In another room.
"Captain, look, look! I can freely turn back into a human now!"
After confirming that Karin was okay, Naomi eagerly showed off her new ability to her captain.
One moment she would reveal her snake tail and move quickly, the next she would transform into human form and agilely dart around.
She could even elongate parts of her body, becoming a form with long arms and legs similar to the Snakeneck Tribe.
In this form, she could not only draw her bow and shoot arrows more easily but also had a fighting chance in close combat.
She could even learn the Rokushiki from Kalifa.
With this physique, Naomi's Rankyaku would definitely be more powerful… for details, refer to Kaku in his giraffe form.
"Captain, that Naruto-san you mentioned is really amazing. He can make me master such power… this is almost no different from a Devil Fruit ability, and without any negative side effects."
Clearly, Naomi was very satisfied with the ability to freely switch between snake and human forms.
She had previously expressed anticipation for the power of a fruit.
Even Kalifa beside her had a hint of envy in her eyes, because she knew Naomi's potential was not limited to this.
Naomi could even eat another Devil Fruit!
Imagine, even if Naomi ate the most ordinary Zoan-type Devil Fruit, under the dual enhancement of her snake transformation and the fruit's ability, how much would her physical fitness increase?
This had even given Kalifa a sense of crisis.
She also needed to find a way to become stronger.
Otherwise, how could she keep up with her captain's pace?
She never wanted to experience a situation like this again, being helpless and needing Karin to deliberately buy time for them to escape.
But the path to becoming stronger wasn't so easy—
However, facing Naomi's enthusiastic account, the great Captain Karin's only reaction was...
"Oh, good, amazing."
Even someone as oblivious as Naomi could detect this monotone.
Her 'lively' demeanor immediately subsided, and she transformed back into human form, sitting beside Karin.
Kalifa also sat down beside them. Like close girlfriends, each hugged one of Karin's arms.
Thankfully, Karin had now returned to human form… otherwise, they couldn't have done this.
"Captain? What's wrong?"
Naomi asked cautiously.
Even someone as slow as her could sense the place of that 'Naruto-san' in her captain's heart from the way she repeatedly mentioned him.
Honestly, Naomi had originally imagined this 'Naruto-san' to be a young man in his early twenties.
That would match their captain...
But the reality was far from her imagination.
Although he looked very handsome, that couldn't conceal the fact that Naruto was already a mature middle-aged man.
Naomi's personal preference leaned toward the pretty-boy type… of course, that was before she met Karin.
Now... well, it was hard to say.
"It's nothing... nothing at all."
Karin still shook her head like an emotionless robot.
"Sigh... Captain, he's already married, and they even have a child… mmph!"
Kalifa covered Naomi's mouth, preventing her from speaking without thinking.
She didn't think Karin would be crushed by these things.
The key point was that the person... no, the two individuals were right next door.
With their perception abilities, they might be able to hear what was happening here.
'This girl didn't watch her mouth, if she angered that man...'
The CP9 annihilation incident was still fresh in her memory.
She hadn't forgotten Jabra's death.
That man casually released a Rankyaku and killed Jabra, who was ranked third in CP9 at the time, like a stray dog on the roadside.
That sense of oppression, with no power to fight back, she would never forget.
Not to mention this man was also paired with that unfathomable woman, Stussy...
Kalifa felt that even if their captain performed beyond her limits, she probably couldn't match this couple.
But Karin wasn't agitated or angered by their actions.
She had already learned about Hancock and Stussy before setting out alone.
"...They're not married yet."
"That's the part you argue against?"
Kalifa instinctively commented, then looked at her captain with concern.
"Heh... Kalifa, Naomi, let go of me. I won't do anything stupid."
Karin's eyes were full of despair, her tone carrying a faint sense of lifelessness.
But even she couldn't convince herself with her own words.
Even if they weren't married yet, so what?
Now they even had a child!
What chance did she have!
Hancock was one thing, Stussy another… all of them were bad women!
At times like this, Karin missed little Kousei, with whom she had once shared a 'friendship'.
'If only I also had the ability to travel through time.'
'If I had met Naruto-san first, those two women definitely couldn't have beaten me!'
'—At least she wouldn't have lost so helplessly.'
With the greatest sorrow being the death of the heart, after being freed from her two crew members' arms, Karin directly lay down.
Kalifa and Naomi looked at each other, ultimately saying nothing.
The three women thus lay on the same big bed… there was no helping it… space inside the submarine was limited.
Cavendish was now confined to the medical bay.
...
The next day.
"What is this?"
Everyone looked at Cavendish, now turned to stone, their gazes all focused on Medusa.
He was fine yesterday, so how did he become a statue today?
Medusa didn't intend to hide anything.
"He tried to attack me last night."
"Attack you?"
Because Medusa didn't need to rest like an ordinary person, the night watch duty was assigned to her.
Naruto hadn't activated his Observation Haki last night… high-intensity, non-stop flying also consumes a lot of energy.
Stussy, worthy of being the woman who grasps all the winds of the New World, immediately understood the reason.
"It must be his second personality causing trouble..."
Saying this, she explained Cavendish's situation with his second personality, Hakuba.
This matter wasn't a secret… not only the World Government but also many Marines and pirates knew about it.
"Eh? Interesting."
Naruto stroked his chin. It was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
"Turn him back."
"Yes."
Medusa didn't hesitate for a moment to obey Naruto's command.
Whether due to Adam's influence or some other reason was unclear.
The Mero Mero no Mi's ability manifested by the Seraphim through [Green Blood] wasn't much different from the original version, but both required the user themselves to undo it.
In this regard, the statues made by Medusa and Hancock were not interchangeable.
"Wah! Where am I!? My horse!"
Upon being released from petrification, Cavendish was just like an ordinary person, immediately beginning to survey his surroundings.
His memories still remained at the moment he was brutally beaten by Blackbeard.
"You all... I remember you!"
Upon seeing Kalifa and Naomi, Cavendish immediately exclaimed.
Seeing this, the two didn't make him guess… they took turns telling him everything that had happened after he lost consciousness.
"So... my ship has... sunk?"
Cavendish's expression turned somewhat ashen.
Not only because of his defeat, but also grief over his beloved horse's death, and sorrow for his crew.
—Although these guys were just guards assigned by his father, they had genuinely accompanied him for so long.
On this point, no one present was in a position to comfort him.
It was Naruto who actively walked over, lifting Cavendish up from the ground… or rather, dragging him up.
"Thank you... you… You!?"
But when Cavendish clearly saw Naruto's face, his expression suddenly became complicated.
Obviously, he recognized Naruto.
Naruto wasn't surprised by this… after all, he had appeared in the Summit War, so it wasn't strange for someone from the younger generation to recognize him.
But before he could say anything, his expression slightly changed.
"This... what a coincidence. That Sasuke guy really is..."
He turned and placed his precious son in Stussy's arms, then said.
"Wait for me. A troublesome person is coming."
With that, a black spatial door opened, and Naruto directly disappeared from inside the submarine.
On the sea surface.
A figure swooped down from high altitude with a cold aura, shouting loudly.
"Naruto-sama!! I've come to find you!!"
The surrounding seawater began to form chunks of floating ice under the influence of that freezing air.
On the ship behind her, Sasuke held his head, feeling a headache from this human-shaped husky that had suddenly 'broken free from its leash'.
Yamato's figure plummeted downward like a cannonball, seemingly completely unconcerned about falling into the sea.
And indeed, she could be unconcerned.
Not only did she have the ability to freeze seawater, but this silly girl had also learned to 'ride the clouds and fly' after the Dressrosa battle.
Moreover, with the incredible physical constitution she inherited from Kaido, even if she fell into the sea for a day or half a day, she wouldn't die.
The next moment, Naruto's figure emerged from the void, walking on air as if on flat ground.
"Long time no see, Yamato."