AN: Hello. I know I kept everyone waiting once again.

But getting straight to it, I just want to let you know that after a conversation with MathiasNightlord01, he convinced me that my initial bounty for Naruto was too low so it has been changed. So you can go back to the end of last chapter and see what it is or just read on in this one as it will be mentioned again. Unfortunately I still didn't go as high as he suggested since a stubborn part of me didn't want to break one billion just yet, but I gave him what I thought would be a bit of an ironic number that is easily associated with Naruto. Sorry MathiasNightlord01, but I did change it!

I didn't get as far as I thought I would in this chapter so I guess it's something to look forward to. And a large part of this chapter I wasn't even planning to really expand upon but I just couldn't stop writing, and I wasn't about to delete any of it, so there's that too.

Anyways, Happy Holidays and best of wishes to all of you. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

During the first couple of days after the rescue, the former slaves were still a bit overwhelmed as they continued to try to wrap their heads around the fact that they were free. It was well known that once you become a slave you would never be free, the only way out was death, whether it was by their own hand or that of their owner. The incident with Fisher Tiger was the only break out of slaves in history before Naruto came. When a noble finally has gotten all the amusement out of a slave that they could want, you were either killed or sold to another noble if they thought they could profit from it. So a life beyond slavery just wasn't something a slave could hope for.

During this time, Naruto and his clones spoke to these people to try to determine the locations of their homelands. The majority of them had somewhere to go back to, but some of them didn't have a place to go. A number of them were former pirates or criminals that were mostly used for manual labor and had suffered much physical abuse. Others had lost their families and couldn't bear returning to their former homelands and a few of them were children that were born into slavery and ultimately lost their parents when they outlived their usefulness. Many of the slaves had grown close during their time in captivity and offered to bring those without a home to their own nations where they could start anew again. So the majority ultimately had a place they could go, but more of the resentful people wanted to help Naruto exact their revenge on the World Nobles as they knew he would continue to rescue more slaves.

Naruto understood their want for revenge, but just outright slaughtering the World Nobles wasn't exactly the kind of message he wanted to send. If he did that then he would only be playing into the hands of the World Government and the image they created from his wanted poster. He would be seen as a ruthless cutthroat by the world with only these freed people knowing the truth about their savior, and they would be unable to say anything for fear of being discovered as one of the escaped slaves and returned to their owners. He managed to convince the majority to just move forward and not stoop to their level but the more violent criminals and pirates could not let go of their hatred.

"You know I'm right Uzumaki! Those World Nobles deserve nothing less than our contempt! All of them! You saw firsthand how they treated us! Maybe me and some of the others deserved some form of punishment since we were criminals, but they even had children under their thumb! Children! I may have been scum in my previous years but my crew and I never stooped so low as to target children! They are the lowest pieces of rotten filth to exist in this world! Those of us here are willing to help you finally put an end to them. Even if you can just get us back to their mansion and give us an opening, I'll gladly die trying to snuff them out!"

The few dozen or so men surrounding their advocate, spoke their own piece or were nodding their heads in agreement with each other that the World Nobles had to pay for what they have done. They were all standing in front of Naruto in the middle of the clearing out in front of the barracks with the other freed people around them looking on due to the commotion they were causing. Naruto allowed them all to say what they wanted as he understood their anger, and once they finished he finally spoke.

"I can't do that. I understand your fury and your want to retaliate. What they did to you was not only inhumane but it is also unforgivable. But the Celestial Dragons aren't the ones to entirely blame for this."

"What?!" The man that first spoke to him and everyone around, including the onlookers, were not only surprised by his statement but were a bit outraged he would try to defend them. The more vocal of the people around began arguing against his statement all at once, and soon a small uproar could be heard from many of the people there.

Naruto stayed calm with the angry voices surrounding him, as he didn't want to intimidate these people any more than they already have been. With a simple flare of his chakra he could have silenced them in moments, but knew they needed to vent a little, so he waited patiently for them to calm down. His silence actually worked in his favor as they soon noticed he wasn't arguing back and they realized with all of them yelling out at once, their words just became jumbled together and difficult to understand, but they knew he understood they all basically felt the same. So after a few minutes, the noise of the crowd went down as the same man from earlier spoke for all of them.

"How can you stand there and say the Celestial Dragons aren't the ones to blame for what they did to us?"

"I didn't say that, I said they aren't entirely to blame." Before another outburst could come he raised his hand in a motion for them to stop so he could continue. "Listen, I don't know much about how this World Government works, but the Celestial Dragons have no real strength to call their own. They are basically civilians in terms of physical strength or power. Where I come from, the military leaders create regulations and are tasked with enforcing them. Allowing noncombatants to dictate laws in a militarized government just doesn't make sense to me. So I feel the World Government is the one to take the majority of the blame for allowing slavery to even exist. Their jobs should be to protect you instead of allowing nobles free reign to do whatever they want. They are the ones who need to be forced to change, and they are who my real enemy is right now."

Many of the people around listened to what he was saying and had to admit that a government should exist to protect everyone under their jurisdiction. But the same man from before had some news to break to him. "Well that's where you're wrong Uzumaki. You are right that at the very least the innocent should have been protected, but the World Government doesn't work that way. Have you heard of the Five Elders that are in charge of the World Government?"

"Yes, I have heard mention of them."

"Well they are Celestial Dragons themselves. They are the five highest ranking Celestial Dragons, and they decide how the Government is run. Even if they're weak by comparison to the actual fighters, the military ultimately answers to them. The only way to stop slavery like you want, is to stop the Celestial Dragons. There's no other way."

"… I see. So that's how it is. This government is worse off than I first thought." Naruto had to rethink his views. If what the man said was true then the Celestial Dragons really are the cause for all of this misery. It would really be an injustice if they were to go unpunished.

"Do you see now? If you can just get us back there, we can kill them all or die trying!"

"(sigh) Look, I didn't rescue you just so you can go back there and get yourselves killed; because that's exactly what would happen if I did that."

"We can still fight!"

"Oh really?" Naruto made a hand sign and concentrated his chakra to create over a few dozen wooden swords that uprooted from the ground next to every man that wanted to exact their revenge on the Celestial Dragons. "Show me."

They were a bit hesitant, but seeing as they were basically practice swords they knew they wouldn't really hurt the man that saved them all, but he was asking for it anyway; so they wouldn't feel too bad about it. They soon grabbed the swords and charged at him to show him they could still fight. Of course Naruto wasn't going to go anywhere near full force but instead fought them at the strength of what he estimated to be an average Marine. Naruto had his own wooden sword to defend himself and retaliate, as nearly all Marines carried a sword with them.

They fought for over fifteen minutes with him defending and countering them, while taking them out with painful hits. Since he fought while not using much of his strength, they actually managed to get in one or two shots on him. But for the number of men attacking him, it was really nothing; and even if they were real swords, they would have only been minor injuries. Soon enough all the men were either on the floor groaning in pain or laying there silently and realizing just how hopeless they really are. Those realizations were even more painful than the physical pain they were feeling right now.

"If you all went back right now you would be crushed. No two ways about it. It will take months for any of you to get back to peek physical condition. You have all been malnourished and underfed so your muscles have diminished. Even if you were doing manual labor for years, without the proper nutrition your endurance has taken a painful hit as well. Right now all of you aren't even really hurt, you're just exhausted from what was essentially a spar that didn't even last twenty minutes. So my answer is still no. I won't take you back to Mariejois just to get killed."

"So you're just gonna do nothing about the nobles? Even if you rescue every slave out there, they'll just get more."

"I didn't say I would do nothing. I… don't know exactly what I'll do. I have to think about it more."

"And what are we supposed to do?"

"The majority of you wanting to fight were criminals right?" All the men slowly getting up from their beating shamefully admitted that they were. "So all of you here now know what if feels like to be the victim. This is the same feeling your own victims felt when they were at your mercy. I hope you take it to heart and learn something positive from your experience. You have all been given a second chance. Don't waste it." Naruto began walking away from the group as he had to meet with Hancock in her village to see about some supplies she had offered to help these people.

Many of the men there were taking his words to heart and rethinking their futures. The hate and anger would probably never go away, but what mattered now was that they were free. The other people around them who witnessed the entire spectacle had more respect for their savior as he wasn't just willing to allow them to throw their lives away for nothing. He was definitely someone they could admire.

Later that day, Naruto learned from several slaves that they were mermaids and fishmen. It was difficult to identify some of the mermaids as they were in their more human form walking on their own legs, while the younger ones used what looked like a float ring, but was a strong type of bubble that allowed them to move on land. The fishmen were easier to identify since they all looked more fish than man. He was told that their home wasn't on the Grand Line like the other people there, but it was actually under the Red Line deep in the ocean, so their home would be the most difficult to reach. Naruto told them he had a solution that should get them home easy but they probably wouldn't be too receptive to the idea.

A few of the fishmen argued that they couldn't trust him because he was a human and he would probably take them back to Mariejois or abandon them because of who they are. None of them saw what happened earlier as they separated themselves from the others as they still were distrustful of other humans. Naruto tried to explain to them that he wouldn't do that, but he could see that the others were skeptical due to their comrades words; so he told them to see him later if they wanted his help or not.

The fishmen and mermaids were really uncertain of what to do. It was difficult to trust humans since they were responsible for so much of the pain their people have endured, but they were also worried since they couldn't do anything on their own right now. They knew they could get a ship coated at Sabaody Archipelago but they had no money and that place was the center of the slave trade in the Paradise portion of the Grand Line so they wouldn't go anywhere near there after just getting freed.

The mermaids were not as rash as their male counterparts and thought about the way they were being treated even after he knew they were mermaids. Any other humans would likely leave them to their fate, but this man has treated them with respect and no differently from the others. He treated their injuries, sheltered them, and fed them nutritious foods which is the most kindness they have ever received from a human. When they thought about it more, they realized he didn't even react negatively or surprised when he first saw the fishmen and could easily tell they weren't human. They saw him and his numerous clones working hard to make sure everyone had a place they could return to, wherever that was. The mermaids were in agreement and decided to convince the fishmen to at least hear what his plan was to get them back home.

After some convincing and realizing they had little choice, they all went as a group to see Naruto. They saw his clones still helping around the encampment but were told the original was meeting with the empress and her sisters at the other side of camp. When they saw him, they noticed the Boa sisters were accompanied by other Kuja as they brought the promised supplies to help all the rescued slaves. Naruto was actually discussing with the empress and her sisters about the mermen, trying to get their advice on what else he could do to help them. Naruto and the Gorgon sisters saw the group coming towards them as they halted their conversation to hear what they had to say.

"Hey there. Did you all figure out what you want to do?"

One of the fishmen, who looked like a light yellow seahorse, spoke up being the spokesperson of the group. "We were convinced that we have little choice but to at least listen to what you have to offer. Fishman Island is too far and too dangerous for us to try and swim there on our own. And it's too risky to go to Sabaody and get a ship coated. So how do you plan to help us get back to our home?"

"Let me show you."

"Do you mind if we accompany you as well Naruto?"

"Not at all, this is your island. I can't tell you what not to do."

"O-oh, of course. How silly of me!" Hancock had a blush on her face as she still couldn't help but get flustered by the blonde man. Her sisters were finally starting to get the picture of what was going on with Hancock after they confided in Elder Nyon, and she explained to them what was in all likelihood happening with the empress. The sisters were a little shocked by the revelation, but concluded that if anything did happen between Hancock and Naruto, they at least trusted him to take care of her. It also wouldn't hurt to have such a strong ally as him to have even closer ties with the Kuja.

Naruto led them to the edge of the island where a cliff face was overlooking the ocean. He motioned for them to stay there while he jumped off. They were surprised he would jump from so far up, thinking he would kill himself but then they saw him land on the water. When the former slaves were first rescued, they were some of the few who needed to be treated quickly and never saw the clones that literally dragged the ship to Amazon Lily. So seeing him land and walk on water was a big surprise to them. What came next would shock them all even more.

They couldn't immediately tell since his back was turned to them but they soon felt a large amount of energy being released from the man and after a short while a creature started to emerge from beneath him. They first saw a spiky gray shell as it began to rise out of the ocean. They initially didn't believe it to be too big but it was literally growing right in front of them until it became truly massive, and they were honestly terrified. They could only identify it as a sea king and it was probably the biggest and most fearsome sea king they had ever seen. What came before them was an enormous and scary looking turtle with one eye and three shrimp-like tails. They saw Naruto face them while standing on the front of its shell above its face as the creature moved towards them closer to the cliff, and it easily towered over them.

They were all basically petrified and they could hear the others in the background from the encampment screaming while the clones quickly tried to calm everyone down. The Boa sisters were a little uneasy and scared as well, but they remember from seeing Naruto's memories that he fought alongside giant creatures, so they believed this to be one of his allies.

"I knew this wasn't going to be a good idea."

"What? It's not like you guys are gonna be a big secret anymore. The World Government already knows about all of you. And besides, you'll get to explore the deepest parts of the ocean this way. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Well, I suppose but…" Naruto and Isobu both looked down to see that most of the fishmen had fainted and the others were frozen in place.

Naruto had a sweat drop on his forehead and gave a nervous laugh while scratching the back of his head. "Haha, this might take some convincing."

"You think?"

"Don't go anywhere Isobu! I'll talk to them."

It took some time to just get everyone awake and even more time to explain that Isobu wasn't a threat to them, as they saw that the giant turtle wasn't making any aggressive moves towards them. The three sisters were surprised the creature could speak when they were talking earlier but were definitely glad it was a friend of Naruto's, so their fears were soon alleviated. As the other fishmen were starting to calm down a little more, one got his nerves under control enough that he could speak, thinking he understood what Naruto planned for them.

"So then, I'm guessing that you want us to ride on this turtle to get us to Fishman Island."

"Well not exactly on him, but inside him!" Everyone just stared at him, looking like he was crazy. But Naruto felt he had to defend himself. "Hey, it's not so bad! I've been in there before! I mean, the first time he ate me because we were trying to get him away from the wrong kind of people, and he attacked me with hundreds of tiny versions of himself, but he didn't know we were trying to help him! He was just trying to defend himself! So I don't blame him. But we're cool now! He's a good buddy of mine!" They still looked wholly unconvinced so he felt a demonstration was in order. "Fine then. Isobu, open up!"

The massive creature opened its giant maw which scared them even more but then they saw Naruto actually jump inside on his own. They were all rightfully shocked and Hancock yelled out for him in panic thinking he was eaten when the turtle closed its mouth. She was about to attack the creature to get it to release him when it suddenly spoke to her as he locked his massive eye with hers.

"There is no need for that. Naruto is perfectly unharmed. As you can see, his clones are still working with the others back at camp. If the original dies, then his clones would go with him."

They all turned around and indeed saw the clones still helping around the camp and still trying to get some of the others to calm down from Isobu's presence. Isobu then opened its mouth and they all saw Naruto had jumped to stand on one of the jagged spikes that make his lower jaw, completely unscathed.

"See! Nothing to worry about! Isobu is one of the nicest turtles I know! I promise that there's nothing to be afraid of. There really isn't much that can penetrate his shell, so he'll keep us all safe."

One of the mermaids got brave enough to speak up. "D-does that mean you're coming with us?"

"Absolutely. I wasn't going to let you go down there on your own. Besides, I knew you would all be more comfortable if I went with you, and this will give me a chance to see your island. I'm curious to know where you all live. And since I'm still going to be rescuing slaves I'm sure there are more of your people that will need to be returned to your home, and this way I can get back there easier."

"Y-you really intend to continue rescuing slaves."

"Of course! I don't intend to stop until they're all freed! I won't leave anyone behind!"

The mermaid that was speaking to him was tearing up until she broke down in sobs sinking to her knees, as she cried. The others around her were trying to console her and Naruto was worried so he jumped down from Isobu to land in front of them to see what's wrong.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

The mermaid tried to wipe her tears but they wouldn't stop, but she was still able to speak to him. "I'm sorry, it's just that my two sisters were also captured at the same time and we were all sold to different nobles. I just never thought I'd see them again! Please, if you can save them, bring back my sisters!"

Naruto understood as she kept crying, both in happiness that she may see her sisters once again as well as sadness that they had to endure this suffering at all. The Boa sisters also felt for the mermaid, but knew it must have been even harder for her. They would never consider themselves lucky to have been captured at all, but it was a small blessing that they were at least together during their time as slaves.

"Listen, I'm afraid it will be a little longer before I can save anymore slaves from the Celestial Dragons. Don't get me wrong on this, it was my intention to rescue all of you, but that time was more of the spur of the moment type of plan. I imagine that place will be even tighter on security since I caused such a mess up there. So right now I need to scout out everything and make an actual plan this time instead of diving in head first. Because if I do that then the other slaves will more than likely be in more danger than all of you were when I first rescued you. The element of surprise is gone now, so I have to be more careful. But I will promise you that I will save your sisters, and everyone; human, fishmen, and whatever other beings that are out there. All of your lives hold equal value to me. I can understand why you distrust humans, but I ask that you please trust in me." Naruto turned to look at Isobu and the others did the same to look back at the scary creature he was staring at. "I know he looks intimidating, but I trust Isobu with my life, and I trust him with yours as well. If you let us help you, I promise you'll all be back home safely with your family and friends in no time."

All the fishmen and mermaids took some time to think over his words. A part of them really felt they shouldn't trust him because he was human, but they couldn't deny that his words sounded completely sincere, especially after knowing all he's done for them already. They all desperately wanted to get back home to their people and their families and this was really their only option. They didn't know of any other people that would sympathize with fishmen and offer to help them and they didn't know where they could safely contact their own people to reach out for help. They all discussed it amongst themselves for a few minutes and were in agreement as their spokesperson turned to talk to him.

"Okay, we will trust you and your friend back there. But know that we still have our doubts. It wouldn't be the first time a human has made promises to fishmen that they had no intention of keeping."

"You have nothing to worry about. If there's one thing you learn about me, it's that promises are something I hold very important, and I promise to get you all back to your homes."

Naruto and Isobu took the fishmen and mermaids back to Fishman Island that same day after they made some preparations and made sure they had enough supplies to last the trip there. They were all understandably hesitant to willingly get eaten by a giant turtle, but after Naruto was the first to enter the giant maw, the others carefully followed. It was an unexpected experience for all the merfolk. Instead of pulsating masses of soft tissue and dripping fluids they expected from entering the stomach of a giant creature, they realized as they made camp in a wide enough clearing, that they were surrounded by what was like solid stone walls and pathways. It definitely made their fears lessen knowing they wouldn't have to worry about stomach acids and foul smells.

Isobu wasn't in any sort of rush, so he swam at a steady, but still a quick pace for a creature of his size, while observing as much of the ocean's environment as he could. Just like with their mind link, Isobu was able to generate what was like a viewing window from a wall of mist so they could all see what he could see. While still inside the Calm Belt, they could see the hundreds of Sea Kings that inhabited the lower depths. The merfolk were definitely grateful they were safe inside this turtle. Most Sea Kings gave Isobu a clear path uninterrupted, but a group of the more aggressive ones felt he was intruding on their territory. They were going to move in to attack him, but the menacing aura Isobu generated to drive them away was more than effective to make them realize they were outclassed.

The trip was longer than expected since they were traveling from Amazon Lilly and their destination being very deep in the ocean. So after a few hours they figured it would be around nighttime on the surface, as it was hard to tell underwater, and they all turned in to get some sleep using some futons that Hancock provided them, while Isobu kept moving. As usual, a simple trip to the underwater island was anything but uneventful with Naruto's luck as several hours later their sleep was interrupted when Isobu's voice echoed throughout their little camping spot.

"Naruto, we have been followed by a group of Sea Kings for a little while now. But they look to be led by a small group of fishmen. So maybe our passengers know who they are, but their malicious intent indicates they aren't friendly."

Everyone was slowly getting up and just registering what the giant turtle had said when they looked towards the mist to see what he was talking about. They all saw several Sea Beasts getting close to Isobu's size, but not quite, as they continued to swim a distance away along either side of him. Each one resembled a specific land animal, being a lion, bear, elephant, gorilla, giraffe, rhino, leopard, and a squirrel. As they looked closer, they saw a single fishman riding atop each one. Several of the fishmen and mermaids riding in Isobu realized just who was starting to surround them right now, as they began to get scared.

"I-it's the New Fishman Pirates!" Many of them started to panic fearing the worst, but Naruto spoke to try and relieve their fears.

"Everyone stay calm! They have no idea we're even in here and they aren't strong enough to break through Isobu's shell. So you're all safe. Now, can someone tell me what exactly we're dealing with here?" They began to calm down a little after his words and their spokesperson from earlier told Naruto about them.

"The New Fishman Pirates are some of the worst criminals to come out of Fishman Island. They are a small anarchist group that follow the beliefs of Arlong, another fishman criminal that has been captured by the Marines. They believe fishmen are the superior race and wish to eradicate or enslave the human race with them as their masters. They have also been known to kill any fishman that sympathizes with humans. Their hatred for humans runs far deeper than any other fishman not associated with them. These eight fishmen are the original gang members that started this group, but it looks like they've gotten the aid of these Sea Beasts."

"They're right though. Humans should be beneath our feet." The Fishman who just spoke out was suddenly knocked to the ground by a punch from their seahorse spokesman as he glared at him.

"Do not speak of such things so brazenly!"

"Did you forget what the humans have done to us! What we have suffered through!"

"Did you forget that we weren't the only one's to have suffered?! Human's were there right along with us! And did you forget just who it was that rescued us?! It was a human! The man standing right here next to us as he tries to deliver us safely to our homes!" The Fishman looked to Naruto who just stood there watching as things unfolded. He couldn't stare at him for too long as he bowed his head in shame for thinking the same way as criminals.

"I… I am sorry. I just…"

"I know this isn't easy for any of you, but thinking the same way as these pirates makes them no different from the Celestial Dragons that enslaved you. You shouldn't be so willing to trade one evil for another." said Naruto.

"Naruto, they're beginning to surround me."

"Let's just see what they do. I'm guessing Fishmen can communicate with other sea life?" Naruto asked to everyone around him and they all gave a positive affirmation to his question. "Okay, so they'll probably try to communicate with you so let's see what they want."

Isobu was approached from the front by the lion, gorilla and bear as the others surrounded him. Those with Naruto pointed out Hody Jones being their captain as he swam forward to speak to Isobu.

"Well you're a big and scary one aren't you? We haven't seen you around here before. Where are you headed in such a hurry?"

"Fishman Island." The pirates in front of him were very surprised that Isobu could speak directly to them since they thought he was just a regular Sea King. Hody's surprise turned to a grin as he realized this was a very special Sea King that he could use in his growing forces.

"Now why would you be headed there?"

"I have an important delivery to make."

"Oh really? Why don't you hand this delivery over to us and we'll make sure it gets there safely. We're good friends of the king. You can even come with us as we show you the way." Hody and the others had wicked grins of their faces, thinking they could easily overwhelm this creature and manipulate it to do what they want.

"No." They weren't too surprised by his answer knowing it was far more intelligent than any other Sea King they have met. But Hody was still a little angry that it would defy him so quickly and seemingly with no concern at all for the situation it was in.

"We just want to get to know you so you can become a friend of ours, an ally. There's nothing to be afraid of here."

"You're right, I do not fear you. But I am not going to be your ally."

"Haha! You don't seem to understand…"

"You're wrong, I understand that you are trying to intimidate me into joining your little group here, but it won't work. I will only ever follow one man and you are not him." Now the pirates were surprised that this turtle caught on to their scheme so quickly and yet it still would defy them. They were all visibly angry including the Sea Beasts as they began to growl at Isobu to try and further intimidate him. Hody however, was stuck on the words he just spoke as he became even angrier than the others.

"Man? This man you follow wouldn't be a human would it?"

"Yes." Now Hody was visibly shaking. The thought of a human commanding this beast enraged him. Sea Kings could only be controlled by the strongest of the sea, namely himself. Humans had no business controlling anything beneath the sea. He tried to reign himself in to keep himself from lashing out at the creature before him.

"Now why would you follow such a weak and pathetic human at all? …It doesn't matter. You're free to do what you want now, I release from your hold to this human. You no longer have to follow his words. If you come with us, we'll keep you from the clutches of such a weak man. You are much better off following us than a filthy human. You can be right where you belong, among your peers."

"There is nothing to release me from. Nothing you say will ever get me to abandon him."

"Why?! You don't belong with a damned, weak human!"

"The man I follow does not control me like you are trying to do to me right now. I know I would be nothing more than a tool for you to use should I follow you. I follow him because he has become a part of my family as I have become a part of his, and Naruto is anything but weak."

"Really? Why don't you bring this Naruto to us and we'll show you just how weak he really is? And then we'll personally show you why it's best to become our ally."

"You wouldn't last five minutes with him."

"Then let him prove it! Bring him to us and we'll show you who the superior race is! We'll even wait for you to bring him."

"There's no need to wait. He's right here." The New Fishman Pirates didn't quite know what the turtle was talking about until it looked like it spit something out of its mouth, and sure enough there was a human man right there in front of them. They started to laugh as they all thought he was just another weak human, especially from his stature as most of them would tower over him, he didn't look like anything special at all. What they thought was truly amusing was that he was dumb enough to show himself while he was in their domain.

"Hahaha! So this is the human you follow? What sort of idiot would just show up to fight fishmen under the ocean? I don't even have to do anything, he'll just drown on his own! Hahaha!" What they couldn't identify was that Naruto had a new generation rebreather that had been developed in the Elemental Nations some time ago before he left. It was a hardened face mask that covered his nose and mouth, closely reminiscent to Kakashi's mask, that allowed him to breathe under water by using his chakra to generate oxygen. He also later developed it further on his own time by adding seals that would even allow him to project sound waves through water so they could hear him speak clearly.

Those still inside Isobu were shocked that he would confront these pirates directly in the ocean. They believed he was a Devil Fruit user from seeing the many unnatural things he could do, so they tried to stop him from going out there when he was telling Isobu he would confront them. But he just told them he would be fine and to just watch as things unfold. They were skeptical, but none of them were willing to risk going out there and being captured by one group of monsters so soon after they were freed from another. Even though it shamed them, the fishmen there knew they didn't have the strength to fight Hody and his crew right now. So they had to leave it up to their savior to protect them once more.

"Listen guys, we're in a bit of a hurry, so I'll give you one chance to surrender and I'll turn you over to the authorities and none of you have to get hurt."

They at first wondered how this man could talk let alone look like he was breathing just fine underwater with a simple looking mask, but they were all more angered at this human's lack of respect and fear of being outnumbered as they began spouting curses at him. "What do you think you can do against us here! You're in our world now! We have been chosen by heaven to rain down judgment against humanity! None will be spared!"

"Yyyyeah. I've been to heaven before, and I really doubt they'd choose you for anything." Naruto wasn't telling them that the heaven he went to was on a different world, so he really had no idea if there even was a heaven here or how the afterlife worked in this world, but they didn't need to know that. "The way I see it, you're really no different from some of the humans who think too highly of themselves and do whatever they want just like you. You all amount to the same in the end. Criminals that need to be put down."

"The same? You think we're the SAME?! Humans are nothing compared to us! DIE!"

Everyone inside Isobu became scared and worried when they saw the pirates shoot out like torpedoes and immediately attacking Naruto all at once. They didn't think there was any way a human could stand up to these pirates in their natural habitat. And if Naruto was defeated here and they were found, they would most likely be killed by these fishmen for relying on a human to protect them. They absolutely hated any fishmen that associates with humans.

Their doubts were soon quelled as they were shocked to see Naruto easily evading their attacks and even countering them as if there was no resistance from the water. Naruto had knocked all but one back as he held the smallest of the fishmen by the back of his jacket and delivered a strong blow to his midsection causing spittle to fly out as his eyes rolled back in his head. He then threw him towards a spike on Isobu's shell and called out to him.

"Isobu! Hold on to them for me! I'll get the rest soon!"

"Understood." As the small red fishman hit a spike on Isobu's shell, coral began to immediately cover him, holding him in place against the spike. Seeing this Sea King display its unique ability, Hody wanted this beast under his thumb even more, but he would have to wait until they killed this human first.

"What?! He got Daruma!"

"Grrr! Kill him! I want nothing of him left behind!" yelled Hody.

They came at him again with their own various weapons trying to take down this human. Naruto was just too fast for them as he still evaded their attacks and was about to counter one fishman with a kick when he suddenly puffed up and his own spikes jutted out from him to form a defense. The fishman and his allies smirked thinking he had no way of hitting him without hurting himself and were going to take advantage of the opening. But to their shock, Naruto didn't stop his kick and still let it land as the fishman was launched back to hit another of Isobu's spikes as he was knocked out and more coral began to cover his body to hold him in place.

While the fishmen were still in a stupor, Naruto took this chance to go on the offensive while they were distracted. He quickly covered the distance between him and the group and landed more heavy blows against three of them that weren't quick enough to react to his attack. And just like that three more were unconscious and captured by Isobu. So now it was Naruto against the last three who were the largest of the New Fishmen Pirates.

Hody was beyond furious right now seeing this human taking them out with relative ease. He regrets not bringing some of the Energy Steroids they had been producing but he never thought there would be any need for them right now. They weren't ready to take on the Neptune Army yet as he was still trying to expand his forces. But he still wasn't ready to believe a human could match them under the ocean, and was ready to take this seriously now. But he had to get that Sea King out of the way first as he directed his anger to the Sea Beasts still surrounding it.

"What the hell are you dumb animals just floating there for! Show that Sea King its place! Now!" Still being scared of Hody and his strength, the Sea Beasts did as they were commanded and moved to engage Isobu.

"Take it easy on them Isobu. They don't deserve to die for this guy."

"I know, I wouldn't have aimed to kill them either way." Naruto just nodded his head to him in thanks as Isobu moved away from Naruto's fight to engage in his own.

As soon as Isobu moved away, Naruto was encased inside a large shroud of ink that blocked his vision and had to dodge and deflect a few thrown spears. The fishman with eight arms swam right into the inky water and immediately began a rapid fire attack using all eight of his fists, intent on pummeling the human inside his ink cloud. Every strike was quite strong, strong enough to break stone and far stronger than that of a normal human, but these fishmen were beginning to realize this was no normal human. The fishman could feel many of his strikes being blocked despite the lack of vision before them. After a few moments, his attack slowed to a stop while the ink still clouded his vision and he heard this man speak.

"Very nice tactic, taking away my vision. But since your attacks were so random, I'm guessing it takes away from your own vision as well, am I right?"

Before he could respond, he never noticed the man right beneath him as he came up like a rocket with a jaw breaking uppercut as his brain was rattled and even lost a few teeth. Naruto continued using the ink as cover as he continued to land blow after blow against his torso while he was still whirling from the first strike to his head. Soon after, the fishman was knocked out of the ink cloud and into the open where his final two comrades saw his unconscious and bleeding form begin to just float there unmoving. The ink was finally fading away as they saw Naruto's form still looking completely unharmed.

"You should rethink your tactics if your own abilities can be used against you."

Hody and his last standing comrade were seeing red by this point, and they both swam at high speeds intent on ripping this human to shreds. Hody was barring his teeth in order to bite chunks out of him while the other, that Naruto believed to be a hammerhead shark due to the position of his eyes being on either end of his forehead, had a giant hammer aiming to crush him. Naruto immediately felt their killing intent and turned around seeing the last two of the New Fishmen Pirates coming at him. Hody was the faster of the two so he reached Naruto first but was quickly evaded while Naruto moved into the path of the other fishman. The two pirates believed he made a mistake they could capitalize on as the fishman's hammer was already in full swing and about to hit its mark.

Both of their eyes widened in shock when they saw this human punch right through the giant hammer, reducing it to crumbling steel sinking into the ocean. Their surprise distracted them enough that Naruto quickly swiped the wooden stick that was the hammer's handle and gave a mighty swing of his own, while reinforcing the wood with his chakra, and slammed it across the hammerhead fishman's forehead and eyes. He too was soon unconscious and floating in the middle of the ocean.

All of his comrades were defeated, the seven strongest fishmen under him were defeated by a single human. Hody couldn't understand this, any fishman was known to be ten times stronger than any normal human and even twice as strong than that under water. None of them even landed a damaging blow to this man. He and the New Fishmen Pirates were supposed to be the chosen, the superior race destined to wipe out humanity for their arrogance. But this one man was standing in his way.

Hody was taken out of his stupor when he saw two shrimp-like tails grab hold of his two recently defeated comrades and brought to the spikes on the shell of that giant Sea King he was currently fighting over. He saw the turtle floating behind the human that defeated his crew and secure his last two allies to his shell with the same coral he produced to capture the others. He looked around him and saw that all the Sea Beasts he had under his control were also unconscious and sporting their own injuries indicating their defeat at the hands of this turtle. It was a total loss, neither Sea King or human in front of him looked injured or fatigued. He could not accept this.

Blinded by rage, Hody's pupils shrank as he began generating power. He launched himself towards Naruto hoping to beat him with his Fishman Karate as he began throwing punches and kicks trying to overpower him, but Naruto proved to be faster as he blocked each strike. This went on for a little while as Naruto landed several of his own blows but Hody took his strong hits much better than the rest of his crew as he was sporting several bruises but still able to continue. Hody was knocked back a short distance away from Naruto as he was bleeding from his mouth and breathing heavily.

"I'll admit you're stronger and tougher than the others, but you should just surrender. You won't be able to beat me like this."

"I will not be beaten by some pathetic human! I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!" He gave a great yell and began to manipulate the water around him by launching water bullets towards Naruto. Due to being surrounded by water, Naruto just used water natured chakra and held his hands out to harden the water in front of him to make a defensive water wall. Hody widened his eyes in surprise again seeing a human able to manipulate water without a Devil Fruit, but he didn't stop his attack as this just angered him further and tried harder to break through his wall.

Hody wasn't the only one surprised by this, as the fishmen and mermaids inside Isobu looked on as well. They never thought a human could manipulate water so naturally like the practitioners of Fishman Karate could, even though they had seen him manipulating wood before. They realized there were many things they didn't know about the man who freed them, but they were at least grateful that he was continuing to protect them. They were all paying rapt attention as this single human was taking down their most notorious and dangerous criminal group from Fishman Island.

Hody was still firing his attack but unable to break through for a while longer until he finally stopped and yelled out in frustration. "Why won't you just die?!"

"Because I'm fighting to protect something. As long as I'm fighting to protect, you can never hope to beat me. Now I'll show you a real water technique." Naruto went through some hand signs as three water dragons formed behind him, each almost as big as one of Isobu's tails. Hody's eyes widened when he saw the three dragons appear in front of him with menacing, glowing, yellow eyes all glaring at him. They all gave out a loud roar as they quickly converged on their target.

Hody could do nothing but yell in anger and frustration as he tried to brace himself from the incoming attack. The three dragons crashed into him from different angles with explosive force as they broke apart against his body, creating a cloud of millions of bubbles surrounding Hody and keeping him from view for several moments. When the bubbles cleared, Hody's unconscious body could be seen bleeding from several places including his eyes, mouth and gills but he was still alive as his chest was still moving.

Isobu once again grabbed Hody with one of his tails and secured him with more coral to the front most spike on his shell as the rest of his crew surrounded him on either side in similar battered, unconscious states. Naruto disappeared from view in a flash and reappeared inside Isobu behind the group of freed fishmen and mermaids who were closely huddled together in front of the wall of mist watching the fight in awe of this human. He surprised them all when they suddenly heard his voice from behind them.

"Now that that's over, let's get you all back home huh."

They all jumped from hearing his voice and quickly turned around to see him dripping wet as he was taking off his mask, giving them all a bright smile. They just stood in a bit of a stupor with wide eyes, seeing him in a whole new light. Without warning, the mermaid that had asked him to save her sisters lunged at him wrapping her arms around him and hugging him in thanks for keeping them all safe as she laughed happily. After seeing some more of his abilities, she was even more assured that she would see her sisters again if this man truly intended to keep freeing slaves. Naruto was surprised by this but accepted the hug as the others crowded around him giving their own thanks and praise for defeating these criminals.

Naruto just laughed in a bit of embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head from all the praise and gave Isobu a mental message to continue on to Fishman Island. They were all curious about his crazy strength and abilities as the mermaids bombarded him with questions as the fishmen also listened curiously. He gave them a basic version of how his body was built and how he trained and soon they were all conversing amicably with each other as he asked his own questions about their people and home. It was as if their previous suspicions of Naruto had simply vanished and they just wanted to know more about the man who saved them. Their friends and family would be hard pressed to believe them, but they would do their best to spread Naruto's name throughout Fishman Island as a human who would fight for all fishmen.

Before they knew it, a few hours had passed and the dark ocean became bright, as sunlight somehow penetrated its depths and Isobu let them know their home was coming in view. Naruto and the others looked at the image the mist was giving them as they saw an enormous bubble containing an entire island within it, along with a smaller bubble sitting atop the island that they informed Naruto was Ryugu Palace, the home of King Neptune, Princes Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, Manboshi and Princess Shirahoshi.

All the fishmen and mermaids were admittedly excited to see their home once again as free people. Several couldn't help the tears that came as they could finally see their loved ones again and try to put their horrible experiences as slaves behind them. They again began thanking Naruto for keeping his word but he reassured them that it was the least he could do since they were free.

Naruto told Isobu to go directly in front of Ryugu Palace despite their warnings that Isobu would most likely be seen as hostile, but Naruto wanted to go straight to the King as soon as possible so he went back out in the ocean to stand on Isobu's shell so he could try to get their attention. So Isobu swam up to the bubble containing Ryugu Palace, and he and Naruto were sure enough causing a panic from them seeing a Sea King coming directly to the palace that easily towered over it. They saw hundreds of soldiers coming out to defend the palace and soon the fishmen and mermaids saw their king and his sons coming out to see what was going on.

"My King! You and the Princes should stay within the palace walls where it is safe!" Yelled a fishman wearing a purple robe and monocle known in the kingdom as the Minister of the Left.

"I'm afraid if that creature should turn hostile, no place in the kingdom will be safe." said King Neptune.

The King, his sons and his army all looked upon the giant Sea King with three tails that came directly to the palace, but they did not know its reason for doing so. The bubble surrounding Ryugu Palace should be impenetrable but even they had doubts it could stand up to something this size.

"Father, do you think Shirahoshi can…" said Prince Manboshi.

"No!… No, we will not involve Shirahoshi in this."

"Yes father, forgive me."

"How is that possible?!" Everyone was distracted by an outburst from one of the soldiers that was looking through a periscope to get a closer look at the Sea King when he made a startling discovery.

"What is it?! What do you see?!" exclaimed the Minister of the Right who was a seahorse merman.

"I-it's a human standing on the creature's shell!"

""What?!"" Everyone didn't believe there could be a human out in the ocean this deep that was just standing on a Sea King.

"I-impossible!"

"What do you see now?"

"I-it's… the New Fishmen Pirates!" everyone yelled out in panic believing they really were being under attack.

"What?! They would never work with a human?!" yelled Prince Fukaboshi.

"N-no, they have been captured by him!"

""What?!"" Everyone was now confused since he wasn't really making things clear for them with only giving them small pieces of information at a time.

"Just tell us everything you see already you nitwit!" said the Minister of the Right.

"R-right. All the main officers of the New Fishman Pirates are beaten and unconscious, and are bound to the Sea Kings spikes by what looks like coral."

"Coral?"

"Yes, coral is covering the majority of their bodies holding them in place. Wait, the human is doing something. He's, holding a knife and, it looks like he is preparing to throw it."

"What would that accomplish? There's no way a human could throw a knife from that distance and expect it to hit anything." said Prince Fukaboshi.

"He threw it!… Ah, I lost sight of it."

"You idiot!" said the Minister of the Right.

After several moments they all saw a knife penetrate the bubbles surrounding the palace and land in the front courtyard in front of the army. They all stared at it not really knowing what to do when a figure suddenly appeared before them. They immediately identified him as a human and the fishman who saw him earlier with his periscope exclaimed as much when he recognized him.

"It's him, that's the human I saw!"

Everyone immediately held their weapons up, aimed towards the intruder as a group of royal guards known as the Ammo Knights moved to the front of their forces to detain him.

"Don't move! You have invaded the royal palace and will be put under arrest immediately!"

"Whoa there! I know it was kinda dumb to just show up here but I didn't come to cause trouble, I just need to speak with your king." Naruto said as he held his hands up in a placating manner.

"Silence! The King has no…"

"That's enough! In case you have forgotten there is a dangerous Sea King just waiting outside our barriers, and we don't know if he has any control over it." said King Neptune as he and his sons moved forward to stand before Naruto despite his advisers telling them to stay back. The King and his sons really towered over Naruto, especially the king as even he towered over his sons, so Naruto was in a bit of awe by it. But the royal family approached cautiously with a hand on their weapon as they wouldn't underestimate someone just because of their smaller stature.

"Well I don't control Isobu, but he is loyal to me." That made everyone tense, just thinking of what that beast might do if they attack this human. "Don't worry, he's not going to attack anyone here. I didn't come to start a fight."

"You could have fooled us with breaking into the royal palace." said Prince Fukaboshi.

"Yeah, they told me it was a bad idea but this way was much faster."

"What is it that you have come here for then?" said the king.

"I have a special delivery for you!"

"So you were the one to defeat the New Fishman Pirates, and have come for their bounty."

"Oh, I forgot about those guys. But nope, they're just a bonus. This is my real delivery." In a flash of light, three clones of Naruto appeared behind him with the freed fishmen and mermaids holding onto one of the clones as they used the Hiraishin to teleport them to the palace courtyard. Everyone was in a bit of confusion as they had no idea why he was delivering some of their people to the palace until a gasp was heard from one of the ministers as he immediately recognized someone.

"I-Inanaku?" said the Minister of the Right in a shaken voice as he could not believe what he was seeing.

"Father, I have come home." They could not hide their emotions as father and son came together in a tight embrace as cries of joy, pain, and sorrow flooded them. The king, his sons and the Minister of the Left were shocked as they recognized who Inanaku was after his father said his name as he had been a close friend to the princes until his sudden disappearance. They had no idea what happened to him and had searched tirelessly for years until it became seemingly hopeless to continue.

"I think we should talk in private, King Neptune." said Naruto. The king looked towards the human that brought home his minister's once lost son and needed to know the stories of the other citizens that he brought with him. He had an idea as he thought he recognized a few of them to have also been missing, but he couldn't possibly keep track of every citizen within his kingdom, so he needed to know what this was all about. He then noticed another flash of light as the now tied up New Fishman Pirates were brought by another clone to the palace courtyard.

"Yes. There seems to be much to discuss, but how can I trust you if you will so brazenly invade my palace?"

"I had good reasons for doing so. Your people here have made me aware of the poor relationships fishmen have had with humans, so I doubt any of your knights would have granted me an audience with you if I just asked. And I was also not comfortable with telling your men the circumstances surrounded these people of yours as it is a very delicate subject that I believed only you and those you trust the most to be informed of first. This was just the quickest way to get your full attention. But I am sorry for the commotion I caused, but I still believed it was the only way."

"I see. Well you definitely have my attention now." Inanaku and the others could tell the king was still hesitant to trust this human so wanted to try to reassure the king himself.

"Your majesty, I will vouch for this man. His methods are questionable but his intentions are pure. We are but a small number of lives he has saved and we are the first among many to be brought back to our homes."

The King stared at Inanaku and could tell he was sincere and decided he would take a chance on this man. "Very well, all of you are invited to the council chambers where we can discuss this privately." The king then turned to one of his guards. "Get those pirates to the prison cells."

"Yes sire!"

Naruto and the freed fishmen and mermaids informed the King, his sons, and the two ministers of Ryugu Kingdom of what this whole matter was about. To say they were angered by the news was an understatement, especially for the three princes. The King and his ministers knew slavers had targeted their people for a long time so they weren't too surprised by their stories, but it still angered them, especially the Minister of the Right as his own son had endured this suffering. And the princes weren't naive enough to be ignorant about this topic but they were still young and just hearing how their people were treated caused their emotions to run higher than the others.

The former slaves informed the king of everything Naruto had done for them, including healing any ailments they had, as well as removing their marks of the Celestial Dragons. They told him about the food and supplies they were given along with the aid of the Kuja, and the admittedly pleasant, although reluctant trip inside of that giant Sea King that caused the earlier commotion. And they also explained the incident with the New Fishman Pirates as they were making their way back to Fishman Island. Overall they gave Naruto their wholehearted thanks and asked that he be seen as an ally to Fishman Island or at the very least be friendly to him as he said he would continue to free the slaves including their own people.

Naruto just let the people he helped speak for him as he thought it would be best if they did the majority of the explanations as the King and his officers may still be a bit skeptical of him since he was a human. He could tell the princes' admiration of him was growing as they were in a bit of awe when they described his fight with the New Fishman Pirates as they were the most dangerous group of criminals they had at the moment. And hearing how he bested them underwater where the odds should have been against him, painted a picture of just how strong this man could be. The King and the Ministers could also admit it was an impressive feat, but it also told them how dangerous he is and they needed to be extra cautious of him.

The King was truly grateful for Naruto's actions that benefited his people but he was still a king and had to do what was best for his kingdom. "There are no words that can describe my gratitude to you Naruto-san. I deeply thank you for rescuing my people and bringing them back to their homes. But as you are likely not aware, Ryugu Kingdom has a loose affiliation with the World Government. For the sake of my own people's safety I will obviously not be notifying the World Government and the Nobles that their freed slaves have returned home to Fishman Island, but I will have to decree that none of the information said within this room leaves it." said the King, making a noted effort to look at his sons and Ministers. "To that end, I can not openly declare you as a friend of Ryugu Kingdom due to the potential backlash I will receive from the World Nobles. All I can offer is my silent blessing that you continue to liberate my people from their cruel fates."

"But your majesty, you can't just …" The King cut off the mermaid's protest as he raised his hand indicating for silence in which she obeyed, and further explained.

"Please understand that I don't agree with many actions taken by the World Nobles, but the World Government is not an enemy that Ryugu Kingdom can afford to have. Much of our kingdom's prosperity relies on the trade agreements we have with other countries affiliated with the World Government, and if we are shut out from that, then the quality of life for our people will suffer for it. Although the throne of Ryugu Kingdom cannot declare you as our ally, there is nothing that can be done about rumors spread about by my citizens should they have a positive opinion of you." The mermaid and the others who wanted to protest could see the King's reasonings and looked to Naruto with forlorn faces as they wanted him to be recognized as a hero for their people, but after the King's last statement, they held smiles on their faces as it looked like his accomplishments wouldn't have to remain completely hidden.

"Thank you, the support of your people would be appreciated, but you don't have to worry about that. I didn't rescue your people to gain an alliance with anyone, I did it because it was the right thing to do. The Kuja are as much in the same position, as their leader is a Shichibukai under the World Government, so they are also silently giving me their aid. I wouldn't want to create trouble for your kingdom in the first place."

"Thank you, that is very generous of you."

"Don't mention it. But I do have a question for you."

"And you may ask it."

"What the hell is that noise I keep hearing been about? I keep hearing like a loud striking noise. It sounds like a thrown weapon hitting a target. Is your palace under some kind of assault or are your soldiers just training real hard?" That wasn't the only thing he sensed however, as after each reverberation he heard he could feel a pang of fear in someone, most likely the one who is the target.

The King, his sons and the Ministers looked at him with wide eyes since the Hard Shell Tower Shirahoshi is in, is a considerable distance away from the council chambers, so they were shocked he could hear that far. "You can hear that?" said Prince Fukaboshi.

"Yeah, I have a lot of experience with throwing weapons so the sound is pretty distinct for me. If you need help with something, I can see what I can do."

Everyone looked to the King for a reply as his daughter's safety was one of his main concerns and it would be up to him to tell this human about her plight. The King however decided it was too much of a risk and didn't want her to be in any further danger. "You don't have to concern yourself with that, it's just some of our soldiers putting in some extra training."

"… I see." Naruto knew he wasn't being honest with him, but he understood that he is still a stranger here and secrets wouldn't just be divulged to him. But he soon got new information to work with as Isobu had been wandering around Fishman Island and had noticed weapons being thrown at the palace.

'Naruto, I think I know what is causing that noise, and the fear you can feel. I saw some weapons being thrown from far away beyond the reefs aimed at the palace. Do you want me to look into it?'

'Yes please. When you find who is throwing these weapons, capture them and I'll go over there to bring them back. It's probably some more trouble they're dealing with that they don't want to inform me of.'

'Okay, I should be finished in a short while as I had already been tracking them since I saw the first weapon thrown.'

'Thanks Isobu. Let me know when you're done and I'll be there in a sec.'

'Will do.'

"… maki. Mr. Uzumaki!"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright? You looked to have spaced out for a moment." asked the Minister of the Left.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about."

"Then, if there is nothing else, I believe our discussion to be done." The King stood up from his seat and gave a deep bow to his people. "To my citizens, there is no amount of forgiveness I can ask of you for my failure to protect you and the suffering you have endured. You have my word that we will strive more than ever to keep you and the kingdom all safe to prevent this from happening again. But I would like to be the first to welcome you all back home, I am sure you are all anticipating to meet with your loved ones once again. If there is any form of aid you need please don't hesitate to let us know, and we will do what we can to help you. You are all free to go. Hoe here will see to it that you all make it to your homes."

The mermaids and fishmen all gave their thanks to the king as his pet whale Hoe allowed the freed slaves to ride on his back to take them into Fishman Island. As they were walking away they once more gave sincere thanks to Naruto for helping them and a few of the mermaids gave him quick hugs and asked him to visit them sometime in Mermaid Cove so they could introduce them to their friends and give him a free meal at the Mermaid Cafe. Naruto was thankful for the thought and told them he would visit them in the future.

The King noticed Naruto stayed behind and believed him to be waiting for payment for bringing in the New Fishman Pirates, and really couldn't blame him for it. "I suppose you wish for payment on the bounties for the pirates you brought in?"

"Huh? Bounty? Naw, you don't have to worry about that, but I should have another delivery for you right about…" Naruto suddenly disappeared from view as Isobu informed him he was finished capturing their target, and moments later he was back in front of the King with another knocked out fishman that he was told by Isobu was called Vander Decken IX. "now."

The King's and his sons' eyes grew wide as they immediately recognized the beaten form of Vander Decken and had so many question as to how this man could just suddenly appear before them and solve some of their worst problems with ease. Naruto could see their questioning looks and answered them before they could give voice to them.

"My buddy Isobu took care of this one. He told me he saw weapons being hurled towards the palace so he went to investigate in my place… Oh yeah, he's the giant turtle that brought us here by the way. Is this guy another criminal you're having trouble with?"

After staring at the beaten pirate for a few moments the King couldn't hide the anger in his voice towards the fishman that has been giving his precious daughter so much grief for many years. "Yes, this… pirate, has caused my family untold amounts of grief for nearly eight years now. There is no amount of thanks that we can give for this." The King and the princes all gave deep bows to Naruto along with their thanks for helping them so much now. "I now must insist that you receive your payment in full for everything you've done for us, it is the only way I know how to repay you for such a debt."

'Hmm, now that I think about it, I probably will need some funds to gather more supplies when I free more slaves, but I shouldn't need that much to be honest…' Naruto thought to himself since he could easily provide basic foods, shelter and medical help himself but may need to buy other supplies. "How about I take the bounty for this guy here and you can keep the bounties for the other fishmen. The New Fishman Pirates attacked me first so I would have beaten them up anyway, but I had Isobu actually hunt this Vander Decken guy down so I'll just take his bounty. The money will help me prepare more when I start freeing more slaves."

Everyone there was surprised by his offer as anyone else would take all the bounties, but the King was a little relieved as that would have been a lot of money to be given all at once. "Are you sure of this?"

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about it. I wasn't really here to deliver bounties in the first place. So it's no big deal."

"You are a strange man."

"Hahaha! Yeah, I've heard that before. I say it's better than being normal."

"Haha, I rather like that outlook." The King then gave one of his soldiers a note to have the treasurer gather the funds for the bounty. As a few more soldiers were directed to take Decken away with instructions to have both his hands tightly covered and secured so he couldn't cause them any more trouble. After several minutes passed two more soldiers came back with a chest full of Berries for Naruto to take. "This is yours, five-hundred and forty million berries."

"Wow, his bounty was that high?"

"No, Decken was a personal enemy of my family and because of all you've done for us today I have doubled the bounty and taken half of the money from my family's private coffers. Think of this as my own way of supporting your mission of freeing more slaves."

"I appreciate that, I'll be sure to put it to good use. I'll be back soon to bring more of your people home." With that, Naruto gave the King and his sons a small salute as he put a hand on the chest and disappeared in a yellow flash.

"I've never seen a human like that before father." said Prince Fukaboshi.

"Nor have I son. You three will learn there are all sorts of different people in the world." said the King to his sons as they all nodded their heads to their father's advice.

"King Neptune, can we really trust this human?" asked the Minister of the Left.

"… I believe Otohime would have trusted him, so I will as well. But I believe it to be best if we keep an eye out for that one."

""Yes father/sire.""

Naruto had been very busy in his short time in this new world. After getting the first group of rescued slaves out of Mariejois, and after returning the fishman and mermaids to their homes; he had to focus on returning the rest of the freed slaves to their own homes. The biggest problem was that their home countries reached all across the Grand Line and out into the Four Blues.

Naruto and the Biju had discussed their strategy at length and came up with a solution that wouldn't leave Naruto exhausting himself by just spamming clones to travel all around the world. Since the Biju were already revealed during the battle at Enies Lobby, there was no reason for them to remain hidden anymore. So now the Biju would take some of the reigns and work independently to scour the worlds oceans and leaving Hiraishin markers on every island they come across regardless if they were a destination they needed to be at. So to do this, Naruto created eight more giant ships that would be under the control of each Biju.

Bounties for the Biju had also been made by the government, but they were all grouped together since it was a first for what they believed to be unknown, intelligent animals to be given a bounty. Their poster came in the form of a wide photo of all of them as they sat on the ocean with a collective bounty of nine-hundred million Berries, one-hundred million for each, and also the same total amount for Naruto. It was a bit ironic that they got one of their titles correct as they simply labeled them as the 'Tailed Beasts,' since they believed their tails held some significance as they could clearly see that they each held a different number of them which they found odd.

Once Naruto and the Biju figured out their plans, he had to reveal the Biju to the rest of the former slaves of what was going to happen. Naruto first explained that he could not take them to their homes personally as he still had to focus on infiltrating and gathering information in Mariejois in order to safely continue freeing the other slaves still there. Naruto then released the Biju once again but this time taking their full forms like Isobu had done before and he had to once again reassure everyone that they weren't a danger to them.

He introduced everyone to the Biju and explained to them that they would each be responsible for their own ship and taking them to their homes while providing protection from all the seas dangers. But in order to remain inconspicuous, they forcibly reigned in their chakra and took smaller forms, only coming up to about Naruto's thigh, and if they needed to release more chakra to increase their size and fight off any danger, they could do so at will. Their smaller forms definitely eased some of the tension and many of the women even thought they were cute and began arguing over who they wanted to sail under.

When everyone came to terms with what was going to happen, they immediately began preparing the ships with supplies and dividing up the people by which direction they needed to head towards in order to reach their homes, as all nine ships would sail in a different direction. So in less than a week after they were freed, the former slaves and the Biju had been slowly sailing the seas to reach as many countries as they could find.

While the others were out at sea, Naruto had his own work to do to make sure he could safely extract the other slaves under the Celestial Dragons.

Soon after the Biju took sail, Naruto was gathering all the intelligence that he could while using his stealth to stay hidden within Mariejois. It was an overall easy task initially, except for the few androids that were dispatched to help with security for the Celestial Dragons. These androids were all the same that were modeled after a very large man that he overheard were called Pacifistas. The trouble came from their high level sensors that could detect his heat signature when he used his camouflage, so he had one close call but was able to evade detection since then. Not taking any chances, security was unfortunately upped due to information given by Rob Lucci who had remembered Naruto somehow evaded visual detection through some unknown means. So the government dispatched more of the androids to provide extra security.

Mariejois was much bigger than Naruto anticipated as he learned there were nineteen families that comprised the Celestial Dragons, and each had their own mansion with their own slaves within. It was hard for him to ignore everything around him as he wanted to get everyone out quickly and safely, but he couldn't just run amok causing a scene. He also had to do this alone as any clone he makes would just be a higher risk he would take of getting caught. He had a plan but he would have to get everyone out all at once, so he had to make sure not to overlook anyone by mistake. He would have to search high and low to make sure to find any hidden areas other slaves might be kept in.

The safety of the slaves was his main concern but it wasn't his only objective. The Celestial Dragons had to be punished. Just rescuing these unfortunate people wouldn't be enough, and it wouldn't really change anything in the end. The Celestial Dragons would just demand others to take their place. He didn't like where his thoughts were taking him, but he felt an example had to be made. The Celestial Dragons were arrogant enough to think of themselves as untouchable, but they were far from it. And he would have to be the one to show them that.

Naruto also became aware that the Celestial Dragons weren't the only nobles to have taken up slavery. Other lesser nobles were known to take in slaves, but just not to the extent of the Celestial Dragons; they would have to be taken care of as well eventually. But another group he was more interested in were the actual slavers themselves. The men or women who were kidnapping these people to be sold like cattle had to answer for their crimes as well. It was fortunate that these people took their jobs seriously as documents were made for their sales and would have the name of the various groups of slavers that sold them to auction houses or directly to nobles. He managed to find these documents in one mansion but he would have to search the others for their own documents. It was a lot of work he had to do that would take several days to look into thoroughly.

Another major issue he had was that he also had to time this mass exodus just right. He felt the best time to get everyone out the safest way possible would have to be when the government was at its most vulnerable. Fortunately, it looked like the upcoming war with the Whitebeard Pirates would be the greatest distraction he could hope for. He had a plan in mind that he would have to expand upon, but he would have to prepare himself for the inevitable backlash that would come afterwards.

Almost two weeks passed since the Enies Lobby incident and the break in at Mariejois. The World Government had covered up the liberation of the slaves from the Holy Land to the public, but they had to deal with some very upset Celestial Dragons. The family that had their slaves taken demanded the capture of the thief for steeling their property. This family of Celestial Dragons had to endure the ridicule of their peers and felt utterly humiliated from losing all their slaves.

It was a cruel competition among the World Nobles to see who could maintain the most slaves without appearing overly flamboyant, less they be ridiculed for being too pompous among their own. For the World Nobles, everyone not a Celestial Dragon was beneath them so it didn't matter what lesser beings thought about them, but among equals it was very important to have the upper hand in all things. So this family wanted the perpetrator alive so they could punish, which essentially meant torture, and eventually kill the one with the audacity to make a mockery of them.

Because of this, the World Government had no choice but to change Naruto's bounty to read 'Alive Only,' instead of 'Dead or Alive,' to satisfy the family of Celestial Dragons. The sudden change had many people wondering why the government wanted him alive, so there was much speculation about this new criminal among the world. It was very rare for a bounty to be brought in alive, which would make his capture that much more difficult. It would be much easier to just kill this up and coming criminal and be done with it, but instead they would have to waste resources on capturing a man they know that could go toe to toe with an Admiral.

This development put a lot of unneeded pressure on the government because there was a lot of other things they had to deal with; the most pressing of which were the mounting tensions between the World Government and the Whitebeard Pirates, due to the recent capture of Fire Fist Ace by the new Shichibukai Blackbeard. So trying to capture a man who could defeat Aokiji and walk away and still cause other problems for them was not going to prove easy. They could ill afford to spread their forces thin at this moment as they needed all the manpower they could get, knowing a war was coming.

The government was also starting to get both anxious and relieved because they have yet to receive any new information on this supposed 'sage's' whereabouts. He has been suspiciously absent since his first crime spree, and from what Aokiji reported, it sounded like he had a vendetta against the World Government. So they expected this new criminal to cause more mayhem relatively quickly, but were actually thankful that he hadn't during this period.

The past couple of weeks the Celestial Dragons were getting impatient with the lack of progress in capturing their culprit so they were steadily breathing down the Marines' necks to produce results. But with the looming war with the Whitebeard Pirates coming, once Ace's execution date was decided, hunting for Uzumaki Naruto was not a priority at this time. So they would have to endure the complaints of the World Nobles until the war was over and then they could fully commit to finding their perpetrator.

Naruto had just about completed his preparations for the liberation of all the slaves within Mariejois. He was just going through a mental checklist to make sure everything would be ready when he overheard that the head of one of the families of Celestial Dragons was going to make a trip to Grove One of Sabaody Archipelago to what they called the Human Auctioning House to buy more slaves to replace the ones that were stolen from them. Saint Roswald was slowly replacing his slaves that were stolen but he was going to make a direct trip to the auction along with his son and daughter so they could pick out their own slaves as well.

Naruto had seen the name of the auction house on some documents which is where the majority of the slave trade circulated around and was going to eventually make a trip there. So he decided that rather than look for the place himself, he would just let the nobles lead him there directly. Naruto stayed hidden and followed the nobles on their private ship to Sabaody Archipelago as they took an entourage of security guards and a few of their slaves to serve them along the way.

Naruto had to unfortunately hold himself back from immediately intervening against their treatment of their slaves and others around them, as they showed absolutely no remorse for attacking anyone who they believed to disrespect them. They already left a few bodies behind them in their wake but Naruto was there to heal their victims once they were out of sight so as to not allow them to catch on that they were being followed.

He had to once again witness the mistreatment of more people as Saint Charlos, who separated from his father and sister, had his guards grab a woman off the street that he wanted to make another of his wives, as her fiance begged for her release. He once again mercilessly shot the man without a care and proceeded to have his guards drag the woman along with them. It was at this time that Naruto noticed a familiar swordsman with a bottle of booze, casually walking down the road while everyone else around looked on in shock that he wasn't getting out of the way or bowing in deference to the World Noble. Once the Celestial Dragon also caught sight of him, he was also staring in shock for the man's brazen disrespect, then he said something that pushed the noble over the edge when he stopped in front of him with a blank stare.

"What, you need me to give you directions or something?" Everyone around gasped in shock at the man's idiocy while Naruto just face palmed, but couldn't really blame him if he didn't know who the Celestial Dragons were.

Without thinking, Saint Charlos brought his gun up and fired two shots aiming to kill the man, while said swordsman started rushing in and avoiding the bullets with the intent to cut him in half. Naruto was about to interfere but a pink haired little girl beat him to it as she flung herself at Zoro, taking him to the ground while covering him in tomato juice to imitate blood. The girl began crying over her 'dead brother' in an obvious ploy to fool the noble that worked relatively well as he continued on his way believing the man to be dead.

The little girl who suddenly turned into a grown woman then began berating Zoro for being an idiot and almost getting them all killed. Naruto chose this moment to go to the downed man who was shot that was nearby Zoro and spoke to the swordsman while he healed him.

"Yo Zoro, fancy seeing you here. The rest of your crew must be here too huh?"

"What?!" A surprised Zoro turned around, vaguely recognizing the voice until he saw Naruto's face. "It's you! How the hell did you get here?!"

"That's not nice. No hello or good afternoon! I thought we were friends after all the help I gave you and your crew."

"Oh… Yeah. Sorry I guess. But what are you doing here?" They were interrupted by the sudden cry of one of Jewelry Bonnie's crew.

"C-c-c-captain! I-i-i-i-i-it's..."

"What?! Spit it out already!"

"It's the Ungodly Sage! UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

Gasps were heard all around as Naruto's name became known throughout the Grand Line as the highest and most recent bounty of the Twelve Supernovas. The Marines didn't want another revolutionary to be known about by the people, as his deeds regarding the slaves were covered up, so they just lumped him in as another pirate due to his involvement at Enies Lobby. So his name now held a lot of weight among pirates everywhere, even though the government knows he really isn't a pirate. People all around either ran in fear once they heard his name or just stood in shock at seeing someone who should be one of the most dangerous people on the Grand Line seemingly healing a random stranger. He soon sat the man up to get his bearings after he finished while reassuring him that he'll get his fiance back.

As Naruto stood up and turned around he noticed that several other Supernovas were in the area to witness Zoro nearly killing a World Noble as they all felt they were extremely lucky Bonnie interfered when she did. He noticed Basil Hawkins, Scratchmen Apoo, Capone Bege, and Urouge looking on in interest. It was unfortunate that Naruto would have to dash their hopes of an Admiral free day.

"Huh? You're Uzumaki Naruto?"

"That's right. And you're Jewelry Bonnie right? I've seen your bounty along with the rest of our fellow Supernovas. That's a pretty unique ability you have."

"Yeah, what of it?!"

"Nothing really, just thought it was neat."

"Oi! You never answered my question. What are you doing here?" asked Zoro.

"I'm just letting some dragons lead me down a rabbit hole."

"What?! Are you a freaking idiot too?! You're following the Celestial Dragons!" exclaimed Bonnie.

"That's right."

"Uh, then shouldn't you be following that one right now." said Zoro while Bonnie kept yelling in the background at how much of an idiot both men were.

"Nah it's alright, I got a clone following some others too and they're all gonna meet up at the same place eventually, but I won't lose track of that one either, he's pretty easy to find."

"Are you two even listening to me! You know even pirates have their own unspoken laws too right?! Do you know how much trouble you're gonna cause everyone here?!"

"Sorry to break it to you sweety, but I'm not really a pirate. Any of your unspoken laws don't apply to me. So to you and any other Supernovas or regular pirates around here, I'm gonna tell you this now! If you really don't want to run into an Admiral today, I suggest you hide as best you can or pack up and get the hell out of here! Because I have some business with the place the Celestial Dragons are leading me to that I'm sure the government won't really appreciate! Especially with the World Nobles close by! So you all have some time before shit starts hitting the fan since I have no idea where this place is!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Serious as a Buster Call."

"What kind of idiot causes trouble that will force out an Admiral?!"

"Well I beat one pretty easily already, how hard can another one be?" Everyone around was openly gaping at him in shock, as word of a defeated Admiral would be huge, but the government apparently covered that up too as no one there except the Straw Hat Pirates knew anything about it. "Well anyway, I gotta go! I'm sure that noble is still leaving bodies behind that I should tend to. See ya later Zoro! Say hi to your crew for me!" Naruto was suddenly gone from the area as he went to catch up with Saint Charlos and clean up any mess he left behind.

"See ya, I guess."

"Is that guy for real?!"

Everyone around, especially the Supernovas, noticed Zoro's demeanor suddenly turn serious at Bonnie's question. "There's a reason why that guy's bounty is so high, especially for his first bounty."

"Yeah, and why's that? All the information they gave about that man was that he was involved in the Enies Lobby incident along with you and your crew. He doesn't really look like much anyway. And what kind of criminal goes around helping people?" Everyone around was listening more closely now, trying to get any more information on this 'Ungodly Sage.'

"He wasn't lying. If he says he's gonna do something, I have no doubt that he will. The day we met him he completely destroyed one of the Gates of Justice by himself, he shut down a Buster Call with the help of those Tailed Beasts that have a collective bounty as high as his own, and he beat Aokiji single-handedly and walked away nearly unscratched. That man is a monster on a completely different level than any of us. Things like conquering the Grand Line or finding One Piece don't matter to him. His enemy is the World Government itself, and he's not afraid to fight them alone… Shit, now I have to find my crew and tell them we should get the hell outta here. The rest of you should probably do the same."

Zoro then ran off to find his crew and warn them of the coming danger Naruto was so intent on bringing. The other Supernovas around there were still just trying to process what Roronoa just finished telling them.

"What should we do captain? If what Pirate Hunter just said is true, an Admiral will be making his way here soon." asked one of Capone's men.

"Tch. If that sage or whatever he is, is really stupid enough to cause trouble around a Celestial Dragon, I guess we have no choice but to retreat and wait to get our ship coated until things die down." Bege and his crew soon moved to depart Sabaody Archipelago to avoid any run ins with the government.

In another area, the crew of Basil Hawkins noticed their captain was staring in shock at his tarot cards in front of him as he frantically tried to do another reading, hoping he was wrong. His crew looked on in concern since it was very rare for their captain to show any kind of emotion so they were all asking him what is wrong, until after several moments he finally spoke in a shaky voice.

"N-no matter how many times I read it. That man… will bring death to the world." His crew were rightfully shocked by his words as that was the most ominous reading they have heard from him, so they were starting to panic a bit. There are many ways to interpret tarot cards and they hoped that reading wasn't as literal as it sounded.

"What a pain, this is gonna set us back longer than I would have wanted." said Scratchmen Apoo.

"Do you believe what Roronoa said is true captain?"

"You don't get a bounty of nine-hundred million without reason. If Uzumaki really did do all those things, he certainly earned his bounty. And if he actually defeated an Admiral, it makes you think about what else he could have done that the government is covering up." The rest of the On Air Pirates took their captains words to heart as they too made to retreat from the archipelago.

"The 'Ungodly Sage' huh? A bounty so high it puts all us other rookies to shame. I wonder why the Government would want him alive if he's really such a monster?" said Urouge.

"Should we retreat as well Captain Urouge?"

"Yes, we'll come back another day. We can't afford to run into an Admiral now." Urouge and the Fallen Monk Pirates also made their way out of the area and back to their ship to get away from a potential disaster.

"What should we do Captain Bonnie?"

"Tch, goddammit! I'm still hungry! (sigh) Roronoa seems too stupid to be a liar. And that Uzumaki is a crazy bastard for tailing the World Nobles. Get all our supplies back to the ship and get ready to set sail! We're leaving for now."

""Yes Captain!""

Many other pirates of lesser renown also started frantically retreating as a panic set in all around the area. Many overheard what Naruto said as well as the conversations of the Supernovas and felt they should take heed of their words. Everybody just wanted to get away from the World Nobles as fast as possible. If any of them were hurt in any way, the government would come crashing down hard on any and everyone in the area to protect them.