"Blond kid, what kind of world is this?" Whitebeard asked, staring at the trembling Naruto in his hand.
"This is the Shinobi World!" Little Naruto shivered.
"Shinobi World..." A term he'd never heard before, Whitebeard's frown deepened. Was this indeed not the world he lived in before?
Why had he come to this world?
And how could he go back?
While pondering this, Whitebeard casually tossed Naruto into the air and swatted to his side.
With a smack—
The Anbu ninja, who thought he had a perfect chance to ambush Whitebeard, was taken aback by the giant's quick reaction.
Caught off guard, he was sent flying, crashing through two large trees by the river. Blood spurted from his mouth as numerous bones fractured within his body.
He was left barely alive, nearly dead!
"Why are their bodies so fragile?" Whitebeard had held back, wanting to extract information from them.
But he realized...
The people of this unfamiliar world were more fragile than he imagined, their bodies like clay.
In the next moment.
He casually caught the terrified Naruto, who was still in mid-air.
"Is he okay?" Naruto looked at the fallen Anbu ninja, vaguely remembering seeing such masked ninjas around the Hokage.
"He won't die." Whitebeard said, "Blond kid, tell me everything you know about this world."
"Huh? Oh, okay..." Naruto racked his brain, sharing his limited knowledge of the Shinobi World.
Whitebeard listened intently.
After several minutes.
"That's about it." Naruto's mouth was dry from speaking.
"Shinobi World, ninjas, Konoha, Hokage."
Whitebeard laughed loudly: "Gurararara! It seems I've come to quite an interesting place!"
He put Naruto on the ground.
As the world's most muscular man, Whitebeard wouldn't hesitate. What did it matter if he was in another world?
He wasn't the type to be conflicted. Since he had crossed into another world, everything would start anew!
If he could form the Whitebeard Pirates in the New World, couldn't he do the same in the Shinobi World?
He wanted a family so that he could gather a group of sons in the Shinobi World!
And if he found a way back...
An alive Whitebeard returning with a new Whitebeard Pirates, his foolish sons would be astounded!
Sengoku would be shocked to his core!
They would be utterly bewildered!
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard looked down at Naruto, who was trying to sneak away. He said, "Blond kid, I saw you struggling in the water earlier but not choosing to fight. I remember that masked kid called you a demon fox. What's your story, blond kid?"
Naruto froze.
Not because he was caught escaping but because the term "demon fox" made him feel utterly defeated.
He bit his lip: "Demon fox... There's nothing to say."
He bit so hard that his lip bled.
"Oh?" Whitebeard planted Muramasa into the ground, sat cross-legged on the riverbank, and teased, "It seems you have quite a story, kid! 'Demon fox' isn't a pleasant term. That masked kid was protecting you, yet he called you that."
"How contradictory!" Whitebeard grinned, "Gurararara, blond kid, don't you have the courage to talk about it?"
"I don't know why it's like this..."
Pushed to his emotional limit, the five-year-old Naruto's defenses crumbled.
His blue eyes were filled with confusion and grievance.
Naruto's voice choked with emotion: "Everyone in the village says I'm the demon fox who almost destroyed the village. But I don't understand why they think that, I didn't do anything, yet they hate me."
"Whenever I try to buy something, no one wants to sell to me. I don't know why. I asked the Hokage, and he told me not to care about what others think."
As he spoke, tears flowed.
Naruto's face was full of bitterness: "But how can I not care? That's why I wanted to drown myself earlier, to end it all. Everyone wants me dead anyway, so it doesn't matter if I die."
"Grandpa Hokage, though you seem like a bad guy... Ah! I mean, you didn't have to save me." Naruto said quietly, "They say I'm a demon fox that brings misfortune."
"If you save me, you'll be cursed."
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard rubbed Naruto's head with a finger, laughing, "I've sailed the seas for decades, not even fearing the Buster Call, why would I fear a curse?"
"That Hokage of yours is the leader of Konoha, right? You seem quite familiar with him. Why doesn't he stop others from bullying you?"
Whitebeard was puzzled.
Naruto describes his relationship with the Hokage as good, yet the Hokage allows others to bully him.
Wasn't that contradictory?
Naruto was uncertain: "Maybe Hokage-sama is too busy to care about such small matters?"
"What he sees as small matters, for you, are like a mountain!" Whitebeard had a poor impression of the Hokage: "That guy doesn't seem like a good person!"
Naruto reacted like a fox whose tail was stepped on: "You can't say that about the Hokage! He's the Hokage of Konoha!"
"He must have his reasons for doing this."
Whitebeard frowned.
This kid seemed brainwashed. As the village leader, the Hokage had a duty to protect Naruto from bullying.
But he didn't do that, allowing it to happen, pushing Naruto to the brink of suicide.
In this situation, the blond kid still defended him. Was the Hokage manipulating him?
Not only not helping the kid, but also mentally controlling him? Making the kid blindly worship him?
Whitebeard sighed inwardly. Naruto's childhood reminded him of his foolish sons. He saw in Naruto the shadows of his sons' younger selves.
Whitebeard suddenly asked: "Blond kid, do you have parents?"
Naruto shook his head sadly: "No... Hokage-sama said my parents died early, leaving me alone."
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard extended a hand.
Seeing Naruto's shocked expression, he said: "Naruto Uzumaki, be my son!!"
"Huh????"
...
...