"These Hidden Mist Village bastards really know how to pick their timing," Meiser grumbled.
On the way to the mission site, they had encountered a small skirmish.
Although he had eliminated the ninjas from the Land of Water, his boat had been destroyed in the fight, leaving him no choice but to run the rest of the way.
Fortunately, as a hybrid of the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, his Chakra reserves were absurdly vast. Running all the way to the destination wasn't a problem.
"If I get through this fog, it shouldn't be much farther."
"Hm?"
Hearing a faint noise, Meiser stopped in his tracks and turned to look behind him.
The fog obscured everything, making it impossible to see clearly. All he could hear was a strange... sound.
"Why does that sound like a train?"
"And those two lights..."
Could there really be a train running on the sea? That's impossible!
In the world of Naruto, technology hadn't advanced that far.
Still, to avoid any potential danger, Meiser chose to retreat, putting some distance between himself and whatever was coming.
Soon, a gust of wind swept through, dispersing the fog and revealing what lay beyond.
With his Sharingan active, Meiser finally saw it clearly.
"It really is a train running on the sea?!" Meiser said in disbelief. "Since when can trains run on water?!"
"BOOM!"
A massive Sea Train surged forward from the distance, sending huge waves splashing as it sped across the water at an astonishing speed!
"What the—did I transmigrate again?!"
Wait...
Why did he say "again"?
...
"Chimney, are you okay?" Nami asked worriedly, looking at the little girl.
The kid had been clinging to the outside of the Sea Train earlier and nearly got thrown off to her death.
If she hadn't landed near the Franky Family, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"I... I thought I was gonna die," Chimney said, sticking out her tongue alongside Luffy.
"Yeah..."
"You two..." Zoro didn't even know what to say.
Luffy was one thing—he was always doing reckless stuff like this.
But what was up with this little girl?
Not only had she snuck aboard, but she'd climbed onto the roof of the train?!
"Whatever, she's here now," Nami said, rubbing her temples.
There was no turning back now that they were on the Sea Train.
All they could do was try their best to keep her safe from here on out.
"Enough talk, let's eat."
With that, Luffy immediately started stuffing his face, leaving Paulie and the others speechless.
After nearly dying outside, he still had the appetite to eat? Talk about nerves of steel.
Guess that's the Straw Hat Boy for you.
"Huh?"
"Wait a second..."
"Hey, look outside—is that someone running on the sea?!" Paulie stood up, pointing out the window.
Zoro, who had been about to complain, froze. Instinctively, he got up and followed Paulie's finger, his pupils shrinking.
"There really is someone!"
Without thinking, Zoro's hand went to the hilt of his sword.
He had no idea how someone could run on water—or why they were here.
But at this moment, the appearance of a stranger wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Who knew if this guy was an enemy?
"Where is he?"
"Where is he?"
Luffy, gnawing on a large meat leg, stood up and leaned over Paulie to look out at the sea, immediately spotting the figure running across the water.
His eyes instantly lit up.
"That's so cool! He can actually run on the sea!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Could it be those guys?" Nami said with a grave expression.
She remembered that those previous guys could fly, so running on water probably wasn't anything strange for them.
The figure was already quite close to them now—they needed to figure out who it was as soon as possible.
Suddenly, the figure vanished in an instant, as if it had never been there at all.
This sight turned Nami's face pale with fright.
Someone appearing was one thing, but suddenly disappearing? What did that mean?
Could it be... a ghost?!
If she remembered correctly, there had been some mist outside earlier.
"Everyone, be careful!"
Zoro's gaze instantly sharpened, his muscles tensing up.
Just then, a man opened the window and said, "Yo, hello there~"
The moment he spoke, everyone turned to look in shock.
Zoro immediately shifted into a combat stance, ready to strike at any moment.
"Who are you?" Zoro demanded.
Zoro studied Meiser, noticing his bizarre attire.
A green... vest?
He also wore a strange forehead protector with a leaf symbol on it, and a long sword hung at his waist.
What kind of weird outfit was this?
A swordsman?
"Me?" Meiser hopped in through the window, stroking his chin. "I'm just a passing ninja."
"Mind if I hitch a ride?"
As he spoke, Meiser glanced around at everyone in the room.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Chopper... Though the others were unfamiliar faces, this was enough for Meiser to realize where he was now.
This was the world of One Piece!!!
'Did I really get transported again?'
This was something Meiser hadn't expected—who knew there could be a second transmigration?
But he had only watched up to the part where they needed to find a place to repair the Going Merry in One Piece. He had no idea how the story developed after that.
Thinking about this, Meiser felt a headache coming on.
If only he had finished watching One Piece first.
"You're a ninja?!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.
Even Chopper, who had been lying on the floor, immediately sprang up.
A real ninja!
"Yeah, a ninja," Meiser nodded.
Seeing Luffy and Chopper's reactions, Meiser was puzzled. Were they really this excited?
"Was running on the sea just now also because you're a ninja?" Paulie asked.
"Yep, it's a special ninja ability."
"A ninja..." Kokoro emerged from the cockpit, eyeing Meiser up and down. "I've heard some rumors about ninjas."
She just wasn't sure if this strangely dressed young man matched what she had in mind.
"Kokoro knows about them?"
"Mhm. I've heard that in the Land of Wano in the New World, there are ninjas." Kokoro paused, then hesitantly added, "You... are you from the Land of Wano?"
After all, she was an elderly woman who had lived in Water 7 for many years and had met numerous remarkable figures like Roger, so it wasn't strange that she knew some things about the New World.
"Although I don't know what place you're referring to, unfortunately, I'm not from there," Meiser said with a shrug.
Meiser hadn't expected that this world would also have ninjas. It was truly... an intriguing matter.
Was he a Devil Fruit user?
Or did this world possess some other special powers?
Given that even something as unscientific as Devil Fruits existed, it wasn't impossible for other extraordinary things to appear.
"Then... can you use the clone technique?!" Luffy asked.
"And can you breathe fire?" Chopper chimed in excitedly, waving his arms.
"And also—"
"Hold on, hold on," Meiser raised his hand to stop them. "I can do everything you mentioned, but the problem is, aside from cloning, I can't demonstrate the rest here."
"The space is too cramped."
If he were to use Fire Release inside this train carriage, the others would be in serious trouble—Fire Release could genuinely burn people to death!
During the Second Ninja World War, he had taken out plenty of people with his Fire Release.
"Then just do the clone!" Luffy said eagerly, staring at Meiser.
As he spoke, he took another bite of the meat in his hand, making Meiser's eye twitch. Typical Luffy.
"Clone!"
"Clone!"
"Wait a second!" Zoro suddenly interjected.
"What's up?"
Meiser, who had been about to demonstrate the Shadow Clone Technique to Luffy, paused and looked at Zoro in confusion.
Zoro ignored Meiser and turned to Luffy instead. "Hey, Luffy, don't you think it's suspicious that someone just suddenly shows up during such a sensitive time?"
"We don't even know his name."
Rather than watching the guy's ninjutsu, he wanted to know who this person really was. The word "ninja" wasn't enough to convince him.
Luffy blinked and looked at Meiser. "What's your name?"
"I'm Meiser."
"Are you gonna hurt us?"
"No."
Luffy nodded, then turned back to Zoro with a big, toothy grin, as if saying, "See? No problem."
Zoro: "..."
Wasn't this a bit too casual?
"Let's go, let's go!" Luffy urged.
"Alright."
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Poof~"
A puff of white smoke appeared, and an identical clone materialized beside Meiser.
"It's actually real..."
Nami stared at Meiser in shock. He could really use this kind of ninjutsu?
"So... those stories in the books are true?"
"The evidence is right here."
"Then I guess they are."
"It's really a clone!" Chopper stepped forward and pinched Meiser's thigh, confirming that both were solid. He was beyond excited.
Unbeknownst to him, his actions had put Zoro on high alert.
"Relax, I mean you no harm," Meiser said to Zoro. "If I really wanted to attack, you'd be dead before you even saw me."
Zoro didn't buy it. Who did this guy think he was underestimating?
Meiser didn't mind. If the opportunity arose, he could always let Zoro witness his ninjutsu firsthand.
"So cool!"
Luffy gobbled down the meat in his hand and stepped forward, groping Meiser all over, startling Meiser's shadow clone into immediately forming hand seals to dispel itself.
"Poof~"
As the shadow clone vanished, Meiser's expression changed.
"What are you doing?" Meiser took a step back.
"Why'd you dispel it?" Luffy scratched his head. "Oh well."
"Meiser, become my nakama!"
Ninjas are just too cool, okay?!
"Huh?!"
"Hey, there's no way someone would agree so easily..."
"Sure."
"He actually agreed?!!"