Well, this is fairly a short chapter - I am fully prepared for the blowback as I tried to get a chapter out before the end of the year. So I left in this chapter a bit of a plot for you all to perhaps puzzle together for in the future.
So I hope despite it being a short chapter, you all will like it and I will be looking forward to the reviews.
Enjoy.
Someone laid a hit on Whitebeard.
It wasn't a statement that should be a shocker because even those allied to him were expecting him to get bruises or even cuts once he entered the fight in this big war, but the astonishment was with the person who had just pierced his blade through the giant man's stomach.
Squard was the perpetrator's name, and he was no measly pirate, he was one of Whitebeard's veteran and most loyal allies who was not hesitant to think of sacrificing his own life for the large man he would call Pops.
Or that was what was supposed to be the reality until he was seen stabbing his oversized katana through the man's abdomen that would've been a deadly blow to a normal human being's body.
Yet the impact of this action was on the reactions being made, both on the battlefield and by those witnessing it through a transponder snail that had caught the moment.
"WHITEBEARD GOT STABBED!"
The initial shock just got to everyone, but to some sooner than others-
"GRAB HIM!"
Two men tackled Squard from behind, it being Domino and Foster who managed to ground the pirate in a swift moment before he could react.
"Don't you move!"
"Keep him down!"
"Get off me, scum!" Squard tried to get up, "Don't touch me with your-"
*Grab!*
A hand grabbed around Squard's neck, causing him to become silent as he recognized the presence he felt - the person who now stood above him was Naruto.
An enraged Marco arrived at the scene, he walked up to the supposed ally of theirs and went past Naruto's men who themselves were shocked at the response time of their commander's arrival.
"Holy..Captain's fast."
"He was just on the front, and now…"
Naruto held Squard up before he forced him on his knees, facing the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates for what he had just done.
"Why the hell did you attack pops?" Marco grabbed Squard by the throat, "Answer me now or I will kill you!"
"Yeah? Then do it!" Squard yelled out, "I prefer a pirate kill me than some ripoff Marine!"
Before Naruto could even respond, he turned to Whitebeard - who sank to his knees while holding the stab wound, causing Marco to run up to him, checking on him.
"Unhand me, mercenary!"
Naruto kept his grip on Squard and responded, "Ripoff marine and now mercenary? Do you even know the difference?"
"Screw you! I know about your deal!" Squard replied in anger, both at Naruto and the others, "You and Whitebeard both have made a pact with the Navy!"
As this supposed revelation was being told by Squard, they were to be broadcast by the transponder snail.
Meanwhile
Deep into the New World, FAR from the reach of the World Government, sat an isolated nation, currently controlled by a mighty pirate.
Onigashima Castle was packed to the brim with crowds upon crowds of the rowdy, raucous members of the Beast Pirates. They were watching the footage of the battle at Marineford, particularly of Whitebeard being stabbed.
"Hahahaha!"
"What an idiot!"
"He really got stabbed!"
"I heard Squard was an idiot but he truly is that stupid?!"
While the rest of the Beast Pirates were watching and enjoying the scene with their drinks and food, other members of the Beast Pirates who were also watching the live feed from Marineford were also not short on words for what they were witnessing.
One person however was the one watching in silence, the large and powerful man who shared the title Emperor with Whitebeard, whose belly now was only filled with sake that he was continuing to pour down his throat - it was Kaido, captain of the Beast Pirates.
"Muhahaha!" One large man laughs, "What a sight! To behold!"
On a podium just below the screens in front of the large crowd of Beast Pirates, a large and round-figured man with light skin was joining in festivities with them in his way, standing over 20 feet, taller than any other person in his surroundings.
The eccentric clothed man with his flamboyant personality, Queen The Plague was joining his men at the festivities of seeing their captain's rivals being slaughtered on live feed.
"To the stupidity of Squard!" Queen toasted with his happy eyes behind those goggles, addressing the men, "YEAH!"
While the crowd toasted the All-Star member with Kaido on the top floor, he was not in the same celebratory mood as the rest of his team but was watching the screen intently.
Even in his incomparable drunken state, the man was not impressed, excited, or shocked by what had happened. Instead, he focused his gaze on another person.
"you look uninterested, Captain."
That was his right-hand man and one of the three All-Stars named King, a humanoid lunarian who stood as tall as Queen but was a silent and calm figure within the Beast Pirates, sporting a sleek, black-feathered body clothing with a distinct skull-like mask, and a towering, menacing stature that showed no skin whatsoever.
"You have been silent this whole time," King reiterated to his question, "As if you are expecting something big."
On this, Kaido laid down the large Sake bottle next to him.
"As usual, my vice-captain knows exactly what I am thinking…" Kaido responded with his eyes fixated on the screen, "What we've seen now is only an appetizer, and we both can see that."
"The Marines are planning something, right?"
"Not only the Marines, but I can also see what Sengoku is planning, and so can Whitebeard, I guarantee you that he knows of it." Kaido noted, "But I am interested in knowing what he has planned…"
"You are referring to Uzumaki, aren't you?" King guessed and turned to the screen, "Now that you mention it, his appearance alone caused some others to speculate what he will do."
Kaido and King were no strangers to the stories of the Cunning Fox or the reputation he made in service of the Elemental War. Or his other acts that were less known.
"The fact before his disappearance that he was in Wano for a short time…" King mentioned an incident that occurred a few years back, "All while we were on an expedition, he was only mere miles away from…"
"Please, King. No need to remind me." Kaido said in response, "Orochi was practically panicking the moment he found it out, let alone know that Uzumaki was ready to attack."
"It still a mystery as to why he didn't attack the Flower Capital."
"We both know why, one simple reason why…"
That simple reason was something that caused the Emperor to ask another question.
"Where is that brat Yamato?"
…
On another level in the castle, the sound of laughter of a child resounded through the halls.
"Pay-Pay! STAND STILL!"
A groan of pain came out from underneath her. The young Tobiroppo member with purple hair that had a sidecut, wearing a green and white outfit, and a bicolored white and black mask that covered his mouth up to his nose. The young man's name was Page One.
Atop his head was a bucket hat that had horns jutting from it in with the same colors as his outfit, but with drawings on it and a real sunflower attached to it.
"Ulti! Stop-"
The person forcing the hat on him was his older sibling, a female older sibling with a slender figure wearing a long-sleeved, white minidress that was pleated above the waist and had a blue bow under a pointed collar. The lower, light blue, and non-pleated part of the dress with a button placket in the middle ends in a short skirt part with a slightly ruffled hem that leaves most of her attractive legs visible.
With blue and pink hair and a cute small mask that covered her mouth - she was also a Tobiroppo member of Kaido's crew - Her name was Ulti.
"Come on, sis! Let me-"
"FORGET ABOUT IT!" Ulti shuts her brother up, "You will wear it for her and you will not complain!"
The small child who was laughing at Page One and Ulti bickering, having dark blue hair in bangs with a hime-cut wearing a punk little kimono dress with sunflowers, she had the same eyes as her father that were blue and birthmarks as his…
*CRACK!*
The two siblings and the young child turned around to see one of the food plates crashing to the floor onto the balcony where a large woman was sitting.
A woman indeed in the figure, the white hired with red devil horns beauty sleeveless white garment with a diamond-shaped design on both sides and an indigo, wisp-patterned bottom half. She wears a pair of red hakama pants and sandals, and, much like Oden, wears a large purple and white nio-dasuki behind his back
Yamato, Kaido's only child and self-proclaimed Kozuki Oden whom admiration came from, was sitting and watching the whole ordeal on the live screen, watching with a focused mind on the war her friends were in, a nerve-wrecking moment that she was experiencing that was nothing in comparison to what both her friends were going through
'Ace….Naruto…You made a promise…'
"Big Sis Yamato?"
Hearing that causes Yamato to turn around to see the small girl calling her name, approaching her, and looking concerned, the orange-eyed woman and blue-eyed girl make eye contact.
"Is something wrong?" The girl asked unknown to what was occurring on the television, "Something scary happened?"
Yamato smiled grabbed the little girl up and comforted her into a hug, like a big sister should.
"Nothing, Himawari, nothing to worry about." Yamato said to her as she stood up and walked back inside, "I tell you what? Let's go get something to eat."
"Ramen!"
Yamato couldn't help but chuckle as she agreed, "Alright, let us steal some Ramen then."
Walking off the balcony and back inside the building, the screen happened to be focused more on Naruto and the man at his mercy, Squard who had just finished explaining his actions in front of the world.
Waiting for a response.
Marineford
Still holding Squard's collar strongly, Naruto just finished hearing the man's reasoning for stabbing the man he'd call Pops, with a story that didn't make any sense to the blond young man at all.
The bastard was emotional, having just admitted he just found out Ace was Gold Roger's son and had a long hatred for the man who was responsible for his crew's demise, something that in Naruto's view only was a mere excuse or either showed how compromisable this pirate captain was.
"Never mind the Whitebeards! Take care of yourselves."
Not focusing on Squards's rants against old man Whitebeard, Naruto instead paid attention to the orders he could hear being given and saw that even during the heat of battle the marines were slowly retreating from the main front. They were planning something and took this opportunity of chaos to pull their men back from all the fighting.
'I should've known, it's a stunt.'
'I can smell it being an act of Akainu. He just played with that idiot's feelings and caused a scene so big that it took off the attention of the retreating Marines.'
'It is a good call, not gonna lie.'
"UNHAND ME!"
Getting himself off the Raider's commander's grasp, Squard took distance from him and pulled his blade up to Naruto's neck, just the tip.
*CLICK!*
In response Foster, Domino, and a few other Legionnaires pulled up their firearms and aimed them at Squard, ordering him to stand down.
"Lower it!"
"Now!"
Squard did not listen and instead began directing his anger to someone else. "You...you are perhaps the worst…Uzumaki."
Hearing that anger, the sidelined people like Marco, Whitebeard,, and Naruto's people were surprised to see this suddenly be about him
"You are nothing but a damn killer with fame. A wannabee marine with the bloodlust of one who's got more pirates killed than anyone else!" Squard shouted in pure anger as he continued, "I should've figured out the moment you killed your people in that bombing, you showed your true colors as a killer…"
The moment Squard mentioned that particular event, it got every person in hearing distance to widen their eyes in disbelief.
"He didn't."
"No, anything but that…"
Marco himself looked terrified at that mention and turned to his pops, who himself paid close attention to what was just said.
"You fool…"
…
"Mind…repeating that?"
"Huh-"
"SQUARD!"
The tension broke before it could explode, with the captain turning to Whitebeard standing up and approaching the standoff all while in the background the fight continued.
"You have a problem with me, that I can accept, but don't you bring subjects you have no knowledge about over other people," Whitebeard warned him directly, "I tell you this with caution."
"Why so?"
"Because it can end up deadly."
That warning was all that it took for Squard to then refocus from Naruto to Whitebeard.
"I didn't want to believe it, we're all sons to you but I guess some kids are just more worthy than others."
"You fool!" Marco yelled at him and grabbed the man by his shirt, "The navy is deceiving you, Squard! Why trust them instead of Pops!"
The continued arguing did little to anything to Naruto, who instead turned his head around to face the Marines, knowing fully well what was just mentioned and what lie had just been told.
"You son of a bitch…."
From the scaffold, it was less than desirable what was just heard, with Sengoku himself looking stern at what had just been told to Squard, a subject that was off limits.
Not only off limits - it was a plain lie.
"Akainu…" Sengoku grits his teeth in anger, "What have you just done."
"He just ignited a fire."
This time it came not from Garp, but instead from Ace, causing both Marines the two executioners to look at him in confusion.
Ace looked mortified but calm at what he heard and could only say from experience.
"He started that anger in Naruto that will not stop…not until anything has turned into dust."
Knowing exactly what Fire Fist Ace was talking about, Sengoku turned back and commanded.
"Aokiji! Take out the last transponder!"
Moby Dick
Facing his son, Whitebeard looked at Squard with the presence alone to cause the long-tongued man to expect his demise.
"I don't know if you realize the magnitude of what you've just done. Squard. You thrust a sword into your father's body trying to kill him - YOU'VE LOST YOUR WAY, MY POOR STUPID SON!"
Expecting a death blow, Squard prepared himself for his end - but instead got embraced by his father, much to his surprise.
Naruto however didn't pay any more attention as he turned to his people.
"Domino, Foster."
The two turned to Naruto and heard him out.
"Tell the ships to prepare for Hellfire…"
The tinted sunglasses did little to cover Domino's shocked impression before she nods, as Foster however just swallowed and asked for confirmation.
"Are you sure, sir?"
"Yes…I'll be back on the ground."
Jumping off the Moby Dick, it didn't take long enough for Naruto to then realize he was quickly surrounded by his men who had run from across the entire battlefield to come and see if he was alright.
"Captain, are you alright?" Haku stepped up, about to help, "Whatever Squard said, ignore it-"
"I just called in Hellfire to stand by."
The reactions on their faces said it all from what Naruto could read, from caught off guard to surprise to hesitance, and many were unsure.
"I know that all of you question this decision," Naruto began to speak to his men, all paying attention to his words, "Last time we acted on this was after Konoha - where we used this type of warfare on a larger scale. Destroying numerous lives of our enemies."
"Destroyed whole landscapes, sir." One Legionnaire mentioned to his officer, "We were walking across lands that looked like they were visited by the Devil."
Naruto walked over to the man, carrying a machine rifle and several knives and armor, seeing this man was a fellow veteran like him from the Elemental War, he tapped his hand on the shoulder pad of the warrior.
"Then please understand," Naruto said turning to his men, "To break our enemies, like when we fought in Konoha, Kannabi Bridge, Tonika, Ame, and everywhere else - We will fight like back then."
Then the sound of cracks could be heard by some within the group of Legionnaires, seeing the ice walls around them were crumbling down, caused by Whitebeard who had just destroyed them.
"You can leave, the ships of our enemies are right for the taking, you all know that."
The path was clear indeed, many of the Navy warships were right for grabs.
"But I ask you to show these bastards, those who send us to war for several years, and spit on your efforts, to let them feel what Hell is like."
Even the pirates realized and saw they could leave, but instead heard out their Pops' words which resonated with them.
"IF YOU ARE A TRUE PIRATE THEN YOU CHOOSE WHICH PATH YOU TAKE ON YOUR OWN!"
Whatever doubts rose from the intentional sabotage of morale by the Marines, died the moment Whitebeard made that statement, and it sprung to new heights that were not seen before. With a brief moment, the man stared at the blond young man down under surrounded by his men.
'You're growing your heart too cold, Naruto - I can see it even when you won't admit it. But I hope with Ace staying alive I can depart this world knowing he will fulfill his dream and keep you the boy whom I met before the war.'
Holding the open wound, Whitebeard gripped his hand tight and made his move.
"THOSE OF YOU WHO WILL STILL FOLLOW ME, PUT YOUR LIVES ON THE LINE!"
Ans joined in were the thousands of roars from across the bay, Allies of Whitebeard found their new strength and continued to fight once more.
And this time, Whitebeard was seen running across the Moby Dick and jumping off, to join the battle.
"GET READY MEN!" Sengoku warned his men, "HE'S COMING THIS WAY! THE STRONGEST PIRATE OF THE WORLD!"
And falling to the area next to Naruto, he raises his arm above and gives the order alongside Whitebeard:
"LET'S ATTACK!"
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.