"It looks a bit like the legendary Garuda, doesn't it?"
Garuda, also called the Golden-Winged Bird, is what we commonly refer to as the Roc.
In a certain parallel world, Garuda originates from the [Eight Legions of Devas and Nagas] in Buddhism, with legends of it devouring dragons.
And whether in the One Piece World or the Ninja World, Buddhist elements actually exist-
Considering Sengoku's Devil Fruit and the monk Chiriku, who died at the hands of Hidan and Kakuzu in the original work.
Therefore, it wasn't strange for the well-informed Jiraiya to deduce the fruit's true identity from Karin's current transformed appearance.
Compared to Jiraiya, who was trying to find common points between the giant bird and the legend, Naruto's reaction was much simpler.
"So cool!"
Stars practically shone in his eyes.
Honestly, there weren't many things Naruto found cool.
He used to think the Hokage was cool, but after many experiences, the 'filter' for that title was removed.
Later, he thought the protagonist of the North Blue's comic strip, [Sora, Warrior of the Sea], which is serialized in the World Economic News, and the combat suits of the antagonist group, [Germa 66], were cool.
And today, Naruto thought the giant golden bird, Karin, was really cool.
Huh? Garuda?
The name didn't matter.
"Hey! Karin!"
Naruto seemed to feel that watching from the ground wasn't enough. He simply stepped into the air and flew up to hover in front of Karin.
"So cool!!"
He expressed his heartfelt admiration again, his demeanor completely unlike that of a thirty-seven-year-old man.
One could say that spending a long time in the One Piece World wasn't without its benefits… at least Naruto had maintained a childlike heart.
Being stared at with such intensity by Naruto, and being unfamiliar with her first transformation, Karin immediately became flustered.
Her bird-like face, which had lost its human contours, actually managed to show an embarrassed expression.
It is truly a biological miracle.
Of course, this isn't specifically referring to the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, who became expressionless after transforming into a phoenix.
"Naruto-san-"
Karin spoke instinctively, but the sound that came out turned into a terrifying sonic wave upon leaving her mouth.
The sonic wave, almost tangible, slammed straight into Naruto, sending him flying back.
If his [Naruto Intuition] Observation Haki hadn't suddenly activated, he might have really been caught off guard by this sneak attack.
Karin herself was also frightened by this and almost spoke up to ask again. Fortunately, Naruto, who had been blasted over ten meters through the air, flew back in time and made a 'shh' gesture.
"Karin, don't be afraid."
Thanks to his thick skin, Naruto wasn't injured at all. He instead comforted Karin.
"This should be one of your abilities. You can control it."
Sure enough, after calming down, Karin did feel a special sensation in her throat. It seemed that with a thought, she could flip a switch.
"It's okay now!"
This sentence's voice was still clear and ethereal, but it didn't cause another sonic attack.
"You're amazing, Karin."
Naruto didn't mind at all. Instead, he flew closer and gently stroked the golden feathers on Garuda's body.
The base of those feathers was pliable and tough, but the edges were hard and sharp. Even with Naruto's current physical strength, his fingers would be cut if he didn't use any special power to reinforce them.
But he ignored the quickly healing cuts on his fingers, instead continuing to look at Karin with shining eyes.
"Karin, do you have any other special skills?"
This brought Karin, who was about to blush from shyness due to Naruto's touch, back to her senses.
She carefully sensed the various instincts of her body, then said to Naruto.
"Naruto-san, please step back a bit."
Unexpectedly, Naruto showed a smile identical to green spandex-wearing training fanatic and gave a thumbs-up.
"It's fine, just come at me directly!"
"But-" Karin was still hesitant.
"What? Don't you trust me, Karin?"
"Besides, if I can't be sure you're strong enough, I won't take you with me."
With things put that way, Karin couldn't refuse.
"Then, Naruto-san, please be careful."
After saying that, she suddenly flapped her wings to create distance, then vigorously beat her wings once.
In an instant, fierce winds mixed with hardened feathers shot rapidly towards Naruto.
Tekkai!
The principle of Tekkai from the Rokushiki is to accelerate blood flow to enhance muscle hardness, granting the body steel-like defense.
It is essentially a purely physical technique.
Although it's unclear who started the rumor that 'using Tekkai guarantees defeat', for Naruto, Tekkai truly possesses extremely strong defensive power.
Coupled with his already substantial Armament Haki, this defense could probably withstand even Orochimaru himself wielding the Kusanagi Sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The golden feathers turned into a torrent, almost instantly submerging Naruto's figure.
After using this move, Karin was also afraid of hurting Naruto and didn't continue her actions.
But seeing that Naruto's figure didn't stop using Geppo and fall to the ground, it was clear this attack hadn't endangered his safety.
"Whew… That's a pretty good attack!"
After the feathers passed, Naruto's figure reappeared.
Judging from his torn sleeves and the healing cuts, the relentless feather attack had obviously been effective.
Karin also saw this and immediately folded her wings, descending. She absolutely refused to attack Naruto again.
Seeing this, Naruto didn't insist.
Steel feathers, hurricane-force winds, high-speed movement, and sonic attacks.
Just these four abilities Karin had demonstrated were already completely sufficient for self-defense.
Now, even Jiraiya had no objection to taking Karin to the Land of Rain.
After all, even he would have been injured by Karin's attack just now. If he couldn't use Sage Mode, he questioned whether he could defeat this little girl.
'Are Devil Fruit's Abilities this powerful?'
Thinking this, Jiraiya looked at the Inku Inku no Mi in his hand.
Meanwhile, Karin, having landed again, received looks of reverence from the villagers of New Uzushiogakure.
These people weren't like the residents of some villages. Having experienced cruel fates, they deeply understood whom they should thank and wouldn't easily treat those with abilities as monsters.
"Naruto-san… how do I change back?!"
The Golden-Winged Garuda emitted the flustered voice of a young girl, creating a strong sense of contrast.
"Don't rush, relax, and try to control your body."
Generally, Zoan-type Devil Fruit Users should be able to easily master the instinct of animal transformation from the start.
But some younger users couldn't control it very well.
Just as Karin was about to follow Naruto's guidance to calm down, she heard Naruto suddenly shout.
"Wait! Don't change back yet."
Suddenly, an idea popped into Naruto's head.
Then, under Jiraiya's somewhat shocked and puzzled gaze, he took out a summoning scroll.