On the Sabaody Archipelago, the battle between Naruto and the Marine Admiral was still in full swing.
Above them at an altitude of ten thousand meters was the holy land Mary Geoise, where the "descendants of the Creator" looked down upon the human world.
At this moment, several figures were rapidly running up the walls.
Looking closely, it was Naruto who had been fighting Akainu earlier.
Of course, more accurately, these were all Naruto's shadow clones.
The biggest flaw of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, or rather its inherent characteristic, was that it would evenly divide the user's chakra.
This meant that if the user wasn't skilled enough and created too many clones at once, the main body's chakra would drop to a dangerous level, possibly even falling into a coma.
Of course, this definitely didn't apply to Naruto.
After all, during the twenty-plus years he'd spent in this world, the only ninjutsu he could train besides the Three Basic Techniques and Sexy Technique (which was actually also categorized under Transformation Technique) was this "forbidden technique."
Now he could precisely control the number of clones to single digits.
In the ninja world, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was indeed very effective. Each clone possessed the main body's chakra and had the ability to physically attack.
But at the same time, the ninja world was a world that emphasized "chakra quantity."
Increasing the number of clones didn't change the total chakra amount. It even decreased it. This made it somewhat lackluster when facing truly powerful enemies.
Some ninjutsu that required massive amounts of chakra couldn't be used multiple times either.
However, while the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique evenly divided chakra, it didn't evenly divide "physical constitution."
Each clone's physical strength was the same as the main body's, without any reduction.
This might not make a difference for ninjas who needed to enhance their bodies with chakra, but for Naruto it was an undeniable enhancement.
At this moment, every clone here possessed the physical strength of the "Great Hero"!
The only regrettable thing was that Haki, as a power derived from the spirit, also experienced "even division" during cloning.
This was why Naruto didn't create thousands or tens of thousands of clones at once. He still needed to hold off Akainu here.
But it didn't matter; this was enough.
Akainu was fighting the criminal who attacked the Celestial Dragons, which also drew the attention of World Government higher-ups.
At this time, few people would pay attention to whether anyone was climbing the Red Line.
Ever since Fisher Tiger had climbed it over ten years ago, many warning mechanisms had been installed on the Red Line's cliffs.
Fortunately, these things were just decorations to Naruto.
He didn't need to climb bit by bit.
Chakra adhesion. If you don't like it, don't play.
In this short time, he had almost reached the top.
Infiltrating Mary Geoise wasn't difficult for Naruto, who could conceal his presence.
What was truly difficult was escaping before Mary Geoise's garrison forces could react, though of course, this was even less of a concern for Naruto.
Several figures arrived at the dense cluster of buildings, running in all directions before quickly disappearing without a trace.
Since he was already here.
How could he not perform some classic recreations?
"You're free now. Go in that direction and seize the airships and cargo vehicles the Celestial Dragons use."
After removing the collars around a group of slaves of various races, Naruto pointed in a direction while the slaves looked on somewhat dazedly.
"Wait for the right moment next. I'll draw attention for you."
Similar scenes were happening throughout the holy land.
This was the outskirts of the holy land, Mary Geoise, mostly inhabited by ordinary Celestial Dragons, not touching the core.
Naruto's clones moved swiftly. From knocking out guards, to killing Celestial Dragons, to freeing slaves—all completed in one smooth motion, taking no more than twenty seconds total.
You could tell he had experience.
"? This is an unexpected gain."
While freeing a group of slaves, Naruto happened to see a Celestial Dragon preparing to feed Devil Fruits to his slaves.
This was also a traditional skill of the Celestial Dragons.
Devil Fruits worth hundreds of millions or even billions of berries in the outside world were just small props for slaves to them.
Five fruits total, and Naruto could recognize two of them.
First and foremost was the Munch-Munch Fruit he'd been longing for.
He hadn't expected these guys to be so fast. The Munch-Munch Fruit should have only been reborn recently, yet they'd already obtained it.
However, considering the possibility that "the main body couldn't gain the ability after a clone ate the fruit and then dispersed," Naruto didn't immediately eat it.
The other fruit Naruto recognized was the "Memo-Memo Fruit."
Hmm... useful, perfect as a meeting gift for Big Mom.
After all, they were asking for favors this time, so attitude was important.
This was the tacit understanding between adults!
Naruto wasn't sure about the abilities of the remaining three fruits. Since the clone wasn't carrying sealing scrolls, he could only take them with him for now.
So this clone chose a different route from the other clones, running directly back to the cliff and leaping down from above.
After liberating about thirty to forty percent of the slaves in Mary Geoise's outskirts, someone finally discovered Naruto's traces.
Alarms suddenly rang out everywhere. In Naruto's perception, several powerful presences immediately rushed rapidly from Mary Geoise's core toward this area.
Perfect. He also needed to draw attention for those escaping slaves.
Since he'd been discovered, he might as well stop pretending.
Naruto simply drew the sword from his waist and began sending several long slashes toward the surrounding buildings and Celestial Dragon residential areas.
The Musōkō equipped by these clones was essentially similar to the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. They were all chakra constructs.
Their durability was limited in actual use, dissipating after slashing for a while.
But even so, the destruction they could cause was considerable.
These were the slashes of a great swordsman. These ordinary Celestial Dragons, like the "lowly people" and "ants" they usually despised most, were helplessly cut into several pieces without any resistance.
Every single Celestial Dragon here deserved death.
Even right before Naruto acted, some of them were still using various methods to abuse others.
Not just slaves. Even their own subordinates weren't spared.
Perhaps there were some reformed individuals among the Celestial Dragons, but at least Naruto's Observation Haki hadn't detected a single one.
It didn't matter without weapons either.
Naruto's clone looked at his empty palm, and massive chakra instantly condensed in his palm.
A Rasengan infused with enormous Wind Release chakra was born in an instant.
Not only that, but Naruto remembered his previous idea and decided to try it together.
Pitch-black Haki flowed along Naruto's palm and was injected into the Rasengan.
The originally wildly spinning blue core of the Rasengan was instantly tainted with a trace of black.
Then this strand of black rapidly spread with the rotation, and before long the entire Rasengan was dyed in color.
At the same time, Naruto could clearly feel this Rasengan's "weight" increase several times over.
The Rasengan's stability seemed to be enhanced under Haki. At least Naruto felt that if he let go now, it probably wouldn't "instantly explode."
But like a bomb, he could clearly feel the powerful destructive force contained within.
That was power sufficient to injure himself.
If he didn't throw it out, it might backfire on him the next moment.
But it didn't matter. Wasn't this just the perfect garbage dump?
Making this mental quip, the pitch-black Rasengan in Naruto's hand was hurled toward the distance with surging momentum.
The other clones naturally saw this scene too.
Since everyone thought the same way, they instantly understood that clone's intention.
Then several more large pitch-black Rasengans were thrown out together.