"Naruto, have you thought this through?"
Seeing Naruto put away the other four fruits and leave only the Munch-Munch Fruit that looked like a closed large mouth, Rayleigh understood what he intended to do.
Actually, ever since Naruto learned about this fruit when he was around ten years old, he had said he wanted to eat it.
Rayleigh, like Garp and Roger, was a non-fruit user who believed in the supremacy of Haki.
For them, eating a Devil Fruit might not enhance their strength much but would instead add an unnecessary weakness.
Of course, Naruto didn't really care about that.
After all, he wouldn't fall into the sea, so becoming a landlubber didn't matter.
Moreover, he didn't want to eat the Munch-Munch Fruit to enhance his strength. At least not entirely.
This was also one of Naruto's childhood dreams.
"Hehe."
Naruto smiled at Rayleigh, then swallowed that fruit without hesitation.
So even without fruit abilities, he could still swallow many things alive.
As always, Life Return. Those who use it know it.
However, today marked the end of Naruto using Life Return to obtain a large stomach.
Because he didn't bite through the skin, Naruto didn't taste the legendary "terrible" flesh.
He wasn't regretful about this either.
Some things were better left untried.
After eating the Munch-Munch Fruit, Naruto almost immediately noticed changes in his body.
First was a sense of hunger, or more accurately described as "craving."
Everything around him, the bar counter, wine glasses, tables and chairs, and even people, seemed to emanate the aroma of food in Naruto's perception.
Rayleigh felt his spine tingle from Naruto's direct stare.
Even having lived for nearly eighty years, this was his first time being looked at like this by a man.
"Naruto, snap out of it."
This brought Naruto back from that illusion of being surrounded by delicious food. He looked at the things before him, then at the scrolls he carried.
"So this is what it feels like to be a Munch-Munch Fruit user?"
No wonder that Wapol could eat steel cannons without changing expression. In his "vision," that was probably just a long loaf of bread with a gunpowder scent.
Another Devil Fruit ability Naruto wanted to obtain was the "Cook-Cook Fruit."
That was the ability possessed by the head chef called "Streusen" in the Big Mom Pirates.
He was quite a skilled craftsman.
As a Cook-Cook Fruit user, he also had the ability to transform anything in the world into food, but the difference was that those things genuinely became food that others could share.
This ability should be most suitable for "chefs." For Naruto, who could at most prepare simple grilled dishes, the Munch-Munch Fruit was more practical.
There was still time before the coating hardened. Perfect for testing his ability.
While throwing the glass in his hand into his mouth to chew, Naruto began pulling various scrolls from his back pocket.
Mm, wine-filled chocolate feeling.
Aunt Shakky nearby wiped the counter irritably while saying:
"That glass is an antique, worth at least 300,000 berries."
Knowing Aunt Shakky's personality, Naruto looked up with an embarrassed smile.
"Ahaha... next time, I'll compensate you next time I visit."
It was just a joke anyway.
The first experimental subject was the Kusanagi sword graciously gifted by Orochimaru.
This thing had rarely been used since Naruto returned to the pirate world.
After all, whether in terms of durability or familiarity, it couldn't compare to Musōkō, one of the Supreme Grade swords.
Plus Naruto wasn't very skilled at "two-sword style."
That guy from Wano Country had taught Naruto his signature technique, "Togen Totsuka," but Naruto didn't like that guy much, so he didn't use it often.
Perfect timing now. Even if he broke it, he wouldn't feel bad.
Naruto lifted the grass sword, which looked like a short sword compared to his build, then performed a sword-swallowing act.
Nothing else to say.
With this ability, even if Naruto couldn't make it anymore, he could earn a living performing street acrobatics.
Initially, Naruto's movements were cautious; he even used Haki to strengthen his digestive tract.
But when the blade touched his throat, he felt something different.
It seemed that while in the "swallowing" state, his mouth and esophagus gained some conceptual enhancement.
Not invincibility, but closer to the property of being able to "accommodate" swallowed items.
Just like sealing scrolls.
The Kusanagi sword quickly disappeared into Naruto's mouth. Mm, cool and refreshing, somewhat like a salted popsicle.
Then Naruto could feel that in some space within his body, the Kusanagi sword was intact and waiting.
With a thought, Naruto's ponytail moved on its own under Life Return's control, then its tip quickly became a sword edge.
The ponytail grass sword slashed through the air according to Naruto's will.
Great! Now as long as he swallowed enough swords, forget two-sword style. He could use hundred-sword style or thousand-sword style.
Life Return at its most useful!
Having done it once, subsequent experiments became much more proficient.
Naruto discovered that as long as he didn't chew when swallowing, he could take items out intact, essentially having a nearly infinite storage space.
Even things that were chewed and digested could be reconstructed in his stomach, even fused with materials to become entirely new creations.
Just like a processing factory.
What Naruto didn't know was that if he hadn't died by Naruto's hand, Wapol would have used this ability years later to develop the new material "Wapometal," gaining great wealth and rebuilding his kingdom.
Things from the sealing scrolls were quickly taken out piece by piece.
The remaining scrolls contained, besides Devil Fruits, only that clone body manufactured by Orochimaru.
Out of distrust for Orochimaru's character and understanding of his disgusting nature, Naruto still didn't try swallowing him.
Wait.
Looking at the sealing scroll in his hand, Naruto touched his chin.
Then he also swallowed a small scroll containing some miscellaneous items.
Closing his eyes to feel the changes in his body, Naruto's face suddenly showed a smile.
Rayleigh, who witnessed the entire process, was somewhat curious.
He could understand that Naruto mastered the peculiar power called "ninjutsu," and those scrolls that could store items should also be related to this ninjutsu.
Now that Naruto had used the Munch-Munch Fruit's ability to swallow this scroll, what about the things inside?
"How is it? Any changes?"
Hearing Rayleigh's question, Naruto didn't answer but directly reached out and grasped his sword.
Then, under Rayleigh's shocked gaze, smoke dispersed, and that sword had become a "sword" character seal pasted on Naruto's palm.
At this moment, Naruto had obtained the ability to store inanimate objects from the sealing scrolls.
Different from the Munch-Munch Fruit's "belly space," that sword was sealed on Naruto's skin surface, just like Naruto's initial speculation about carrying items when crossing worlds.
He had now transformed into a humanoid sealing scroll.
The things originally sealed by sealing scrolls were likewise sealed within his skin, appearing at will according to his thoughts.
If this didn't have smoke effects, it would truly be sleight of hand.
See? Now he had another performance for street shows.