SUPRISE SPOOKY UPDATE!

Lol, well...not that spooky.

Anyways powered out a chapter, and finished my essay early! Grad school is ...so much fun...

Naruto and Mihawk found a large rocky beach away from the port town where they could have their battle without putting anyone at risk. The walk here had been rather uneventful, the swordmaster proved himself to be a rather serious person. "So how do you want to go about this?" Naruto asked as the golden mixture of his and Kurama's chakra cloaked his body, forming a tattered cloak made of chakra.

He wasn't stupid. Naruto knew that Mihawk would likely be his hardest fight yet. Yamato while strong, wasn't strong enough to fully handle his Kurama Chakra Mode. However he could tell from the way the strongest swordsman carried himself, that he was a completely different beast from either of his companions. The red markings around his eyes signified at the addition of Senjutsu chakra to his transformation.

"How about a deal," the Shichibukai said, drawing the enormous sword off his back. Like his own, the blade was also black as night. From what Dragon had told him about the man, his sword was one of the twelve supreme-grade swords. "Let's see how good you are with that sword. I'm curious to see how good the person who's causing so much commotion is with a weapon. And in exchange, I won't take your head…if you impress me," he offered to the blond who looked at the cursed blade at his hip.

"You wanna fight huh," Naruto said, but not at his opponent, but rather at his sword. Gripping the blade's handle, he drew the sword and got into a standard stance. "Sure," He agreed, figuring that worst case it'd devolve into an all-out battle between the two.

Golden eyes narrowed as he observed the sword his opponent was using, and how the sunlight reflected off the perfectly crafted black blade. There was no doubt in Mihawk's mind that the Golden Devil was using a weapon of extreme quality. The wielder on the other hand left much to be desired. His stance while not horrible, was rather weak.

"Hm…" Mihawk said readying himself, and getting into his stance. Ordinarily, he wouldn't take such a poor swordsman so seriously, but he was certain that the blond's pure power would make up for some of the skill deficient. Some…not all…

Naruto's eyes were locked firmly on the Shichibukai, hands tightening around the grip of his katana as he readied himself for an attack. The part that worried him the most, was that Mihawk wasn't letting out any intent. There was no malice for him to watch out for.

It happened in a split second, Mihawk crossed the distance between them, the long blade of his sword aimed straight as his neck. Naruto brought his sword up in time to catch the incoming attack. As the two black blades connected, the embued haki with them clashed against one another. Naruto grit his teeth as he struggled to hold back the swing.

"Is that all you have? Even your guard is sloppy," Mihawk asked a bit disappointed by how the blond was handling his starting attack. He hadn't held back, so just by reacting and being able to block the slash from Yoru was a bit impressive, but it was all strength and speed on Naruto's part.

With a sudden motion, Hawk Eyes used the long guard on his sword to knock Naruto's sword to the side before swinging again at the blond's exposed side. In an orange blur, his opponent retreated backward to avoid being hit. Yet he could feel a sharp pain at his side still.

Bringing his hand to the left side of his torso, Naruto saw blood on his hand. His blood. 'I avoided the attack…' Naruto thought to himself, certain that he had been able to dodge Mihakws attack. And yet he was bleeding from it. Steam came up from the wound as he rapidly healed from the injury.

"It must have been the pressure from his swing," Kurama figured. The force behind their opponent's blade must have been such that it generated a ranged attack that extended beyond the sword itself.

"Don't get distracted," Mihawk stated as he was once against Naruto, his blade cutting through the beach's sand before swinging up at Naruto again. The jinchuuriki brought his sword down to block, but his arms were knocked up into the air by the upwards slice. With Naruto's guard broken, the mustached man brought his blade down only for it to be caught by a pair of chakra arms coming from Naruto.

Pulling his blade out from between the energy hands, Mihawk leaped back and slashed at the air. On instinct alone, Naruto brought his sword down to guard in time to block an immense spiraling wave of force that tore through the beach at him. Black sparks danced as his sword attempted to repel the attack, his feet digging into the sand as he stood his ground.

"Not bad, but you're all power," the Warlord stated, as he followed up his attack with a series of swings aimed at the various gaps in Naruto's guard. Naruto did his best to block as many of the attacks as he could, but each came faster than the last, and Mihawk's attacks were styled in a way that would make it harder to block the following one.

Naruto grunted as he felt the Yoru graze his chest, leaving a thin cut. One after another, Naruto felt himself being completely outclassed in terms of swordsmanship, his blood dripping down onto the sand with each new cut before he healed. "I'm just getting started!" Naruto yelled, attempting to parry Mihawk's sword, only for the man to turn his blade at the last second and knock his word out of his hands.

"Then you better start faster," the Strongest Swordsman in the World replied as he thrust his sword at Naruto's chest, aiming straight at the glowing blond's heart. Naruto dodged to his left and instantly had to jump to avoid the following swing from Mihawk.

Dashing towards his sword, Naruto tried to get to it before Hawk Eyes could attack again, only to have to roll to his side to avoid being skewered to the ground when Mihawk came down from the air, standing on his sword's handle. The sand was blasted into the air as the haki enhanced sword stabbed into the ground. Grabbing his sword with a chakra arm, Naruto made a wide swing at the Shichibukai who drew his own sword from the ground and sliced through the chakra arm, severing the energy and dropping the blade once again.

Mihawk picked up the cursed sword, suppressing its malic with his immense haki before throwing it straight at Naruto. Catching his sword by the handle, Naruto decided to go on the offensive. However, despite his chakra enhanced strength, Mihawk managed to deflect each swing from Naruto with ease.

Their blades crossed together, the world around them exploding from the clash of two black blades. The bolts of black energy tore through the beach. Naruto was shocked that Mihawk could keep up with his strength while in this form, but it was clear that the blond was stronger. "RAH!" Naruto roared as he put his full strength into his sword and pushed Mihawk back a few dozen meters.

"All strength, but no skill," Mihawk commented, swinging Yoru around wildly in Naruto's direction. Multiple waves shot across the beach at Naruto who did his best to block and dodge them, however, it was clear that while the performance of the attack look mindless, Mihawk was carefully aiming each one. When he blocked one, another would try and tag him where he was open. When he dodged, one would already be there waiting for him.

"Focus Naruto!" Kurama roared at his host as he was getting hit several times by the cascade of attacks from the Warlord. Luckily the combination of Sage Mode and his chakra mitigated the majority of the damage, and healing from such wounds wasn't the hardest, but still a waste of chakra.

"I'm trying!" Naruto yelled as he slashed through a wave and rushed at Hawk Eyes, forcing the man to end his attack and parry Naruto's sword and cut him across the chest. Naruto coughed up blood as the Yoru cut in deeply.

Naruto was sent soaring back from the hit that tore through his lungs, landing on the sand. The blond spat out the blood in his mouth, his chakra healing the wound shut. "Damn it…" Naruto growled as he started to get back up and saw Mihawk raising his blade up high over his head as if readying another attack.

The air seemed to distort when the Yoru came down. Naruto's eyes widened as a massive pale green wave sliced through the ground toward him. The difference between this attack and any of the ones before it was the sheer difference in power and speed. Looking at the sword in his hand, he had an idea.

He remembered Asuma teach him to enhance his weapons with his chakra by channeling it through it.

How it would affect a cursed sword, he had no idea, but he knew he couldn't afford to get hit by an attack like this. Pushing his chakra through his right hand, into the blade, he felt it fight back against him. Immense crackles of dark light erupted from the sword and it fought with its user, shooting pain up Naruto's arm. "Just listen!" Naruto yelled, overwhelming it with his Biju chakra.

His golden-orange chakra wrapped around the blackened metal of his mysterious sword, ripples of black static running up the blade. He felt the sword fall silent as its curse was muzzled by the otherworldly energy. "Tailed Beast Slash!" Naruto yelled, swinging at Mihawk's own attack.

A massive wave of orange light with the same black lightning that came whenever his sword clashed with Mihakws emanated from Naruto's sword, mirroring Mihawk's attack. The pressure from the two waves collided fiercely, struggling for supremacy against one another.

The entire island shook from the struggle between the two. The once calm ocean was now filled with massive waves generated from the force of the collision. What Naruto's attack lacked in skill and technique, it made up with raw power and vice versa for his adversary.

However, the difference was that Mihawk had the power to complement his skill, pushing his sword skills to a new level. The two attacks ended up pushing one another up into the air, swirling together into a spire of golden, green, and black before it exploded in the atmosphere, blowing away any clouds for miles.

As his attack ended, the sword in Naruto's hand returned to its original black color, steam coming off it. "That was kinda co-" Naruto started before he saw the opposing swordsman coming from his peripherals.

"This match isn't over," Hawk Eyes said as he cut Naruto across the arm when he attempted to dodge. The Jinchuuriki saw the World's Strongest Swordsman's eyes glowing red as he attacked.

"He's adjusting his attacks to your reactions! It's like he has the blasted Sharingan!" Kurama roared in fury as he was reminded of Madara's accursed eyes that had stripped him of his freedom.

"Less yelling, more fighting," Naruto said back to his partner as he started to get tired of getting pushed around the by man. However, this was a wake-up call that he felt he needed. He had gotten comfortable with being an almost unmatchable superpower. However, now he was facing someone who was pushing him more than any other enemy so far. While it hurt like hell being cut time and time again, it was almost refreshing.

A smile appeared on Naruto's lips as he spun out of the way of a downward swing, bringing his blade around, he thought he managed to land a hit on Mihawk with his sword, only to see that he nicked his coat. Mihawk smirked when he saw the cut on his clothing, planting his feet in the sand he fired off another wave at the Revolutionary who met it halfway. Naruto grit his teeth as he powered through the attack and launched his own at the Shichibukai using Wind Chakra instead of his Tailed Beast chakra.

Bringing Yoru up, he blocked the razor-sharp gust of wind that came from the sword. "You rely too much on your Devil Fruit," the swordmaster commented, his blade perfectly fine despite taking the full brunt of the attack. He knew that the golden glow that radiated from his opponent was part of his Devil Fruit, meaning that without it, it was likely that he wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

"It's a bit complicated," The Golden Devil commented as he kept his guard up. "Can't really get into it," He mentioned. He could tell that Mihawk was using what this world called haki, something he had yet to be able to access during his trials. It was one of the things he wanted to ask Yamato about given how proficient she was with it.

"Hm…very well," Mihawk said settling down into his stance. "I've seen what I needed to see," he told the blond, seeing that while he wasn't the worst with a sword, he had a long way to go. There was no point in continuing to test his skill. "However, you haven't used any haki yet have you?" He asked, not seeing any sign that the blond had used the power.

"Maybe you just can't sense mine," Naruto replied.

"Doubtful," the former Marine Hunter replied, knowing for a fact that the blond hadn't accessed the spiritual power during their battle. The haki-like effects during their fight, he knew came from the black blade he had. Whoever had changed the sword into one must have been a real master of haki, or a monster.

It was a bit of a disappointment. However he still had a job to do, and he wanted to see how he stacked up against the notorious blond. With or without haki, he knew from his achievements that he was immensely powerful with his strange Devil Fruit. "Now, show me what you can really do," Mihawk said, feeling a twig of excitement at the thought of seeing what he could really do.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he put the sword away in its saya. He didn't know how much longer he would be willing to fight with a sword alone. Even then it could be said that he was cheating due to being in his chakra cloak and his use of chakra arms. "I give you round one," Naruto said knowing that if they had kept fighting with just swords, he would have been the one to break the deal. "But the real battle starts now," Naruto claimed.

Yoru started to glow as Mihawk's arms darkened, and his eyes glowed a menacing red. Naruto could feel an unpleasant feeling in his chest coming from the man before him. Just like he was now fighting with a wider arsenal, Mihawk seemed ready to fully unleash his power against him.

"To think he managed to hurt you so much and he still had more hiding. You might have underestimated this world," Kurama stated. Between Yamato who had been able to hit them a few times and this man whose skills were so fully mastered that he could contend with them in his form, there seemed to be a wide range of strength between Shichibukai given how easily they had handled Kuma.

"Done talking to yourself?" Mihawk asked as Naruto seemed slightly distracted for a moment. Not only that but he had heard him talking to himself from time to time during their fight.

"Right…" The blond said rolling his shoulder which was still a bit sore from healing from a cut. Holding his hand out, a Rasengan swirled into existence within his palm. "Rasengan!"

In a fraction of a second, the two closed the distance between one another. Rasengan met blackened metal. The two held each other off but a part of arms came out from Naruto's back and hammered down at the swordsman, forcing him to retreat before the arms slammed into his head.

Four chakra arms flew across the beach at Mihawk, each holding an orb of what looked like white blades spinning around them. His shining red, he reacted swiftly dodging the first arm and slicing through the second. Spinning around, he sliced the Rasengan open, causing it to explode in his hand.

Leaping over the last one, he shot towards Naruto, sword swinging to decapitate the blond. Ducking under the blade, a copy spawn in its path, catching it. Looking down, he anticipated the blond's following move, another blue orb aimed at his liver.

Drawing the knife that hid in his cross-shaped necklace, he sliced the clone, freeing his sword when it opened. Bringing the blade down, Naruto was forced to abandon his plan or risk losing an arm to the enhanced sword. The shockwave from the swing knocked the blond back.

Turning back around, Mihawk cut clean through a second clone that came his way. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto declared, hundred of clones spawning around the two, encircling the Shichibukai with the army of replicas.

And so began the dance, the army attempted to swarm him with Rasengans. The swordmaster switched to a quicker, more fleet footed style of combat. Side-stepping one, he dispelled it. Swinging his sword around, he unleashed a massive wave, tearing through dozens of blonds in an instant. But he didn't have a moment of rest as more copies of his enemy were coming down on him.

There were so many of them that it was almost challenging to keep track of all of them. With each passing second, he destroyed more and more of the clones. The entire area was filling with the smoke and sand kicked up by the skirmish obscuring his vision completely by the time he was done. Raising his blade up into the air he waited.

'There!' Mihawk thought, bringing the black blade down to his left, cutting through the smoke, the Yoru cleaved through Naruto, only for the real Naruto to follow right behind the copy, slamming a red tinted Rasengan into his chest. The force from the jutsu lifted him clean off his feet.

"Senpo! Futon: Rasengan!" Naruto roared.

Mihawk could feel the orb drilling against his haki enforced chest, his ribs cracking from the direct hit before it exploded. The swordsman was rocketed back, his entire body spinning from the maelstrom of power that came from the attack. As he spun, he plunged Yoru into the ground, stopping his momentum and allowing him to settle. Looking at his chest, he could see a large injury where he had been hit.

Tearing the sword out, the entire area glow green and black, the glow around Yoru brightened, sparks flying as Mihawk infused his conqueror's haki into it. Despite there only having been a single stroke of his sword, hundred of crescents cut through the air toward the sage. It was massive even while standing still, even more, were being generated by the second.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sheer amount of attacks, completely filling his vision. Everywhere he looked there wasn't a clear opening to avoid the wide ranging attack. He also didn't have much time to think as they were already nearing. "He's really trying to kill me huh?" Naruto said to himself before rushing forwards.

He couldn't outrun it, he couldn't sidestep it due to it's size, his two options were to power through it or attempt to weave through the web of slices. He was certain that there were no gaps within the incoming shredder of waves.

"I'M NOT GONNA LOSE!" Naruto roared, leaping at the attack, "SENPO: CHOO CHOO ODAMA RASENGAN!" the blond called out, a sphere of chakra several times larger than him forming between him and the seemingly infinite amount of waves from Mihawk.

As the two met, the entire ocean seemingly shook, the entire ground around them was unrooted, and any trees for miles were torn from the ground. The ocean retreated, pushed away by the might of the clash between the titans in human form. The island around them seemed to start ripping itself apart.

Mihawk clenched his teeth, his sword vibrating violently. While he looked to be standing still, in reality, he was swinging the sword so quickly it only looked like he wasn't, yet with one attack Naruto managed to bring his attack to heel. Throwing Yoru back, he took a deep breath, a smirk forming on his face as he was starting to have some fun.

Seeing as Naruto broke through the last of his waves, he did the same thing Naruto had done before- charged straight in. A truely inhuman about of haki crackled around Yoru, this was the true World's Strongest Slash. He streaked through the air at Naruto, parting the air itself.

As haki met senjutsu, they sparked against one another violently. One the ultimate power of the self, one's own will manifested. The other the very power of the world made one's own.

"HAH!" Both shouted pushing ever forward toward the other. They could no longer see each other through the light of their battling attacks, but they knew that the other was on the other side driving forward to beat the other.

Back in the town, people were screaming in fear as waves of power swept over them. Windows shattered and buildings fell from the extreme pressure. Ace and Yamato who had been watching from the Piece of Spadille clung to the railing for dear life as the ocean raged under them. Holding his hand, Ace forced himself to up at the clash in the distance. He could see half the island illuminated blue while the other half was black and green.

'Is this what I'm supposed to live up to?' Ace thought to himself, feeling that he was nowhere near the level of power that these two were at. Not even close. Mihawk was the only Shichibukai close to the level of a Yonko due to his past fights with Red Hair Shanks, and Naruto seemed to be matching him in battle as well. Meaning Naruto was also around that level.

Seeing that power firsthand, he was certain that he couldn't beat either one.

He had gotten so used to being the big fish, having even rejected the same position that Mihawk held. Yet now he could see the difference between them. These…were the real big fish in the New World. The real monsters of the sea that he sought to measure himself against. Would he even be able to measure up?

"I knew you were strong, but this…is insane…Naruto, is this even your limit?" Ace wondered, not sure if the blond who claimed to have fought against a goddess was using his full power even now. He had seen that massive avatar of his before, and yet he hadn't pulled that out yet.

Images flashed in his mind of all the people he had heard legends of in the New World.

Big Mom…

Kaido…

Shanks…

Whitebeard…

Roger…

…Naruto…

"They're gonna destroy the entire island!" Yamato cried out, seeing the collision end in a massive explosion that eclipsed the two in size several hundred of times over.

"Yamato, you gotta go stop them! I'll get the ship ready, we'll leave as soon as you two get back," Ace told the white-haired women who nodded and jumped off the ship to the port to go get their friend back before the entire island fell to the bottom of the ocean.

Naruto gasped for air as a massive gash on his chest healed thanks to Kurama's chakra. Across from him was Mihawk, his coat completely destroyed and his torso covered in lacerations. His arms seemed burned, like the top layer of his skin had been stripped off. Their attacks had detonated, catching both in the blast.

The power from Mihawk's sword had carried forward and cut into Naruto's chest, perpendicular to his earlier cut. Had he not been able to heal, he'd have a massive scar shaped like an 'X' on his chest after the battle.

The swordsman had been caught by the razor-sharp strands of chakra that lashed out at him when the Super Ultra Big-Ball Rasengan exploded, scattering its chakra. "That healing of yours is annoying," Mihawk mentioned, seeing his handiwork starting to undo itself. He could see why the World Government wanted Naruto dead. He had too many powers to be normal. Something about him was greatly off.

There was no way he had one singular Devil Fruit.

Meaning either all his powers had one singular connection that made them all possible, he had somehow eaten multiple fruits, or…he wasn't using a Devil Fruit, to begin with. That last one was a whole new can of worms. And the one he was the most doubtful of. "You still have more done you?" Mihawk asked, recalling the differences between how he looked now and how he looked in his wanted poster.

Naruto let out a light-hearted chuckle, "Yeah…guess you probably figured I look different from my wanted poster," he replied. On his poster, he was in his Six Paths Sage Mode, meaning his appearance was slightly different and he had the Gudodamas behind him.

"Why didn't you use that form?" his enemy demanded.

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd need it. I've only really used it to get around and end fights faster. Haven't met anyone who's able to take on it yet," Naruto mentioned.

Mihawk couldn't help but chuckle at the claim. To think that this entire time, his enemy had pushed him so far while holding himself back.

"To be honest, this is the first time anyone's pushed me this far. I almost considered using it for real against you," Naruto admitted, recalling when he was getting battered by Mihawk during their sword fight.

"Then let's see if I can make you transform further," the World's Strongest Swordsman readying his sword.

Naruto smirked as he was having some fun now, was this how Madara felt when Might Guy managed to push him?

"OI Don't go thinking like that Naruto!"

"Sorry," he muttered to his partner before blurring towards Hawk Eyes, slugging at his face. Ducking the swordmaster went to bisect his adversary, but the blond placed a hand down on his sword and used it to pivot into a roundhouse kick into Mihawk's temple.

Rolling with the kick, his sword cut through Naruto's right side, forcing the two apart for a split second before they met, again and again, shooting around the battlefield. Each hit from Naruto hit hard against the Shichibukai's hardened body while each compounding cut burned as the jinchuuriki healed.

Mihawk leaped up into the air, foreseeing a chakra arm coming from the ground, attached to the bottom of Naruto's shoe. Kicking off the air down, he attempted to skewer naruto once again only to hit a log.

Naruto rushed Mihawk, throwing a flurry of well-aimed punches which put the swordsman on the defensive. Swiping at the glowing fighter, a clone manifested and caught the sword, stalling him long enough for Naruto to slam his fist into where the Rasengan had hit before.

Blood dripped from Mihawk's mouth as the immense strength behind the blow cracked one of his ribs. While he was confident in his own speed and strength against the blond, there was one thing that he lacked- healing. Unlike Naruto, he couldn't recover from each hit so quickly.

"Dynamic Entry!" Naruto yelled as he launched himself at Mihawk with his foot extended. Raising his blade up, he went to counter and sever the limb, but a clone formed beside the blond and swung him around like a hammer, taking the cut. He barely managed to avoid the following kick from Naruto as he swung around him thanks to the clone.

Looking up, he saw a large arm extending toward him. Stepping forward, Mihawk sliced the arm in two, only for it to split and grasp him at his sides. The chakra wrapped around his back into one claw. His whole body was lifted and swung into the air before slamming down head-first into the ground.

Naruto dragged Mihawk's body against the island's tattered floor before throwing him at a nearby mountain, causing multiple rocks to fall down.

The Warlord grunted as he pulled himself out from the rocks, blood dripping down his face. He was ready to go back into the fight before a new voice entered the battlefield.

"Stop it you two!" Yamato yelled as she came upon the destruction the two had caused. "The town is gonna be destroyed if you two keep fighting like this!" She told them. Looking around, Naruto realized that as they increased the scale of their battle, they had started to affect the surrounding areas.

"I think we should just call it a draw," Naruto offered Mihawk who nodded, feeling that it was likely for the best.

"Agreed," Mihawk accepted, knowing that should he push Naruto to use his true full power and force his hand against him…he might not live to tell the tale. "That was a rather entertaining fight," he said, starting to walk away from the two. "You're sword technique, was horrendous," he informed the jinchuuriki with the faintest of smiles on his face.

"I just started a few weeks ago," Naruto admitted.

Mihawk actually laughed, "Well, hopefully, next time we fight, you'll have learned more," he replied. It had been a while since he had a real challenge. Perhaps, he himself would start training more to try and catch up to his new…rival.

Seeing the man leave, Naruto dropped to the ground, returning back to normal. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh" he groaned, falling back. "That was exhausting!"

Yamato smiled, sitting down beside the recovering blond. His outfit was decimated now that Kurama's chakra was no long coating over it. It was obvious that Naruto had taken way more blows during this encounter than she had been able to deal with him. He was also using significantly more power. "You two were amazing, I wonder if Oden's battle with Kaido was so intense?" She thought out loud.

"Probably crazier, Oden was fighting for his friends and family right?" Naruto asked, remembering what Yamato had told him about the samurai and his adventures until his untimely death. Seeing Yamato nod enthusiastically, Naruto gave her a wide grin, "Then I'm certain it was. When people fight for something they hold precious, their love enhances their strength," he commented before pushing himself up. His muscles screamed at him, telling the shinobi to sit still and wait.

"Here!" Yamato said picking her friend up and holding him like he was a princess. While she was certainly shorter than Smoothie, Yamato was still a few feet taller than him. "I'll carry you back to the ship," she told him, before starting the long walk back to the town from the destroyed area.

Red engulfed his face at the fact that he was being carried back by a woman. He couldn feel her large bust pressing up against him as she held him close. 'Why is every woman in this world go gifted! Tsunade looks almost normal here!' he thought, trying to ignore the soft feeling. "You don't have to do this Yamato, I can walk," Naruto told her but the white haired woman shook her head.

"You're exhausted, you need rest Naruto," Yamato stated, unwilling to allow her tattered friend to walk miles back to the ship.

"Fine…" Naruto relented, accepting his fate in the arms of Kaido's daughter. The two shattered the time away, dredging through the ruined area.

Arriving back at the docks, Naruto felt bad as he saw people working hard to repair the damage done to their homes and businesses. Shattered windows, cracked posts, and some ships had their sails torn away. However, missing…was the Piece of Spadille.

"Ah, you're the woman who jumped off that ship," an elderly man came over. "The captain came and left you both a note," he said handing them parchment.

Naruto, Yamato,

I'm so sorry for this.

Naruto, you've been nothing but a great friend, and I've had a great time traveling with you over the last few months. But, I feel like I'll never be able to achieve my dreams with you around. To step out of my father's shadow and learn to really live. You're so unimaginably strong and powerful. When I'm around you, it feels like nothing could ever truly hurt us. And that's the problem. If we had defeated Kaido, it would have felt like YOU beat him, and I just helped.

So I want to take on Whitebeard alone. No help. I know…this is very selfish of me. But I refuse to fall into someone else's shadow. So root for me Naruto! One day, I promise you that I'll be strong enough to stand beside you.

Yamato, I know it's wrong of me to have tricked you, but I know that if you were here, you'd convince me to wait for him. To bring him with us. I hope you can forgive me. Please take care of Naruto, he can be quite the idiot.

I wish I could say this all to your faces, but I know that I'd break. That I'd forget this stupid, pride-filled idea if you two were here with me. But I need this. I need to be my own person.

And if we ever run into each other, we'll make sure to party and catch up! We have each other's vivre cards, so I'm certain we will!

See you both at the top,

Portgas D. Ace

Naruto's hands clenched while Yamato's eyes filled with tears at the knowledge that they had been left behind by Ace.

"That's the price of being strong," Kurama said knowing well that when someone became too strong, others began to see them differently. "Don't worry brat, I'm sure the two of you will meet again, once he figures himself out a bit more,"Kurama said, feeling that his jinchuuriki would eventually meet the flame user again.

Patting Yamato on the back, Naruto sighed. 'You're right Kurama' he thought back before looking at the tearful Yamato. "We'll see him again Yamato when he's ready," Naruto hold her before figuring that he needed to call Dragon for a ride.

Yamato nodded, smiling up at the endless sea before her. "You're right," she said, wiping the tears away. "Ace is seeking his own freedom, we can't be cuffs on him," Yamato said, rubbing her wrists where her own cuffs once were. Taking out Ace's vivre card, "As long as we have this, we'll know he's okay!"

Piece of Spadille

"You okay Ace?" Masked Deuce asked his captain as, like most of the crew, they were a bit conflicted about leaving Naruto behind on the island. They knew that the blond had the resources to get off, but still it didn't leave a good taste in their mouths.

Ace had been looking back in the direction of the island, tears dropping down onto the railing. "Yeah... I will be..." He said, wiping his eyes before looking forward. They had found out where Whitebeard was currently and managed to get a log pose there.

"Naruto, I'll catch up to you," Ace said walking up to the helm of his ship.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND

There we go! Our hero parts ways with Ace for the time being after probably the hardest fight he's had in the One Piece world so far.

Please make sure to leave a review! Leave some ideas behind! If I like them, they might just end up being incorporated! Seriously you guys have some wild ass ideas lmao

Anyway, I didn't want Naruto to meet Whitebeard too soon. I also felt like Ace needed to be left on his own to develop himself. Standing in Naruto's shadow wouldn't be any good.

Laters!