Naruto laughed as he left the Moby Dick, feeling just a bit lighter knowing he'd made a somewhat positive first impression on his grandfather and part of his crew. He then proceeded to cause havoc amongst the Marines, thinning out their forces significantly. He didn't even need to kill them, since he had an ample supply of paralyzing seals. The best part was that the white of the paper tags blended in with the white of their clothes so no one had managed to spot them in order to remove them. Not that anyone present had any knowledge of seal tags, which pretty much meant that it sucked to be them. Naruto wondered how long it would take for them to be able to move again.
Distant yelling made Naruto pause in his assault. Normally, he'd never let something like that distract him, but he was pretty sure that the yelling was coming... from above. Looking up, the shinobi scanned the sky before stopping and blinking at the rather ridiculous sight. An upside-down ship plus people was falling from the sky.
"I told you you were going over the top!"
"It's this idiot's wink that did it!"
"What?! You mean to blame me, Croco!?"
"WHO CARES WHO'S FAULT IT WAS!? WE'RE DEAD MEAT! IT'S ALL SOLID ICE DOWN THERE!"
"What in the world is that? Something's falling from the sky!"
"Aaaaaaagh! Oh, I'm rubber, so I'll be fine!"
"That's nice for you, but what about the rest of us!? Do something, quickly!"
"I do not wish to die this waaay! Somebody stop uuuus!"
"I should have never listened to an idea you came up with, Strawhat!"
Naruto and all others on the battlefield watched in stunned silence as the ship plummeted and landed in the one place void of any ice with a big splash.
"... what?" Naruto deadpanned, punching the nearest Marine, who'd also been staring in shock at the now in two pieces battleship.
Naruto could faintly see a young figure clamber up on a high point on one half floating in the bay, facing the execution platform.
"Luffy!"
"Aaaaaaace! I finally found you!"
Naruto looked back and forth between Ace and the now named Luffy "Ok, this is kind of ridiculous even by my standards. Whatever, reinforcements are good." looking around at the various reactions, Naruto grinned "And these reactions are golden-"
"Crocodile is after Whitebeard!"
The blond snapped around to look towards the Moby Dick and was just about to Hiraishin there when a red and yellow blur blocked whom Naruto supposed was Crocodile.
I wonder how these two are connected... if memory serves, that's "Mugiwara no Luffy" and he's been sailing for less than half-a-year yet already has a 300,000,000 bounty last I checked. Pretty good for a rookie, I guess. I'm still not as familiar with the bounty system as I'd like to be.
The fighting had already gone back to what it had been before the unexpected crash-landing, which left Naruto flitting from place to place, making as much damage as he possibly could without getting hit once. He'd have to make sure to announce himself at some point, he wanted a good bounty too. He only listened with half-an-ear as Mugiwara back-talked Whitebeard and couldn't help but smile, he'd probably be great friends with the other teen if he got the chance, he'd have to make sure to keep an eye on him. Maybe he could place a Hiraishin marker on him if they stayed in contact for long enough. Naruto had only barely figured out how to transfer the seal onto any surface on the go, he had yet to perfect the technique.
"I'M YOUR BROTHER!"
The exclamation from the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates made Naruto pause only momentarily before resuming his assault. Well, that explained it.
"That man is another future dangerous element!"
He wondered what it was like, having a brother. Sasuke was the closest thing to a brother Naruto had ever had, but even he could acknowledge that their bond was different.
"Not only was he raised together with Ace as an adoptive brother, he is also..."
They knew each other better than they knew themselves, but he couldn't really call them brothers.
I wonder where Sasuke is right now...
"The flesh-and-blood son of the Revolutionary Dragon!"
Naruto paused momentarily even as his foot connected with some poor random Marine's face. This was stupid, were they seriously condemning this boy for his bloodline? This was what Iwa would've done had they known of Naruto's existence. Wait, "another future dangerous element"? Yeesh, did that mean Ace was being executed for his bloodline?
"Aaaace! I don't care what you say, I'm gonna save you even if I die!"
Naruto smiled at this bold declaration.
"Who would have thought... that I'd find people bearing the Will of Fire here?"
Continuing his assault, Naruto created a few clones to keep an eye on Strawhat, in case he needed help. Naruto might be here for the sole reason of rescuing Ace, but even he could see that it would be better for Luffy to do it now that he was here. That did not, however, mean that the ninja wouldn't meddle. He'd just give Luffy the chance of doing this on his own.
Naruto wouldn't have wanted anyone else bringing back Sasuke, either. That had been his responsibility. This, it seemed, was Luffy's responsibility. However, if, for even a moment, Naruto thought he'd fail, that responsibility would fall onto the Jinchuuriki.
One way or another, Ace was going to live and Marine HQ was going to be razed to the ground. Speaking of...
"Ooooooh, this would look nice as rubble!" Naruto gleefully exclaimed, throwing one exploding tag kunai after another at the cannons surrounding the bay, scaring many Marines with this monologue. His wide grin illuminated by the following explosions didn't help.
"Fuck youuuuuu~!" the blond sang as he practically flew through something that reminded him of chakra strings the puppetmasters of Suna used. He'd been covering himself in wind chakra, which meant he sliced through every singe string he touched and propelled him forward.
"Why you little-!" the walking pink feather boa growled, but was cut off by a Kage Bunshin slapping a gravity seal on his back. The man faceplanted as his gravity was multiplied by ten.
Thank you, Lee...
The idea for that particular seal had in fact come from Lee and Gai's training weights. No one would've guessed the field-application Naruto came up with, though, even if it was laughably obvious.
Now, it was about time to commence the second phase of his introduction. And yes, for once, Naruto had an actual, detailed plan on what he was going to do. It didn't matter he'd only come up with it ten minutes before arriving at Marineford. It was a good plan, dammit!
"Boss! We've set up!" one of his Kage Bunshin yelled, waving at him with one hand cupped by its mouth so that its voice would carry.
"Right!" the original yelled and performed the Substitution Technique on one of the clones near the one that had called him. He also absently noted Luffy's position "Huh, half-way mark already? He sure is determined."
Shaking his head, Naruto turned to the set-up his Kage Bunshin had been working on. On top of a somewhat tall building, the roof being below the execution platform in order for everyone to see what he was about to do, was a Proco, a Cameco and a baby Den Den Mushi with a speaker-attachment. Just as he was about to begin his plan, a Kage Bunshin dispelled itself, giving him some disturbing and frankly disappointing intel.
"Now then... let's start the show." Naruto said with a devious smirk, cracking his fingers in front of him and stepping towards the set-up "I'll blow your schedule out the window, that'll show you what happens to liars..." his smirk widened as his Kage Bunshin gave him the ok to start "I never go back on my word..."
The sound of a loudspeaker being turned on rang through the battlefield, causing many to pause and just as many to be cut down due to pausing. Others paid it no mind, thinking it was Sengoku with another announcement. Imagine their surprise when a voice unfamiliar to many rang out over the plaza.
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... good. Hello! And welcome to the first, and most likely last, Uzumaki Naruto special broadcast. Straight from the war at Marineford! My name, as you all know, is Uzumaki Naruto, an all around nuisance and destroyer of carefully laid out plans. In other words, sucks to be you."
By now, people were trying to find the source of the voice, (and in the case of the Marines, eliminate him) before most spotted a screen that was painfully out of place on the top of a building. On-screen everyone could see a grinning, whiskered blond talking into a baby Den Den Mushi. Instantly, one of the Whitebeard pirates who'd met him yelled out "Ah! That's the kid that saved Oars!"
Immediately, those belonging and allied to the Whitebeard pirates took a liking to the boy, while the Marines categorized him as dangerous.
The grinning young man lifted his leg to lean on a wooden box in front of him, leaning forward on his left elbow, which was planted against his raised knee, his posture screaming confidence as he continued "Marines, if you're wondering where I got this equipment, then... you really shouldn't leave your storage rooms unlocked." Uzumaki mocked, wagging his finger at the Cameco as he tsked, accompanied by laughter from the pirates "Truly, your security sucks. You declared war and didn't even prepare for saboteurs. Truly, you are idiots." the blond deadpanned, causing even more laughter. He then squinted at something off-camera "Ooooh, that's gotta hurt, a logia-user received a Rasengan to the face. Thank you for that, by the way, I now know I can hurt you." the blond said, smirking sinisterly.
The teen grinned wider, leaning forward once again "But speaking of you being idiots, why don't you give up? You're not gonna win. You wanna know why?" the self-proclaimed nuisance asked "Because unlike you, we have things we want to protect. Living, breathing things. We don't kid ourselves or hide behind some false declaration. Whitebeard, his crew, Mugiwara, even me. We're all here for the same reason. Family. Friends. Unbreakable bonds which we cherish." as Naruto spoke, his voice got softer and softer, as did his expression.
The next minute, however, his face turned cold and serious "Unlike you filthy excuses for dogs who care naught for your fellow human beings. You, who answer to an entity so rotten even someone suffering from a cold can smell it. You, who claim to have outlawed slavery and do nothing as it happens in front of your eyes. You," the blond spat furiously, blue eyes ablaze "who let the Tenryuubito do as they please. You, who let a group of people stand above the law you claim to uphold. You liars, thieves and murderers. You claim to stand for justice, yet do nothing as innocents suffer. At least pirates don't claim to be heroes, even when they're doing your job for you." a pause "You wanna know why you'll lose? Because we, at least, are not actively lying to ourselves or claiming to be just. We're here for one reason, and one reason only, to save Ace." a confident smirk "But that's not all. You will lose simply because, if Mugiwara is anything like me, and trust me, he is, then nothing you do will stop him."
Naruto stood up straight, his eyes boring holes into all who watched "If you rip his arms out, he'll kick you to death! If you rip his legs off, he'll bite you to death! If you rip his head off, he'll stare you to death! And if you gouge out his eyes, he'll curse you from the grave! Even If he's torn to shreds, he's taking Ace back from you Marines! Believe it!"
This declaration caused all pirates to cheer loudly, becoming much more motivated when they realized that this kid knew what he was talking about. Even Luffy, who'd only been listening with half-an-ear, grinned and bellowed "OF COURSE I AM!"
The teen currently on screen looked, presumably, to where he could see the pirate and raised his fist in the air "GO, LUFFY! SHOW THESE SONS OF BITCHES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FAMILY!"
Another cheer rose as Marines seethed "Kill them all! And someone eliminate that filth!"
Somehow, Naruto heard that too and looked straight into the Cameco, dragged one of his eyelids down and stuck out his tongue "Nyeh!"
Straightening up with a smile, he then announced "And now, Kage Bunshin with battle narrative." before disappearing in a yellow flash, the baby Den Den Mushi spinning in the air before it was caught by an identical blond sans the black coat "Yo." 'Kage Bunshin' said, one hand raised in a greeting, looking completely unfazed.
Meanwhile, Naruto laughed at the dumbfounded faces he came across as he fought. This was bound to distract the Marines from Luffy, at least some of them. Hopefully he wasn't distracting his allies. A quick look around revealed that he'd only succeeded in boosting morale amongst the pirates, with very few getting distracted. It sure was convenient that pirates in the Grand Line saw all kinds of weird stuff, so this wouldn't faze them much.
Now, he thought, gaze turning forward as he kneed someone in the face, to win another war.