"Kakaka! Kid, you still can't handle it! How can a man not know how to drink?"
At the banquet, Sasuke somewhat disdainfully pushed away the drunken Sai, who had squeezed next to him.
He didn't quite understand this guy's personality.
'Just moments ago, he seemed ready to fight to the death. How could he act like a completely different person now?'
'Were people on this sea all such weird characters?'
Sasuke didn't realize he had guessed a certain truth.
"Sai is a straightforward person. Your strength has earned his recognition, and since we've reached a cooperation, he'll treat you as one of his own, trust you without reservation."
As if sensing Sasuke's discomfort, Chinjao smilingly took a sip of Kano Country's specialty brew and said.
"But you really are different from that kid Naruto."
"Oh?"
Hearing Naruto's name again from Chinjao, Sasuke's hidden gossip-loving spirit finally couldn't stay low-key.
"What was he like when he came here before?"
"Hahahaha! That kid was even more extravagant than you."
Hearing Sasuke's question, Chinjao let out an exaggerated laugh.
And the surrounding crowd heard from Chinjao's mouth a story about the [Great Hero] that was little-known.
...
That was about fifteen years ago.
Eight years had passed since Naruto left Roger's ship. He had ended his 'secluded, child-raising' life in Windmill Village and chosen to wander the seas again.
At twenty-one, Naruto had grown into a young man… nearly two meters tall, with an inverted-triangle golden physique, virtually a younger version of Garp.
It really had been hard on the Dadan Family.
To be honest, raising just one little brat wasn't much for the Dadan Family, this group of mountain bandits.
Although they went by the name 'mountain bandits', they rarely actually robbed civilians.
More often, they plundered the shipments of the nobles in the Goa Kingdom.
Generally, the treasure from one raid was enough for the entire family to eat for many days.
-Of course, that was before Naruto arrived.
After watching the then-ten-year-old Naruto single-handedly eat ten people's worth of food, Dadan, even braving her fear of Garp, wanted to send this bottomless pit away.
Fortunately, that old fool Garp's stipend was sufficient enough to at least not starve the two kids, one big, one small.
After tormenting the Dadan Family for several years, the twenty-one-year-old Naruto finally decided to let the already bratty Ace go.
So, on a calm, windless day, Naruto set sail, amidst the Dadan Family's tear-filled eyes.
"Sniff sniff..."
"That Naruto guy..."
"...Finally left!"
Unlike little Ace, who was quietly wiping tears in the treehouse, the Dadan Family truly shed tears of relief.
As for Naruto...
Learning from his early experience of getting lost at sea, he simply chose to walk on water the entire way, like wandering across a desert, beginning to 'stroll' across the sea.
Purely enduring on Chakra.
If he couldn't hold on, he'd use the barrel he carried to rest on for a bit.
After that, rumors began spreading across the sea about a 'man who walks on the sea'.
The fact proved that, after leaving ships behind, relying solely on his feet, Naruto indeed didn't get lost at sea.
Because he got lost at land.
The fact once again proved that someone with no sense of direction will get lost anywhere, whether on sea or land.
He's originally intending to head towards the Red Line, but he ended up walking from the Grand Line, crossing the Calm Belt, heading towards the West Blue.
It was quite a serious deviation.
When Naruto first set foot on the soil of Kano Country, he had already been thirsty for three days at sea.
It was true he could easily catch various sea creatures at sea, but obtaining fresh water was truly difficult.
At least for an unlucky guy without a ship and who hadn't mastered any Water Release Ninjutsu yet, it was hard.
After gulping down a large bucket of fresh water, then devouring nearly one-third of the restaurant's stored food, Naruto finally remembered he didn't have any money.
Money were indeed hard to carry without storage scrolls.
After negotiating with the shopkeeper about working to repay the debt was refused, Naruto used a trick learned from that bad influence (Rayleigh).
"Transformation Technique!"
A puff of smoke cleared.
Then under the shopkeeper's dumbfounded gaze, Naruto transformed from a burly man into a delicate girl.
Then, before the other could reach him, he clutching his arm, heavily fell to the ground, rolling while crawling towards the door.
It wasn't that the current Naruto couldn't beat an ordinary shopkeeper.
He had already eaten without paying, so was he going to beat the person up too?
At the same time, he himself didn't want to get beaten.
So Naruto decided to use this method to escape first, then find a way to get money to come back and pay for the meal.
This shopkeeper hadn't done anything like suddenly raising prices or treating people differently based on their appearance, so Naruto didn't intend to default on the debt.
"Hel... cough cough... help, stop hitting me..."
Perhaps because it was his first time doing this and he was still inexperienced, Naruto's cry for help was still somewhat unnatural.
Seeing the surrounding people gradually gathering and the shopkeeper being blocked from approaching, Naruto seized the opportunity and darted into the crowd.
"Run, run... I'll find a way to earn some money later..."
"Maybe catch a few pirates?"
As he was thinking while running quickly across rooftops, a rough voice suddenly rang out.
"Kid! Don't think you can run!"
Naruto looked back and saw a slightly younger Chinjao, beard not fully white yet.
"Hasshoken - Martial Head!!"
Pitch-black Haki coated the flat head's surface, its destructive power no less than a solid giant hammer.
Boom!!
With a loud explosion, the two fell towards the ground at extremely high speed, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Hey! I just had a meal without paying. No need to go for the kill right away."
The smoke cleared. Naruto was currently using his fist to press against Chinjao's head, saying somewhat helplessly.
Chinjao, feeling Naruto's Armament Haki on par with his own, his eyes narrowed slightly.
'This kind of Haki...'
"Nonsense! You're definitely a spy from an enemy country!"
Kano Country recently had spies causing trouble. Chinjao had accepted a commission to find the spies.
Naruto's transformation from a girl back to his original form earlier had just been observed by Chinjao's Observation Haki, leading to this conflict.
"Hey... don't decide on your own..."
"Hmph! No point in more talk! Martial Head Spin - Wild Dance!"
Chinjao directly smashed his head into the ground, then his entire body began spinning at an extremely high speed, like a human top, swiftly launching kicks at Naruto.
Feeling the forceful wind stinging his face, Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You... I already said I'm not a spy!"
Haki coated his arms. Naruto pulled his arm back like drawing a bow.
"This stance!"
Even in high-speed rotation, Chinjao could still see his surroundings clearly.
Naruto's posture was exactly the same as the most despicable guy in his memory!
Garp!!!
'It's all because of you! My drill head disappeared!'
"Galaxy… Impact!"
Thump!
When Naruto's fist hit him, Chinjao realized the other party not only had the same posture as that old man, but also the strength in his hand wasn't much different either.