Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Piece.
Chapter 4
[South Blue: Karate Island: 5 years later]
"Hiiiiyyyyaaa!" Naruto yelled giving the tree in front of him a hard roundhouse kick that dented the tree and sent its leaves scattering to the floor.
Now at 22 years old our blonde protagonist now stood 6'6 with his blonde hair slicked back while wearing loose shorts that had a tiger stripe design and a dark orange tank top.
"Not good enough! Try it again but this time rotate your hips in order to build up more force!" yelled an older man. Judging by his appearance you could tell the man used to be a fighter. Standing at 7'2 with a well built frame, bald head, slight wrinkles, and an eyepatch this wasn't the type of old man you'd want to mess with.
"Yes Sagat Sensei!"(1) Naruto told his master before delivering another roundhouse kick towards the tree. Following his advice Naruto's kick this time carried a lot more force, it was strong enough to not only make the tree split in half but uproot it's very trunk.
Taking a calming breath Naruto turned towards his teacher before giving him a bow of respect.
"What do you think Master?"
"My boy I think your ready." Old Man Sagat stated throwing his arm around his younger protege's shoulders and leading him out of the forest.
'I have truly found a worthy successor to my style in this kid.' Sagat thought proudly not believing his luck that he would ever find a student like Naruto.
When the blonde 17 year old was first dropped off on Karate Island he knew he had to find a real master to train under. All his years traveling under Big Mom and his final fight against her had hammered into him his weaknesses in close range combat.
He searched for months for the right master and style he felt would suit him best and almost gave up hope until he coincidentally ran across Sagat training.
Even for a man in his seventies Sagat was still the definition of a beast when it came to the martial art of Muay Thai. He seemed to personify the art of eight limbs by destroying several training dummies with his fists, elbows, knees, and shin strikes.
That display of power was more than enough to get Naruto hooked on learning Muay Thai and through several weeks of begging, harsh training, and finally acceptance Naruto Uzumaki had become the personal disciple of the man once known as the God of Muay Thai Sagat.
When Naruto and his master exited the forest they were assaulted by the sights and sounds of the large festival taking place on Karate Island. The reason for the lively festivities and Naruto's early morning training session under Sagat where one and the same; today was the Triennial King of Karate Island Tournament. Like the name suggested this was a martial arts competition that took place every 3 years where the best martial artists of all disciplines gathered in order to test their skills against one another. Whoever won the tournament was then crowned Karate King and were given a prize of 5,000,000 Beri.
"The tournament should be starting in a couple of hours so you should sign up before it's too late."
"Alright but Master I really want to thank you for looking out for me these past five years." Naruto said lamely trying to put into words the amount of respect he had for this man who had become a pseudo grandfather to him.
"Don't waste my time with words Uzumaki if you want to really thank me you'll win this tournament and show all those other weaklings the power of Muay Thai. Good luck in the tournament, I'll be in the stands watching." After giving his version of a pep talk Old man Sagat gave his pupil a pat on the shoulder before walking off and disappearing into the festival crowd.
Taking a minute to let his master's words of encouragement sink in a confident smile appeared on the blonde's face. Now he knew he was ready.
Naruto passed through the festival crowd making his way towards the sign-up station.
"Name, age, and fighting style please?" Asked an old monk with a clipboard.
"Naruto Uzumaki, 22 years old, and Muay Thai." (2)
"Okay. You'll be competing in Block D and your first match will be in 2 hours. Here is your participant number." The old monk said before handing Naruto a piece of paper with the number 54 on it.
"Thank you" Naruto said taking his participant number and heading into the fighting temple where the participants were gathering.
"Finally I was wondering when you'd show up Naruto." Said a male voice directly behind him.
Naruto recognized the voice immediately and smiled before turning around and to face the man that had been his rival for years now.
"I was wondering the same thing Ideo." He said bumping fists with the Longarm Tribe member.
Naruto and Ideo's rivalry had began around 3 years ago during the last King of Karate Tournament. Naruto at the time had ignored his master's advice and decided to compete in the tournament in order to see how he measured up against other martial artists. It seemed Ideo had the same idea because he also decided to compete. As two of the youngest participants at the time they had formed a bond and promised one another to meet in the finals. Unfortunately Naruto had lost in the preliminaries to a giant of a man and his strange boxing, yoga, and kickboxing fighting style (3). Ideo had lost aswell to a more seasoned opponent and their loses had fueled the duo to train all the harder.
Which leads us to present day where both martial artist were chatting and gorging themselves on the free food provided in the temples mess hall.
"So what Block did they put you in?" Naruto asked eating his third bowl of curry.
"Block B it should be easy none of my competition looks all that tough." Ideo said confidently biting into a chicken leg.
"That's good since I'm in Block D that means we won't have to fight each other in the preliminaries. That's great when I beat you I want it to be in the finals." Naruto said confidently giving Ideo a challenging stare.
"We'll see about that Uzumaki. All I know is you better not lose to anybody but me."
-X-X-X-
"We will now officially begin the Triennial King of Karate Tournament. This tournament is not only a tradition meant to honor the martial artists who first colonized this island but to determine the strongest martial artist in the South Blue. I would like to thank all 64 of you who decided to participate today. The rules are simple all of you have been assigned to one of four blocks and if you are able to win 3 matches in your block then you will be amongst the 8 fighters allowed to enter the actual tournament. Fights in these preliminary rounds will last no more than 3 minutes and if a fighter faints, falls out of the ring, or surrenders they will lose and be eliminated. Your participant number will decide the order of your first match which will begin now. I wish you all luck for the battles to come!" (4)
The head monk monologued before bowing to the crowd and officially starting to preliminaries.
(Naruto's First Match)
"Okay! We will begin the preliminary matches for Block D. Number 54 and 53, please step onto the stage." The referee instructed the two fighters.
Naruto ascended to the fighting stage and locked eyes with his opponent, a huge stereotypical strongman with a black leotard and handlebar mustache.
"You might want to surrender young man or I'll have to crush you with these muscles." Threatened the strongman flexing his arm in a cocky manner.
"You have 3 minutes! Begin!"
The minute the referee announced the start of the match Naruto leaped at the strongman leading with his right knee.
"Tiger Knee!"
Naruto's knee connected with the muscled man's face like a wrecking ball breaking his nose with an audible crack. The force of the blow was so strong it sent the strongman head over heels and flying a couple feet out of the ring.
"Number 53 has been sent out of the ring that makes number 54 the winner!"
'One down two more to go.' Naruto thought cracking his neck and popping his knuckles ready to tear into the rest of his competition.
The next two matches for Naruto ended much the same way as the first with Naruto destroying his opponents in one or two well placed Muay Thai strikes.
While not able to watch Ideo's matches in person was happy to find out that he had won all his matches aswell and they'd both made it to the semifinals.
(Official Karate Tournament Outside Arena)
"Hello ladies and gentleman and thank you all for waiting. It was a grueling process but now out of the starting 64 participants 8 truly exceptional martial artists have emerged to fight for the title of King of Karate Island!" The head announcer, a blonde haired man in a black suit, yelled causing the crowd of people to applaud.
"Now to begin our first match we have one of the winners of Block D Naruto Uzumaki a fearsome Muay Thai practitioner versus Block A winner the wrestler Red Cyclone Zangief!"
Naruto's opponent like his first was a tall, giant of a man that stood at seven feet tall and was close to 400 pounds of pure muscle. The intimidating wrestler's wardrobe only consisted of red wrestling shorts with a gold belt wrapped around his waist. Zangief introduced himself in a language that was completely foreign to Naruto but he got the gist of what he was saying.
'Hello my name is Zangief no hard feelings but I must break you.' Naruto thought raising fists and entering his opening Muay Thai stance.
"Now let the first round of the tournament Naruto Uzumaki versus Zangief begin!"
(Naruto vs Zangief)
Naruto made the first move by leaping towards Zangief with his knee extended hoping to have similar results as his first match.
"Tiger Knee!"
Zangief proved to be far more agile than you'd expect from a man of his size by performing a two-step spin move that allowed him to dodge Naruto's knee attack and deliver a open palm strike towards his face.
"Banishing Flat!"
The blow was powerful enough to send Naruto flying across the arena with blood flying from his mouth. He righted himself in midair and was able to land on his feet before he flew out the ring.
While Naruto was recovering from the wrestler's slap Zangief ran towards the downed Uzumaki hoping he could quickly wrestle him into submission.
When Zangief was in arms length of Naruto he surprised the wrestler by jumping into the air and executing a rising uppercut that struck him right in the chin.
"Tiger Uppercut!"
The move struck Zangief with so much force that the red clad wrestler was knocked off his feet.
'Sorry big guy but your done' Naruto thought knowing from experience that a direct hit from his Tiger Uppercut would lead to an instant knockout.
Unfortunately for our favorite blonde Zangief was far from done and he'd unintentionally fallen into his trap.
While Naruto was still airborn due to his rising uppercut Zangief was able to wrap his enormous arms around his waist.
{"Sorry comrade but this battle ends now!"}
The bear of a man then proceeded to execute two German Suplexes that smashed Naruto's head into the arena floor and finished the combo by jumping in the air with Naruto in his arms and doing a Spinning Piledriver.
"Final Atomic Buster!"
When the smoke cleared from Zangief's technique the large wrestler emerged from the rubble unharmed while Naruto's body was buried in the ground headfirst.
"I can't believe it folks the Red Cyclone Zangief in another brilliant show of wrestling has literally buried his competition. If Naruto is unable to stand by the 10 count this match will go to Zangief."
"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Sev..."
"Aaaahhhh!"
In an impressive display of strength and toughness Naruto performed a kick up that dislodged his head was from the concrete floor. The blonde Uzumaki surprisingly looked okay for a man who seconds before the crowd suspected of being dead. Other than some slight bruising on his face and a bloody mouth he looked fine.
"Well that sucked, my mouth was open when you made me taste concrete. I don't think I'll ever get the taste of it out of my mouth." Naruto joked before once again taking his Muay Thai stance.
{"That move was supposed to finish you. I've used it to kill bears before."} Zangief stammered not understanding how one of his strongest moves could just be brushed off like that.
"I believe you that attack was strong but my sensei has been hitting me with blows worse than that for 5 years now. You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me." Those words seemed to light a fire in the large wrestler who gave Naruto a hard glare and entering into his own stance ready to continue the fight.
Round 1 was done and it definitely ended in Zangief's favor; however the match was far from over.
Naruto and Zangief found themselves in a struggle for dominance with both martial artist performing a clinch with Naruto's hands on Zangief's shoulders and Zangief holding Naruto's forearms.
{"Do you truly think you can best me at grappling little man?"} Zangief taunted before he began flexing his arms and using his full grip strength to squeeze Naruto's arms.
Now if this was any normal fighter the amount of pressure Zangief was exerting would be more than enough to break their forearm bones like toothpicks and have them screaming in pain.
Naruto however wasn't a normal fighter and only smiled at Zangief's pointless act of strength.
"You ever wonder why a tiger's claws are hidden when they stalk their prey?" Naruto asked the foreign man; more to himself than Zangief given the language barrier.
Mere seconds later Zangief began to experience a horrible pain coming his shoulders so great that it made him kneel in pain and release the death grip he had on his arms.
"It's so that they can stay sharp and when they dig into their prey there's no way for them to escape." Naruto explained with a predatory smirk on his face tighting the hold he had on Zangief.
Naruto's fingers were pressing so hard into Zangief's shoulder muscles that they were leaving deep indentations in his skin.
Taking advantage of Zangief's vulnerable position of his current hold on him Naruto grabbed the back of the wrestlers neck and pulled his face towards his already rising Tiger Knee. Naruto could hear the sound of Zangief's nose breaking and saw the geyser of blood come from it. Not showing any mercy towards him Naruto finished his combo by delivering a viscous Tiger Uppercut to Zangief's exposed chin.
"Tiger Genocide!"
His attack sent Zangief flying and landing in a heap on the far side of the arena seemingly knocked out.
"Oh my goodness can you believe it folks Naruto was able to completely turn this match around with a devastating Muay Thai combination! Can Zangief hope to recover!?" The announcer yelled excitedly, grateful he could witness such a high level martial arts bout.
"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eigh..."
{"No!"} Yelled the powerful voice of Zangief who with difficulty was able to get himself back on his feet.
{"You are truly a worthy opponent comrade, that move almost made me blackout."} Zangief stated before flashing Naruto a bloody smile for finally being able to experience such an exciting match.
Naruto didn't need to speak Zangief's language to tell what the wrestler was feeling.
"I feel the same way big guy and I'd love to keep this fight going but we both know we can't. How about we both agree settle this match with our next move?" Naruto asked Zangief while gesturing with his hands before he nodded in agreement.
Naruto and Zangief slowly circled around one another sizing each other up one last time and waiting for one of them to make the first move.
Neither one of them could remember who made the first move but one second later both Naruto and Zangief were airborne and on a direct path with one another.
"Cyclone Lariat!" Yelled Zangief who was spinning around with his forearms extended, explaining his nickname due to him forming a miniature red cyclone.
"Tiger Raid!" Roared Naruto unleashing a barrage of rapid-fire kicks so fast that they left shadowy afterimages.
To the audience their clash lasted for only a moment but to all the experienced fighters watching they all knew the fight was decided.
Naruto and Zangief landed facing away from each other for a few moments before Zangief started swaying and toppled over like a tree.
"And there you have it folks in a close, hard fought match Naruto Uzumaki has been able to defeat the Red Cyclone Zangief!" Exclaimed the announcer lifting up Naruto's arm in victory while the EMTs carried Zangief away.
-X-X-X-
As Naruto was in the hallway leaving from the arena he found himself once again crossing paths with Ideo who he could tell by his was heading towards his own match.
"Damn Uzumaki you look like hell don't tell me you lost already" Taunted Ideo.
"Yea right, I won my opponent was just strong. If I was you I'd start worrying about myself and getting to the second round."
"Don't worry I more than ready. I'll do my part so that we can meet in the final round and once and for all see whose the strongest."
The two fighters pumped fist before Ideo walked passed the blonde and onto the stadium floor.
-X-X-X-
"Folks we will now begin the second match of the first round in this year's King of Karate Island tournament! This match will be between Ideo from Block B and from Block C we have Balrog! Both of these strong fighters have made quick work of their opponents in the preliminaries with their powerful boxing styles! I for one can't wait to see which one of them will reign supreme!"
"I've heard a lot about your skills. Let's let the best man win." Ideo said extending his fist in greeting to Balrog; a very tall, heavy built black man who was wearing blue boxing trunks, a tank top, and red boxing gloves.
Balrog looked at Ideo's extended fist skeptically before flashing a lopsided smile at Ideo and extending his own fist.
However this gesture of sportsmanship was ruined by Balrog who after touching gloves with Ideo decided to headbutt the Longarm tribe member in the face.
This sudden act of aggression shocked the crowd and Ideo whose head reeled back and blood flew from his mouth.
The announcer quickly got between the two boxers and began scolding Balrog on how the match only begins when he says so and how next time a cheap shot like that will get him disqualified.
This threat seemed to mean little to Balrog who was busy scratching his armpits while Ideo just wiped the blood from his mouth and gave him a death glare.
Knowing that his words were falling on deaf ears the announcer decided to just start the fight.
"Now let the second round match of this tournament Ideo versus Balrog begin!"
(Ideo vs Balrog)
Hoping to end the match early a Balrog rushed towards Ideo like a mad bull and threw a right hand straight punch.
"Dash Straight!"
In one smooth motion Ideo leaned his head to one side, completely avoiding Balrog's, all while still glaring holes into the larger boxer.
"Is that the best you've got? Nothing but dirty tricks and predictable punches, what a disappointment. Uzumaki really lucked out with his opponent I'll only need one punch to beat someone at your level." Ideo stated matter of factly.
Not taking Ideo's critique of his boxing skills very well Balrog began attacking Ideo with a flurry of angry punches praying that one would connect so that he could remove the Longarm Tribesman's head from his shoulders.
However none of his punches were able to land and Ideo was able to effortlessly weave around his sloppy punches until Balrog had to stop to rest.
"Listen this match is over your punches may be strong but they're far to sloppy to ever touch me. Surrender now and it will be better for both of us. I have a worthy opponent I want to defeat in the finals and I don't want to waste my time on small fry like you."
Those words along with his inability to hurt his opponent was just too much for Balrog who began to go into an anger filled trance.
"I'll Kill You!" Balrog screamed rushing towards Ideo at newfound speeds and throwing a combination of 5 savage punches that had enough force to crack the air around them like a bullwhip.
"Crazy Buffalo!"
Sadly Balrog's rage based burst of speed still wasn't enough to catch Ideo who once again was dodging between his fists with ease. If anything his angry assault would prove to be his undoing because the massive boxer was so focused on trying to kill Ideo that he failed to notice how he was being lead to the corner of the ring.
Ideo ducked under the last of Balrog's punches before going around the large boxer finally entered into his own boxing stance.
Balrog who at the this point was beyond tired simply did a 180 turn and guarded himself the best he could, hoping he could withstand whatever his smaller foe could throw at him and hopefully find a opportunity to retaliate.
"I've let you show me your best punches so I think it's only fair I get to show you one of mine. I was going to save this one for the finals against Uzumaki but this fight has been so boring I've just got to show this crowd something." Ideo said while winding up his right fist before he threw it at Balrog's guarded face.
"Destruction Cannon!"
The minute the punch connected his fist exploded in Balrog's face, destroying his guard, and sending the boxer flying outside the ring.
"Wow can you believe it folks Ideo has just ended the match and sent Balrog flying with only one punch! While Balrog's boxing style was deadly Ideo's has shown to be on a whole other level!"
-X-X-X-
[Naruto 2nd Round Match]
Again Naruto's fists hit nothing but air as his more agile opponent danced around his blows and countered with a high kick that snapped his face to the side. His opponent in the second round turned out to be a flamboyant man named Miguel who practiced a form of Okama Kenpo that mirrored salsa dancing. He wore a bright red bullfighter uniform and sported a face full of makeup that exaggerated his androgynous image.
"Oh come on you'll to do better than that from you Naruto-boy. This little dance of ours is proving to be quite boring don't you think?" Miguel taunted entering a salsa pose and extending his hand towards the blonde Muay Thai fighter.
"Tiger Knee!" He yelled leaping at the flamboyant fighter who was able to twirl around Naruto and as Naruto was leaping past him he connected a powerful backhand to the back of Naruto's neck that nearly made him fall unconscious.
Luckily Naruto was able to recover and create some distance between himself and the matador themed Okama.
'Dammit this guy is one slippery bastard. His style is like dancing where he predicts his opponents every move and counters without any wasted movement.' Naruto thought breaking down what he'd learned of Miguel's martial arts style so far from their brief bout before rushing again at Miguel who was prepared to counter and finish him off.
'Which means I have to hit him with something I know he won't see coming.' Naruto thought before he stopped on a dime and performed a front flip leading with his right leg and using it like a knife to cut Miguel from his shoulder all the way to his waist (5).
"Jaguar Kick!"
Miguel's chest started gushing blood with his mouth open in a silent scream. Taking advantage of his weakened state Naruto leaped forward and launched two thrusting knees that struck Miguel's chest and chin respectively and sending both fighters airborne.
"Rising Jaguar!"
Naruto was able to land on his feet gracefully while Miguel hit the stadium floor in a bloody and unconscious heap.
"Can you believe it folks in a turnaround victory Naruto Uzumaki was able to overcome Miguel's Okama Kenpo and come out on top! With this win he has officially earned a spot in the final round!" The announcer declared to the crowd who exploded in cheers for the blonde brawler.
-X-X-X-
[Ideo 2nd Round Match]
Ideo found himself on the defensive against the palm strikes of his second round opponent. He was a serious looking man named Sneck who practiced what he called the Biting Snake Fist Style which focused on open palm strikes that when he attacked created snake after images around his fists. Sneck was a relatively tall man with spiky black hair and he wore a custome snakeskin suit.
"Snake Fist: Anaconda Barrage!" Roared Sneck delivering an even faster barrage of snake palm strikes that Ideo had no choice but to put his guard up and endure the best he could.
When Sneck's hail of blows finally stopped Ideo tried to fight back with his signature Destruction Cannon only for Sneck to grab Ideo's wrist before the fist connected and stopped the attack in its tracks.
"Snake Fist: Venomous Bite!"
Ideo began to feel all the strength leave his captured arm due to Sneck's strong grip and when he tried to fight back with his left hand Sneck performed the same move on his other wrist.
"With both your wrist locked you can't throw anymore of those explosive punches of yours. This puts us at a stalemate but since I was able to to land more blows on you at the start the judges will have no choice but to give me win by decision." Sneck monologued, tightening his grip on Ideo's wrist and keeping his fists by his sides.
"You'd really be satisfied by winning your match on a technicality?" Ideo asked not believing any self proclaimed martial artists would be okay with winning the tournament due to some cheap trick, even Balrog with all his dirty boxing was willing to at least face his opponents head on.
"It doesn't matter the method as long as I can win this tournament and get the prize money it doesn't matter how I defeat you. I can hold you like this for the rest of the fight, be safe, and get an easy victory." Sneck taunted, proud of his seemingly perfect plan.
[Crack!] [Crack!]
'Wait what is that sound?' Sneck thought before he felt an agonizing pain in his sides that made him release his hold on Ideo's wrists and stagger back in pain.
"What the hell I had your wrist locked there is no way you could have thrown a punch from that position." Sneck said while on his sides and crouching on one knee due to the pain of feeling like his sides were just torn to shreds.
"Your right I couldn't, all I did was clench my fists as hard as I could before I twisted and grinded my knuckles into your sides. You should be proud if you and I hadn't fought I would've never invented this new killer move of mine; I think I'll call it The Fist Clench." Explained Ideo who didn't give Sneck a chance to recover and blasted him out of the ring with his signature Destruction Cannon.
"And there you have it folks in another crushing victory Ideo has defeated Sneck of the Biting Fist and has earned his place in the final round! Now Ideo and Naruto will both compete to see who rightfully deserves to be crowned this years King of Karate Island!"
-X-X-X-
Naruto and Ideo starred at one another from opposite ends of the stadium floor.
"Well we did it we both made it to the finals." Said Ideo.
"Yep you know it's not to late for you to give up." Naruto joked.
"Yea right and miss the chance to finally kick your ass all over this island, no way."
"Fine then since your so confident how about we have a bet for if I win?"
"What kind of bet?"
"Nothing extreme. Listen Ideo after today I'm leaving this island, I'm starting a crew and going to the Grandline but to do that I need strong fighters. How about this if I'm able to beat you here today you agree to come with me and join my pirate crew?"
"I'll think about it but you're gonna have to beat me first. There's no way I'm following someone weaker than me." Ideo declared before taking a boxing stance while Naruto did the same; the time for small talk had passed.
"Now ladies and gentleman the final round of this tournament Ideo vs Naruto Uzumaki begin!" Shouted the announcer before he ran out of the arena as quickly as possible; knowing that a battle between these two would definitely be explosive.
(Naruto vs Ideo)
"Tiger Knee!"
"Destruction Cannon!"
Both fighters wasted no time and immediately collided with their signature attacks, the force of Ideo's fist and Naruto's knee colliding creating an explosion in the center of the arena that pushed both fighters apart.
They clashed again and exchanged blows in a violent brawl without any special techniques, just pure hand to hand skills.
Naruto dodged Ideo's two punch combo and countered with a spinning back fist that nailed the Longarm fighter in the jaw. However Ideo didn't take the hit lying down and connected with a strong liver blow that had Naruto spitting up blood.
(Several Minutes Later)
Ideo ducked under Naruto's roundhouse kicks and threw an explosive punch right into Naruto's face.
"Enough of this! Stop holding back Uzumaki!" Yelled Ideo who was breathing heavy and was covered in scratches and bruises from their fight.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Naruto who also was covered in bruises and burns due to Ideo's explosive punches.
"This battle is going nowhere and I'm tired of holding back against you since your not using all of your strength. I know you have a devil fruit power Naruto and that you've been training with it while practicing your martial arts. Listen your my rival and I've been training so hard so I could finally beat you and prove I'm the strongest. Now listen this next punch of mine will be my last and if you don't came at me with everything you have them I'm going to blow you away." Ideo threatened before he got into a punching stance where his right hand started to shake and create smoke; his fist brimming with stored power.
Seeing the serious look in Ideo's eyes Naruto decided it would be best to do what his rival said and give it his all.
"Fine you win Ideo, I wanted to beat you with just Muay Thai but I guess there's no way around it. Prepare yourself!" He yelled before he created a bubble of sound waves from his mouth that surrounded his body in red energy. He used this bubble to propel himself at Ideo at supersonic speeds while leading with his knee.
"Jet Voice: Tiger Knee!"
"Great Destruction Cannon!"
Naruto and Ideo's final clash created an explosion that put their first to shame and created a dark smoke cloud that obscured the crowd's vision of the arena.
When the cloud finally parted a lone figure could be seen standing in the arena. When the last of the smoke finally blew away the figure revealed itself to be none other than Naruto who was standing over the fallen body of an unconscious Ideo. Naruto wasn't fairing much better by the looks of it with the entire front of his body being covered in soot and 2nd degree burns.
The blonde Muay Thai fighter stood as still as a statue for several seconds before he slowly raised both fists in silent victory before collapsing and joining his opponent in unconsciousness, the wild cheering of the crowd being the last thing he heard before everything went dark.
-X-X-X-
After paying a visit to the infirmary to get their wounds treated Naruto and Ideo made their way to the docks while ignoring the shouts of praise from the townspeople congratulationing them on their match. It turned out that even though Ideo lost the fight due to Naruto's use of his devil fruit power he was disqualified and the title of King of Karate island was given to Ideo. While not exactly happy with winning the tournament because of a technicality the Longarmed boxer still decided to take the prize money and the title in Naruto's place.
When they made it to the docks they faced the ship that they would start their journey with. It was a fairly small caravel style pirate ship with a Jet Dial motor that allowed for extra speed (6). Staring at his vessel Naruto gave a silent thank you to Big Mom who was nice enough to give him his last "paycheck" before sending him away. Being the frugal person he was after feeding himself for the last five years and buying the vessel in front of him Naruto was still sitting on a pretty little nest egg of 50,000,000 Beri.
Ideo crossed his arms over his chest and gave Naruto a sceptical look. Having second thoughts about starting a two man pirate crew with his long time rival.
"Hey Naruto before I officially decide to join this little pirate crew of yours I gotta know what is your end goal and why should I really want to join you?"
"It's simple really my goal is to make it to the New World and make a name for myself and build a powerful crew. Then I want to amass enough strength so that one day I can achieve the legendary status of Yonko. I want to do what Whitebeard, Shanks, Kaido, and Big Mom have done and become a pillar for the new generation of pirates. Ideo I know that your not satisfied with the amount of power you have now. Like alot of martial artists you want to make it to the top ladder of strength right? Then join me and I swear the Grandline will be filled with strong opponents. There you and I can grow strong enough to one day challenge the whole world!" Naruto monologued shouting at the end and giving Ideo a smile that was full of conviction.
Ideo looked into Naruto's eyes searching for any form of dishonesty before nodding his head and jumping onto Naruto's boat.
"Fine lets go Captain."
The blonde pirate captain smiled opening the sails and stearing his ship into the horizon.
The journey of the Whirlpool Pirates had officially begun.
Chapter 4 End
(1)- Yes he is the same Sagat from the Street Fighter franchise
(2)- Naruto is not a D everyone sorry
(3)- Jerry guy from CP6 if any of you guys remember
(4)- Yes I admit this tournament was an obvious Dragonball ripoff but I love the series so I couldn't not use it :)
(5)- Yes Sagat was able to teach Naruto Adon's style of Muay Thai aswell. Sagat's (Tiger) style focuses more on crushing hard hitting blows while Adon's (Jaguar) style focuses more on being fast,acrobatic, and unpredictable.
(6)- The Ship is around the same size as the Going Merry.
P.S- Happy 3 year anniversary to the Fandom Flux Podcast I know I already mentioned them last chapter but hey it's their birthday :)
[Reviewer Responses]
Guest- Request granted Naruto's Muay Thai makes him a better close combat fighter
wildman90- Canon is now Luffy has started his journey at this point in the timeline.
Phills- Yes same person Pudding is just the English translation
Zetaexcel- Voice Fruit and it has good destructive power but overuse can leave the user temporarily mute and unable to use its powers. Pretty Simple
Ejammer- Those 4 years he was protected by Big Mom's name and never really fought anyone tough. Plus those CP8 agents were glorified babysitters for the World Nobles and already tired from fighting the rest of the search party.
Lightningblade49- No bounty bc he kept a low profile and the CP8 agents were killed off so they couldn't tell the government about him.
0 Jordinio 0- Thanks for the tip I didn't know if dialogue should end in a period or a comma and the sentence finishes with she/he said.
Silver crow- Naruto has a rough grasp of Armament Haki. Meaning he can touch Logias but can't use it to increase the strength of his attacks. Also his Observation will be garbage bc like you said his fruit makes it somewhat useless and it's hard for him to stop relying on his senses and trust in his Observation Haki. (Also love reading lengthy reviews)
Thabane Tha Creator- Thnx working on fight scenes and getting the flow right
Kidswow1- Great suggestion and thanks to you for sparking this reviewer question :)
Guest- No Naruto x Bonney but they will meet in the future.
Pete's Sake- Yes it will be a long time from now but Naruto will eventually Awaken his Devil Fruit.
Anyway Review, Follow, and Favorite.