Seeing these men and women, Kaido glanced at the vortex again.
"Just them? You're not coming?"
"For me, stopping the Otsutsuki is more important. Kaido, please take good care of them after this." Imperial Naruto said.
"Don't worry, Naruto. Your friends are my friends." Kaido grinned.
He turned to Shikamaru and the others. "Naruto's friends, I'm Kaido, captain of the Beasts Pirates, one of the Yonko in this world. I don't know your names yet."
"I'm Shikamaru, this is Kiba, that's Choji, and…" Shikamaru lazily introduced his companions to Kaido.
"Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji… Welcome! My crew! Training's over! Prepare a welcome feast! Tonight, we drink till dawn!" Kaido raised his club and shouted.
"Oh!!!"
The Beasts Pirates roared.
Suddenly, a white light shot from afar, entering the vortex.
This abrupt change shocked everyone present.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"My foolish son, Yamato." Kaido said, exasperated.
"Son? If I'm not mistaken, she's a girl, right?"
Shikamaru recalled that striking female figure, instinctively touching his nose—thankfully, no nosebleed.
In this world, men being huge was one thing. But why were women like that too? And how could they be so big yet so beautiful? So weird!
"It's because Yamato has a man's spirit, so Kaido prefers calling her his son rather than daughter." King explained.
"I see…" Shikamaru shrugged.
"Naruto, I'm entrusting my foolish son to you." Kaido said to Imperial Naruto.
"Got it. I'll bring her back next month."
"Bring her back? Forget it for now. Yamato always sees herself as an enemy I killed. If she returns, she'll just cause trouble. Let her stay in the Empire." Kaido said.
"Sees you as an enemy? That's a cognitive disorder… Don't worry, Kaido. In the Empire, no illness is incurable. Next time, I'll bring you a healthy daughter." Imperial Naruto said, giving Kaido a thumbs-up.
"Worororo… Thanks a lot, Naruto." Kaido laughed heartily.
Kaido trusted Naruto's abilities.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
That night, the Beasts Pirates gathered, raising glasses, shouting, and laughing loudly.
Kaido, King, and other top pirates surrounded Shikamaru and his group, praising and joking.
This scene shocked some onlookers.
"Hey! You're from another world, right?" Ulti, wearing a mask with horns, quietly approached Kiba.
Kiba, who'd been drinking and laughing with Beasts Pirates subordinates, was briefly startled. Glancing at Ulti, his eyes lit up. "Oh, beautiful lady, you've got sharp eyes, spotting it right away." Kiba said suavely.
Ulti's horns and wild aura felt oddly familiar to him.
"I want to know about your world… I heard Kaido-sama and Boss King say everyone there's monstrously strong. Is that true? Are they all that powerful?" Ulti asked curiously.
Her younger brother, Page One, had also run to her side, staring at Kiba with gleaming eyes.
"Monstrously strong? Hmm… haha… you could say that!" Kiba laughed loudly. "You know Namikaze Naruto?"
"Of course! The one talking to Kaido-sama earlier. We heard Kaido-sama say he's a top-five fighter who taught him ninjutsu and martial arts. Seems he could easily defeat the entire Beasts Pirates alone." Ulti said seriously.
"It's incredible strength. If Kaido-sama hadn't said it, we wouldn't believe it." Page One added.
"Exactly! So powerful!"
Other pirates nearby chimed in with praise.
"Haha! Of course! The Empire's people are that strong! So, you all need to train hard in ninjutsu and budo—maybe you'll get that strong too!" Kiba laughed heartily.
"So you must be really strong too, right?" Ulti asked, her big eyes blinking.
"Me? Obviously! You know Naruto, so you must know Uzumaki Naruto, right?" Kiba said proudly.
"Heard of him. Also a top-ten fighter there. One person's enough to take down a Yonko crew." Ulti said.
"Haha! Exactly! Uzumaki Naruto almost lost to me once! We fought, mountains crumbled, winds reversed—if not for a small accident, I'd have beaten him. Such a pity…" Kiba said with a regretful expression.
Ulti's eyes sparkled. "So cool…"
"Cool? I still lost in the end." Kiba shook his head, though inwardly prouder.
Nearby, teammates overhearing him silently shook their heads.
Chunin Exams making mountains crumble and winds reverse?
How bold of him to say.
With that little strength, who here wasn't stronger than him back then?
Akamaru, hearing this, lowered his head in embarrassment.
"Come! Drink! Eat!" Kaido, seated at the head, shouted, pouring sake into his mouth.
After a few sips, Shikamaru couldn't help but say: "Mr. Kaido, do you know where Skypiea is?"
"Skypiea? You want to go to Skypiea?" Kaido paused drinking, asking.
"Yeah, before meeting you, we heard legends about Skypiea from many pirates. We're curious and want to see it ourselves."
"Worororo… Rare for Empire folks to be interested in our world. Of course, I know Skypiea, but it's a world ten thousand meters up. Not easy to reach, even with Geppo…"
"Mr. Kaido, are you underestimating Empire technology?" Shikamaru sensed Kaido's doubt.
"Oh? Technology? Seems the Empire excels in that too. I'd like to see how you reach Skypiea." Kaido said.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The Beasts Pirates and Konoha's advance team got along well.
Meanwhile, in a room with metal walls, Yamato suddenly appeared, grinning at the onlookers. "Yo! Hello, everyone. I'm Kozuki Oden! I'm here to learn the strange abilities you taught Kaido to restore Wano Country! Please teach me!"
She bowed deeply.
The others exchanged glances, unsure how to respond.
Then Imperial Naruto appeared beside Yamato, placing a hand on her. Water-formed cuffs and shackles locked her in place.
Under Yamato's shocked gaze, he said to everyone: "Take this girl to the psychiatric hospital. Her father says she's mentally ill. We need to treat her."
"Yes!"
Everyone responded, surrounding Yamato.
Seeing this, Yamato shouted: "Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you doing? Damn it! Let me go! Let me go!"
"I just want to learn your techniques, defeat Kaido, and restore Wano! Even if you won't teach me, you don't have to do this! Let me go!"
Soon, Yamato was strapped to an iron chair.
Facing a white-coated doctor, she roared: "Damn it! I told you, I'm Kozuki Oden! No matter how many times you ask, I'm Kozuki Oden!"
Her voice cut off.
*ZZZT!*
Powerful electric currents surged around her, making the water-weakened Yamato tremble violently.
"You're really stubborn. Your father seems normal—why do you have this cognitive disorder? Inherited from your mother?" said a white-coated man with parted hair and glasses.
"Ugh… Regardless, I'm Kozuki Oden! You can't change my free will!"
*ZZZT!*
Electricity kept striking Yamato, finally knocking her out.
Seeing the unconscious Yamato, the white-coated man frowned deeper. "Unexpectedly stubborn… But I'm a mental illness expert. The Empire's Thunder King—I don't believe I can't cure you!"
"Hmph! Strange woman, you've piqued my curiosity! Let's settle this!"
His eyes burned with fighting spirit.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The next morning, on Onigashima, the Beasts Pirates gathered, staring intently at the Empire group.
Unlike yesterday, the Empire team, including their dogs, wore distinct outfits. Except for their heads, their bodies were clad in black armor, with two pairs of glowing wings extending from their shoulders, white particles enveloping them.
"Shikamaru… this?" Kaido squinted slightly.
"This is the Empire's tech weapon, Exoskeleton Combat Armor. Flight is just a basic feature." Shikamaru smiled.
"A flying device? I've seen those, but they usually need energy, right? It's thousands of nautical miles to Skypiea and the Devil Fruit factory. Running out of power midway would be troublesome." Kaido warned.
"Mr. Kaido knows flying devices need energy, but don't you know the biggest energy source in the world is up there?" Shikamaru smiled, pointing to the glowing object in the sky.
"The sun…"
"Exactly. For the Empire, solar energy is a highly useful resource."
Shikamaru smiled, rising into the air with the others.
Two Beasts Pirates, assigned as guides by Kaido, joined them, shouting as the exoskeleton's AI lifted them into the air.
"Be it individual strength or technological advancement, the Empire far surpasses our world. That exoskeleton armor they wear flies incredibly fast… They should reach their destination in a day or two." Kaido sighed, watching the Empire group fade into the distance.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Robin!"
A shout, accompanied by deafening thunder, rang out.
Enel slowly withdrew his finger.
Before him, a beautiful, slightly tanned woman in a beach hat fell in pain.
Rapid footsteps sounded.
Zoro quickly approached, catching the falling Robin, glaring at Enel angrily. "She's a woman."
"Hmph, obviously." Enel sneered.
"!"
Zoro said nothing, charging at Enel, swinging both swords in a slash.
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
Several consecutive slashes, sharp enough to cut steel, passed through Enel's body without harming him.
Enel grinned, slowly extending both hands toward Zoro. "20 million volts…!"
As the last two words were spoken, bright blue light flashed.
"Ugh!"
Struck, Zoro screamed in pain, his body smoking as he fell.
"Damn, a Logia-type Devil Fruit… Can't touch him at all. How… how do we defeat an enemy like this?" Zoro muttered unwillingly from the ground.
Nearby, Nami watched in fear, trembling.
Enel, despite attacking only a few times, had shown the extraordinary power of a Logia Devil Fruit.
It almost crushed any resistance.
Nami felt a sinking dread.
"What do we do? What do we do? How can we defeat this guy named Enel… or even escape…?"
Watching Enel grin and extend his hand toward Zoro again, Nami tensed.
If Zoro took another hit, he might lose all fighting ability, and they'd be completely defeated…
But how could they stop this?
She had no answers!
*BOOM!*
A thunderous sound broke the tense moment.
Everyone turned.
Above the sea of clouds, a group of over twenty people in armor, with glowing wings on their backs—and dogs?—flew straight toward them.
Seeing them, Enel frowned. "Another bunch of fools. Die! God's Judgment!"
Enel waved his right hand, a massive lightning bolt shooting out.
This made Nami sweat coldly, thinking: (They're done for… Now's my chance to escape with Robin and Zoro.)
She prepared to seize the moment.
But the twenty-plus people and dogs suddenly accelerated, dodging God's Judgment and landing beside them.
A man with pineapple-shaped hair and a lazy expression at the forefront lightly clasped his hands.