I own neither One Piece nor Naruto.

The sea they were in was almost completely isolated from the rest of the world and its inhabitants- aside from harrowing dark waters that stretched as far as the eyes could see, opaque clouds that hovered lower than they had any right to be, and the raging fog enshrouding the very earth, nothing else could be seen. No matter how far their eyes wandered around, they could not see any sign of human life.

It was as almost if they were in an entirely different world right now, which was not surprising considering where they were— the infamous, Florian Triangle.

At first, Ariel had almost thought that the fog would be when it was not yet dense enough to swallow the sun itself, that eventually they would come across the island hidden inside the dense layer of opaqueness that covered almost the entire sea. It had almost seemed a bit novel at the time and they were being chased so using fog as a natural cover seemed only logical to Ariel. Unfortunately, she was proven wrong when they found no sign of any land even hours later.

Confused and somewhat concerned, Ariel had to stop herself from questioning her savior whose thoughts remained elusive to her even as he ventured even further inside the think dark fog, finding no sign of anything but water in a haunting region that appeared as if it had already been abandoned a few centuries ago and had not seen any breathing being enter ever since.

But Ariel decided to trust her savior and accompany him to the Florian Triangle with whatever they had with them.

Ariel looked over to her companion who was flawlessly matching her astounding pace up even in high above the ground and began to contemplate a thought that had been in her mind for a few hours now— What was so special about Florian Triangle?

She could not understand why her savior had insisted upon exploring this desolate sea where even the sun had no place of its own. As far as she could tell, Sasuke was an extremely rational man who would never make rash decisions and pointlessly enter such places without reason. Not that her decision to accompany him would change even if he was.

"Where are we headed towards?" After ruminating over it for some time, she decided to give up and ask the man herself. After all, only Sasuke knew why they had entered this empty sea.

"Because I hope to find something of value in there," Sasuke responded, his raven hair moving gently in the wind as he turned around to face his companion who appeared even more confused because of his words and the concerned look on her face was oddly endearing, a thought that Sasuke did not voice out loud.

It was not a proper answer, not by a long margin.

But she could not find it within herself to ask him anything else, if only because the trust between them was precious to her.

"Are you fine?" An almost undetected bit of concern sneaked itself into his voice as Sasuke turned towards Ariel who only back glanced at her partner, confused as to why he would ask her that question.

'Am I looking tired already?' She thought and gently ran a hand over her face, only to cringe when she felt a bead of sweat roll down her hand. Blushing, she swung her head down and shook it in negative.

Sasuke shook his head as if sensing her indecision, not wholly convinced but amused at her insistence to match his pace as if they were competing against each other. He had to admit, her tenacity had impressed him. She was far stronger than she appeared and her dynamic black wings were not meant for aesthetics alone.

They had been constantly flying for almost an entire day by now and she had never once complained.

Ever since that fateful day when he had rescued her, Ariel had been acting more and more strange around him in a way that certainly appeared endearing. He had no problem with her growing fondness which was all but apparent to him but he knew just as well that could not stay around her forever. For him, she was just supposed to be a stranger, someone who would leave his side as soon as she could and that was how he wanted it to be.

Sasuke did not want to make friends in this world because he knew how quickly they tended to turn into an emotional burden he was not prepared to deal with, not when he had just lost everything he knew and loved. He had no need for them, not when he knew that they would leave soon.

Only a few days had passed since her awakening and it was already as if they were long companions, which made the thought of their eventual separation seem oddly hard.

A single raven eye closed behind his locks as Sasuke closed his eyes and thought about his home, a place that he had left behind. The fact that he would remember Konoha now in this dark sea which seemed the most removed from his home was not lost on him. He wanted to feel that bright sunshine and breathe that fresh breeze again.

It had only been a few weeks since his voyage began but it felt a lot longer than that, as if years had passed since he had last been in Konoha. What was more concerning was the fact that his mind refused to dwell on his former home that much. He had already grown used to wandering the High Seas alone, and it was not as hard as he'd imagined it would be. It had taken him quite some time to grow used to, but that was all.

It was not as if he had someone waiting for him back in Konoha. Perhaps some might even be a bit happy, knowing that the greatest traitor they had ever seen was now gone for good…

Sasuke clenched his fists and shook his head to abandon the very thought, knowing no good would come from such dangerous ideas and as if reacting to his wishes, a distraction served itself at that moment as something brushed against the edges of his Mantra, a sensation and so distant that it might as well not exist altogether.

But he could indeed feel it.

He narrowed his eyes as he focused his senses on that distant sensation and once again noticed it, or rather he noticed them. There were hundreds of weak signatures deep inside the fog, so removed and distant that he would have missed them entirely had they not been concentrated inside a single area— almost as if they were atop a single landmass inside this barren sea.

Sasuke relaxed for a moment before glancing back at Ariel who had continued to follow him earnestly.

"Follow me, and keep close." He spoke, louder than usual because of the shearing wind which constantly roared as they both tore through it at breakneck speeds. "I think I have found our destination,"

"Un!" Ariel nodded, and her majestic black wings straightened as if preparing to execute sudden high-speed maneuvers at a moment's notice. Sasuke nodded in response and tore through the sky in a burst of speed with a single kick.

Two matching shockwaves erupted behind him and momentarily pushed apart the fog around them as Ariel matched his pace and moved to his side, covering a more than dozen kilometers in a single second.

The Florian Triangle was known as the Devil's Triangle, a part of the greater ocean that had been enshrouded in an astoundingly thick fog dense enough to blot out the heavens above for centuries.

A minor trade route that connected Water Seven to the Sabaody Archipelago barely touched upon the outer edges of this sea and over a hundred ships vanished every year on that route, only to be found later without any crewmen on board.

He had not yet checked whether its infamous reputation as a haunted sea was factual or not, which was why Sasuke ensured that Ariel remained in his sight even though she was more than capable of protecting herself. But so far, he had not yet observed anything that might prove to be a fatal threat to either of them, they had not come upon anything noteworthy even though they were about to reach the group of signatures he was sensing.

The only thing of note he could find were schools of giant fishes, each larger than a horse that seemed suspiciously domesticated given they had seats, armor, and even weapons mounted on their backs.

But more irregularities began to appear as they got closer and closer to their destination, the most unique amongst them being what appeared to be the same signatures appearing at varying places at the same time. The observation roused his interest because he had seen such a thing before in the shadow clone jutsu that Naruto was so famous for.

It only served to increase his curiosity and he doubled his speed almost subconsciously, Ariel matching his pace a moment later. True to his senses, the vague shore of what appeared to be an island appeared on the horizon just a few jumps later in which they had torn through the dense fog as a bullet and covered several kilometers in mere seconds.

As Sasuke had learned, Grand Line could be stranger than anything that the mind of a normal man back home could invent. If Sasuke could fly out high above the heavers, hover over this vast world and remove the roofs to peep in at the queer things which were seemingly always going on, then he was certain that the strange miracles of this sea and the astounding chains of events working through generations he would witness would create a contrived play which might make all the fiction of Konoha with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions stale and unprofitable.

Perhaps this was the strange and haunting paradox that could only be found here in this world—that one remained fixed and certain only when in constant movement.

Sasuke had long learned to accept things as they were, and that acceptance was certainly helping him in this new world, a flash of interest being the only expression on his face when he drew closer and soon understood that what he had originally thought to be the shore was instead a giant wall that surrounded what appeared to be a giant island made into a ship.

The wall itself had an enormous gate in between which was shaped as if it were a giant's mouth, even having imposing teeth poking out from a strange grin. It was certainly unique...

He heard Ariel gasp in surprise beside him, her eyes were not as sharp as his own and she had only started noticing what he had been observing for quite some time. Though not comparable to his Mantra which could observe the wings of a fly beating in slow-motion from leagues away, the fact that she could perceive objects should have been no more than specks beyond the horizon to a normal eye was astounding on its own.

Sasuke turned towards her and whispered, "A strange gate in an even stranger fog."

"Have you ever been here before?" She asked, eyes glued upon the strange island-ship before them. It was her first time seeing such a structure and she had not yet grown used to the uniqueness of these seas.

"No, I have not," Sasuke denied, it was instinct that had led him here. He remembered that whisper he had heard in Skypiea which reverberated as though it was the world itself that had spoken to him, "But I speak from experience, the Grand Line would always continue to surprise you."

Ariel just ducked her head, something warm moving inside of her as she thought of his words. Continue to surprise her…

Sasuke had spoken of it before, of how she was now free to do whatever she wanted.

Truth be told, the past few days that she had spent alongside her savior were one the best she had ever experienced. There was no need to act as told and she could do whatever she wanted.

She was given respect and care despite her race because in his eyes, she was a normal girl unworthy of praise or scorn. He had let her tag along despite knowing nothing about her, and it was with him that she could forget about everything and just be herself.

Over the past few days, she had started to forget about the circumstances that she was in. She could even say she had started to see Sasuke as a friend rather than a human, he had really started to grow on her. It had always been one of her dreams to be treated normally by people, and this wonderful man beside her had done all that she wanted in a mere few days.

Freedom had always been a distant dream, it had always been a sweet ideal that she had only whispered about in hushed words and she did not know what to do now that it was actually in her grasp.

Ignorant of his companion's thoughts, Sasuke kicked the air once again and jumped over the strange gate to land on the wall surrounding the strange island ship that fortified the island in a manner he had seen before in castles of Daimyo that had high stone walls and deep moats.

The fog here was not as dense and he could see relatively well even without Mantra even though it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in brightness. The island itself was covered in a thick forest but all the trees inside looked as if they were dead, for they did not have a single fresh leaf on their branches. Sasuke could make out the large mansion in the middle of the island that had an even larger mansion behind it and sense about a hundred people inside the forest and some on the other side of the island as well.

But what took him by surprise were what groups of appeared to be zombies stationed atop the wall whom he had originally thought to be people wearing some kind of grotesque cosplay.

But they were walking corpses, with tattered clothes and decaying flesh that reveal the bones underneath.

Most of them had bandages wrapped around their cracked heads and all of them had numbers tattooed upon some part of their body. Why? Sasuke had no idea.

"Do you see them?" Ariel quietly questioned, landing on top of the wall beside him and quickly glancing towards the same zombies with grim eyes. "They look like—"

"Reanimations…" Sasuke finished, his raven eye sharpening. His previous experiences when it came to the undead were not the most pleasant, to say nothing about Edo Tensei and the Fourth Great Ninja War. "I never thought I would see them again, especially in this world."

"Reanimations?" Ariel whispered, thrown into confusion once again by her saviour's elusive behavior before turning back towards the walking corpses who had not yet noticed them. She did not know what these strange things were or who had created them, but the idea of someone disturbing the sleeping dead and desecrating their remains in such a manner felt inherently wrong to her.

"No." Sasuke suddenly spoke, snapping her from her darkening thoughts as he shook his head, "They are not reanimations, they feel different…"

It seemed as if someone had once wanted to fashion an army of corpses for himself, and Sasuke could almost guess who it was but the result neither inspired terror nor appeared to be particularly formidable. He could see that most of the flesh covering their bones was decaying and their muscles were damaged, not to mention their presence brushing against his Mantra felt weak as well.

More strangely though, he could feel an almost identical presence on the other side of the island that was continuously moving away from them as though leaving behind the island itself. They were no threat to either him or Ariel, but Sasuke refused to take any chances.

"There is only one way to know for certain." He whispered, glancing back and gesturing for Ariel to remain calm for the time being. She had not yet completely recovered and he was not proficient enough in medical arts to even tell whether her body had healed enough to bear combat of any kind.

Ariel nodded at his gesture and Sasuke moved his hand into the pockets inside his sleeve in a manner so practiced that it appeared almost flawless in order to draw a single shuriken, locally made in this very world and untested for now.

He flicked his wrist in a motion that seemed almost instinctive at this point and watched as the sharp metal star that had previously been in his hand flew towards the neck of a random corpse talking to his undead companions. Before any of them could even realize what had happened- one of the corpses had his head cleanly severed, and no one amongst them even saw how or why.

It was only when the corpses heard the thud of a decapitated head touching the ground that they started looking around to search for the cause of the sound. Sasuke had his eye fixed on them, though it was easy to ensure that they would not see either him or Ariel from their position.

"Hey, your head fell down." one of them spoke, stating the obvious in a slow, almost comical manner.

"Didn't you fix it properly?" another one picked up the head and handed it back to the headless owner.

"Thanks, comrade," The headless corpse accepted his head from the companions, "Those blasted pirates first came after us with salt, and then they threw us across this sea to this cursed wall! I had not gotten enough time to fix it before!"

"We cannot even figure out a way to return! It's a cursed day!" the severed head complained as his headless body kept trying to place its heat at its original position atop the torso.

Ariel watched the scene in confusion, before declaring "There's no way they are alive..."

Sasuke rested his chin on his first finger as he quietly observed them before quietly taking out a kunai with a small round black ball tied to its handle, "He did not regenerate as a reanimation would, instead just put his head back on his shoulders. I do not think we need to seal them, just some normal damage would get the job done. Perhaps fire might be the most optimal method to deal with them,"

Proper fuinjutsu-operated explosive tags needed chakra to work, so his previous arsenal which largely comprised such weapons was rendered all but useless when Momoshiki had thrown him into this strange world without chakra. But Sasuke simply did what any shinobi in his position would have been expected to do— he improvised.

A locally made impact explosive used together with a kunai was his makeshift solution, a temporary replacement that served well enough for his immediate needs. Concealed out of sight, Sasuke once again flicked his wrist in practiced motion and watched as the kunai tore through the air and hit its mark with accuracy no other human could have reproduced.

It took a second for the round behind it to burn completely and then it exploded with a loud bang. An enormous fireball spread out the very next moment accompanied by a devastating shockwave that almost shook the wall they were standing on and sent most of the undead flying into the sea.

Ariel startled beside him, and he could see her amethyst eyes hardening from the corner of his vision. As the numerous corpses burnt away and the smell of burnt flesh and raw smoke spread through the air, Sasuke was quick to notice some sort of black substance escape from the burning blaze at high speeds before vanishing entirely when it touched water, as though the sea had somehow exorcised it.

"Hey, who created that rotten explosion?!" One of the zombies fortunate enough to remain on the ground screamed.

"Was it that rotten long-nosed bastard from earlier?!" Another zombie with a single eye shouted.

"Hey, who is it attacking like a rotten coward?!" A zombie with no arms cursed.

"It's rotten dangerous out here!" A zombie one with his head set on fire exclaimed.

"Sasuke…" Ariel spoke, her sharp eyes tracing the path that those shadows had taken before being eviscerated by water even as she turned toward him.

"Yes, I saw that." Sasuke turned to Ariel and nodded, as if reading what she wanted to say, "They were somehow being controlled by that black shadow, fire and water seem to be their weakness."

Sasuke reached into his sleeves once again, prepared to empty his entire arsenal on these corpses if needed but was stopped in his tracks by a gentle tug on his sleeves. Surprised, he glanced back at Ariel who had a look of hesitant indecision plastered on her face even as she held his sleeve.

"Let me handle them then." She quietly spoke, her grip on his wrist tightening even as Sasuke's eyes widened at her words. "If darkness controls them and heat scares them, then I can definitely take care of them.

Sasuke just stared at her, surprised to find hard resolve burning within her amethyst eyes as he gazed into her very core.

He saw the confidence of a phoenix, of someone who had been burnt into ash but was reborn in the flames of hot agony. It was a deep resolved anchored into her true self which purged everything that was born of fear and cleared the way for growth. The image of warm cerulean eyes and bright sunshine came into his eyes and at that moment, Sasuke understood that he had to trust her.

So, he simply searched her eyes for a moment before he stepped back and nodded, giving way to his companion much to Ariel's surprise who was half expecting her savior to vehemently refuse or to scold her. The corners of her mouth curved, and then under Sasuke's almost astonished gaze, the Lunarian raised her hand extending his thumb and index finger to make a well-known shooting gesture.

And that gunpoint was aimed right at those corpses below!

Something radiant and bright burned at the very tip of her finger…

Sasuke ran towards the two mansions in the centre of the island alongside Ariel, which on closer inspection were almost entirely broken and destroyed. The mansion and the accompanying stone structures around it had all turned to rubble and the remaining landscape resembled remains of a battlefield from straight from the Fourth Great War with the orange glow of fire shining ominously in the background.

They were a considerable distance away from the wall which used to encircle this strange island-ship. Yet, even from such a distance, Sasuke could feel the searing heat on his back. The orange glow of molten stone continued to loom over them ominously in the background unchanged even by the raging sea outside.

Sasuke had not been expecting Ariel to melt the entire wall encircling the island-ship into molten slag just to deal with those corpses.

Sasuke had not seen it before but he instinctively knew that the power that had melted down that bridge was the inherent control over blazing fire that all Lunarians were said to have. He had assumed her to be powerless just because no flame burned behind her back, but he was proven wrong today.

"Our flames were once said to be heralds of destruction meant to impose the holy judgment upon the world. A natural weapon that could be used to defend and conquer," Ariel's amethyst eyes were emotionless and empty as she answered the unasked question, "The flames of a Lunaran are meant to be a trump card that can replace any weapon. In a way, it's the symbol of our race."

She had told Sasuke about it before once, in a far longer explanation that now seemed too distant for her to remember. But those words escaped her mouth before she could stop them because the scars she bore were far more than physical.

"But my mother was a human, so I cannot be called a complete Lunarian. Our natural defense and the burning flames at our back are supposed to be separate powers, but something unpreceded happened when I was born and both these powers could not manifest completely inside of me," She quietly spoke, looking down at the ground below as emotions she could neither name nor understand squeezed her heart, "They merged inside me instead, so flames do not burn constantly upon my back. My clan never completely accepted me because of it,"

For most parts of her life, her race had perhaps been the most significant part of her experiences. It was her everything, both her hope and even her destruction. She had always been a simple commodity with which others could do whatever they wanted to do even back home.

She knew that if she wanted to prosper and move past her race, then she needed results. She needed to become a warrior but even that hope had betrayed her in the end when she had been captured by humans instead.

Sasuke looked at her, clenching his fists as he saw her unbothered and happy eyes that curved when she spoke of her dark past, "But that's not bad. I'm not sad at all, because I met you in the end."

Sasuke nodded, accepting her words even as he glanced back at the mansion. A thousand emotions flashed through his mind but he spoke nothing and simply continued forward.

There were many presences clustered inside parts of the mansion which had not crumbled but they were not the same as those walking corpses he had seen before. In fact, he had not seen any reanimated zombie again even though he had passed by dozens of dead corpses.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed that the sole presence moving away from the island had almost completely vanished. It had already been moving away when they had arrived on this island and it seemed that whoever that was was long gone.

But that did not matter, he was not here for the person who had reanimated these corpses.

Sasuke looked at the mansion again. They were close enough that he could see inside some of the windows though he could not find anything other than mounted heads of dead animals, some pelts on the floor, and a bunch of strange paintings. He observed each one of them, noting how they sometimes moved as if given life once again. Naruto would have been beside himself if he were in his place

His eyes as he started observing the stairways to find himself on a bridge that connected the two mansions. Both the mansions were far away but Sasuke could discern from his position that they were completely covered in trees and in contrast to those which could be found around the rest of the island— they were green with the bridge itself being further decorated with various types of blooming plants and beautiful flowers.

Beyond the mansions, he could see the motionless figure of what appeared to be a dead giant whose mouth was full of enormous canines that resembled gigantic horns with red skin and blond hair that reached his lower back. It was almost as large as his Perfect Susano had once been.

Sasuke had known that there were giants in this world but this one was beyond his expectations. It was downright enormous and Sasuke would have retreated to a distance by now had he not known that the giant was truly dead. His enormous body was crudely sewn together and there was a number tattooed upon him in a manner that resembled those corpses from before. The absence of any noticeable presence about that giant was also glaringly obvious.

But even if that Giant were alive, Sasuke knew that he would have been far from the greatest threat lurking around this island.

He knew that there was someone far more dangerous, far more powerful inside here with them. Someone who even he had to be careful around, if only because of the reputation he had earned.

"Sasuke, this is…" He heard Ariel whisper behind him, once again matching his pace with ease even as a shiver ran down her spine. It was her first time seeing her savior appear so serious.

Tyranny

She could also sense it, this suppressively dark and alarmingly powerful presence that spread through the forest. It had been following them as a shadow since they had entered this island, remaining in the dark and waiting for the right moment to strike when they were most careless.

"So you feel it too?" Sasuke turned towards her and observed her expression with great precision. It was no secret to him that they were being followed by someone and by judging the look Ariel had on her face, Sasuke could tell that the person who was following them had not escaped her senses either.

She was worried, he could tell that without even looking that much at her.

"Be careful and make sure to follow behind me. What you feel is no ordinary foe and certainly not one to be underestimated," Sasuke warned, knowing that she would not ignore what he said, "He would not be so easy to deal with, which is why I need you to ensure you remain safe regardless of what happens so that I can fight freely."

"Who is he?" Ariel questioned, concern marring her features but she never got the chance to voice what was on her mind, something just appeared behind her before she could even finish her question.

A dark shadow, larger than three grown men combined just flickered into existence behind her and everything happened so fast that for a second, Ariel almost could not comprehend what just happened.

"A tyrant…" Sasuke coldly answered and turned around, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he stared at the tall man who had suddenly appeared before them

The man, if he could even be called as such, was enormous in both size and presence— his height far surpassing the six-meter mark and his presence bearing down upon them with all its might.

The eyes of this overbearing man were covered by clear spectacles and his curly hair which was the same shade as a raven's wings reached down his shoulders in a single wave. His head was covered by a large hat adorned with rounded ears which, alongside the midnight blue fabric of his pants, was covered in brown spots. This huge man had covered himself with a single black jacket adorned with an enormous white emblem reminiscent of a target cross-hair.

He held a black Bible in his overly large hands and his overbearing appearance was only accentuated by the protruding chin that resembled that of a bear. There were numerous white paw prints decorating his clothes and his furious entrance certainly matched the description.

Bartholomew Kuma— a Warlord of the Sea and the former king of the Sorbet Kingdom.

Sasuke narrowed his raven eye at him, but before he could even move— Ariel who had been startled by the sudden appearance of the Warlord lashed out in obvious panic.

Her amethyst eyes shrunk and then almost as if by instinct she moved…

She simply fell upon the Warlord in a manner beyond comprehension, each part of her body made into a weapon and turned into a lethal rain of blows bereft of any order. So powerful that they could bring down even the strongest of men to their knees. Each of her blows could punch holes through walls of steel, her punches so powerful that they could sink warships with more ease than cannons could and her kicks so sharp that they could cut apart towers of stone.

But not a single one of them landed.

There was no order behind them, no method or form. It was just chaos and destruction given shape, almost as if Ariel were just lashing out in panic rather than fighting to win, just as she had in that shop where Violet had almost fallen prey to her desperation.

In contrast, Kuma moved as if he were her opposite. Despite his size, he was grace given form. Though he was facing an unpredictable whirlwind, there was no chaos in the way he moved for every action had a purpose and every move had a goal.

Moving away from high blows and spinning around the low, this Warlord side-stepped each strike meant for him. When it was not possible for the strike to be dogged, he would deflect them with the palm of his hands.

He moved in seamless maneuvers, ones that would have impressed even the most experienced of fighters. It was all but impossible for Ariel who had never seen combat to overcome such finesse during the chaos of live combat, when she was attacking in panic and the Warlord moved as if he had already seen all her blows coming.

Overwhelming quantity could only do so much in the face of refined quality. All around him, the rain of blows continued to fall, trying to push forward in vain even as the Warlord held them back with ease.

Then the inevitable happened. Ariel made a mistake.

Even in chaos, her instinct had allowed her to maintain the initiative but raw instinct could only take her so far. This time she had positioned himself incorrectly, and she was forced into such a position where she had no choice but to spin around and make use of her momentum to push forward. It might have even worked, had Kuma not taken advantage of that single instance to suddenly vanish and appear behind her.

And suddenly Ariel who had held the initiative before, was now in the line of fire of two different attacks which broke seamlessly through her momentum. The large hand of Kuma bore down upon her in a deadly punch from the left and a cannon of vacuum in the shape of a paw tore towards her at lightning speeds from the right. They came at her one after the other, blocking her line of escape and they did so at her most vulnerable moment.

Ariel who was already moving in instinct had been alarmed even further by the sudden disappearance of the enormous Warlord, having lost her previous balance because of her opponent deflecting her blow and did not have enough time to correct her bearings. She could have avoided one sword but not the other. Ariel could neither evade them nor deflect them, so she had no choice but to abandon all thoughts of attack and jump back through sheer instinct.

Her raven wings, each as large as she was, suddenly unfurled and flared violently as they pushed Ariel out of harm's way by flying backward.

But that left her vulnerable and open and before she could so much as blink the Warlord had already charged her, his hand glowing enshrouded in his power streaking towards her chest in what was supposed to be the final blow.

Yet for all its speed, Sasuke could see it coming. he could tell exactly where the blow would land, on the right side of his companion's sizable chest, precisely three inches below her shoulder. He could even picture the proper response he would have executed had he been in his position, a sweeping strike to the side-left wrist with the right to knock the blow-off course. Then a counter to his side while he was still knocked off balance.

Yet no matter how well he could picture it in my head, he knew reality was something completely different.

Ariel raised her hand to deflect it, but even as she moved Sasuke could tell that she would not make it. For all the greater distance the Warlord had to travel, his strike would hit her chest before she could stop it. No matter how fast she tried to move, Sasuke knew that her opponent would be faster.

That single strike approached her as though in slow motion—

Before a single gloved hand stopped it in its entirety, releasing a shockwave in the process which shook the entire forest and reverberated across the entire island as a blast of air pressure tore through the trees around them and uprooted most of them.

Ariel who had thrown herself backward was also struck by the shockwave which almost blew her away and pushed her even further backward in an awkward tumble as she skidded across the ground in a poor attempt to regain her balance.

"Bartholomew Kuma, I cannot exactly say that I am surprised to find you here." Sasuke coldly asked, the bones in his arm creaking painfully against Kuma's own even as he dug his heels into the ground. The Warlord was powerful, far stronger than he had expected him to be but he was not so powerful as to overpower him completely.

It seemed that even the Warlord was quick to realize that a clash of pure strength would be futile because the very next second, he tried to swipe at Sasuke's head with his other free arm but Sasuke dodged it by simply leaning back slightly.

"It seems that we have caught you at a rather time. You must have just completed your business here and were perhaps just about to return." Sasuke spoke, his eyes trained on the Warlord who seemed as if he was preparing to have at him once again. "I imagine that you were none too pleased to see another potential threat appear just as everything seemed well and done."

Sasuke paused as he was forced to dodge another strike, this time aimed at his chest. "Keeping your trouble in mind, I intend to make this as short as I can— Why?"

His grip on the Warlord's arm tightened, and he could feel the skin under the black jacket bend almost as if it were made of malleable iron and steel.

"Why did you spare Straw-hat Luffy?" He continued, dodging another swipe aimed at his head. "Why did you decide to let him go even when you had his life in your grasp?"

Kuma paused for a moment as if he had finally accepted the fact that his opponent was more interested in talk rather than the fight and Sasuke could feel his covered eyes running over him as if taking in his visage for the very first time before they moved towards Ariel behind him, and then pausing as they landed upon her raven wings.

He startled when he saw her raven wings.

It was a frozen moment where the Warlord's face was washed blank with confusion as the cogs inside his brain cogs could not turn fast enough to take in the information before him, the implications.

And for a second nothing moved, but then the Tyrant's mouth moved as he spoke for the first time and Sasuke's eyes widened.

Both Sasuke and Ariel were quiet as they left the forest, a trepidation bearing over them both as they thought about the recent revelations that had taken them both by surprise.

His mind was running around in circles, as though it were strung on a wheel. It chased every single rung of possibility and got nowhere each time. It seemed hard to find the breath amid the clamour of competing thoughts and feelings. No sooner did he focus fully on one than his mind found another and started chasing that new train of thought.

They were both so occupied that barely a single word left their mouth even when they traversed across the entire forest and reached the two mansions he had seen before. They both appeared to be deeply damaged, and that too very recently which was why Sasuke knew that the people he sought would not be found inside.

Sure enough, Sasuke could see the Straw Hats on the ground below, busy in what appeared to be one of the largest celebrations he had ever seen or witnessed outside of those formal gatherings hosted by nobles and lords. Both he and Ariel watched from a distance as they all greeted and cheered at each other, they certainly seemed a lively bunch.

The captain seemed to genuinely care about his crew from what he could see which already made him better than most of the pirates in the Grand Line, but Sasuke could see that the bond between them went far beyond that of duty. It was apparent by the way Luffy— the captain who looked almost the same as he had in the pictures Sasuke had seen of him— smiled when he was surrounded by his comrades, his nakama. His onyx eyes were practically sparkling, as his grin stretched even further than Sasuke what had thought to be possible.

It reminded him of another person who also valued his bonds above all others— someone whose smile sometimes reminded him of warm and radiant sunshine.

Even from such a distance and at a single glance, Sasuke could see that Luffy never had to order them, instead his crewmates followed his subtle desires, which echoed in his posture and tone. Even now, they surrounded Luffy as they celebrated in a haphazard formation that was continually changing in direct correlation with the sporadic shifts of Luffy's attention, thoughts, and whims.

It was almost endearing to watch, in a way that could not be explained by words. But it seemed that Ariel did not find the scene as amusing as he did.

Her arm had quickly caught one hem of his cloak in a tight grip as soon as the pirates had entered their sight, and it had only gotten tighter as they slowly approached them in a reserved space. The fact that she had not spoken ever from the moment these people were in sight had also not escaped his notice.

Sasuke knew the symptoms of trauma as well as he knew the back of his hand, for he himself was a victim of one. He had spent many sleepless nights plagued by nightmares, the jumps he made whenever he caught sight of shadows, how just seeing red once made him weep…

Itachi had always loved him, more than he could perhaps ever understand. A fact that he now knew to be as absolute as the laws of motion and the passage of time. But for all his goodness, Itachi had never once been kind, not to those he loved nor even to himself. Never…

These pirates before him were loud, and Sasuke was not surprised to see Ariel withdraw into herself at the sight of them— not after knowing what she had gone through. He should not have brought her here and he should have been more considerate. But there was only so much he could do at this point, going back was not an option and he would have to apologize later because what he had come for could not be delayed any longer.

Even Sasuke could not claim with certainty that he would ever get a chance to meet the Straw Hats again in this vast Grand Line.

"Do not worry." He turned and told the tense Ariel in a soft tone, "This would be soon over with and we would leave immediately afterward."

Sasuke could see Ariel's amethyst eyes widen at his declaration and felt her grip on his cloak somewhat relax almost as if reassured by his words. But her shoulders remained as tense as they were before even as she nodded slowly causing Sasuke to sigh inwardly, words no matter how comforting could only do so much at once.

Sasuke sighed, knowing that she would have to be brave for now. They could not turn back now, not without making their entire journey completely redundant and sacrificing perhaps the perfect chance to catch who he had been searching for since he had descended from Skypiea after finding those mysterious runes.

So, with a quiet Ariel following behind him, Sasuke moved closer to the group before them and was about to address them when one of the pirates finally noticed them.

It was Black-Leg Sanji— Sasuke was barely able to recognize him from his overtly exaggerated and distorted poster which made him look quite comical. He was a lean man with long legs whose blond locks were kept brushed over one side of his face. His most distinctive features were his eyebrows, both curled to form a spiral but at separate ends. His right eyebrow formed a spiral at the outer end, and his left eyebrow formed one at the inner end.

He wore a black, double-breasted full suit with golden fasteners formal trousers. A cigarette loosely hung from his mouth as though it had always belonged there and even from a distance Sasuke could distinctly smell the tobacco he was burning.

"Oi, come join us." He slowly drawled, his voice loud enough to reach them despite the distance even as he waved them over. "These guys tell us that somebody fought that Kuma guy on his way back, the clash could be felt all the way here. I assume you were the ones doing that, the bastard sure deserved a beating for what he did to Zoro."

Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette, coming closer to greet them properly, "As if dealing with that shadow freak was not troublesome enough—"

The blond paused mid-step as if he had suddenly seen something that took him by complete surprise. His eyes were fixed on something behind Sasuke which was strange because only Ariel was trailing behind him and given her meek demeanor, it should have been apparent that she was the lesser threat if any at all.

"OOOOOOHHH!" the other man all but shouted in amazement as though he had found a treasure beyond compare, and Sasuke blinked in complete surprise as his expectations were once again betrayed by this strange world. Who exactly was this guy and what exactly was wrong with him?

The blond man merely glanced at Ariel's form and his nose started blowing out steam due to his rising excitement. Sasuke felt a reminiscent shiver of revolution run down his spine. He recognized this strange forbearing feel of justified disgust, for he had felt and seen it many times before directed at both his sensei and a certain sage who once taught his only friend which meant that this strange man before him was most definitely a—

Pervert

Ariel standing behind him just took a step back in shock, tensing at how this new person was behaving. The poor girl witnessed perversion and cruelty beyond all thoughts during her captivity and she could recognize what blazed inside the eyes of this pirate. Her grip on Sasuke's cloak tightened…

As if sensing her thoughts, the form of Sasuke flickered and he appeared behind Sanji in a burst of speed that this blond could not even trace. A single practiced chop on a certain part of his neck and he crumbled as if he were a marionette whose strings had been cut before he could even think of approaching Ariel, completely unconscious.

That certainly ended the entire problem before it had even begun.

Satisfied, he turned towards the rest of the pirates who had finally noticed his approach. Seeing the unconscious form of Sanji crumbled before him, most of the men either just sighed or shrugged at what they considered a regular facet of life by this point, and the women shared amused glances with one another at this incident as though they had seen it before.

"Nico Robin, do you know who is this shadow creep that Sanji spoke about?" Sasuke approached one of the ladies drawn to the commotion with Ariel meekly following behind him, stunned into silence because of the strange encounter that had just happened before. He knew who she was, he knew who each one of them was from the wanted posters. They were more than famous in Jaya and were even more popular in Skypiea. Moreover, he had been personally keeping track of them.

He had wanted to meet Nico Robin ever since he learned that she was perhaps the only one in this entire world who could decipher the ancient writings he had found back in Skypiea and was one of the most driving factors that had compelled him to drag Ariel into this unsightly sea.

The Demon Child as she was infamously called— Sasuke mentally sneered at the epithet having for he had seen it used than once on someone who was perhaps the furthest thing from a demon he had ever seen— was currently adorned in a lace embroidered short maroon dress, net stockings, and black high heels. Matching her wanted poster, she had shoulder-length dark hair and dark blue-green eyes.

"That's Gecko Moria, one of the seven Warlords of the Sea." Robin answered simply, she had her eyes on him ever since she had seen him approach and even now kept her sharp eyes trained on him, a fact that Sasuke did not fail to miss.

"He steals people's shadows and uses them to make zombies out of corpses!" the blue-haired man dressed in a speedo, apparently known as Franky added.

"So he was the one responsible for the corpses we saw before!" Sasuke heard Ariel inaudibly murmur, demurely staying behind him as though she were afraid of the celebrating crowd which considering what had recently happened might just be true.

"Seven warlords?" Sasuke raised a brow in surprise, he was well aware that they were a group of pirates granted the authority to plunder at their discretion from the World Government but before meeting the Tyrant Kuma he'd only witnessed the reach of one before— Donquixote Doflamingo, a Warlord whose web had apparently long ensnared the criminal organizations which operated underneath the dark shadows of the world. He had also graced Jaya just some days before he had.

When he had just arrived in this world, he had briefly entertained thoughts of defeating one of the Warlords in order to join the navy which was why he knew that they were no mere weaklings. From what he knew of the Straw Hats, they were also rumored to be involved with the Warlord Crocodile during the time of his infamous overreach at Alabasta which a marine by the name of Smoker had put to an end.

Counting Kuma, that made it three Warlords they had survived. A feat few pirates could ever hope to match.

Sasuke turned his gaze back toward Nico Robin who was yet to stop studying him with her excessively sharp eyes that were carefully scrutinizing him, "Do you have a moment?"

"Hm? What is it?" It was the orange-haired girl, Nami who responded in the place of her crewmate. Robin, in the meantime, had used her power to retrieve a cup of beer and was apparently more than keen to let her crewmate speak on her behalf.

"That's a handy power…" Ariel whispered and Sasuke just looked at her strangely alongside both Nami and Robin, even as she ducked her now reddening face once again.

Sasuke turned his gaze back towards Nico Robin, who fearlessly matched it with her own even as Nami grinned at the unintended joke, ignorant of the mental clash happening beside her. There was no need for arms and physical violence. Just a gaze. An inspecting gaze was all they needed, a pair of gazes each of which could make proud warriors sweat nervously.

"I am aware of your ventures in the islands above the sky, and the people there have seen fit to inform me that Nico Robin can read the writings of their ruins. Can you read some for me?" He decided to ask her directly. He did not have time to waste on needless pleasantries, and neither did he wish to linger here for long.

"Oh..." Nami sighed almost as if she were disappointed, "Robin, he wants to talk to you about boring things," The orange-haired girl told her crewmate who stepped forward and came to a stop in front of him, the cup of beer in her hand now half-empty. Everyone else was too busy with the victory celebrations to care about them and from the sounds of it, they were apparently planning to throw a party that seemed as if it would not stop till tomorrow morning.

"Why are you interested in the ruins of sky island?" Robin asked, stepping forward.

"It's..." Sasuke paused, finding it hard to express himself as he was called on to elucidate upon something he himself was not sure of. He had no idea how was he even supposed to start describing his circumstance to someone from this world without sounding as if he were a lunatic. "It is a bit hard to explain."

He paused again, bearing the unimpressed look shot his way by the archaeologist. "Let's just say that it is imperative that I know of any legends concerning otherworldly visitors descended from the very stars or regarding divine trees of godly powers."

Robin stared at him for a good few seconds, almost as if she were trying to peer straight into his very soul. Any other man would have relented by now, but he was an Uchiha through and through. His kind were seemingly custom-made for staring contests and his ancestors would roll in their graves if he ever lost one. So, he stared right back at her with his lone raven eye as if nothing was wrong with what he had spoken.

"No." she finally answered, "There is no mention of any otherworldly visitors which could be found in Skypiea and neither is there any such legend anywhere in the world that I am currently aware of aside from that of the Lunarians which seems a bit too common to be what you are searching for. But there are two trees in the world, that are spoken in stories and legends."

"Hn" Sasuke beaconed her to continue with a grunt, even as Ariel behind him startled unperceptively at the mention of her race.

"Mystic legends sometimes mention the jewel tree Adam and sunlight tree Eve, given almost a mythical status by people who were fortunate enough to grace their eyes with their majesty and there is also the Sabaody archipelago made completely out of enormous mangroves. All of them were once connected to mythical legends."

Robin was more than surprised to see someone interested in the history and mythology of the world, for she had never met anyone else who cared about the past so far. But she could not gauge his motives though which put her on guard, regardless this stranger remained as elusive as ever irrespective of what she did even though she could not sense any malevolent intent behind his questions. She had not forgotten how he had taken down Sanji with ease, though the chef was tired.

Yet, his eyes constantly moved. He took in everything with a single sweep, his raven eyes stopping on nothing as his face remained as expressionless as it had been when he had entered. She had not seen him interact freely but in whatever conversation he was in the other person was left seemingly enthralled, yet afterward unable to recall anything important in what he said. It was as if he could converse without leaving any verbal impression.

Moreover, the things he wished to know were seemingly too narrowed down but at the same time, so random. He was a total enigma and she could not tell why.

"Adam and Eve, huh?" Sasuke murmured, printing the names to memory before moving onwards. "There's one more favour I shall trouble you with."

Then without waiting for Robin's response, Sasuke reached deep into his sleeves, searching for a second or so before he took out a rolled scroll.

One that had ink prints of the numerous inscriptions he'd found above in the island of Skypiea, particularly those which were engraved on that enormous stone Poneglyph. He did not know of its value, but even so, he refused to let go of any potential leads without seeing them through to the very end.

He'd made sure to save them and had carefully stored them. He unfurled the long scroll, "Can you tell me what it says?"

Robin tentatively looked at the scroll that was placed in her hands before she could protest, but just as she was about to answer, the archaeologist was interrupted by her captain.

"HEY! MYSTERIOUS GUY!" Sasuke looked over at the pirates, surprised that anyone would address him this way. It was Straw Hat Luffy who had called him, he recognized him from the posters.

Luffy stopped in front of him, "Someone told me that you also fought with Kuma despite having only arrived, thanks for that! Stay a bit longer, we are throwing a big party!" he grinned as if he were a child.

Sasuke glanced around— a bit surprised at the fact that their fight had been discovered but then again, he could see some infamous faces from the New World. Moreover, Ariel and Kuma had created a ruckus that could have been felt from kilometers away even without Mantra. In hindsight, perhaps he should have expected to be discovered the moment Ariel had started melting parts of the island into slag given all that had happened.

His eye turned back towards Straw-hat Luffy— the infamous pirate had black shaggy hair, round raven eyes, and a lean yet perfectly muscular stature. His trademark Straw-Hat which he was renowned for sat snugly atop his head. A sleeveless red vest adorned his chest and his lower half was covered by sandals alongside blue shorts with folded cuffs.

A carefree look that matched the wide beam Luffy was bearing upon his vibrant face, his scar sewed by two crude stitches underneath his left eye stretching brightly alongside his lips. Sasuke felt his lips twitch because of his vibrant enthusiasm which seemed almost infectious.

But apparently, Luffy was not finished yet, "You can take some of our treasure as a thank you, we found lots and lots on this ship!"

Before Sasuke could answer though, Nami punched Luffy so hard that he comically fell face first on the ground and instantly grew a splendid bump on his head, "Don't give away my treasure to random people!" she yelled at him, more agitated than he would have expected, before she turned towards him.

"I'm sorry but he didn't mean that! Thank you for helping us though." she smiled at him and offered her hand amicably, yet her eyes seemed as though they were daring anyone to say otherwise.

Sasuke firmly shook it, amused despite himself.

"Relax, I do not want your treasure anyway." Sasuke told her before he turned towards Luffy who was rubbing his head which had by now miraculously somehow shrunk back to its original size, "It was your courageous swordsman who stopped the Warlord Kuma, not me. Your appreciation would be better spent on him, rather than me who just happened to pass by."

Nami who was carefully listening to his every word ever since money was brought up looked almost relieved at his admission even as Luffy nodded in agreement, his mouth breaking into a beaming grin at the subtle praise. But just as she was about to leave and join the rest of her crewmates who were probably tending to the injured Zoro, Sasuke stopped her. "I said I do not want your treasure but that did not mean I gave you permission to take mine."

Nami let out a quiet squeak of embarrassment and blushed bright red at being caught in such an obvious manner, "I…uh…well..." she faltered for a moment or so, but could not find anything to say in her defence and thus, had no choice but to demurely gave back a familiar tomato-shaped wallet, avoiding eye contact all the time.

"HEY BROOK! OVER HERE!" Luffy yelled, interrupting their conversation as some sort of commotion distracted him.

Sasuke turned his head to see who Luffy was talking to, and blinked when he saw a walking skeleton of all things being the reason behind the interruption.

Robin turned to face Sasuke, no doubt amused by his carefully veiled incredulity, "What do you want me to read?" she asked.

"Not so fast Robin!" It was Nami again, who had joined the conversation once again so quickly that Sasuke almost came to admire her astounding speed. "It sounds as if you are in need of help from our dazzling archaeologist!" she said with a grin.

"Hn" Sasuke simply grunted in agreement.

"Then it's gonna cost you thirty million berries!" Nami put a hand around Robin's shoulders, and looked at him almost smugly in apparent victory. "Take it or leave it!"

"You're never gonna change, are you?" Somebody vaguely asked from the side, as though this were a common occurrence.

"Agreed." Sasuke nodded without a moment's pause, much to the surprise of Nami who looked startled as if she had not been expecting him to agree at all. He did not need to think over it for very long, Robin was perhaps the only person in the world who could answer his questions, and it would be a grave disservice to not acknowledge the value of her service. It seemed a fair deal to him, all things considered.

"I would give you thirty million berries." Sasuke spoke, pausing as Nami's eyes practically sparkled forcing Ariel to grip his cloak tightly in alarm, which was why Sasuke made sure to insist, "When she translates those inscriptions in return."

"Hey guys! Put up a table here, quick!" Nami was quick to order some of the pirates who came with Luffy and her, and they too were quick to follow her orders.

Nearby, some of the pirates ran to get food, some prepared a makeshift kitchen, and some carried barrels of booze to the clearing. Soon, a makeshift setup was created with astounding speed which seemed almost perfect for business transactions.

"Let me see the scroll," Robin extended her hand once everyone had finished what they were doing and had gone back to the party that was going on. Sasuke quietly gave her the scroll, watching as Robin carefully opened it before her eyes started tracing over the strange inscriptions for some minutes or so emotionlessly. She finally spoke, a moment later "Harvest this year has been plentiful. Aside from a small flu outbreak, Shandora did not face any troubles, We pray next year would be even better."

Robin and Nami both looked at Sasuke to see his reaction, but the avenger just blankly stared at her.

He finally spoke after a tense couple of seconds which felt the same as minutes and hours, "I understand you do not owe me anything but do not spread falsehoods to my face at the very least. If you do not wish to help me, then just say so."

His cold response caught both Nami and Robin by surprise, she had not shown any known sign of lying on her face and she was aware that she was good enough at it. But this person before them had so casually caught her, almost as if she had known from the very start that she was lying.

Of course, she was not revealing the complete truth, the ink print held the second last line of the Poneglyph they had found in Shandora, which specifically talked about the location of the legendary Poseidon. She simply refused to give away information about the Ancient Weapons to anyone, regardless of who they were. She had not done so with both CP9 and Crocodile, despite knowing that they both would have probably been happy murdering her for it, and she would not do so now.

"It is not easy to tell the complete truth to a stranger, as you must be aware. Why do you even want to know about this anyway?" she said instead, expertly dodging his accusation which Sasuke quietly noted.

'What is written there that she would not talk about it?' Sasuke wondered, almost tempted to investigate further at the cost of his future relations with the Straw-Hats who were widely opposite to what he had imagined and expected.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," he introduced himself, even as all three of them including Ariel turned to look at him incredulously. "I am now not a complete stranger, since you know my name. I believe that you can now tell me what the inscriptions say, right?"

"That's not how it works" Ariel whispered out loud, yet all of them heard her.

"She is right, you know." Nami pointed out before she turned her focus back to Sasuke "You left out the 'why' part behind your explanation? For what exactly do you need this information?"

Sasuke let out a sigh, a bit annoyed at the questioning but unable to do anything about it since he needed their help.

Robin was the only one who could read these inscriptions as far as he knew, and he could not just pass up an opportunity such as this so he was forced to answer, "I wish to know of any rumours concerning a clan of divine beings which roam the heavens, going from planet to planet to absorb the energy from every living creature there."

Nami and Robin both shivered when they heard what he had to say, his words were clearly not serious. How could they be when they were so outlandish? But even so, just hearing them…

"I am sorry that I lied before." Robin told him, unexpectedly disturbed by his cold words, "The inscription actually gives the location of Fishman Island. But it does not mention any beings such as that. There is not even a myth resembling that in any of the cultures around the world that I know of."

She left out the part about Poseidon but the rest was true, though she did not know if Sasuke could discern this nor did she care about it. She would never reveal any information regarding the Ancient Weapons to any stranger.

Sasuke sighed, she was speaking the truth at last— a partial one but the truth nonetheless.

He also had his next lead. He'd have to pay a visit to Fishman Island sometime in the future. He was keen to see what secrets were enshrouded inside.

"You have my gratitude." Sasuke was glad to hear that there was no mention of the Otsutsuki but he had a long way to go before he found what he was searching for. "If I find another set of inscriptions such as those in Shandora, I might need your help again. Is there any way I can contact you?"

This was another part of the reason why he had insisted on coming all the way here and meeting with the Straw-Hats despite all the trouble it had entailed. With Grand Line being the way it was, it was hard to say whether he would encounter either the Straw-Hats or Robin ever again, and even more importantly, her knowledge of the Ancient Language would almost certainly prove to be crucial to his future investigations.

"We have a transponder snail on our ship," Robin answered. "You can give me a call."

They both then proceeded to exchange the frequencies of each other's transponder snails which Sasuke had to admit were a handy piece of technology.

The war of information was of vital importance to every nation back home. It was a matter of life and death, a road that might lead either to safety or to ruin. Hence, it had always remained a subject of inquiry that could on no account be neglected which was why there was no small amount of amazement within him whenever he witnessed the ease of information transfer prevalent across this world when compared to the Elemental Nations where shinobi guarded information with their lives for even the tiniest leaks could lead to the destruction of an entire hidden village.

"I would call you if I find myself in need of your expertise," Sasuke stated in more of a statement than a request even as Robin nodded in apparent agreement.

Sasuke smirked. Today he felt as if he had taken a step towards furthering his investigations. There was no mention of anything such as the Otsutsuki, which was good. But he had now narrowed down four places to check out next— Sabaody Archipelago, Sunlight Tree Eve, Jewel Tree Adam and Fishman Island.

"Very well then." Sasuke nodded at Robin, "I shall see you sometime later then."

He had barely even taken a step to be on his way when out of nowhere, he found Nami appearing before him, almost as if she had used a body flicker to suddenly block his retreat. Hands on her hips, Nami stood in front of him and narrowed her eyes, "Aren't you forgetting something mister?!" she asked.

"...Oh yes, the money." Sasuke hummed a bit, almost amused by her tenacious shrewdness. Nami did not join him in that though, not finding anything amusing in the situation so Sasuke explained himself further. "I was just about to give it to you, but it seems that you found it fit to remind me before I could."

Seeing that the pirate before him was quickly growing impatient, Sasuke reached into his sleeves once again, his hands expertly finding the seal located at the junction where his healthy skin met the pale one of his artificial arm. It was the same one in which he had previously stored the spare arm Konoha had prepared for him.

He had never thought it would prove to be so handy one day, it was the only form of portable storage he had left— all his other scrolls were useless to him considering he could not use chakra anymore and this lone seal he had disregarded before was the only one with him which demanded blood for activation instead. With a loud puff of smoke, about thirty million berries appeared before him. Sasuke glanced at Nami before him whose eyes had started shining at the sight of so much money and offered his hand for a handshake, "It was a pleasure."

Nami took his hand in her own for a brief second, before she noticed the bandages wrapped around his other one, "You know, if you have an injury Chopper can fix you up in no time!" she said as she smiled deviously at him. "For a fee of course!"

"I am perfectly fine." he had a ghost of a smirk gracing his lips, "But I would remember the offer."

Nami nodded at him, content to leave it at that but he was interrupted once again just as he was about to leave by some of the Straw-Hats who found that moment the most opportune to suddenly surround him with large grins on their faces. It was fortunate that Ariel was not encircled by them

"Did you.."

".. just take.."

"..the money.."

"..out of.."

"..a seal?!" Chopper, Usopp, Franky, and Luffy said one after another, grinning strangely at him.

Sasuke almost took half a step backward in surprise, not knowing how they had been able to associate that single puff of smoke with the usage of seals which, given the reactions, were more popular in this world than his own.

"THEN YOU MUST BE A NINJA!" Luffy, Usopp, and Franky yelled in unison, apparently taking his silence as an affirmation.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement almost subconsciously, and then immediately wondered whether he did the right thing or not. Of course, this was not some sort of undercover mission and revealing his status as a ninja should not be a problem as far as he was concerned but he certainly felt uncomfortable divulging this single piece of information.

"Woohoo!" Luffy jumped in the air excitedly, taking his grunt as a sign of affirmation even as the grins on the faces of those surrounding them widened hugely and they huddled closer to him. Almost scaring Ariel, and alarming him with their sudden enthusiasm.

"Throw some shuriken for us!"

"Meditate under a waterfall!"

"Show us a fire jutsu!"

"A clone jutsu for me!" All of them practically demanded one after another.

Sasuke could feel a sweat drop forming on his head which seemed as if it was ready to throb in pain any moment, eagerness practically oozed out of everyone there and he found it strangely hard to refuse. Even Ariel was eagerly peeking at his face from her secure position. How he envied her at that moment...

This was his first time receiving such requests, but he was aware that from time to time someone with too much time and money who had never met a real ninja before would come to hire them and proceed to make all sorts of requests for entertainment. It was a popular job amongst some gennin and Sasuke considered himself fortunate that he had never been tasked with that. He wanted to refuse but everyone had a look of utter eagerness on their faces eerily reminding him of the one that he had seen more than once on a younger Naruto standing before Ichiraku ramen. Sasuke let out a sigh of defeat.

He sighed once again, almost regretting what he was about to do but not quite finding it in him to refuse. He then proceeded to make a show of his hands going through fancy hand seals which might have activated an actual jutsu if he were capable of using chakra at the moment. But even when performing a mock attack, he dared not use incorrect hand seals for the proper habits had long been beaten into him.

Tiger, hare, boar, dog, ox, snake-

"Earth style: Mud Wall!"

He slammed his right hand on the ground and a wall of earth rose out of the ground about ten meters away from him— a small and pathetic trick that basically worked on the principle of transfer of force. He had simply smashed his hand into the ground deliberately with deliberately focused force and precise direction to create a calculated shockwave which would then travel underground and displace some of the bedrock below, thus allowing what appeared to be an earth wall to rise from beneath.

"AWESOME!" Sasuke heard someone yell, and the cheers were practically deafening for what basically amounted to a calculated punch.

Next, Sasuke took out a single shuriken from his sleeves with a practiced motion, so elegant and ethereal that just watching him was a show on its own. Everyone quietened to see what he was about to do so next and each eye was focused on him as he proceeded to throw the shuriken at the wall with lightning speed.

Ox, dog, dragon, rat, dog, boar, snake, tiger-

"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The one shuriken suddenly became manifold and hit the wall to form a rough of a single Straw Hat.

Another trick, which in hindsight was not as useless as the one before. This too was just a sleight of hand, was a vast misrepresentation in his humble opinion. He had launched several shurikens from the gaps between his sleeves using a practiced motion of his wrists which were perfectly concealed underneath the shadow of the first shuriken. Thus, he had created an illusion of copies of a single shuriken suddenly appearing out of thin air using shadows and light.

He himself had used it against Itachi and Naruto had once used a resembling trick to surprise the nuke-nin Zabuza Momochi of all people right before his eyes which was a feat that spoke of its practical applications in itself.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Sasuke could hear Luffy's voice above everyone else's cheers as the pirates applauded him again.

"And to finish," Sasuke made a show of flamboyantly placing a half-ram sign near his chest, in a motion hauntingly nostalgic.

"Clone Jutsu!"

With a flicker of movement, ten more exact copies of him appeared and then vanished in the next moment.

Another clever trick, which he suspected Ariel had seen through considering how her eyes glanced at the excited Straw-Hats in confusion. Here, all he had done was to move as quickly as he could in a single burst of speed— creating a phenomenon resembling afterimages to deceive the audience into thinking that he had created clones of himself. The Straw Hats here were not used to high-velocity movements of such magnitude and could not keep up with him, which was why all they saw were afterimages of himself that they thought to be clones. A much stronger Ariel, on the other hand, could actually trace his movements and thus was made witness to Sasuke quickly running around in a single circle which was perhaps why she was confused to see the Straw-Hats get so excited over what she correctly perceived to be a mundane movement.

"HE CREATED CLONES OF HIMSELF!" All the Straw-Hats cheered even louder, their enthusiasm hitting a peak that Sasuke had rarely seen before, even in acquaintances who tended to go overboard with their antics.

It was as if he were entertaining small kids who could not contain their excitement. He knew that some shinobi were hired by civilian academies to entertain their children and at the moment and at the moment he felt as if he had undertaken a similar task.

"Hey Ninja-san! Where are you from?!" Luffy spoke excitedly amongst cheers even as he had his arms wrapped around another one of his crewmates with a longer-than-necessary nose that almost seemed artificial.

"I am from the Hidden Leaf village— Konohagakure no Sato." Sasuke slowly spoke, noticing Ariel perk up at the answer as a rare smile graced his lips at the thoughts of his home.

"That's so cooool!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had stars in their eyes at the mention of a hidden village even as the rest of them cheered at his response without any reason.

"I have never heard of such a place before," Robin rested her chin on her index finger, her mind racing at the unexpected answer.

"It is hidden, as the name implies," Sasuke smirked in amusement before he turned towards Luffy with a graver undertone. A thousand emotions he could neither understand nor recognize flashed through his mind as he stared at the unexpected pirate before him who reminded him of the only man whom he could truly call a friend. A pirate whose smile was as warm as sunshine itself…

"Ninja-san …" The word escaped Luffy's lips unconsciously as he met the lone raven eye of the avenger with vibrant ones of his own and it was at that moment both men were able to get a true read of the other for the first time that day.

Although divided by their worlds and cultures, both were men of comradeship, whose dreams and ambitions were not ones derived from yearnings for power nor from wishes to become the dominant ruler but for wanting to be the man who could help those that they truly loved. Family and friends always came first, and the needs of the many could be overlooked for those of the few if the few were someone truly precious…

"Luffy, please take care of Robin," Sasuke told him, his eye scanning that cheerful face which seemed as if it had seen no worries even though he knew otherwise. "My sensei once tole me, those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

The raven eyes of the Straw-Har Captain widened at the words that the avenger would never forget, but Sasuke did not wait for his response.

"Now we have to get going."

A moment later, both Ariel and Sasuke vanished in a burst of speed.

Thanks for reading.

It was also perhaps the largest chapter of the story so far, the later part which was inspired by a fic called Naruto in New World.

Sasuke and Ariel finally met the Straw-hats and the meeting was intentionally made as brief as it could be. He would encounter them again many times in his adventures but this time, he arrived when everything was done and over with.

The presence Sasuke could sense was Moria escaping the island and they met Kuma when he was returning so everything was over by the time they arrived. Sasuke's Haki had shown him a useful vision in time but he was just too far away and we can't just give Sasuke all the action, can we?

Also, before you guys mention it— I know that Moria had absorbed all his shadows back to himself so there should have been no zombies left on the island. The reason why these zombies could still move even though the arc was over was that they were on the outer wall which was separated by the sea, so Moria could not exactly retrieve their shadows because of salt and seawater blocking his devil fruit.

Like all Lunarians, Ariel can also control fire- though her natural Lunarian flame does not constantly blaze behind her back but has to be summoned summoned forth because of her mixed blood.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day. Leave a review to keep me motivated.