This chapter came out faster then I wanted, but here it is.

Normally I wanted to include one 'particular' scene into this chapter, but because I felt like this chapter was being too long for me, I snapped it for the next one. So, sorry if you are dissapointed.

Enjoy this chapter and I hope you will leave some reviews on it.

Let's go!

Tarai Current

On the commandeered ship that had just passed through the Gates of Justice. Those who were just coping with the fact they have escaped Impel Down, were digesting that experience into a few different ways.

With the most loud reaction being that of celebration, as hordes of the pirates on the ship were seen with their hands full with food and beer beverages they had looted from the ship's kitchen as they were listening to Buggy making a toast.

"Gather around, men." The clown held a mug of beer up as he speaks. "The time has come, let's raise a toast to our unprecedented escape from Impel Down. To us!"

The pirates replied with their mugs. "TO US!"

*CLINK!*

Just like that the faction of pirates was seen feasting with eating the looted food, drinks and anything else they could prop into their mouths, with one escapee even seen diving into a barrel that was filled with rum.

That sphere of celebrations however was not joined by the men on the other side of the deck, where it was instead was caution as the food that was being passed around was that of bread, meat, water and even fresh soup that was found untouched, with the essentials being rationed to everybody of the former Legion members who were glad to have something to eat.

The one cooking the food on a homemade grill was Chōji, seen grilling the meat with some of the men waiting around patiently but understandably hungry at what they were watching.

"Remember, don't eat too much at once, your stomachs could give up if you eat too much." Shikamaru stated to everyone as he reminded them of crucial information. "Doctor's orders for you guys. If you think it is troublesome, complain it to him."

And like that the men were given a piece of grilled meat on their plates as they started to sit around and eat their meals, with many of those not on guard duty trying to rest for a short while now that they can.

"Look at the other side, ugh." Shikamaru said as he sat on the staircase with Chōji next to him while sighing. "They barely left us anything when they raided the kitchen."

*MUNCH!*

Chōji took no moment to wait as he already bite off a piece of the meat into his mouth, nearly drooling at the taste of it.

"Ohhhh, so good."

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru said before reminding his friend. "Remember what I just said? Don't eat too fast."

"I will, I will." Chōji replied as he took a smaller bite but then began to ask with a full mouth. "So, with how many are we now?"

The Nara looked at his friend with confusion.

"Of Naruto's group, I mean." Chōji cleared it. "With how many are we?"

Looking now back at their group, Shikamaru took a good look at the men surrounding them, many of them seen either finishing up their meals or sleeping on the deck, alongside helping their wounded.

"Not much, I'd say we got over five hundred people on this ship who successfully escaped that place. With nearly a hundred of those dancing, drinking and eating in front of us like morons, while I'd guess another hundred of that must be Ivankov's people. That leaves us."

"So that means-"

"We've got around three hundred of our own on this ship." Shikamaru stated as he did the quick maths. "So yeah, we outnumber them for now."

The two Shinobi continued to eat their food for now, all while we're observing the faction o the escapees they deemed untrustworthy as they were pirates still.

…

With the boys outside seen busy, the infirmary was itself also packed as Ivankov and his people were waiting outside, with the large headed Revolutionary having his face cramped into the door.

They watched as the hands of Haku were seen glowing over the body of the unconscious Inazuma, as he was using Medical Jutsu to try and help the white-orange colored man who took a heavy amount of Magellan's poison.

"And?" Ivankov calmly asked. "Is he doing alright?" Watching as Haku's hands stopped glowing as he was exhausted by now.

"He'll live, but fighting? He's not in the state for it." Haku told, shaking his head. "He'll need plenty of rest and avoid as little movement as possible. That's all I can say for now."

Closing his eyes, the Newkama Revolutionary nodded in agreement. "I understand. Anything else that you need to tell me?"

"Not at the moment." Haku said standing back up and whipping the sweat off her face before turning to the other Newkama people besides her. "He'll need to recover slowly, alright?"

The surrounding people nodded and sat beside the body of the unconscious Inazuma as the former Mist nin walked out of the infirmary and talked directly to Ivankov.

"Domino!"

In the back of the infirmary, Domino was seen wrapping up the bandages of a wounded Legion member on the table, with two of the colleagues holding him down. With the man having just gone through a treatment handled by Haku.

"Yes, Haku?"

"Routine on this guy."

On the deck

Now up front of the ship, Jimbei was seen still steering the ship that was sailing through the Tarai Current, with Crocodile seen sitting on one of the dismantled cannons, seen making small talk with the Fishman.

"Fancy trick how you rallied those sharks. How'd you do it? I was under the impression only Mermaids had the ability to speak to fish, but that impression is clearly incorrect."

Jimbei answered to him. "Is that odd? A Fishman being friends with fish?"

"Well, it's not the usual, I know that. You're a strange one." Crocodile commented with a sarcastic scoff. "A misfit of the savage species…"

Hearing that comment, Jimbei was already used to that kind of commentary, even with it being sarcastic. He continued to focus on the ship forwards with a response ready to give-

"But of course, I am to the belief we humans are the savages of course." Crocodile began, looking back to see nobody was near them. "After all, we both have seen what humans are capable off back there."

…

That alone made Jimbei remember one thing that the two complete, polar opposite former persons on anything that could be named, had one thing in common they did not mention too much.

"I forgot you were in the Elemental Nations for some time." Jimbei recalled before asking. "For how long were you there?"

"Just three months, near the end of the war, but that was enough for me." Crocodile said puffing the smoke out of his mouth again, stoically stating. "I was with that desert for that time until that place called Suna was finally captured, what a mess it was. Most liquid those sand dunes have seen was the one we all share."

…

…

"I was in Konoha." Jimbei mentioned, revealing his service to where he was. "1517, when we finally arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village with the Alabasta Foreign Legion…"

This sparked the interest of the sleaze haired Crocodile who raised his eyebrow at the fishman with a few questions of his own.

"So you were there? I figured." Crocodile asked. "I heard you and Uzumaki had fought side by side. That's where he got the glory, right?"

"Glory means nothing to me."

The two Warlords turned their attention to the front cannon where Naruto sat on, seen with his right arm bandaged up again, with his uniform mostly covered in dirt still from Impel Down and the dried blood stained on his sleeve where he was previously hit.

In the meditative position that he was in, Naruto was looking up into the sky with the cold breeze flowing through his hair and the knot of his black bandana, he held his fist to one each other as his eyes were slowly starting to open

"I couldn't care less about it, in all honesty." Naruto continued to say. "I've never asked for it, nor do I acknowledge it."

"Even when your actions in that war saved countless lives?" Crocodile brought up. "Honestly kid, there are Marine officers willing to kill for that kind of reputation you had in the Elemental War.

"Yes, but I also know an equal amount of men who died of that damned reputation." Naruto replied, shaking his head. "I do not deserve it, they do. Their acts of bravery should be remembered, not mine."

…

This earned him something that Crocodile not often gave, a compliment.

"Hmm, they really did you and everyone else a huge injustice with those lies."

"They really did, those propagandists." Jimbei agreed, having read himself the narrative. "The World Government can put a spin on everything it wants, but the truth came out on this one."

"Yeah, we can both agree on that."

"Still, there is no reason for you to doubt yourself in any way, Naruto." Jimbei reminded his former crewmate. "Your actions saved countless lives."

"I don't-"

"Yes you did." Jimbei interrupted him with then a sigh before he continued. "You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened back then, and don't center on the lies about you. Focus instead on what you've done and the lives you've saved on that continent, which are numerous and infinite. Call it what you want - but you are indeed the Hero of the Elemental War."

"I hate to say it, but the Fishman is right." Crocodile said as he even added. "I was genuinely surprised you got a lot of supporters for when they tried to arrest you, kid. A lot more than you might realize."

Naruto's own thoughts were in a different type of debate itself, one he had with Kurama.

'You know they are right, Naruto. So the self-blaming can stop now and try to focus on getting yourself ready for the next fight.'

'Hmm…'

'Remember those papers you read? There were a lot of people angered at your apparent death. Many who haven't forgotten you.'

"BON IS NOT DEAD, DAMN IT!"

*PUNCH!*

A loud punch could be heard, causing Naruto to stand up and see what the ruckus was about, and saw that Buggy was on the ground, with an red pulp growing on his head.

"Wow! Captain Buggy grew another big red nose!"

Luffy then launched himself towards the railings and jumped over it to land right next to Naruto, who then asked up down towards one of his men.

"What happened?"

"Damn clown was stupid enough to walk up drunk towards Straw Hat that he didn't like." It happened to be Gin who answered. "Said something about Bon being dead, threw a punch and another, and you see the results for yourself."

Naruto rolled his eyes and replied. "Try and keep some order around here. We're not even out of the current and they already are celebrating like morons."

Gin saluted and turned to his men and gave the following orders. This allowed for Naruto to then turn to Luffy and gave him a frown.

"What?" Luffy asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Just don't start fights now, alright?" Naruto told the rubber man. "I know you are sad about Bon Clay, but don't worry about him. He's a tough bastard, he don't die quickly."

Luffy raised his eyes up in surprise. "You think he's alive?"

"Someone like Bentham? He's going to be alright." Naruto smiled as he pats him on the back. "I can vouch that with a 100%. So keep your promise to him and spare your energy for Ace, alright?"

Hearing that made Luffy smile, an assuring one as he nodded calmly to Naruto who smiled back at him.

"Luffy."

The rubber man and the blond captain turned towards the helmsman who started to talk.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You gave me the chance to rescue Ace, and I owe you a great debt."

"Don't think about it like that, we're even." Luffy shrugged as he puts his hat back on as he jumped off the rails. "And besides, you're super strong. I'm just happy to have you on the team."

As it happened, one thing these three individuals had in common was an unfortunate connection that was linked to both Naruto and Jimbei's past - to the East Blue.

An old crewmate's actions that echoed to the future…

"Ouch!"

Naruto turned to his right to see that Buggy and Luffy were fighting one another again while Jimbei was talking about his former position as Warlord, and vowing to help save Ace from his execution.

"My only hope is that my strength will be enough. I may be one of the Seven Warlords, but they'll strip my title after this. Now let's make Navy Headquarters regret they ever laid hands on Ace."

That however stopped the clown and rubber man from pulling each other's faces after they heard Jimbei.

"We must do right by our fallen, we'll make your friend proud and rescue Ace by any cost."

It then took another moment for both Buggy and Luffy to then digest what they just heard.

"Warlord?"

"Navy Headquarters?"

….

"WHAAAAT?!"

*BOINK!*

Both fell flat to the ground, much to the surprise of Naruto as he watched Luffy word out his surprise.

"Wow, really? You-You're seriously a Warlord? Jeez, no wonder you're so strong!"

"You just figured it out?" Naruto raised his eyebrow. "Just now? After all of this?"

"... Yeah…" Luffy responded, almost like just nonchalant about it, even surprising Naruto's inner friend.

'Wow….he's perhaps the dense person I have ever met in my entirety….'

It was at this point more prisoners were seen coming up, from both the pirate faction and that of Ivankov, with even some of Naruto's people seen observing from the background of the crowd that was slowly building up.

Jimbei responded. "Yes, I suppose I should've told you sooner."

"Everyone in here knew it already." One of the Raiders responded. "So don't apologize for it."

"HEY! What's all this talk about Navy Headquarters?!" Buggy yelled. "Don't tell me we just escaped the bowls of Hell to hit straight back into the jaws of Beast!"

Jimbei answered to that. "I'm afraid so."

"SCREW YOU!" Buggy sounded. "Nobody is that crazy! Surely you guys heard about the war brewing between Whitebeard and the Navy?!"

This left many of the uninformed prisoners mumbling on what they were hearing.

"Wait, war?"

"Navy Headquarters?"

Crocodile scuffed at Buggy with his careless attitude. "Don't act like it is a big surprise. It's not our fault you're so dense."

"SAY WHAT?" Buggy reacted.

"Well we passed through the Gates of Justice, so our only two destinations we can go to are now Ennies Lobby and Navy Headquarters." Crocodile explained. "This current is government restricted, it is one giant whirlpool that only goes into three directions that connects it to the three main government facilities. The reason we've busted out now is that we got a role to play."

"Crocodile's right." Naruto said, telling everyone further. "Why do you think only the Warden and a small amount of Marines were trying to stop us? And that we haven't come across any of the Vice Admirals or even one of the main 3 Admirals in our path? It is because they all are at Navy HQ waiting for Whitebeard to arrive with every ally he got."

"W-Wait!" One sweating prisoner asked. "Does that mean we-"

"We're going to have to go there if we want to fully escape to our freedom." Gin stated it. "So yeah, we're going to the Jaws of the Beast, Buggy."

"NO WAY! NOBODY TOLD US ABOUT THIS!" The pirate inmates screamed in complete denial, absolutely horrified at the thought of going to that place of all places.

Both Mr.3 and Buggy begged Jimbei as they had clung onto him, but their pleas were in vain.

The panic already gripped the minds of the pirates who just moments ago were feasting and eating themselves full, but now were faced with the reality they'd just finished the first half of their daring escape.

To then walk into a war where the Navy, Warlords and 3 Admirals were going to fight against one of the Four Emperors? Was insane.

While the pirate inmates were panicking and some even started to beg to be back in Impel Down,the Newkama people and the escaped Damned Raiders were already prepared for this.

One of Newkama people, who happened to be a blonde woman with a red helmet and a pink scarf even lightly stated. "All of us in Newkama Land knew about this plan."

"Then why the hell didn't you tell us!?" One of the prisoners lashed out at her. "You useless damn pervert!-"

"Watch your mouth, boy." Naruto said directly to the pirate, warning him. "Because if you don't like it, you could've easily stayed in that prison. Everyone knew the risk, including the queers, no offense."

"None taken." The blonde woman smiled at Naruto with a wave. "Thanks anyway, It's not everyday someone trusts us for anything."

"Well, if the Captain trusts you, then we trust you." One of the Raiders with a Slouch hat said as a few other men nodded in agreement. "We saw you folks fighting on Level 4 and you sure give one hell of a fight to them guards."

"Thanks, cutie, we try!" One of the bearded queers in stockings replied. "But it is an honor to meet you handsome men from the Damned Raiders."

"Thanks…but I will state that I am into women, just to be sure."

"Oh, no problem - at least you're polite."

It was then that the normal sounding conversation between the openly queer folks and the experienced veterans of the Elemental War, was interrupted by the sudden sound of something going off.

Purupuru-purupuru-purupuru-purupuru-purupuru

"Sounds like a transponder snail." One of the prisoners guessed, still looking around.

"In here!"

With everyone on the front turning towards the middle deck, the only ones who were standing there were Shikamaru, Chōji and Haku who just walked out of the infirmary. With the three seen surrounding the mast that had an hatch build inside of it, and where the purring was coming from.

*BASH!*

Using the butt of the rifle, one of Naruto's men actually broke the hatch open, causing him to be given a stern look by his friend.

"Why did you do that?"

"Just to be careful, who knows those Marines might've booby-trapped it with something."

The basher then. pushed aside the broken hatchet doors and showed it to be an transponder snail indeed. A yellow one to be exact with the shells holding the colors of the Navy, waiting for an response as it continued to ring.

"Here. Now what?" The basher asked. "We going to answer it or not?"

"Of course not." Buggy said. "Let's pretend like we aren't here-"

*CLICK!*

But before anyone knew, Luffy had already grabbed the transponder snail and answered it alongside Naruto who stood by him.

"Uh, hello?"

"HE ANSWERED IT!"

'Greetings, from Navy HQ.'

"Hey, Luffy here."

"IDIOT! DON'T SAY THAT!"

Naruto jokingly shrugged. "At least you got some manners."

"DAMN IT!" The same people shouted at Naruto. "DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"

'Listen, kid. We're aware the ship has been hijacked by escapees. We've received a report from Impel Down, so let's be honest here. Before contact was lost, we had insider information being fed to us. Based on this we've determined who the three ringleaders behind the breakout are.'

Mr. 3 reacted suspiciously. "Wait, only three?"

At this point even Ivankov, Haku, Domino and the others had come out of the infirmary to listen to what was going on.

'First, we will name the two criminals. One is you, the pirate known as Straw Hat Luffy, and another notorious pirate - Buggy the Clown.'

"Heh?" Buggy reacted pointing at himself. "Huh?"

"WHAAAAAAT?!" was the general of all the escapees who heard it.

"What? Ringleader?"

"Seriously? The clown?"

"We got Warlords here, and their main suspect is Captain Buggy?"

"Who the hell are you?!" One escapee demanded. "Come clean to us!"

"No…" Buggy turned nearly pale. "Why me?"

Naruto however was unable to contain the smile on his face.

'They really are going to say, don't they?'

'Oh, it looks so good.'

"Why you smiling, captain?" One of the Raiders asked. "Something funny?"

Naruto smirked. "Just listen…"

Navy HQ

"Give me the documents." One Navy officer asked while sitting at his desk, corresponding with the pirates on the transponder snail.

Being given then a whole file of documents that had 'declassified' printed on it.

"Here."

"Thank you." The officer took them before he opened it up and began to speak through the snail. "At first, we assumed the clown was another two-bit criminal, but to be frank, we were wrong."

The snail was not expecting the following revelation that the navy officer was going to give.

"We learned he was a crew member of the ship of Gold Rogers, King of the Pirates."

Back on the hijacked ship

"Ahhhh!" Buggy whispered in total horror. "They found me out!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

The entirety of the ship was in up and roar after hearing this, with reactions varying from disbelief to admiration.

"You sailed on the Oro Jackson!?"

"UNBELIEVABLE!"

"You're a star! A Star among Pirates!"

'Oh, and there is one other thing - he's an ally of one of the Four Emperors. His name is Red-Haired Shanks.'

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" This ship erupted in pandemonium.

'So if you can hear us, Buggy. We don't know how someone with your background laid low for so long, but you most certainly stepped into the spotlight now.'

While the Navy officer spoke through, Buggy was in a state of shock as he felt being eyed on by everyone on the deck, an uncomfortable position for someone who tried hiding it for years.

"Well…"

'We haven't defined your connection with Fire Fist Ace yet, but we're sure you share the same goal of Straw Hat Luffy to rescue him from execution.'

"...Not…really…"

'We know that you're accompanied by Jimbei, Crocodile, Ivankov, not to mention the 200 average run-off-the-mill ruffians you tricked into following your lead. Most of whom were convicted of Piracy.'

That number however got the others to react confused.

"Did he just say 200?"

"Uhm, we got around 500 people on this ship." One pirate stated having counted. "Did that Marine lost count or something?"

'I was going to go there, so maybe let me explain it.' The Marine officer said over the transponder snail. 'Now, to the head of this whole mess, the previously presumed to be dead, former Captain Naruto Uzumaki of the Alabasta Foreign Legion.'

As if they weren't open enough, more eyes were widened op more after hearing that name and turning to the blond, with near horror-looking astonishment.

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!?"

"T-That's Naruto Uzumaki?!"

"Did they say the Foreign Legion?"

"Now I remembered that face! The Cunning Fox is still alive!"

Naruto just smirked at the reactions while standing next to Luffy, relaxed as he leaned against the mast and listened to the officer.

'Our first assumption was that Buggy and Straw Hat were the original planners of this breakout, but then realized they were just bi-factors who were of great help. With the intelligence that was given by Cipher Pol agents and the hard evidence that your death was fabricated, we were quite surprised to find out you were hiding in the lowest levels of Impel Down, for nearly two years now.'

"Wait, he was hiding in Impel Down for two years?" One prisoner reacted. "Are you insane?"

"Yeah! What gives?" One asked Naruto, demanding answers. "Why hide in that hell of all places?"

'As I stated earlier - let me explain.' The growing impatient officer stated as he continued. 'It is hard to explain how, but we did find out that the man had help from inside the Impel Down, with Cipher Pol agents having identified Head jailer Domino as a spy.'

The inmates turned towards Domino with surprise, as she was standing there with Haku, unflinching as she looked without any hesitation of her past actions.

'It was long assumed of course her connection of her former service alongside Uzumaki was an indicator, but there was no valid evidence of her apparent espionage - until the footage was reviewed of her releasing Uzumaki, Jimbei and Crocodile out of their cells in Level 6. Now fully clarifying her allegiances.'

The heavy stuff wasn't even mentioned and already those who were listening were up for a rollercoaster of revelations as then-

'But that is besides the point. We've also found out a dark disclosure about you - Mr. Uzumaki, actually, I could say three disclosures if I may state it like that.' The Navy officer over the snail phone spoke. 'The first part and perhaps the lightest is that of the breakout of all your men out of Impel Down - all of whom are members of the disbanded Legion's elite 9th Damned Raiders Division.'

The smirks and laughter could be heard from the Raiders at that mentioning, with their sense of pride being still with them.

It also caused some of the pirates to look at them with fear and with their backs turning wet, and it wasn't because of the seawater.

"T-The 9th Damned Raiders… On this ship?"

"Those guys are killers - Pirate Killers, of the highest count."

"They took out more pirates on the sea than any Marine officer could dream. Why the hell are they on this ship?"

However, the biggest surprise came to Luffy, whose expression was that of shock but also surprisingly calm as he stared at Naruto for a moment.

As if he

'Now, for the mild part, if you can state it like that, is your involvement in a murder. The senseless slaughter of Lord Mjosgard - The late head of the Donquixote Family who was found dead nearly thirteen years ago in Mariejois - the evidence showed that it was you who murdered the World Noble that day at the young age of eight.'

"He did WHAAAAAAAAT!?" This time the whole crew was totally surprised and unprepared for what they just heard - one of them on this ship killed a World Noble?

"He said that Uzumaki killed a World Noble when he was young - and calls it the mildest part of his crimes?!" One prisoner nearly screamed his mind out of insanity. "What could be worse!?

'Now, for your past, that was the most shocking part of our discoveries…'

Jimbei could not turn around, but his grimacing face was visible for anyone who paid attention to him, or what he had to say.

"I guess it is in the open now…"

Naruto just stared at the snail as he was fully prepared for what was about to be revealed.

'We only did not just discover you previously used to be a part of a pirate crew, but that of an infamous one - the one whose captain was first to be believed to have murdered Lord Mjosgard in the burning of the city that day - we found out that you used to be a member of Fisher Tiger's crew - as the sole Human member of the Sun Pirates.'

…

…

…

The whole ship screamed again, with some even passing out from all the excitement from what they just went through, with even Ivankov being surprised by this information, unable to utter a word.

'Unfortunately, more of the information that was declassified cannot be spoken over the transponder snail, as per direct order by Fleet Admiral Sengoku - but let me get straight to the point. You all are now trapped in the current, and this means the only way is through the Gates of Justice. So good luck with being stuck inside the current.'

Naruto then turned to Luffy. "Hey, mind if I?"

"Uhm…sure." The rubber boy handed the snail phone over to him.

"Hello, Marineford?"

'Ah, Naruto Uzumaki, good to hear from you now. We were wondering when you would respond. I will say you are a hard man to find, and that is an direct quote from Admiral Kizaru.'

Luffy paled at that name, remembering him. He was hunted by that lightning guy?

"Yeah, I heard he was on my case." Naruto responded very casually, treating the call like it was a friendly one. "So let's cut the chatter and release Ace, will ya?"

'... Excuse me?'

"Release Ace, will you do that?" Naruto asked up. "Spare us this mess that the higher ups are planning with this public display, and end this."

"WHAT THE HELL!" All the prisoners responded dumbfounded.

'I'm sorry but I do not have that authority. Nor do I have the will for it. Justice will prevail when Fire Fist Ace will be executed, and that is that.'

"No, what you are doing is a senseless baiting for a conflict that will destroy many lives." Naruto argued calmly but Stoic. "Like some snuff film for the world to watch how thousands of men will die in live feed - but if it comes to that, I will come there myself."

'Is that a threat?'

"No, it's a promise - and I don't break them for nobody."

*CLICK!*

And there the transponder snail was put into rest as Naruto ended the transmission, and turning around to the rest of the ship.

"I guess that settles."

Meanwhile…

It now being noon, just 3 more hours before the execution.

Miles off the coasts of Marineford, where patrol ships of the Navy were supposed to be present, the only thing that was there was a thick mist - and ships.

Pirate ships, a lot of them, probably dozens of them with different flags and sails that were proudly displaying their colors, but they all were following a few identical ships that were being led by one: The Moby Dick - the Flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates.

And standing on top of the Moby Dick up the front stood Whitebeard himself, seen staring out at the ocean, he happened to be accompanied by Marco.

Both just stared as then-

Two large lights were turned on, and appearing out in the open and out of the mist was a ship that was out of metal.

"I guess they did show up…" Marco said. "They really don't like Ace's situation, don't they?"

The ship was coming towards them and right besides the Moby Dick, ready to connect. Whitebeard watched as he could read the name of the ship on the side of it.

"No…they don't."

…

Marineford

In the office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the room was absent of his presence. As the only person sitting was Garp himself with a handful of pictures he was holding. Pictures of Ace.

But they weren't just pictures of when he was a kid, but instead they were of more recent history - a part of what he never discovered until now: him in uniform. These were of Ace's apparent involvement in the Elemental War, and the extent of what he had done.

The first picture was Ace being in a Legion uniform as he stood alongside Naruto and a few other officers, standing outside one of the main entrances of Konoha - a battle he was reported to have taken part of the ranks of the Damned Raiders, a battle that made heroes.

It brought an smile to the old Vice Admiral's face as he proudly turned to the next one.

An equally astonishing picture was that how Major Whitehall was decorating Ace with a medal that with the permission of the King of Alabasta was given to Ace, along with a number of other servicemen who were being rewarded for their bravery.

"...You look good in a uniform, boy…"

The last picture was that at the end of the war, where all the surviving members of the Original 9th Damned Raiders were seen in one big crowd in multiple rows seen waving their hats out and nearby the port to which many would descend on towards their homes - with this being Ace's last picture before his re-entering into the Pirate life.

"You could've become a great Marine…"

"Garp."

The elder Marine looked towards the door and saw it was Sengoku who entered back into his office, with his small goat following him.

Once he stood up in front of Garp, the silence between them was painfully present. But what the Fleet Admiral then asked…

"May I see them for myself?"

Garp handed them over as he stared down at the ground, expecting him to shred them to pieces and throw them away…

He didn't, instead the Fleet Admiral adjusted his glasses and checked the numerous photographs, unafraid to comment.

"Such a waste of life." Sengoku commented with a sigh. "A promising future…just for him to throw it away for the life of a Pirate."

"..."

Sengoku turned to his friend.

"I thought you would've liked to know that I voiced your concerns to the Government about this execution….and so did I."

Garp raises his head up after hearing it, giving a raised look to his friend.

"I asked if it was possible to commute his sentence to life, because of his actions in Konoha together with the Foreign Legion. But even if we commuted Fire Fist to life in prison - it would only take a matter of time before Whitebeard would retaliate…" Sengoku sighed as he rubbed the temples of his head with his one hand before continuing. "If that didn't work, they denied my request of removing all camera equipment, they didn't give an inch there neither."

"Of course they wouldn't." Garp scuffed as he turned his head aside. "They just want to publicly display his corpse to show their strenght…if that ever worked."

Sengoku then replied. "I did however managed to get one thing out of it they were willing to concede."

"And that is?"

"You will be given custody of his body…" Sengoku revealed to him. "After the execution of Fire Fist Ace is over, you can take the body of your grandson to wherever you want to bury him. No strings attached."

….

….

*Drop!*

That tear that fell from Garp's face was soon the last one as the Hero of the Navy quickly whipped his eyes clean. This being an painful moment for the man, he couldn't be seen crying right in front of such a big occurrence.

"My apologies."

"No need for that." Sengoku responded. "I can only understand you are going through a hard time processing this…"

A fact that the Fleet Admiral can relate to…

Then a Marine was seen walking in and saluted to the presence of the Fleet Admiral and the Hero of the Navy.

"Sir, its time"

Tarai Current

Inside the captain's quarters of the commandeered warship, a small gathering now was present.

*TCHK!*

With the pipe now lightened up, Naruto was watching his men fill up the fairly large room to try and attend the meeting for what was to come very soon. With some even still wounded with the bandages covering their head. They all still knew this wasn't over.

"Is everyone here?"

*CLICK!*

The door could be heard closing, with the room being quietly filled, it was nearly impossible to notice one person in there who stood out, one with a straw hat.

Naruto turned to his sides and saw Shikamaru and Chōji on one side, while Haku and Gin stood on the other, all the while Domino stood right behind him in her strict stance.

This allowed then the blond captain to then address his men.

"Let's start."