop the villagers who had now decided to fight back in desperation.
In the end, she was still powerless.
Eight years ago, she couldn't save her foster mother. Now, she couldn't save the villagers… she couldn't even save herself.
Staring at the Arlong Pirates' tattoo on her arm, her eyes filled with pain as she pulled out a dagger, ready to stab it viciously.
But her wrist was caught by a warm, firm hand.
Turning around, she saw Luffy and his crew, the people she had betrayed, and Naruto, whom she had briefly met at the Baratie.
Without a word, Naruto plucked the dagger from her grip and tossed it aside before unceremoniously shoving her into Luffy's arms.
"Take us to Arlong."
Naruto's tone was no longer as easygoing as before. Suppressed anger simmered beneath his words, his expression uncharacteristically grim.
On the way to Cocoyasi Village, he had seen the suffering of other villages under Arlong's rule.
After confirming the rumors, only one thought remained in his mind:
'It's time to clean up Fisher Tiger and Jinbe's disgrace.'
"Don't go! You can't fight the Fishmen!"
Nami didn't want any more pointless sacrifices.
Of course, this was also because she had fled early, missing the moment when Naruto had revealed his true power.
Suddenly, Naruto turned his head toward a certain direction.
"Let's go. I already know where they are."
After saying that, he strode forward, heading straight toward the large group of Fishmen his Observation Haki had detected.
Behind him, Luffy and the others followed in silence. No matter how much Nami pleaded or screamed, none of them stopped.
In the end, Nami could only lower her head weakly, letting her tears soak her clothes again.
"It's impossible… Don't go…"
Her voice gradually became smaller and finally turned into a whisper.
"...Please… help me."
After experiencing so many emotional blows, Nami finally abandoned her disguise and exposed her vulnerability.
Luffy suddenly took off his straw hat and placed it over Nami's face.
Naruto glanced at the gesture but said nothing.
In this way, the group moved in silence until they arrived at Arlong Park's gates.
They had moved quickly, and by the time they arrived, the villagers had only just gathered outside the entrance of 'Arlong Park'.
"Step aside."
Naruto had no patience for delays. Without waiting for a response, he walked straight past the bewildered villagers and up to the massive gates.
Immediately afterwards, the door was blown away by a tremendous force, and several fishmen standing behind the door were sent flying into the walls.
The sudden intrusion immediately made the Fishmen alert, and some of them directly drew their weapons.
But Arlong, who is seated leisurely in his chair, seemed entirely unperturbed, as if he had expected resistance.
But when his eyes fell on the man leading the charge, his originally smug expression immediately changed.
"Y-You…!"
Memories from the past resurfaced in Arlong's mind.
That was when Fisher Tiger was still alive.
The human in front of him had been on their ship and had a drinking contest with Tiger.
At that time, Arlong had despised him, unable to understand why Tiger treated him with respect.
In Arlong's eyes, if not for humans, Fishmen would never have suffered oppression.
At the same time, he was also very unconvinced, 'It was obvious that Fishmen were born stronger than humans, so why did they allow humans to suppress them?'
Naruto's eyes locked onto the Sun Pirates' tattoo on Arlong's chest, and said coldly, "You actually have the nerve to keep that tattoo?"
These words seemed to stimulate Arlong. He stood up and looked at Naruto with murderous gaze.
"How dare you show your face in front of me… Uzumaki Naruto."
Arlong knew nothing of Naruto's exploits in the New World. After being captured and released by the Marines, he had remained holed up in the East Blue.
Therefore, in his view, Naruto, who dared to bring a group of villagers with no combat ability before him, was undoubtedly seeking death.
Naruto looked at the other party and shook his head lightly.
"Jinbe… having a companion like this must've been tough for you."
Upon hearing the name of the [Knight of the Sea] Jinbe, Arlong's face twisted with even greater fury.
"Hah?! That guy could never be my companion!"
"That fool Jinbe! To think he'd willingly lower himself to be a human's lapdog."
"But it doesn't matter. Once my Arlong Empire is established, every human in these seas will become slaves to the Fishmen!"
After saying this, Arlong immediately drew his weapon, a massive serrated cleaver, while the surrounding Fishmen closed in menacingly
…Except for one.
The octopus fishman, Hatchan, whose pupils continued to tremble, paled at the sight of Naruto's figure and instinctively curled his arms inward, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
"Stupid frog in a well… come on! If I don't beat the caviar out of you today, I'll consider you thoroughly emptied."
Naruto couldn't be bothered to waste more words on this idiot. In his eyes, the moment he learned Arlong had betrayed Jinbe's goodwill, he was already a dead man… a dead fish.
"Wait, do male fish even have caviar?"
Behind Naruto, Usopp suddenly asked in confusion.
"That's roe. Male fish definitely don't have any… but for Fishmen, I'm not sure."
Beside him, Sanji added while lighting a cigarette.
Neither of them bothered to lower their voices, and their words reached Arlong and the other Fishmen, intensifying the murderous aura around them.
"Good. You two, I'll make sure your bones..."
Before he could even finish, Naruto's figure flickered like a phantom, appearing right in front of Arlong.
Then, with a punch too fast for anyone to see, Arlong's upper body exploded like fireworks, scattering in a radial burst of blood mist.
His uncontrolled lower half swayed a few times before collapsing into the water.
Instantly, the battlefield fell into silence.
Nami, who had been drowning in despair just moments ago, felt her emotions stutter.
The mountain that had weighed on her for so many years… had just been casually brushed aside?
Lowering his fist, Naruto turned his gaze to the remaining Fishmen.
"Drop your weapons and kneel in surrender. Otherwise, you'll end up just like him."
These brainwashed fools had followed Arlong's lead into evil, but considering they were still Jinbe's kin, if they were willing to submit to punishment, Naruto may let them go.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Don't panic, everyone! It must be some kind of Devil Fruit ability!"
One of Arlong's officers, the smelt-whiting fishman, Chew, stepped forward, trying to steady morale.
At the same time, a high-pressure water jet shot from his mouth straight at Naruto's head.
These guys simply couldn't accept that their supposedly invincible Fishmen could be so easily crushed by 'weak' humans.
Unwilling to face reality, they clung even harder to Chew's words.
But Naruto was in no mood to continue persuading.
After dodging the 'spit attack' with a tilt of his head, he coldly scanned the stubborn Fishmen and delivered his final warning.
"In three seconds, I'll kill every Fishman still standing."
His words were like water splashed into boiling oil, igniting the Fishmen's rage.
Aside from a few quick-witted ones who followed Hatchan's lead and dropped to the ground, the rest, including the remaining officers, swarmed Naruto in a frenzy.
Three seconds goes by very quickly.
It was so fast that these guys barely made it within a meter of Naruto.
Looking at the Fishmen surrounding him, Naruto had no intention of holding back.
With a single hand seal, an ocean-like surge of Chakra erupted from him.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that Naruto had used a Ninjutsu beyond the Three Basic Techniques and the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
In this world, the Chakra in his body is not comparable to that of his twelve-year-old's body.
The C-Rank Ninjutsu, Wind Cutter Technique, which originally had very limited destructive power, was instantly transformed into an unstoppable blade of wind under the torrent of Chakra, sweeping outward in a devastating arc.
In an instant, the wind blade sliced through everything.
Then, all the still-standing Fishmen froze in place.
A few of the faster ones had their upper bodies flung forward by momentum.
In the blink of an eye, blood painted the ground of Arlong Park, and even Luffy and the others behind Naruto felt a chill run down their spines.
After all, to them, Naruto had always been smiling and easygoing, even holding back during his fight with Luffy.
The brutality of the scene made several villagers lose control and vomit on the spot.
For the surviving Fishmen, the horror was even more visceral.
Hatchan, feeling the warmth of blood splatter onto his skin, shakily raised his head.
Then, he saw Naruto standing right in front of him.
"Hatchan… You actually chose to follow that idiot too? Does Uncle Rayleigh know about this?"
As if intimately familiar with the octopus fishman, Naruto didn't attack him. Instead, he crouched down and stared at him with the look of a 'principal catching a student skipping school to game'.
"Ahhh… N-Naruto-san, I-I-I-I…"
He stammered for a long time, unable to form a coherent sentence, before suddenly feeling a sharp pain explode on his forehead.
"Ahhhhhh!! It hurts!!"
Hatchan clutched the massive bump swelling on his head from Naruto's knuckle strike, writhing on the ground in agony.
The cry of pain was so sincere and heartfelt that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.