Meanwhile, far overseas at the Southern Hideout… or rather, its ruins.
A thoroughly drenched Naruto sat on a broken wall with a complex expression, his face seemed to be filled with doubt about life.
It would have been even more fitting if someone had stuffed a lit cigarette into his mouth right then.
"Sigh-"
This was who-knows-what-number sigh from Naruto.
But whenever he recalled those blurry and pink-tinted scenes in his memory, Naruto felt his mind turn to complete mush.
He'd guarded his bottom line for so many years, only to have it compromised by Stussy's 'underhanded trick'.
The Baku Baku no Mi possessed the ability to passively transform inorganic and harmful substances, but for things that had no adverse effects on the body, or could even be considered 'tonics', this fruit ability would very 'intelligently' avoid them.
And Stussy, through trial and error, had managed to bypass this mechanism, successfully making Naruto fall for it.
Now, thinking about it, he had no idea how to face those two women the next time he returned to the One Piece World.
Stussy truly lived up to her title as [Queen of the Pleasure District]. Even if she hadn't done such thing before, she must had seen such things before, so her playstyles truly broke through the limits of Naruto's impoverished imagination.
'Even in Jiraiya-sensei's works, such scenes had never been described.' (T/N: The Sensei here is not for teacher, but for a master of an art.)
Sighing once more, Naruto stood up and looked at the submerged Southern Hideout behind him.
Yes, the Southern Hideout had completely 'sunk' beneath the water's surface.
Based on Naruto's past experience, every time he 'crossed over', he would return to the location he last left.
It was precisely because of this that Naruto had specifically found a somewhat hidden room within the Southern Hideout this time.
He had even used the Shadow Clone Technique to create the illusion that he was getting drunk elsewhere.
It was entirely to avoid any contingencies Orochimaru might have left behind.
After later obtaining Orochimaru's memories, Naruto learned that the other party indeed had contingencies, but they weren't placed in the Southern Hideout.
By the time seawater began pouring into his nostrils, Naruto jolted awake from his drunken state.
Fortunately, his physical constitution was exceptional, and he had years of diving experience, otherwise, just choking on the water could have been dangerous.
At that moment, Naruto instinctively used his fruit ability.
Baku Baku no Diving Suit!
Simply put, it was creating a resin bubble.
However, only after he had isolated himself from the seawater did he realize he wasn't feeling the expected 'weakness'.
It was just like before he had eaten the Devil Fruit.
The water in the Ninja World didn't seem to affect Devil Fruit Users.
This led Naruto to make a connection.
Chakra was the same.
He, from the Ninja World, could extract it unimpeded, but the people from One Piece World like Roger and Rayleigh showed no reaction at all.
When in the One Piece World, even Naruto would be affected by seawater, but upon returning to the Ninja World, everything was normal again.
It seemed there were differences in certain details between the two worlds that he wasn't aware of.
As someone only half-educated, Naruto naturally didn't know that in the One Piece World, someone had already researched the reason why Devil Fruit Users were 'rejected' by the sea.
It was because seawater contained a core factor called [Pyrobloin]. This element was the actual cause of the weakness Devil Fruit Users felt.
Incidentally, this was also the principle behind Seastone.
Bringing his thoughts back, although he didn't know what the Southern Hideout had experienced during his absence, it was unlikely anyone could answer him now.
'Since things have come to this, let's eat first.'
Wait, no… let's go find some acquaintances first.
Before leaving the Land of Hot Water with Orochimaru's subordinates, Naruto had asked Master Jiraiya to stay in the Land of Hot Water with Karin.
If he didn't receive any message from Naruto's side within ten days, he was to take Karin to the Land of Whirlpools first.
The now-ruined Land of Whirlpools was actually a safer location than any of the great nations.
Because he didn't know how much time had passed, Naruto decided to follow [Orochimaru's memory] and head to the Land of Whirlpools ruins first.
No special reason, purely because the Southern Hideout was closer to the Land of Whirlpools.
Naruto stepped onto the water's surface, then suddenly opened his mouth wide and 'spat' out an exquisitely crafted small boat.
It was his personal ship, the Gale Breaker.
During its time in Naruto's stomach, Naruto would occasionally swallow some rare materials and then use the [Baku Baku Factory] to modify and upgrade the Gale Breaker.
Currently, the Gale Runner's durability and defensive capabilities were significantly higher than the initial version.
Calling it the Gale Breaker 2.0 wouldn't be an exaggeration!
Roar!
The engine nozzles at the stern had been modified into four, and the top speed had also been greatly increased.
Naruto stood at the bow like this, feeling the unique sea breeze of the Ninja World on his face while carefully sorting through Orochimaru's memories.
'From the known information, the founder of the Akatsuki organization was a guy called [Pain], who possessed a pair of special eyes known as the [Rinnegan].'
'It was during a solo mission with Pain that Orochimaru attempted to steal the Rinnegan, failed, and subsequently chose to defect from the organization.'
'This guy possessed an ability that could instantly unleash a thrust similar to a shockwave.'
'As for the guy called [Uchiha Madara], Orochimaru only knew of his existence and had never actually met him.'
'Hmm, it didn't seem particularly troublesome for now.'
Moving his arms slightly, Naruto could feel that his current body had improved once again.
If nothing else, just in terms of pure physical quality, it was already approaching half the level of his One Piece World's body.
Similarly, the amount of Armament Haki it could bear had also increased significantly.
According to the pattern he had summarized earlier, the time he had been away from the Ninja World this time should have lengthened considerably.
On the other side, Kirigakure.
"Let's pack up. It looks like Uzumaki Naruto is no longer here."
After receiving the same notification from her subordinates once again, Terumi Mei finally gave up on her plan to continue searching for Naruto to 'cooperate'.
They could now confirm that their Mizukage was indeed under someone's control.
Conversely, the Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had not yet detected the unusual behavior of the Ninjas under his command.
Without receiving orders from Obito, Yagura was more like a robot following certain instructions.
Previously, Mei and the others, following the clues Naruto intentionally left, tracked their way to the Southern Hideout.
Before officially landing on the island, they encountered prisoners who had been released from their cells and were escaping on small boats, among them their village's problem child, Hozuki Suigetsu.
From Suigetsu's mouth, they also learned who the mastermind behind the Southern Hideout was.
-Orochimaru.
Originally, Mei intended to approach the other party with more caution, but she didn't expect another group to act far more ostentatiously than them.
It was a group of mysterious ninjas who had concealed all identifying marks. They unhesitatingly launched an attack on all the guards at the Southern Hideout.
Lethal moves with each strike, leaving no survivors.
However, even though they concealed their identities, Mei could still discern some clues from the Ninjutsu they released.
These guys, no matter how she looked at them, seemed like people from Kumogakure.
The Ninjas stationed at the Southern Hideout were mostly Ninjas from smaller villages, at best having received Orochimaru's inferior Cursed Seals. They were simply no match for these powerful, swift-moving individuals.
These guys searched the entire Southern Hideout from top to bottom but couldn't find the target, Uzumaki Naruto.
Instead, they discovered Mei's group lurking on the periphery.
The final outcome is what we see now.
The Southern Hideout was completely submerged.