"Yes!"
The moment Crane made his decision deep within his consciousness, there was no hesitation.
Outside the door, the Root ninja had already launched their Earth Release technique, fists brimming with destructive chakra.
Boom!
The thick walls shattered like wet paper. A violent torrent of rock and debris surged in, instantly engulfing the spot where Crane had been standing and turning the entire room upside down.
Yet all it struck was a fading afterimage.
Crane's figure had long since vanished.
No light and no sound.
Crane felt as though his soul had been thrown into a high-speed blender. His body, too, was caught in the storm, being torn, crushed, and reassembled by an overwhelming, irresistible force.
The vast sea of ninjutsu knowledge passed down from the Third Hokage.
The fragmented memories of his short life.
Zabuza's blade. Haku's frozen eyes. Orochimaru's serpentine glare.
Everything tumbled and collided within this dimensional chaos, nearly shattering his very consciousness.
It was the system's first extreme pressure test on its host,
The toll of crossing worlds.
His chakra and stamina were being drained at a catastrophic rate. Ninety-nine percent of his energy was forcefully consumed as a toll by the dimensional gate.
Just as his awareness was about to collapse, the tearing force abruptly ceased.
In its place was a sickening plunge, an overwhelming sense of weightlessness.
Splash!
With a deafening crash, he plummeted from an unknown height into freezing seawater.
The impact and sheer exhaustion finally dragged him into unconsciousness.
…
No telling how much time passed.
When Crane slowly opened his eyes, the blinding sunlight forced him to squint.
The salty sea breeze burned his throat, scratching painfully as he gasped.
He found himself lying atop a broken, scorched wooden plank that barely floated.
All around him was the true meaning of vast and boundless.
Nothing but endless blue, stretching from sea to sky, the horizon indistinguishable.
His body felt hollow. A deep, suffocating weakness consumed every inch of muscle.
Even moving a single finger took tremendous effort.
Crane immediately checked himself.
His Konoha forehead protector.
The kunai and ninja pouch at his waist.
Every item that marked his identity as a ninja had been torn into microscopic particles by the chaos of spatial turbulence.
Now, he was just a tattered, barefoot boy, dressed in shredded rags,
A lone survivor of a shipwreck.
The perfect identity.
Just as he thought he'd die of dehydration under the relentless sun, a black dot appeared on the far horizon.
It grew closer.
A ship.
A strange little ship with an even stranger flag, a cartoonish skull atop a sheep's head.
The Going Merry.
Crane's heart swelled with a peculiar sense of reunion, as if meeting an old friend.
"Hey! There's someone out there!"
A bright, energetic voice called out from the ship.
Crane forced his heavy eyelids open and saw a straw hat-wearing boy standing at the railing, waving excitedly.
A moment later, the boy's arm stretched out in total defiance of physics, snapping forward like a whip and wrapping around Crane's body.
As he was hoisted aboard by the rubber arm, Crane slipped seamlessly into his role.
His eyes reflected survivor's fear, wide with confusion and helplessness, his body trembling from "cold" and "hunger."
"T-thank you…"
His hoarse voice struck the perfect emotional chord.
"You okay? You look awful! You hungry?"
Luffy scratched his head, offering a beaming, carefree smile.
Crane used the last of his strength to push himself up from the deck, eyeing the meager pile of ingredients near the ship's kitchen.
Tapping into the vast "legacy" of practical knowledge from the Third Hokage, survival, wilderness cooking, essentials for long missions, he gutted a few fish with clean precision, added a handful of crude spices, and roasted them over a simple fire.
Soon, a savory, mouthwatering aroma drifted across the deck.
Luffy's stomach roared like thunder.
When he took his first bite of grilled fish, his eyes popped open like saucers.
"So good!"
He immediately slapped Crane on the shoulder, speaking with his mouth full.
"You're staying! You'll be our cook and cabin boy!"
"I don't agree!"
A sharp voice cut in.
An orange-haired girl marched over, arms crossed and face full of suspicion.
The navigator, Nami.
She eyed Crane like a criminal under interrogation.
"What's your name? Where are you from? Why were you drifting alone in the middle of the sea?"
Crane shrank back, dodging her gaze. His cowardly, timid performance was flawless.
"I… my name's Crane. My village… pirates destroyed it. I'm the only one left…"
His voice trembled, carrying just the right trace of sobs. Fear and sorrow filled his eyes without the slightest crack in the facade.
To further sell his harmlessness, when the green-haired swordsman and Luffy started bickering over a piece of meat, Crane exaggerated his fear more than even the long-nosed sniper.
He curled into a ball beside the mast, hugging his head and shivering like the sky was falling.
That single moment earned him a label in everyone's heart.
Harmless.
Timid.
Completely non-threatening.
Crane had successfully secured his place aboard the Merry. As his stamina slowly returned, the system panel became visible once more.
But just when he thought he could finally settle down and grow in peace, a cold mechanical prompt rang in his mind without warning.
[Newbie Trial: Ruler of East Blue]
[Main Quest Activated: Survive the upcoming battle against the Arlong Empire and replicate at least one Devil Fruit ability.]
[Failure Penalty: Permanent loss of 'Ability Replication' function!]
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter