Tiger's bounty was far higher than the 230 million Beli from the original storyline. That alone showed just how vicious the fire Chu Yang had set truly was.
To this day, the Marines still hadn't dispatched a force to encircle and suppress the Sun Pirates—all because the damage to Mary Geoise had been far too severe. Every available hand had been thrown into post-disaster reconstruction the moment it happened.
In a way, this was a blessing in disguise.
It bought Chu Yang precious time to grow—time to gain the strength needed to protect himself.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
About a month later, the Marine pursuit finally arrived. By then, with Jinbe's help, Chu Yang had successfully learned Armament Haki.
On the seas of the New World, the Sun Pirates were completely surrounded by five Marine warships.
The enemy came in force. Everyone aboard knew a brutal battle was inevitable.
Including Arlong, not a single Fish-Man showed even a trace of fear. They were genuinely prepared to fight the Marines to the bitter end.
No Fish-Man would ever allow their spiritual leader, Fisher Tiger, to be taken away by the Marines.
With battle imminent, Tiger suddenly walked up to Chu Yang and said, "I never thought keeping you here would bring you trouble instead. If anything goes wrong later, get on a small boat and leave."
"Everyone else on this ship is a Fish-Man. They don't need a ship to escape."
Chu Yang glanced at Tiger and didn't answer.
If the situation turned bad, he would leave—but before that, he would slaughter as many enemies as possible.
If he couldn't take revenge on the Celestial Dragons yet, venting his anger on the Marines would do just fine.
Jinbe spoke up beside them, "Brother Tiger, we'll never abandon you and run away on our own."
Tiger looked around. Everyone shared Jinbe's stance. Seeing that persuasion was useless, he could only focus on commanding the crew for battle.
In terms of artillery, the Marines held an overwhelming advantage over ninety percent of pirate crews.
Thus, before boarding actions, saturation bombardment was always the first step.
The five warships completely sealed off the Sun Pirates' escape routes and unleashed a simultaneous barrage. The thunderous roar was deafening.
"Watch out for the cannon fire! If the ship takes direct hits, we're finished!" Jinbe shouted as he leapt into the sea.
In the water, he performed Fish-Man Jujutsu, grabbing the ocean currents as if they were solid objects.
With a powerful pull, the currents began to spiral, forming a massive waterspout.
With an over-the-shoulder throw, Jinbe launched the waterspout outward, creating a violently surging curtain of water along the ship's flank, blocking a large portion of the cannonballs.
The other side of the ship wasn't so lucky—there was nothing there to protect it.
Some of the more radical Fish-Men even tried to use their own bodies to block the shells, determined to protect the masts at all costs.
At that critical moment, Chu Yang appeared.
He slammed his palms together and began forming hand seals.
During this time, he hadn't only been learning Haki—every day, he had also been refining chakra and training his Wood Release.
He was no longer the greenhorn who'd just escaped the Holy Land.
Now, he could already perform some fairly advanced ninjutsu.
Activating Wood Release, gigantic shields formed from intertwined trees and vines rapidly grew along both sides of the deck, covering most of the ship.
[Wood Release · Tree World Wall]
Cannonballs rained down on the wooden shields, sparks flying everywhere. To everyone's surprise, the shields were astonishingly sturdy, forcibly withstanding the bombardment with only fine cracks forming on their surface.
"So this is the true power of Wood Release…!" Chu Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd already prepared himself mentally for the shields to be shattered by cannon fire.
"Beautifully done, Chu Yang!" Tiger shouted in delight. "Brothers! Chu Yang has blocked all the enemy's cannon fire! Get the ship moving—break through the encirclement first, then fight!"
Even with the Marines wasting their artillery on the wooden shields, the disparity in numbers was still enormous. Engaging in a boarding battle inside the encirclement would be a terrible idea.
The Sun Pirates absolutely could not fight the Marines while trapped.
Jinbe leapt out of the sea and back onto the deck, glanced at the Tree World Wall firmly protecting the ship, and said, "Brother Tiger, we can't raise the sails right now. We'll have to use the currents to move the ship."
Tiger nodded and took position at the stern with Jinbe.
Standing on opposite sides, the two used Fish-Man Jujutsu to manipulate the water's recoil, propelling the pirate ship forward at high speed.
Chu Yang didn't idle either.
Using Wood Release, he formed a pair of spear-like massive rams at the bow.
As the ship burst through the encirclement, those giant rams smashed straight into the warship ahead.
The Marine ship snapped in half like the Titanic, slowly sinking beneath the sea as Marines aboard fell into the water like dumplings.
Cheers erupted around Chu Yang!
After successfully breaking through, Chu Yang released Wood Release. The crew raised the sails once more, and Jinbe took the helm, skillfully widening the distance from the Marine warships.
Tiger walked over and patted Chu Yang on the shoulder, about to say something—only to notice that Chu Yang looked dazed.
At that moment, Chu Yang's consciousness followed the familiar mysterious mist and returned to the palace.
Naruto-world Chu Yang had been waiting for a long time.
And on one of the vacant thrones—
Another figure had appeared.
Yet another new "self"!
Naruto Chu Yang happily walked forward to stand face-to-face with pirate-world Chu Yang, while the "new Chu Yang" seated on the throne also stepped down.
The memories of all three merged once again.
After a moment, Naruto Chu Yang and pirate Chu Yang stared at the newcomer in shock.
He was Chu Yang from the Harry Potter magical world!
Magical-world Chu Yang had just received his invitation to Hogwarts during the holidays and hadn't officially enrolled yet. For now, he was still an orphan living in an orphanage.
Magical Chu Yang said excitedly, "I didn't really want to go to Hogwarts at first. I longed for it, sure—but I was also afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it. Now I'm not scared anymore."
Naruto Chu Yang nodded in agreement. "I completely understand. When I first transmigrated into the Warring States Era, I was terrified too. There were opportunities, but even more danger."
Pirate Chu Yang snorted. "You two should be grateful. I was hung up and had a red-hot branding iron slammed into my chest. Do you have any idea how painful that was?"
Naruto Chu Yang and magical Chu Yang both shuddered. They'd already seen the scene through pirate Chu Yang's memories.
Magical Chu Yang forced a smile. "Well, now that I've got your abilities, I can finally go to Hogwarts and learn magic with peace of mind."
Naruto Chu Yang sighed. "Hopefully the next one brings something worthwhile. It can't be me doing all the freeloading every time…"
Pirate Chu Yang laughed. "Tripling the cultivation speed and you're still complaining? You really are hard to satisfy."
Naruto Chu Yang slung an arm around pirate Chu Yang's shoulder. "Brother, you really delivered this time. Armament Haki plus Wood Release—absolutely insane. I've got a perfect use for it."
Pirate Chu Yang asked in surprise, "Has war already broken out on your side?"
Naruto Chu Yang said excitedly, "It should be the final battle before the villages are founded! I'm about to personally witness the birth of Konohagakure!"
(End of Chapter)
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