Attention! - Before you read, make sure you didn't skip chapter 11. I updated two chapters at once and I noticed there's twice as much views on this chapter than the previous one. So this chapter wont make much sense if you haven't read chapter 11.
Chapter 12
"Join me, Naruto." Jagger announced seriously.
"From the time you sent me through my office window, you have successfully and continuously fed my curiosity. And up to this point, all my attempts to take your life was none other than a test to measure your capabilities. Take pride in when I say that you're one of the strongest opponents I've ever had the pleasure to meet in battle. But you have the potential to be even greater. All you need is someone with a crew tough enough that can support your maturation and you could be one of the greatest warriors this world will ever see."
"I can offer you this opportunity, I can give you more power, more influence, more wisdom than you could ever think possible. And when the time is right, I will make you my right hand man. Believe me when I say you're gonna want to be on the right side when very soon, we will start the greatest revolution this world will ever experience and create a new world older"
"So what do you say Naruto? Do you want to stay with your small, inadequate pirate crew who are destined to fail? Or join my crew and strive for unlimited greatness?"
Jagger ended and paused for a good minute, his overconfident personality allowed him patience as he was sure Naruto would accept his offer. It truly was a great offer to most pirates, an offer only a mad man would decline.
Naruto stopped his swift leaping from one branch to another and hastily finalised a set of hand signs.
As Jagger's patience began to fade, a thin layer of mist enveloped the captain's surroundings from every direction. He raised a curious brow while the mist thickened and thickened. Soon, visibility was non-existent. It was an eerie situation even for the arrogant Jagger. The silence was deafening and the lack of sight made his predicament more unnerving.
Satisfied with the potency of his jutsu, Naruto created a small handful of sage mode shadow clones.
On the other hand, struggling to find the point if this sudden mist, Jagger called out. "I'm assuming from another one of your trickeries that you've rejected my most generous proposal?" He said loudly to wherever Naruto was hiding.
"But if you wanted to say no then you could have just said so, you didn't need to make this useless mist. I mean, it's not like it's going to stop my haki in finding you." The captain concluded, followed by concentrating on Naruto's location.
But his eyes expanded impossibly wide at the comprehension that his observational haki was no longer functioning. No matter how hard he focused, he failed to detect the blond.
"What the hell is going on?" He questioned quietly to himself.
Unaware to both Jagger and Naruto, but the mist, a substance moulded by chakra acted as perfect tool to negate the effects of observational haki. Since chakra and Haki are similar forms of inner energy, the cloud of chakra disabled Haki's abilities to pin point an individual's location.
Truthfully speaking, Naruto had no clue about this by-product of the hidden mist jutsu, he used it to create a distraction and for territorial advantage. But content with his shadow clones, Naruto ordered them into action.
Jagger's heart skipped a beat due to the sudden bodies that surrounded him. He noticed five Naruto's nearby him shaped a pentagon formation and all had their arms drawn.
"Eat this! Five Point Frog Kumite!" They yelled in unison and punched the air in Jagger's direction.
Before Jagger could question why his opponents purposely connected with air, an unexplainable, indescribable, earth shattering force inflicted unbounded pressure on his body from all direction.
The foreign force was so immense that it surpassed Jagger's metallic skin to take the captains breath away. Additionally, to Jagger's abundant disbelief, his ultimate and impenetrable defence system cracked under the vast pressure. A small and unnoticed crack it may be, but it was enough to fuel his rage to preposterous levels.
Pissed off and not to be messed with, Jagger stomped his foot harshly to erupt five Vinamantium spikes from the ground and speared the Naruto's in the heart.
All blond pirates disappeared in a fog of smoke as the cloud of mist begun to rapidly dissipate. After a silent moment, the mist vanished as quickly as it came and Jagger was greeted with the sight of Naruto, the real Naruto on the far end of the garden near the house itself. He was performing some peculiar shapes with his hands and seemed to be muttering something to himself.
"…Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, Ee, Tori!"
"Water style – Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A short, uncertain paused brewed in the air causing Jagger's attention to peak. But Naruto kept his hand signs and anticipated for the inevitable.
A second later, the late water dragon crashed through one of the mansion rooms and wrapped itself around its caster. Jagger followed the dragon's fluid body and traced it back to the mansions kitchen.
A fatigued Naruto, no longer in sage mode with his dragon around him channelled black lightning chakra in his fist. He was nearly drained from chakra exhaustion but knew he couldn't beat Jagger unless he pushed himself to the utmost limit.
'If I can't cut him, then I'll just use water pressure to break through that metal skin.'
He placed his hand on the dragon's watery body and coated its entire being with raging black lightning. The newly black lightning water dragon roared magnificently before rushing towards Jagger.
As the fearsome creature closed the distance, Naruto's mind remembered the wise words of his best friend's brother, Itachi Uchiha. 'Every jutsu has a weak point.'
'I sure hope you're right Itachi because I don't have much chakra left to try much else.'
Jagger watched the blonds attack with a stern face. 'I need to stop fooling around and take this seriously, that much water pressure could do some serious damage.'
In an instant, Jagger dropped to one knee and planted his palms onto the ground. A thick, wide, Vinamantium wall erupted from beneath at first contact. The black lightning water dragon and wall connected with devastating force. Water sprayed at every direction at the destruction of the dragon's watery head on initial contact, but its body maintained its assault in an attempt to break through the tough defensive wall.
The exchange of power between an unstoppable force and an immovable object continued for several brutal moments. But to Naruto's frustration, he knew his attack was a failure. As a result, he deactivated his jutsu to conserve chakra, disintegrating the dragon in the process.
His breath was heavy and his knees were frail, near to the point of falling under his weight. But his eyes widened when Jagger's ultimate defensive wall returned to earth and behind it lacked the figure of the captain.
Instantaneously, Jagger materialised inches away from Naruto face. His fists now darker from the rest of his body from infused Armoured Haki. A bone crushing uppercut lifted the blond of his feet and high up into the air.
"Shave!"
Jagger's newly displayed speed was too fast for Naruto to react and the burning pain in his body disabled his cognitive ability to counter with a jutsu. Naruto's body was savagely tossed from every direction by Jagger's spine busting punches. Up, down, left, right, side to side, Naruto couldn't even scream due to blinding agony from the lightning fast torture. The blonde's beaten figure hung limply in the air until Jagger reappeared above the young pirate. Another excruciating punch to the stomach sent Naruto crashing down to earth.
Enduring the throbbing anguish, Naruto managed to summersault in the air to land roughly on his feet. But before he could counter Jagger's assault, the captain rematerialized at dazzling speeds to choke him by the neck and throw him forward like a rag doll. Naruto's flight was abruptly stopped by another Vinamantium wall. His back jolted with torment but managed to open his eyes to the sight of the incoming Jagger like a speeding bullet.
"Did you really believe I would stay still!? Never trust the words of a pirate!"
Naruto tweaked his head to the side just in time to evade the bald man's giant metallic fist from flattening his face. Naruto attempted to use the substitute jutsu but was quickly interrupted by a shattering Vinamantium knee to the gut.
A good size of blood splashed from his lips as Naruto succumbed from the mind numbing pain coursing through his veins and dropped to his knees. As his hands and knees felt the cold, soft sensation of grass, he cursed himself for using too much chakra and exhausting sage mode.
Jagger looked down onto the beaten body of Naruto with a look of indifference. "This could all have been avoided if you just accepted my offer Naruto."
The jinchuuriki grinded his teeth as he refused to admit defeat. He creaked his head to the side and spots his katana. Miraculously, the blade remained in its exact place with its hilt sticking high in the air. Naruto did his best to ignore the burning pain in every cell in his body and force a shunshin towards his katana. Jagger mentally sighed in boredom and followed the blond with the Shave technique.
Team Nami
"Sanji" "Sanji-kun!"
Fearful and worried about their nakamas, Nami and Chopper took a couple of steps back as the golem stared at them in the eyes. The ground beneath their feet shook violently as the monster took a step towards their direction.
Nami looked at the small craters on the two sides of the walls where her nakamas laid. She failed to see any forms of movements from the two. She was worried for their health but never questioned their mortality. Sanji and Brook have gone through a lot more worse situation than this and turned out just fine.
Accepting the current predicament, she took a step in front of Chopper.
'If Brook and Sanji-kun are down then it's up to me to make sure Chopper's safe. It won't be good if anyone above gets hurt and he can't help them.' An image of Naruto's smiling face flashed in her mind.
The golem slowly journeyed half way across the room. But before it could take another step, a wide line of ice quickly divided the room into two halves. One side with Nami and Chopper, the other with the Vinamantium creature and the injured Sanji.
The golem stopped to inspect the new development. Nami and Chopper were just as surprised by the birth of the sudden, steaming layer of ice. Laying on his back and struggling to return to his feet, Brook kept the tip of his blade connected to the floor. From it originated the wide sheet of ice.
"I'm sure you'll like this, Chopper-san." Brook spoke quietly to himself, still attempting to raise to his feet.
The wide layer of ice begun to produce even more steam as small round bumps curved the surface of the ice. After several moments, those bumps increased in height and turned out to be the tops of skeleton skulls.
Ascending from below, a line of sinister looking ice skeletons slowly emerged from the frozen floor. Their bones were blue and steamed radiated of their skeletal bodies.
As Brook predicted, Chopper's eyes brightened at the sight of the small group of ice skeletons. "Wow! Brook! Did you do this?! They look so cool!"
Nami was just as impressed but supressed her emotions better. "What are they?" She questioned out loud.
The golem took another step and prepared to crush the blue mysterious beings. But the skeletons beat it to the punch. One of Brook's new icy skeletons rushed towards the metal monster leaving ice foot prints on the ground. It leaped high and collected some air. The merciless golem watched the airborne skeleton with no concept of fear and smashed it with a vicious punch.
But as the blue skeleton connected with the monster's fist, being crushed into nothingness in the process, said fist was instantly covered in a layer of thick, freezing ice.
Nami and Chopper gasped at the sudden development but were far too amazed by the scene to comment.
A small smile curved Brook's mouth. "Feel the souls of the dead imprisoning you in your eternal coffin, monster-san."
The golem stared into his ice encaged fist and attempted to shake the material off. At that point the rest of brook's ice skeletons sprung in to action and rushed towards the beast at a moderate pace. This gained the monster's attention. It shifted its sights to the group of frozen bones and opened its mouth to eject hundreds of senbons.
But it was too late, the skeletons were already airborne and meters away from contact. The senbons eradicated a few of the frozen beings but that didn't stop the rest from climbing upon its massive body.
Brook's skeletons vanished into thin air at initial contact. But in its place formed a well sized piece of ice that froze the golem's body parts. Soon enough the icy substance overwhelmed and devoured the metal being. Its attempts of resistance was futile. The ice travelled across its massive figure until it became one big piece of ice.
The dividing layer of ice also vanished with the disappearance of Brook's skeletons as the musician finally managed to stand. The battered Sanji also regained full awareness to roughly get back to his feet. The pain from being used as a play doll for a spoilt, violent little girl remained in his veins, but thankfully it was nowhere near as potent as it was earlier. His brows narrowed at the huge frozen monster in the middle of the room but soon shrugged the thought away.
The cook and Brook gingerly made their way back to Chopper's and Nami's side.
They may have been in bad shape, but seeing them alive and walking rushed a tidal wave of happiness and relief for the doctor and navigator.
The blond and bones gave one another a friendly nod before facing the people they were assigned to protect.
"Are you guys alright? Do you want me to take a look at you?" Chopper asked worryingly.
Brook shook his cranium. "That won't be necessary Chopper-san, I assure you that I am fine."
"Yeah don't worry about me Chopper, I'm okay too." Sanji said unconvincingly as he rubbed his blood stained head. "But what about you guys, are you two alright?"
Nami stepped up. "We're fine thanks to you two and Brook's friends." She said happily.
"Yeah! Those blue skeletons were totally amazing Brook!" Chopper's eyes brightened with great admiration once again.
Sanji raised a curly eye brow. "Friends? Blue skeletons?"
Just as Brook was about to explain, the unique sound of breaking ice caused all hearts to stop. If Brook had one his heart would have too.
The Straw Hats quickly turned their attentions to the big chunk of ice in the middle of the room. But that ice was shattering, and shattering fast. Ripples of cracks within the ice emerged on the surface.
In one powerful move, the golem smashed his way out from its frozen prison and roared its anger to the pirates. The ear meting roar caused the Straw Hats to take a step back.
"What!?" Brook screamed out. "It broke free!?"
Sanji readied his legs. "Stupid metal bastard doesn't know when to quit!"
An eye popping thought sprung in Nami's orange head.
"No time to waste Brook, ready for round two?" Sanji voiced out.
As Brook and the cook prepared themselves to engage the monster a second time, Nami stepped forward causing all brows to narrow.
"What are you doing Nami-san?" Sanji asked inquisitively.
Nami swiftly assembled her Clima-Tact. "You two are such idiots, why didn't you tell me that thing was made out of metal." She insulted playfully.
"What's that got to do with anything Nami-san?" Brook quizzed the girl.
Nami prepared her weapon. "Don't you two know anything? All metals conduct electricity, some more than others but hey, one shot of this should do the trick."
She lifted her weapon above her head with both hands, spun the stick with her fingers, readied the weapon by her side and pointed its end towards the golem.
Hundreds of bubbled, dark, thunder clouds escaped the blue stick and circled the metal monster like a tornado.
"Black Ball!"
The bubbles popped allowing the dark clouds to link and ignite lightning.
"Storm Cloud Rod!"
The golem was engulfed by a blinding light of shocking lightning. The room brightened to unbearable levels as Nami attack consumed its foe. Several moments passed and the electrical display ceased and the dark thunder clouds slowly dissipated leaving the sight of a stationary metal monster with the last bits of Nami's lightning sparking around its body.
The four Straw Hats watched their opponent with great uncertainty. Hearts pumped faster and the tension in the room thicken. The waiting for the outcome of Nami's assault was unbelievably unsettling.
Another earth shaking roar caused the pirates to take another step back in the opposite direction.
Nami was most astonished at the end result. "I can't believe that didn't work! What kind of metal doesn't conduct electricity!?" She yelled fearfully. The golem took another stride towards the navigator and her nakamas.
"Get ready, Brook." Sanji commanded.
Brook looked at the blond in a panic. "But what are we going to do?! We haven't even made a single scratch on it yet!?"
"That doesn't matter! We'll find a way somehow!" Sanji raised his voice in frustration.
Listening to Sanji and Brook bickering about ways to deal with the metal creature, Chopper hung his head low. He understood that Brook's and Sanji's role was to ensure his own safety so he would be fit enough to offer medical aid to anyone needed it, and the reindeer was certain someone will need it, whether it be Jagger's prisoners or his own nakama.
But what Chopper understood most was his friend's current conditions. Sanji was heavily injured and judging by his bloodied blonde hair, he may have gained a concussion. Brook's health however, was much worse compared to Sanji's. A majority of his bones looked frail and Chopper knew some were definitely fractured. Asking those two to deal with what seemed like an indestructible opponent would be suicide, especially witnessing first hand that nothing Sanji and Brook have tried so far against the monster had worked.
Chopper despised feeling useless. And right now, standing around waiting for his friends to engage in a losing battle as he watched from the side line, useless was the perfect word he would describe himself.
His head dropped even lower as he remembered Nami's contribution to the groups endeavours. Even his easily frightened friend had done something to help, even if her attempt was unsuccessful.
Useless.
Chopper ended Sanji's and Brook's bickering by silently stepping up in front of his three friends.
The remaining Straw Hats fixed their sight on the doctors back in questioning.
"Chopper what are you doing?" Sanji questioned, puzzled.
"I'm not just going to stand here and watch my friends kill themselves to protect me, I'm not doing it anymore!" The doctor called out in fury.
Nami stepped forward in a rush. "Wait a minute, you're not planning to do that are you?" She asked dreadfully.
Chopper didn't respond but kept his determined face.
Nami's body stiffened from the realisation of the doctors plans. "No, don't do this Chopper, you can't! What about everyone who's fighting upstairs?! What if Naruto or Luffy gets hurt and needs your help to save them! Think about the others!" She cried out desperately.
Likewise, Brook and Sanji were close to protest since Nami made a valuable point. But knowing their doctor's personality inside out, they fully understood how Chopper felt.
"I'm sorry Nami but I have to do this." The reindeer replied seriously and the faces of Naruto, Luffy, Zoro, Robin, Usopp and Franky enveloped his mind.
'Everyone, please stay safe and hold on for another thirty minutes.'
Chopper reached in his pockets to grab a small, yellow, circular object.
"Rumble!"
Team Luffy
"TAKASHI!"
A voice, an enraged voice, but the most important voice immobilised every living being within the Suzuki Mansion.
Takashi's eyes described pure shock and terror.
"J-Ja-Jagger-sama." He stutter nervous, sensing the anger in his captain's voice, the first mate dropped to one and bowed.
"My apologies captain, I wasn't aware that you left your chambers." He said respectfully.
Luffy laid on his back still as a statue with Zoro hovering above him poised to slice the rubber man. The bleeding captain was beyond perplex at how Jagger could be standing at front door. Does that mean he left Naruto for dead and came to finish him and the rest of his crew off too? Whatever the reason, his anger increased just by the sight of the bald captain.
Jagger wore a pissed off face before walking towards Takashi at an intimidating pace. He walked past Robin's sleeping body and spoke. "What have I told you before, Takashi? What have I told you countless times before about the way you deal with your opponents?" He said frustrated.
Takashi was quick to respond. "But I was just about to finish them Jagger-sama I swear." He anxiously replied, keeping his head down.
Before Jagger retorted, he towered Takashi, bent down, grabbed him by his shirt, lifted him high in the air and stared him deep in the eyes. "You toy around with your enemy's far too much Takashi. The strong do not mess around with their prey, they kill their prey!"
Takashi returned eye contact with fear. "My deepest and most sincere apologies Jagger-sama, I, I swear I will never do it again."
"Oh I'm going to make sure of that." Jagger said coldly before his eyes turned yellow and shined brighter than the sun itself.
An immense ache in Takashi chest sent the young first mate into deep unconsciousness. Jagger released his sleeping body and it fell on the marble floor with a thud.
On the floor, Luffy couldn't even begin to interrupt what had occurred before him. What just happened? What happened to Takashi? What did Jagger do? Why did Jagger do it? A thousand questions raced his mind.
Literally, in a blink of an eye, Jagger's huge body shifted to a small, petite blonde looking down onto Takashi's unconscious figure.
"A-Angel?!" Luffy screamed in shock.
Said girl turned to view the injured captain as Zoro snapped out of his deep trance. The green haired swordsman's mentality return was greeted with the sight of his cut up captain underneath a large pool of blood.
"Luffy! What the hell happened to you!?" Zoro questioned with raging emotions. He then noticed the positioning of his arms, his bloodied blades and added the pieces. A massive wave of guilt rushed the first mate.
"Did- did I do that to you?" He asked nervously, though deep down knew the answer.
But much to Zoro's confusion, Luffy was non responsive and his eyes were fixed on something behind him. The older swordsman turned to identify what caught Luffy's attention. His jaw threated to hit the floor at the sight of Angel hovering over a sleeping Takashi.
"Hey what the hell is going on here?" Zoro asked completely bewildered by the development.
"I was just about to ask the exact same thing." Luffy surprised Zoro by responding.
"I did you guys a favour. That's what happened." Angel replied with a solid voice. "Please don't ask me why or say thank you because I really don't deserve it. But if you want to thank someone, thank your friend over there." The blond shifted her sights to the front door.
Standing by the entrance, Usopp's body threated to shake from the horrible state of his captain.
"Ahh! Luffy! What happened to you? Are you alright!?" The long nose man screamed in horror.
Luffy pushed himself to his feet as casually as he could. "Hey Usopp, yeah I'm alright, this is nothing don't worry." He said as convincing as he possible could.
Usopp rushed to his captain's side. "Are you insane?! You've been cut to shreds and you've lost so much blood, how can you even say that you're fine?!"
As Luffy and Usopp bickered about the rubber man's health, Zoro stared at Angel with sceptical eyes. "What did Usopp do to make you turn on your own first mate?"
Angel watched the exchange of friendly words and interactions between Usopp and Luffy before her mind remembered her most recent memories.
Minutes earlier
Standing above the carnage that transpired, Angel scanned all the unconscious bodies scattered across Suzuki mansion's front garden. She'd been amongst the bodies by herself for a while now, but the more she watched her old friends, the more difficult it became for her to interpret her own emotions.
Her self-reflection period was put on hold as a panting Usopp ceased his running and stopped by her side to catch his breath.
"Oi… are you alright?" With a heavy breath, Usopp questioned with curiosity and a smidge of worry. Her face was completely blank, emotionless and screamed traumatised. It would have left a bad taste in Usopp's mouth if he left her amongst all these bodies with a face like that.
"Th-these guys were my friends-" Angel replied with no feelings present in her voice.
Usopp can only look at her rather than the mass of bodies that littered on the floor. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she was feeling or thinking right now.
"I should be sad but… they casted me aside like I was nothing to them, like I didn't matter anymore." Angel continued to express her mind. "I treated them like they were my family, but they tossed me away without a second thought, even my best friend didn't want anything to do with me." Angel's eyes could no longer supress a single tear. "How can they do this?"
An inner flame sparked within the sniper, his rage spiked to unmeasurable heights. He had no clue that Angel was rejected by her crew and this new development placed a whole new spin on how he interpreted the current scenes. His blood boiled at how anymore could disregard someone who they once called nakamas so carelessly.
He quickly grabbed her shoulders and spoke passionately. "Listen to me and listen to me good! Anyone who can neglect their friends just like that was never a friend in the first place! I'm sorry that this happened to you, I really am, but you need to understand that these people were never your friends! True friends support one another even when time gets rough, friends will love and respect one another from sunrise to sunset. And most importantly, friends are loyal to each other no matter what!"
Angel's lost all her words from an eye opening revelation and absolute shock.
Usopp fixed his sights to the front door of the mansion where he heard Luffy's screaming voice. He looked at Angel once again. "Did you hear that? That was my friend just now screaming in pain. If he's having trouble in there then that means we're going to need as much help as we can. I hate having to ask you right now but I could really use your help!"
Angel turned her head from uncertainty and avoided eye contact.
Usopp noticed her conflicted face and shook her shoulders a little. "Can't you see that this is the perfect way to get back at everyone who's been pretending to be your friend all this time?! Help us and show who you're to these fake friends, show that you're strong and that you don't need any one of them to be strong!"
The snipers words struck her very soul. So much truth, so much passion, his words ignited a whole new wave of determination and goals for the blond.
She dropped her head low, gently removed Usopp's hands from her shoulders and smiled minutely.
"Leave it to me."
Present
"What did Usopp do to make you turn on your own first mate?"
Angel shrugged slightly. "If you really want to know, ask him." She replied lazily. "But if I were you I wouldn't be wasting time with all this talking. If any of your crew is fighting Jagger-sama- ah, I mean, Jagger-san, they're going to need as much help as they can. That is of course if they've lasted this long."
All Straw Hat eyes rounded and thoughts turned to Naruto.
"Usopp, stay here and look after Robin and Luffy. I'm going to give Naruto some help." Zoro declared with authority to the sniper.
"Okay." Usopp replied firmly.
"Hey! What do you mean look after me, I'm going too you know!" Luffy erupted all of a sudden. But an unexpected jolt of pain ran through his rubber body causing him to drop to a knee. He held the left side of his torso to hide his injuries.
But Zoro wasn't blind. "Don't be stupid Luffy, you're in no shape to be fighting anymore and that's on me. I'll apologise to you later but right now you need to stay here and wait for Chopper to fix you up."
"Zoro's right." Usopp added. "You remember what Chopper said back on the ship, if you reopen your wounds you could actually die and you've done just that! You can't risk your life like this!"
The captain ignored their words and gingerly stood on his feet. "Hah, this is nothing. You really think this little injury is going to stop me?" He replied with energy as his crew mates dropped their heads in disappointment.
"Usopp, make sure nothing happens to Robin. Let's go Zoro." Luffy commanded.
The first mate and sniper shook their heads in irritancy. They knew all too well of their captains stubbornness but this was ridiculous. But knowing arguing was useless, the two reluctantly agreed with Luffy's decision.
"Alright fine but don't get yourself killed you hear me?" Zoro told his captain.
Luffy gave the swordsman his signature grin and prepared himself to leave. But before they could mobilize, a loud bursting noise coming from the one of the rooms in the ground floor of the mansion shocked the ears of those in attendance.
"What was that?" Zoro asked out loud. But strangely enough, he could have sworn he could hear the sound of flowing water.
"You better stop wasting your time and help your friend." Angel voiced to Luffy and Zoro.
Agreeing with the busty blond, the two founding Straw Hats nodded to one another before going over to Naruto's side.
Team Nami
Sanji, Nami and Brook couldn't keep their eyes off Chopper's monster point and Jagger's golem brutal fist fight. For two and a half minutes, it's been nothing but a true clash of titans. Gigantic punches have been thrown at all directions, gigantic beings have been thrown in all directions. But overall, the street fight like battle was fairly even.
In the heat of battle, monster Chopper blocked another one of the golem's punches with his forearm and responded by a huge right hook to the metallic creatures face.
The clean, ferocious punch forced the metal monster to take a couple of backwards steps. But the unscathed surface of its face caused the reindeer to grind his teeth.
'I've used too much time, I'll probably return back to my normal body in any second now! Dammit! Why won't this thing break?!'
In an act of desperate aggression, Chopper withdrew his right arm.
"Take this! Cloven Rose, Palm!"
Choppers powerful arm made a clean hit on the golem's stomach. The immense thrust formed an artificial breeze inside the underground room.
But all living beings quickly lost all their words as they watch the Vinamantium monster take Choppers attack head on. The monster did not move nor did it show signs of damage. It held on to Choppers arm with one of its own to soften to blow. And in a heartbeat, Jagger's golem removed the oversized reindeers arm from his body and closed their distance.
Chopper throat was now choked by the vast constrictive force of the golem's hand. He tried to struggle his way free but Chopper could already feel his body weakening from the monsters insane power.
"Chopper!" "Chopper-san!" Screamed the remaining Straw Hats. Sanji and Brook readied themselves to intervene.
The golem tightened its grip around the doctor's neck as it open its mouth as wide as it could. Choppers face pictured panic knowing that hundreds of sharp senbons is what that follows that action.
The reindeer shut his eyes tightly. 'This is it… I guess I was useless after all.'
Aiming for his face, the golem launched a rain of black senbons.
Inches away from impact, Choppers body shifted to its original form in a blink of an eye, consequently dodging the life ending needles.
But his safety was momentarily. The loss of his motor skills meant Chopper was now in free fall head first. The golem watched the newly sized falling reindeer intensely. It did not like Chopper eluding its attack one bit.
The metal monster clenched its fist and withdrew its arm to flatten the tiny falling creature. It rocketed its fist at towards Chopper at maximum velocity, but contact was premature by a certain blonds flaming legs.
"Diamble Jambe – Collier Strike!"
Sanji's assault gave a small window of time. Brook sprang into action and speeded towards the falling doctor. His extreme speed made the job simple. Soon enough, Brook was by Nami's side with the immobilised Chopper in his hands.
Knowing his friends were safe, Sanji used his attacking leg to leap of and return to his nakamas.
"Is he okay?" The cook asked in hurried panic.
"I-I'm o-okay." Chopper struggled to speak out. "I-I'm s-sorry guys, I couldn't, beat it."
Sanji chuckled light heartedly. "You was a total badass out there, Chopper. But don't worry about it, you gave it your best shot." Sanji reassured.
Brook interrupted. "I'm happy to see Chopper-san is fine and all but, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THAT!?"
The enraged golem took a heavy step in the pirate's direction. And another step, and another, and another.
Team Naruto
Naruto's shunshin took him centimetres away from his weapon before Jagger intercepted and smashed a Vinamantium foot to his ribs. The blond pirate skidded a couple of feet away from bald captain and his katana.
An instant burning sensation shocked the blonde's rib cage. His bones neared the point of shattering, muscles sore and tight from fatigue and severely chakra exhausted.
Jagger looked down upon the beaten body of Naruto. "I could have used a man like you by my side you know, you would have been the first mate of the strongest and most feared pirate crew on the entire Grand Line if you had only pledged your loyalty to me. But you declined, and now look at you, withering in agony on your hands and knees mere moments away from death. So tell me, do regret your decision?"
Naruto grinded his teeth with bone crushing force. He kept his head low and crumpled a handful of grass in his clenched fists. 'Do it you bastard, I know you want to.'
Naruto softened his grip and released a slow, cynical chuckle. "Regret? Why would I regret refusing an offer to join a cold, heartless son of a bitch who doesn't give two shits about no one other than himself… even to the people who call him captain?" Naruto spat harshly.
He lifted his head and looked at his opponent dead in the eyes. "So forgive me when I say thanks but no thanks, Jagger-sama." The blond added with obvious, hateful sarcasm.
Jagger's anger levels spiked momentarily before quickly regaining his composure.
"Fool, you've still yet to understand what you've given up, Straw Hat. When we find the thing we've been searching for so long, we will obtain limitless power. A power so great that we will transcend into the ultimate beings and restructure this world to the way we see fit."
'We?'
The captain placed his hands in his pockets. "And you could have been a part of it by my side, but it wasn't meant to be." Jagger stared at Naruto with hateful eyes. "Any last words?"
"Don't be stupid Naruto and use my chakra. This guy wouldn't have lasted a minute if you used my chakra from the very start." Kurama pushed through the blonds psyche.
"No! I can beat him with my own power, just you wait!" He countered angrily.
Naruto took his eyes away from Jagger and onto his katana by the captain's side, his face lit up with hope and determination. Jagger instantly noticed and smirked.
"You think this thing can save you?" He reached for the blades hilt. "Nothing can save you n-"
Mental blankness. Jagger's body was jolted by a shocking, foreign numbness. His figure instantly froze as his vision was blinded by endless white.
Naruto sprang into action. He shifted his body with sheer will power and channelled the last remaining bit of his chakra into one last jutsu.
"Raikiri!"
His lightning covered hand aimed for a small, receding Vinamantium hole on Jagger's chest that revealed the captain's true skin.
Several seconds passed and Jagger sensed his vision returning. His mind remained overwhelmed and confused by the sudden, alien feeling. Gaining full visual prowess, his eyes widened at the sight of Naruto's extended right arm and long blond hair mere inches away from his face.
Jagger followed his opponents extended arm and involuntarily upchucked blood at the sight of Naruto's lightning fist buried deep within his chest.
Naruto's breath was heavy and unstable.
As his torso bobbed up and down, Naruto raised his head to see Jagger's dying face. Blood ran down the side of his lips like a thin red river.
"How did I know… you were cocky enough… to try to kill me… with my own weapon." Naruto took a deep breath to stabilise his pattern of breathing. Meanwhile, Jagger's Vinamantium layer continued to recede towards the arm that's connected to Naruto's blade.
"My katana is built with a sealing jutsu that drains chakra, and now I guess devil fruit powers from anyone who touches it." Naruto explained victoriously. "You can say it's a type of defence mechanism to make sure that no one can use this blade but me."
Team Nami
Shaking in her hells, the leader of team Nami took another backward step with the immovable Chopper in her hands. Sanji and Brook readied themselves to fight but was incredibly hesitant. None of their attacks had shown any signs of damage to the metal monster and by this point, they were completely out of ideas on how to deal with their enemy.
Step by step, the golem made its approach towards the Straw Hats. But the creature ceased its stride as it towered over its targets. It withdrew its giant arm to flatten the pirates with a ruthless punch.
Sanji looked over to the musician. "Brook! Let's smash this bastard down!"
The skeleton hummed in agreement and unsheathed Soul Solid. "Ready when you are Sanji-san!"
The moment the two pirates were ready to attack, the golem's arm ceased to move. Strangely enough, for a couple of uncertain moments, the monsters entire figure failed to budge an inch.
Before the confused pirates could question the bizarreness of the moment, the golem instantly shattered into a million pieces creating rain of falling bits of metal. As those pieces fell, they begun to disintegrate into tiny atoms that mirrored the sight of floating glitter.
Soon enough, the dazzling glitter show ended and reduced the golem into nothingness. Four pirates stared at one another, alone in the huge, empty room with baffled expressions.
Team Naruto
"…no one can use this blade but me"
Naruto ripped his lightning fist out of Jagger's chest, the beaten captain's grip on the katana softened and crashed on the garden floor. The victor of the fight looked down upon his hand as the lighting surrounding it and the sounds of chirping birds diminished.
His face formed a look of indifference. 'Raikiri… Kakashi-sensei's assassination jutsu.' The image of Sasuke using the same technique to bury a whole in his chest flashed in his mind and grimaced at the thought.
His head may have thought one thing, but his heart said another. Conflict between personal memories and what was necessary. Deep down within Naruto's heart he knew Raikiri was necessary. He was dangerously low on chakra and couldn't afford to take any chances, he had to use it to ensure victory.
Naruto took his sight away from his hand to the defeated Jagger. He collected his katana and sheathed it before responding. "I told you that your overconfidence was going to kill you."
With the soft sensation of grass caressing his back, Jagger's feet begun to darken with a murky shade of purple. This new development continued to gradually plague the rest of his body.
"D-don't think y-you've beaten me yet b-boy" Jagger spewed blood with every stutter.
Naruto scrunched his brow. "I haven't? I'm pretty sure I have because I'm not the one on my back with a hole in chest."
The captain chuckled with a splash of liquid red. "Th-that would be true if I was the real Juggernaut Jagger." The older man chuckled once again as the murky shade of purple infected past his pelvis.
"My real body is somewhere safe deep within the New World you fool!" Jagger's chuckling continued as Naruto's eyes expanded impossibly wide.
"When the real me learns of this, he'll be coming for you. Not your crew mates, not your loved ones, you. "The captain looked deep into Naruto's eyes.
"He will pursue you Naruto, and he won't stop. He won't stop until he crushes your skull with his bare hands!" Jagger taunted intensely but honestly.
The purple plague had moved to the captain's arms as well as his entire Torso. The darkening begun to consume his head.
"And he won't stop there, after he kills you, he'll go after your friends, and then your friends' families. He won't stop until anyone who loves the Straw Hat pirates are dead. War is on your door step, Naruto. But you've haven't merely declared war against the Jagger pirates… you have declared against The Chosen Ones."
The purple plague consumed the remaining part of Jagger and turned him into dust in the air.
Naruto's clenched fists neared the point of drawing blood. His entire being was overwhelmed by one realisation.
'A clone… he was a clone all this time!?'
Naruto was extracted from his enraged thoughts by the opening of the mansion's back door. He turned to greet the new visitors and suddenly felt a great wave of relief and joy.
"Luffy, Zoro."
"Where are you Jagg-guy!?" Luffy screamed from the top of his lungs aggressively searching for Jagger.
Zoro kept silent with his hands holding the hilts of his sheathed katanas, he analysed the environment in great detail. But all he saw was Naruto in an empty half garden half mining facility with no one else but himself.
Naruto's anger about the truth of Jagger and his nasty threats quickly faded by the sight of his friends. He spotted Luffy's injuries and wondered how he attained those cuts and how he was even standing, but knowing how tough Luffy is, he wasn't all too worried. He walked up to two with a neutral face.
Naruto noticed the absent archaeologist and worried. "Are you guys alright? Where's Robin? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, Takashi used his powers to put her asleep but Usopp's looking after her." Zoro replied. "But what happened to you? You look like shit, and where's Jagger?"
Naruto couldn't help form a small smile. "Thanks-"The sarcasm was strong.
"But Jagger's gone-"His seriousness returned. "I just took care of him." He said in a defeated tone.
To say Luffy and Zoro were stunned would be a huge understatement.
"You what!?" Zoro yelled, unsure whether he was impressed or angry that Naruto took all the fun.
Luffy was equally annoyed. "He's gone?! But you said we was going to kick his ass together!" He gave the blond an accusing finger.
Naruto smiled and chuckled awkwardly as a response.
"But how?" Zoro questioned incredible interested.
The blonde's face returned to one of full seriousness. "It doesn't matter right now because I have some bad news, I'll explain it all later when everyone's here and safe"
"What kind of bad news?" Luffy's expression hardened and impatient side took over.
Naruto sighed heavily. "There isn't an easy way to say this but… the real Jagger's still alive… and we've declared war against him and The Chosen Ones?"
"War!?" Luffy and Zoro screamed in unison.
The confused captain stepped up. "But what do you mean that Jagger's still ali-"
A heart stopping moment of pain cut Luffy's sentence short. His mind was astounded by darkness and his body finally succumbed to the consequences of his injuries. His body fell as if someone had turned him off like a light switch.
Naruto and Zoro noticed the sudden change in shock and fright. But the blond sprang into action and caught Luffy before he could fall on his face. Naruto placed the captain on his back, dropped to his knees and hastily removed Luffy's red long sleeve shirt.
The jinchuuriki's eyes widened from all cuts and blood loss Luffy had sustained, but one significantly long and deep slash on Luffy's left side caught his attention.
"Oi Luffy!" Zoro panicked watching the unconscious face of his friend.
"Dammit! I told him to give up on Jagger and wait for Chopper the stupid idiot!"
"He was planning to fight Jagger like this?!" Stunned Naruto hovered his hands above the deepest cut on Luffy's left side.
"He wouldn't listen to me!"
Just as Zoro was about to leave to find Chopper, He saw Naruto's hands emit a strange, green aura. But this energy or light, at first glance was weak, its brightness flickered frequently and it was obviously unstable.
"What are you doing?" Zoro questioned Naruto.
The blond was far too busy concentrating to reply.
'Focus! I need to heal these wounds before he losses any more blood!'
The green chakra around his hands continued to flicker as Naruto struggled to force any remaining chakra he had left into his jutsu.
'Fuck! He's not healing! I've used too much chakra… I guess it's time.'
In a heartbeat, the green chakra encasing Naruto's hand amplified like gasoline to a dying fire. Zoro's eyes took shapes of plates as the wounds below Naruto's green aura begun to heal at inhuman rates.
A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of blonds face. 'I can't afford to mess this up! Focus on the stitching!'
Kurama's small, deep chuckle almost broke Naruto's focus. "Stubborn little brat, so now you want to use my chakra" The fox joked light-heartedly.
Naruto gritted his teeth from the sudden intrusion. 'This is different, my friend's life's on the line! You know full well I would have used your chakra if I knew I couldn't win against Jagger!' Naruto countered. 'Now leave me alone so I can concentrate.'
For the next several minutes, Zoro was left speechless by witnessing something he believe was close to a miracle. All of Luffy's injuries, no matter how severe had been healed in seconds thanks to Kurama's influence.
Naruto's struggling face softened and he wiped the accumulated sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. Relief was the only emotion running through him as he finished successfully closing all of Luffy's injuries.
The Straw Hat captain slept comfortably with a tiny smile on his face. Zoro on the other hand sighed in relief that the worse seemed to be over. Naruto reached inside his pouch attached to the back of his trousers and pulled out a tiny, round object.
"This should do it."
He opened Luffy's mouth and dropped the small object inside. Luffy's mouth involuntarily swallowed the substance.
"What did you give him just now?" Zoro asked curiously.
Naruto fixed his sights from the sleeping Luffy to Zoro. "A blood pill." He answered.
"Just because I healed his cuts doesn't mean he's safe. If he'd lost any more blood then I'm sure there would have been nothing I could have done. But don't worry, that little pill will restore his red blood cells so he should be okay now." Naruto said with a small reassured smirk.
"With that blood pill and medical ninjutsu, he should be his old self in an hour or two."
A relief Zoro nodded in understanding. The two Straw Hats stood and Zoro carried Luffy on his back.
"This way, we'll leave Luffy to rest with Robin and Usopp so we can find out what's taking that shitty cook so long to free some prisoners." Zoro voiced out and motioned inside the mansion.
"Alright." Naruto followed the swordsman.
Entering the house, a question itch the back of Zoro's head.
"Hey Naruto?"
"Hmm?"
"If you could heal people all this time, why didn't you help Chopper yesterday when Luffy was injured by Takumi?" Zoro questioned seriously.
Naruto formed an awkward and guilty smile. "Yeah, about that, leaving Chopper to deal with Luffy's injuries, or anybody else's injuries for that matter is probably for the best." He said with a rough laugh.
Zoro failed to translate his hidden message. "What do you mean for the best? You healed this idiots cuts in minutes not weeks?"
"I only did it because I had to. You see, all jounin level shinobi in my village needs to know basic medical ninjutsu if they want to graduate. But the thing is, medical ninjutsu requires precise, flawless chakra control, something I'm famous for sucking in. I've learnt that no matter how hard I train, my chakra control will never be good enough to be a medic, it's just not my thing. To be honest with you I don't even know how I passed the medical exam." He explained with a guilty giggle.
But after his moment, Naruto's seriousness returned. "Using medical ninjutsu without perfect chakra control… well let's just say you're more likely to kill the person you're trying to save."
Zoro gulped. "Okay I think I get it? So just do me one favour, if I ever need medical attention in the future, take me to Chopper." The swordsman joked light heartedly.
1 Hour and 30 minutes later
"Have we found anything yet?" Naruto called out while searching through the piles of documents in Jagger's office.
"No nothing yet." Usopp replied as he inspected every inch of the room.
Slouching lazily on a chair, Luffy groaned deeply. "Why do we have to do this? This is so boring you guys, come on let's do something fun."
A vein popped on Usopp's forehead. "How can you be so relax at a time like this!? We're currently in a war with some unknown group and a pirate who commands over one thousand men! The least you can do is help us out and find something useful so we can know who we're dealing with here!"
Robin pulled out another book from a nearby shelf as Luffy and Usopp continued their bickering. Naruto had explained everything that happened in his fight with Jagger, but after an extensive search in the captain's office, they had yet to find anything related to what Jagger was searching for on the island, or anything about this mysterious group known as The Chosen Ones.
She looked over her shoulder to gaze through the shattered window that viewed the entire back garden. She saw the one hundred and twenty seven captured men all gathered under Chopper's recommendation. As the doctor examined his malnutrition patients, Franky, Brook, Nami and Zoro were busy offering plates of food from Sanji's cooking.
A warm, beautiful smile curled her lips from watching Zoro being unusually helpful. Her mind may have been at peace to see him safe and unharmed, but heart raced pounded like a beating drum merely from the sight of him.
"You're guys are wasting your time, you're not going to find anything about Jagger-san here." A new voice interrupted the Straw Hats search. Luffy stood from his seat and fixed his eyes to a blond girl with a bag of clothes over her shoulder.
"Angel." Luffy called out in a casual tone.
"What do you mean we won't find anything here?" Naruto questioned.
"Jagger-san was always secretive about everything we did. No one ever knew why or what we were searching for over the past year. So I'm pretty sure he wouldn't leave any important information laying around in his office. He was so secretive in fact, my best guess is that even Takashi didn't know that our Jagger-san was a fake." Angel explained. "But he's stuck living out his worst nightmare so he's pretty much useless for you."
Usopp gulped anxiously. "Can't you bring him out of it so we could ask some questions?"
Angel shook her head. "Even if I could, I wouldn't. Nothing can help him escape his nightmare now." Her voice produced small goose bumps on Usopp's arms.
Naruto watched the girl and but could sense the distress and loneliness pouring out of her tough, emotionless words.
"I came up here to say I'm sorry for what I did to you all earlier tonight, I never wanted to do any of it from the start but I was just following orders." Angel hung her head out of guilt and sadness. "Take care of yourselves." She whispered as she turned to leave.
"Angel! Wait up!" Naruto called out and approached the blond.
The busty girl stopped and gave Naruto an uncertain look.
"Where are you planning to go now?" He asked softly.
An obvious fake smile curved her lips. "I don't really know to be honest, wherever the wind takes me I guess?"
But Naruto saw through that smile with ease. "How were you planning to leave the island? Do you have a ship of your own or something?"
Angel's face clenched and she looked away to avoid the question.
"I see." Naruto stated sadly before turning back to look at Luffy.
Something incredibly special happened when the two men made eye contact. No words were spoken, no gestures or hints were used, but despite all that, in that very moment, it was as if Luffy and Naruto shared a single mind.
After regaining consciousness and freeing Jagger's prisoners, Zoro, Luffy and Usopp explained to the entire crew what Angel had done. The Straw Hat's may have not liked her at first, but essentially saving Luffy's and Zoro's lives had earned her the Straw Hats' utmost respect and forgiveness.
Being informed of Angel's distasteful rejection by her old crew mates also had the remaining Straw Hat pirates feel a great amount of sympathy for the girl. Being thrown into your deepest nightmares may be one thing, but being hated and disregarded by people who you thought of as family in one heart breaking moment… no one deserves that.
But out of all the pirates, Naruto felt the greatest sympathy for Angel. From all he knew, they shared certain similarity that he couldn't ignore. She grew up with no one by her side, no one to call friend, no one to call family. And with everything that happened tonight, she now knew what it feels to be an outcast, an outsider, someone who is wanted by no one. Almost like a jinchuuriki.
Fully understanding Naruto's silent request, Luffy replied with his trademark grin to signify his approval.
A big, grateful smile blessed Naruto's lips. He turned to meet the patiently waiting girl.
"Hey I have an idea, since you don't have a ship or any particular place to go, why don't you stay with us for a while? It'll be fun?" Naruto offered with a heart-warming smile.
He seriously considered about asking her to join their crew, but he realised how extremely insensitive that would be considering she had just left her old crew no more than two hours ago. 'Another day maybe?'
Shocked wouldn't even begin to describe the way Angel was feeling.
"S-s-stay with you guys?" She asked rather sceptically with rosy red cheeks.
Naruto's smile grew. "Yeah? At least let us give you a ride to the next island? Or maybe the one after that? It's the least we could do."
The newly overwhelmed Angel took a glance at each and everyone one of the Straw Hat's smiling faces. Although the room was brimming with positive emotions, Angel could only feel guilt.
The blond girl lowered her head as a result. "After everything I've done… why would you want someone like me on your ship?" She whispered gravely.
Naruto lost his smile and exchanged it with a frown. "Why? Because all of us owe you so much, Angel. If it wasn't for you we would have lost Luffy and Zoro tonight, and for that we couldn't thank you enough." His words were so genuine it caused a spark of happiness within Angel's heart.
"Please don't blame yourself too much, Angel-san. As you said, you were only following orders." Robin thankfully added with her gentle smile.
The one person Angel believe who hated her the most just reassured her? An astonishing development indeed. But truthfully, Robin was thankful. She understood that if Angel hadn't intervened, Zoro would have killed their captain and probably himself due to Takashi's abilities. And for that, she couldn't have been more grateful to her.
Despite their offers, smiles, kind words and even the increasingly growing fire of delight within her heart, Angel remained hesitant. She truly was happy to hear that she could have company of friendly people who wanted her company in return. But deep down, her thoughts were troubled.
All Angel ever wanted growing up were friends, not money, not fame, but people she could rely on and call friends. Living most of life in solitude will do that to a person. She really believed her old nakamas, the people who overlooked her entire being in a split second were those friends she had always dreamed of.
However, after tonight, she realised her dream was nothing but that, a dream.
But now she found herself an opportunity to make new friends to a group of incredibly nice people, people who forgave her even after committing one of the worst acts imaginable against them. She certainly wanted to happily accept their offer, but her heart wasn't so sure if it was ready to trust in others to allow herself to open up yet.
Almost as if he was reading her mind, Naruto sensed the distress and conflict in her face, He approached Angel and placed a hand softly on her shoulder. She looked up to be stunned by a heart melting smile.
"You can trust us Angel, we would never force you to do things that you don't want to do, and we definitely won't make you act like someone you're not. With us, you can be who you really are, you won't need to hide behind that fake mask you've worn all this time." He gave her shoulder a small, reassuring squeeze.
"But most importantly, no matter what, we would never, ever, turn our backs on our friends." Naruto's words penetrated deep within her soul. Those words, those eye opening words caused her emotions to run on rampage.
"So what do you say? Want to be our friend?"
Soon enough, raw emotions overwhelmed Angel to the point she could no longer resist the tears in her eyes from falling. But the funny thing was, she couldn't understand what she was crying from. Was it happiness? Relief? Sorrow? Or a mixture of everything?
The crying girl threw herself at Naruto's chest and wrapped her arms around him as she expressed recent and years of positive and negative emotions. Naruto returned the hug and stroked the top of her head as she continued to sob into his chest. He, like the other Straw Hats in the room, wore a small but heartfelt smile. Continuing to stroke her soft, long blond hair, Naruto whispered gently.
"I'll take that as a yes then?"
1 hour and 30 minutes earlier
Deep within the Grand Line, a gut wrenching sensation had woke a sleeping Jagger. Abruptly sitting up on his bed with small beads of sweat on his forehead, the captain was consumed by anger.
'I believe a meeting with Azazel and the rest is necessary… Naruto of the Straw Hat pirates… We'll meet again soon.'
AN/ Hope you guys enjoyed Contact. Next chapter will come late because I have a ton of coursework this month.
Now that I've read some comments, people have been saying Naruto is weak and underpowered. That's cool and all but let me explain why I disagree. In the 3 years Naruto has trained in peace he has mastered, kenjutsu, lightning, wind, water jutsu and some ninpou jutsu, Lee's speed, medical ninjutsu and overall better at taijutsu and learned how to be a completed shinobi. And he hasn't even touched kyuubi mode in a fight yet. Also, Jagger is meant to be someone who can rival the Four Emperors. If Naruto could beat him with ease then where's the fun? where's the challenge and the hype about Jagger's power? Finally, don't forget, this is a story, if there's no risk or struggle in the fights for the characters then you have some pretty boring fights in my opinion. So, if you think from now on Naruto's going to get through the New World without challenging opponents that's going to push him to the edge then you'll be very disappointed.
I've really been wanting to write a Narusaku story for a while now but can never think of a good plot or storyline. If you have an idea for a story but for some reason you can't write yourself and your looking for someone to write it, I'am all ears. But if you do have an idea and willing to share, go to my profile page first because there's a few author demands on what kind of story I would like to write.
I must say that if I decide to write your idea, I will not start it until I finish this story. Straw Hat Naruto is my first priority. I will expand your ideas and create notes on how the story will go. But rest assured, if I adopt your idea, I will write it. It's just a matter of when.
Oh, one final thing. All water jutsu Naruto may use in the future will not weaken Devil Fruit users unless he manipulates sea water only. Even water he creates from chakra or uses any water source that isn't sea water, it will not work on DF users because I've always assume only sea water works right? Just in case people wonder why Naruto doesn't just spam water style jutsu against DF users.