As one of Kaido's [All-Stars], a user of an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, and a fish-man hybrid, Jack's most outstanding trait was his tenacious vitality.
If Queen was recognized by Kaido for his technological development skills, and King for his formidable combat power, then Jack was purely iron-headed.
Literally iron-headed.
"Hmm! Roar!!"
Karin watched in surprise as the pirate who had taken her ultimate attack head-on only ten minutes ago was already waking up and immediately trying to get up to fight. Her understanding of the physical prowess of humans in this world rose another notch.
It might seem like she had just transformed into a bird and launched a desperate strike.
But in reality, [Vajra: Sky Crusher] was a combined attack integrating her four talents: wind control, diamond-like durability, divine speed, and illusory sound.
Anyone hit would not only experience high-speed impact and wind blade cuts but also suffer mental shock.
Logically, even a Tailed Beast wouldn't fare well after taking this hit directly.
Karin truly didn't expect that the first pirate she encountered in this world could just get up seemingly fine after being knocked unconscious for a while after taking this move head-on.
-Although being unconscious for ten minutes effectively ended any abnormal fight.
But regarding the reawakened Jack, Karin showed no intention of continuing the fight.
Watching the giant mammoth transform into his hybrid form and charge again, she remained standing there, looking completely unconcerned.
Even Konohamaru beside her had the same expression.
At this moment, Konohamaru even had time to start reviewing the previous fight. This dismissive attitude made Jack, whose mind wasn't fully clear yet, see red.
'Bastard!'
'How dare you look down on me!'
'Die!!'
A layer of black Haki suddenly wrapped around the mammoth's trunk, which then turned into a steel whip lashing forward.
Boom!!
But this seemingly certain hit was easily caught by a large hand.
The clash between the two Haki forces ended almost instantly, with one side achieving absolute dominance.
"Ah!"
Jack felt intense pain in his trunk and tried to pull it back with force, but that large hand was like cast iron… once caught, it was impossible to break free.
'If that's the case-'
A flash of ruthlessness passed through Jack's red eyes. Enduring the severe pain from his trunk, he drew his scimitars from his tusks again with both hands and directly slashed at the head of the person in front of him.
Clang! Crack!
"Calmed down now?"
Naruto looked at the scimitar that had struck his neck but cracked itself, then tilted his head to look at the young All-Star before him.
Calling Jack 'young' wasn't an exaggeration at all. The guy was only twenty-eight this year, even younger than some of the so-called [Worst Generation].
Before today, Naruto hadn't actually fought him.
But now it seemed...
"Kaido really has no one else to use, does he?"
"You bastard!"
As everyone knew, besides being iron-headed, Jack's loyalty to his boss Kaido was one of his most distinct characteristics.
Upon hearing Naruto's teasing remark about Kaido, the slight reason he had regained from his ineffective attack vanished again.
He simply ignored his caught trunk, released the broken scimitars, and pounced entirely towards Naruto.
Compared to Jack, who was over eight meters tall, Naruto, currently 'only' a bit over three meters, seemed somewhat 'petite'.
"Looks like communication is impossible."
Thus, in the next moment, an iron fist wrapped in Haki directly struck Jack's head.
Crack-
Almost everyone present could clearly hear the sound of bone cracking.
They saw Jack's hill-like figure smashed to the ground by this punch, bouncing up slightly due to the recoil.
In the next moment, the ground looked as if hit by a meteor, forming a huge crater.
This time, Jack wouldn't be waking up again anytime soon.
"Sorry about that, I was a bit hot-headed. I'll have to trouble you all to deliver the message."
After knocking out Jack completely with one punch, Naruto gently clapped his hands as if finishing something trivial, then turned to look at Jack's crew members behind him.
They weren't as arrogant and single-minded as Jack.
In fact, after these people got back up and clearly saw the identity of the person before them, they completely lost any thought of opposing Naruto.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Unlike his status as more of an 'urban legend' in the first half of the Grand Line, this face was extremely well-known in the New World.
Especially among the major powers, it was even more familiar.
Whether Jack recognized Naruto or not was unknown, but these crew members recognized him immediately.
Who didn't know him?
The ruthless character who had forcefully repelled the pursuit of a Marine Admiral and the Marine Hero Garp on Whole Cake Island not long ago.
Perhaps only someone like Jack wouldn't remember the face from the newspaper.
Sheepshead, the Future Gifter, now knelt properly before Naruto like an elementary student listening attentively to the teacher, obediently awaiting his instructions.
"I've spared this guy's life for Kaido. From now on, we're even."
As he spoke, Naruto pointed at the completely unconscious Jack behind him, then continued.
"Tell Kaido, next time we meet, we are enemies."
"The fight from twenty years ago can continue now."
After saying this, Naruto paid no more attention to these guys and walked straight towards the Mammoth.
"Oh, and borrowing one of your ships shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Sheepshead, who had just relaxed upon seeing the legendary ruthless man turn to leave, felt his heart leap again when the other looked back.
"No problem, no problem! Feel free!"
Not just Sheepshead, even the other pirates nearby had similar expressions.
It couldn't really be blamed on their poor quality.
In the twenty years the Beast Pirates occupied Wano Country, their numbers expanded greatly, but consequently, the strength of their members became uneven.
The ones who could actually fight and had strong willpower were probably only the so-called [Tobiroppo]. So-called [Future Gifter] like Sheepshead, who hadn't even eaten an Artificial Devil Fruit yet, really weren't much to look at.
"Naruto-san, you are..."
Walking beside Naruto, Karin looked at him somewhat uncomprehendingly.
Until Naruto emerged from the sea and saw them fighting Jack and his crew, his expression had been very relaxed.
Just as he had said earlier, they were here to relax.
But after Jack was knocked out, and Naruto asked the pirate lackeys 'if any major events had happened at sea from after the Whole Cake Island battle until today', Karin and the others could clearly sense the change in his demeanor.
"A... hmm, a junior of mine was captured by the Marines and will be executed soon."
"So, our itinerary needs to change a bit."
As he said this, Naruto's brows were slightly furrowed.