"Naruto, have you made up your mind?"
Seeing Naruto put away the other four fruits and only keep the one that looked like a closed mouth, the Baku Baku no Mi, Raleigh understood what he intended to do.
In fact, ever since Naruto was around ten years old and learned about this fruit, he had mentioned wanting to eat it.
Raleigh, like Garp and Roger, was a believer in Haki and didn't rely on Devil Fruit's Abilities.
For them, eating a Devil Fruit might not significantly boost their strength and would only add an unnecessary weakness.
Of course, Naruto didn't care much about that.
He wasn't going to fall into the sea anyway, so becoming a 'landlubber' didn't matter to him.
Besides, his reason for eating the Baku Baku no Mi wasn't purely for strength…at least, not entirely.
This was also one of Naruto's childhood dreams.
"Hehe."
Naruto grinned at Raleigh before decisively swallowing the fruit whole.
Thanks to his abilities, he could already gulp down many things without needing the fruit's power.
With Life Return, such things were possible.
But today marked the end of Naruto relying on Life Return to expand his stomach capacity.
Since he didn't bite through the fruit's skin, he also didn't get to taste its infamous 'shit-like' flavor.
Not that he regretted it, as some things were better left untested.
After consuming the Baku Baku no Mi, Naruto immediately sensed the changes in his body.
The first was a feeling of hunger, or, more accurately, a craving.
Everything around him, the bar counter, glasses, chairs, tables, even people, seemed to emit an aroma of food to Naruto.
Raleigh felt a chill down his spine under Naruto's intense gaze.
Even after living for nearly eighty years, this was the first time he'd been stared at like that by another man.
"Naruto, snap out of it."
Raleigh's words snapped Naruto out of his food-induced trance. He glanced at the objects around him, then at the scrolls he carried.
"So this is what it feels like to be a Baku Baku no Mi User?"
'No wonder that previous user could casually devour steel cannons without hesitation. In his 'vision', they probably just looked like long loaves of bread with a gunpowder flavor.'
Another fruit ability Naruto had considered was the Kuku Kuku no Mi. (T/N: Cook-Cook Fruit.)
This is the ability possessed by Streusen, the head chef of the Big Mom Pirates.
He was a highly skilled craftsman.
As a Kuku Kuku no Mi User, he could transform anything into edible food, with the key difference being that the objects genuinely became food that others could eat.
That ability was probably the most suitable for a 'chef'. For someone like Naruto, whose culinary skills were limited to simple grilled dishes, the Baku Baku no Mi was far more practical.
There was still some time before the coating hardened, making it the perfect opportunity to test out his new ability.
Naruto tossed a glass into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, while pulling out various scrolls from his back pocket.
'Hmm, it feels like chocolate with liquor filling.'
Meanwhile, Shakky, wiping down the counter, remarked dryly.
"That glass was an antique. It's worth at least 300,000 Berry."
Familiar with Shakky's teasing nature, Naruto looked up with an embarrassed smile.
"Ahahaha… next time, next time I'll pay you back."
Not like she was serious anyway.
The first test subject was the Kusanagi Sword, which was generously 'gifted' by Orochimaru.
Naruto hadn't used it much since returning to the One Piece World.
After all, whether in terms of durability or handling, it couldn't compare to Mushoukou, one of the Supreme Grade Swords.
Plus, Naruto wasn't particularly skilled in dual-wielding.
The guy in Wano Country did teach Naruto his famous skill [Tougen Totsuka], but Naruto didn't like this guy very much, so he rarely used it.
So now was the perfect time to eat the Kusanagi Sword, and even if he messed up, he wouldn't feel bad about it.
Naruto raised the Kusanagi Sword, which looked more like a short sword compared to his size, and proceeded to perform a sword-swallowing act.
Honestly, with this ability, even if Naruto ever hit rock bottom, he could still make a living as a street performer.
At first, he was cautious, even using Haki to reinforce his digestive tract.
But the moment the blade touched his throat, he felt something different.
It was as if, during the act of 'swallowing', his mouth and esophagus gained a conceptual reinforcement… not necessarily indestructible, but more like an attribute that allowed them to 'contain' whatever was being swallowed.
Just like the sealing scroll.
The Kusanagi Sword quickly disappeared into Naruto's mouth, 'Hmm, cold and slightly salty, like an ice pop with a pinch of salt.'
Soon after, Naruto could sense the sword resting intact within a certain space inside his body.
With a thought, his ponytail, controlled by Life Return, moved on its own, its tip transforming into a sword.
The 'Ponytail Kusanagi Sword' slashed through the air as Naruto willed it.
Well, if he swallowed enough swords, he could pull off not just dual-wielding, but even a hundred-sword or thousand-sword style.
Life Return's most useful moment yet.
After the first experiment, the following trials went much smoother.
Naruto discovered that as long as he didn't chew while swallowing, he could store items intact inside himself, effectively giving him near-infinite storage space.
Even if something was chewed up and digested, he could reconstruct it inside his stomach, even combining materials to create entirely new objects.
It was practically like having a personal factory.
What Naruto didn't know was that if Wapol hadn't died by his hand, he would have used this ability years later to develop a revolutionary new material called [Wapometal], amassing a fortune and rebuilding his kingdom.
Soon, Naruto had emptied out most of the sealing scrolls he carried.
The remaining ones contained only Devil Fruits and the clone body created by Orochimaru.
Given his distrust of Orochimaru's character and his general disgust toward the man, Naruto decided against trying to swallow the clone.
'Wait a minute.'
Looking at the sealing scroll in his hand, Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Then, he swallowed a small scroll containing miscellaneous items.
Closing his eyes to sense the changes in his body, Naruto suddenly grinned.
Rayleigh, who was standing nearby, witnessed the whole process and was a little curious.
He could understand that Naruto had mastered a unique power called [Ninjutsu], and the scroll that could store items should also be related to this Ninjutsu.
But now that Naruto had used the Baku Baku no Mi to swallow the scroll itself, what happened to the items inside?
"How is it? Any changes?"
Instead of answering, Naruto reached out and grabbed Raleigh's sword.
Then, under Rayleigh's shocked gaze, a puff of smoke dispersed, and the sword transformed into a tattoo-like mark of character [Sword], which now stuck to Naruto's palm.
At this moment, Naruto had essentially absorbed the sealing scroll's ability to seal inanimate objects.
Unlike the Baku Baku no Mi's 'internal storage', the sword was now sealed onto Naruto's skin… just like his initial theory about carrying items across worlds.
At this moment, he has essentially transformed into a human-shaped sealing scroll.
And the things that were originally sealed by the sealing scroll were also sealed in his skin now. They could appear at any time according to his thoughts.
If not for the smoke effect, this would've been the ultimate magic trick.
Increasing the repertoire of his performance act for future street shows.