Yes, the culprit behind this incident, the mysterious deep-sea shadow, was the Island Whale Laboon.
It was fortunate that Naruto had been cautious and dispatched several shadow clones to patrol the nearby waters. Otherwise, Zeff and his crew might have silently sunk to the bottom of the Calm Belt without a trace.
Of course, Zeff's group also bore some responsibility.
Honestly, even Naruto hadn't expected them to sail there themselves, especially in a fish-shaped ship from the seabed.
If his Observation Haki range weren't so vast, and if Laboon hadn't strayed too far, this comedy could have easily turned into a tragedy.
Even though Laboon hadn't intended to eat this 'strange fish', its sheer size, combined with its playful approach, was enough to send ordinary people to the bottom of the sea.
With a 'thud', Naruto punched the massive Island Whale as a reprimand. Then, under Laboon's tearful gaze, he swam beneath the Nun Encore, lifted it up, and pulled it free from the turbulent currents.
Before leaving, Naruto specifically instructed Laboon.
"Don't bother any more ships nearby, got it? Quite a few people are probably coming from the seabed this time."
"Woo…"
Laboon let out a long, low moan, and Naruto seemed to understand.
"Bored? Why are you bored? I invited Straw Hat this time. Remember him? The guy who painted on your head?"
"? "
The moan, which sounded no different to Zeff and the others, seemed much more cheerful to Naruto.
"Alright, deal. Wait patiently. When they arrive, I'll bring you to see him."
"Woo~ Woo~"
Laboon called out again, swishing its tail.
With just that motion, countless fish were knocked unconscious.
"You… bargaining with me now…"
Naruto found it both amusing and exasperating. He hadn't expected this young whale to have learned so many tricks.
Laboon was saying it was too boring staying alone in the sea and wanted Naruto to stay and play with it.
"Go on, go on. I'm busy. Don't you know I'm getting married? … Wait, maybe there's a way."
Just as he was about to refuse Laboon's request, an idea struck Naruto. He set the ship down and signaled for it to surface.
The turbulence Laboon had caused had subsided. Zeff didn't argue and promptly surfaced the ship.
Under Laboon's gaze, which was larger than the ship itself, Naruto bit his finger.
His steel-like skin, capable of withstanding the slashes of great swordsmen, was pierced by his teeth, which could also bore through Seastone walls. Blood flowed out.
Before the wound could heal, Naruto quickly formed hand seals.
'Let's give it a try, take this chance.'
A long time ago, Naruto had tried using Summoning Technique in the One Piece World to summon his summons from the Ninja World.
Back then, not knowing the distance between the two worlds, he'd sensed a barrier.
Now, with a deeper understanding of Space-Time and a transformed power level, Naruto used the Summoning Technique again.
—Not the original kind.
But a [True Summoning Technique], using [Amenotorifune] and the [Nature Will's Imprint] as a stepping stone to forcibly open a passage between the two worlds.
He had secretly tried it when he returned to Amazon Lily. Amenotorifune worked.
Even with a barrier between the worlds, one Naruto himself couldn't fully explain, beyond the concept of 'dimensions', the unreasonable power of the Otsutsuki succeeded.
Perhaps it also had something to do with the body of Otsutsuki Shibai Naruto had brought over. What exactly Naruto did with that body is a story for another time…
For now, Naruto was more interested in seeing if he could achieve true 'cross-world summoning'.
If successful, it meant even if Karin and Sasuke were in a different world, he could still summon them back.
Don't forget, those two, having eaten Zoan-type Devil Fruits, were recognized by the summoning technique as 'summoning creatures'.
Furthermore, thanks to Naruto's improvements, this super-summoning technique wasn't a 'temporary' summon but forcibly opened a Space-Time passage to transfer the target.
This meant that after summoning, the summoning beast didn't need the user's Chakra to maintain its presence.
However, if they suffered a fatal injury, they couldn't just dissipate into smoke like before.
There were trade-offs.
Under Laboon's curious gaze, Naruto's palm began to glow with the same light as the Amenotorifune imprint… Naruto wasn't hiding it.
Then, the blood rapidly spread into the surrounding space, forming complex and mysterious 'incantations' in the water.
If the standard Summoning Technique was a flat, two-dimensional formation, then this improved super-summoning technique was a multi-layered, three-dimensional formation.
These formations overlapped, like a cocoon, gradually obscuring Naruto's view.
"Oh! I feel it! Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!"
Like fishing, Naruto used his spirit as bait and spatial power as a fishing rod, precisely crossing worlds to hook the unlucky catfish.
The next moment, with a 'reeling' motion, Gyumaru's body was 'squeezed' out of the white cocoon.
Stare…
Since the environment this time wasn't much different from its usual habitat, the slow-reacting Gyumaru showed no reaction, just staring blankly at Naruto.
It wasn't until Naruto spoke that it realized it had been summoned again.
"Hmm… did you gain weight again?"
He compared Gyumaru's size, trying to recall how big it had been last time.
It had only been a few days since their meeting at Uzushiogakure. Gyumaru had grown from over twenty meters to nearly a hundred meters.
'…What was the principle behind this?'
'Had Gyumaru been in a 'larval stage' all this time and was now entering its 'growth phase'?'
'Or… was it due to the different world environment?'
'But growth should follow natural laws! How could it multiply so many times in a few days?'
Even Naruto was stunned.
"Woo?"
Laboon let out a curious sound, seemingly interested in this 'little one' before it.
…Compared to Laboon, who is over four hundred meters long, Gyumaru, who is just over a hundred meters, was indeed a 'little one'.
Perhaps because it was in the sea, Gyumaru didn't summon rain clouds like before.
—It seemed that previous behavior was purely due to Gyumaru being uncomfortable in a waterless environment.
"Alright, small maybe, but at least it's a playmate."
Naruto waved to Laboon and then turned to Gyumaru.
"Stay close to Laboon and don't wander off. Otherwise, a deep-sea Sea King might gobble you up."
Stare…
Gyumaru just stared blankly back.
Though Naruto could sense emotions and simple thoughts from other people and creatures, he could never read anything from Gyumaru's small, expressionless eyes.
'Could it be… Gyumaru was really just a simple-minded fish?'
Honestly, even Naruto had his doubts.
But its ability to command wind and rain, to change the weather, and the fact it could sign a summoning contract proved Gyumaru was intelligent, and quite so.
'Maybe… it just liked to zone out?'
Rubbing his chin, Naruto watched Laboon swim off with Gyumaru. Occasionally, Laboon would swat a giant squid unconscious with its tail and offer it to its new friend.
To these two giant fish, these creatures, rarely exceeding twenty meters, were merely snacks.
Faced with its new friend's offering, Gyumaru didn't refuse, accepting whatever was given.
Naruto just shook his head and continued surfacing.
He had a lot to do. Hopefully, these two wouldn't cause any trouble.