Chapter 16

A few days had past since the group had met Kinshiki and left from Wano. The sword wielder had directed the Whirlpool Pirates to a dock on the other side of Onigashima and they had made their escape that way. However, the escape wasn't as clean as they could've hoped, Kinshiki was spotted by a few of the Beast Pirates escorting, and assisting who they later found out was the newest Yonko of the sea and was branded a traitor by Kaido himself. Once the group had made it to the shore they made a quick escape into the ocean, but soon made a little detour and went back to the flower capital. Kinshiki had argued with the crew that he needed to update Komurasaki about their plans which Naruto ultimately agreed to. They were quick to find the girl and find a safe place to talk. After being informed of what was going on, Komurasaki had wished them all of the best as they found their way back onto the sea but not before telling Naruto, who she had start to admire, her real name. . .Kozuki Hiyori.

After the group had left Wano they had their eyes set on Elbaf, where the rest of the crew was. Rose was given a log pose by Lucy and a vivre card so that they were able to track down the island of Elbaf and by any chance if something happened to where the crew had left Elbaf then the vivre card would guide them to where.

"How long has it been since we had left Wano?" Reeve asked as he looked over the side of the small wooden boat in boredom as the sun beat down on him

Rose looked up from the make-shift shade she made to answer him, "I don't know, about a couple of days I'd have to guess, I haven't been keeping track." She told him tiredly as she sweated profusely

"I can no longer stand such heat! This fur is a curse!" Pedro yelled out as he slumped over onto the deck of the small vessel

Kinshiki looked at the downed Pedro with very heavy eyes, "I too agree with the furred one, this heat is unbearable." The samurai told the group as he too was suffering from the intense effects of the sun and boiling hot water

Meanwhile Naruto just laid back with his feet atop a barrel as he sipped from a nice cool ice water, "You guys know that staying hydrated is really important, right?" The Yonko questioned his crew as they all looked at him with wide eyes

"H-how are you unfazed by the heat!? And when did you get an ice water!?" Reeve screamed out in pure shock

Naruto cracked a confused look, "I ate the Mizu Mizu no mi Reeve, you know this." Naruto reminded them. "Don't tell me that all of this heat has melted your brain." The Yonko continued as he laid back once again

"Well then can you give us some ice water so we're able to cool ourselves!" Rose asked him, losing her patience a little

Naruto smiled, "I could, but wouldn't you rather just make the water me just make the water around the boat much colder so you don't feel like you're being boiled alive?" Naruto suggested as each person on board the ship had a gapping mouth

"YOU CAN DO THAT!" They all yelled at their captain

The Yonko rubbed his ear from his crews yelling and then looked back at them, "Yea it shouldn't be a problem." The light red haired man said as he laid out his hand towards the water

"Cool." He spoke calmly as the water immediately became much more cool to the touch and stopped producing any steam in their immediate area

The crew all sat back as they began to cool themselves and relax once again, everything was quiet until Reeve asked a question, "So, why didn't you cool the water much earlier then?" The young boy asked

Naruto laughed, "Don't get me wrong I was going to do it anyway, but it was pretty funny to see you guys all antsy over the heat!" The man responded as he was promptly bashed over the head by the entire crew

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A few more days later. . .

"Okay so we should be coming up on Elbaf soon! I can see an island not too far off and both the log pose and vivre card suggest we're close!" Rose exclaimed in a happy voice as the rest of the crew smiled along with her. The crew in the lat couple of day had decided to ditch their Wano attire and change into new clothes which better suited them on their journey ahead. Rose had decided to wear a brown pair of coveralls that only covered her legs and was tied along her waist with the arm sleeves. She also sported big black work boots, and a white tang top that showed off her figure very well. On her back was her backpack that stored all of her gadgets along with the robot now known as RIM. She also sported some brown electrical gloves which aided her as the crew's shipwright. As for her hair, she tied it back and used her goggles as a sort of means to prevent it from falling in her face.

Reeve had been given some beige shorts along with a plain green t-shirt, and after thinking about the events in Dressrosa a couple of months ago along with what happened in Tottoland, he had decided to keep a pistol at his side just in case. The boy also let his hair just drop, which made it look very natural. Pedro had decided to wear his original attire, not making any changes to his clothing what so ever. The same could be said about Kinshiki, preferring to stay within his current clothing rather than changing it.

Naruto however changed his clothing to a great extent, ditching his old kimono for a pair of black cargo shorts that reached down a bit past his knees and he now sported a red collared t-shirt with the top few buttons undone which showed off a bit of his toned chest. Overtop of his red shirt was a black cloak that covered everything all the way down to where a little past his shorts ended.

Kinshiki smiled as he looked out towards the direction of the island, "It will be fantastic to see more of this vast world, in Wano we were never able to leave and go to or even speak about the outside world." The samurai told them

"Well the world is a great place! But I can't say much about this place though, we've never ventured here before." Rose told the man with some optimism in her voice

Pedro spoke up, "It's known across the Grandline that the giants of Elbaf are a very proud people and are known for their strength in battle. So it would be wise while we are here not to enrage any of them."

"HEY GUYS LOOK!" Reeve yelled out as he ran to the front of the boat. "THERE'S THE GREAT WAVE!" The boy spoke with excitement as he pointed towards the giant submarine

"Ha ha! There she is! Looks like Lucy and the gang actually kept her in one piece!" Naruto yelled out as he smiled. "Alright guys buckle up cause I'm going to shoot us over there!" The man explained as he placed both of hi hands into the water at the back of the ship

"Wait wha-" Rose began as she was quickly cut off

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Aboard the Great Wave. . .

"So you're seriously telling me that for all that time you spent walking around on the island you couldn't find one person that would tell you anything about the last Ponoglyph!" Lucy yelled out as she scolded Russ for coming back empty handed

The marksman just folded his arms and scoffed, "Well at least I'm gettin' out there and tryin' to find some kind of information! You've just been relaxin' here and askin' Yuri to keep makin' you food and drinks!" Russ yelled back at her, electricity bouncing between their eyes

"I tried to let you help but it seems like that was a mistake!" Lucy told him as she turned her body sharply away from him, pointing her chin to the sky

Russ was about to argue back before Gem spoke up from his prone position on the deck, "Will you two please be quiet! Im trying to get some sleep." He told them both as he laid his head back down and went back to resting

"Why you punk!" Lucy said as she began to walk over to him with a cocked back fist before Kiji stepped in her way

"That's enough Lucy! Ever since the captain left you and Russ have been acting like children! You're our navigator and you need to start acting more mature!" The fishman told her as he crossed his arms

She was about to object before she sighed, "You're right Kiji, I do need to start acting with more of a level head, I'm sorry." She apologized to the fishman as Russ began to snicker in the background. "What's so funny you crap marksman!" She continued

"What did ya say feathers!" Russ responded, getting into a fighting position

Kiji just sighed as Yuri walked onto the deck with drinks in hand along with a couple snacks for the crew. The giant man had placed them down on the table that had been brought out onto the deck and then looked at both Lucy and Russ fighting and Kiji trying to stop them, this brought a smile to the man's face as he watched on at the crew's shenanigans before his eyes traced the sky just above them to see a brown object flying towards the ship at high speeds. Yuri then began to flail his hands in the air to try and get their attention but it was no use. Eventually, the giant man then looked for cover behind Gem before the brown object crashed into the deck with a giant bang.

On the ship's deck now was a destroyed wooden boat that carried Naruto's group from Wano. Everyone aboard the Great Wave, aside from Yuri who took cover, had been knocked back by the crash and were all now prone on the deck. The same could be said about the group that went to Wano, everyone aside from the captain who was previously on the small barge had been knocked over onto the deck.

"WE'RE BACK GUYS!" Naruto exclaimed proudly as he raised his arms to the sky with a toothy smile adorning his face. He then looked around on the deck and noticed his entire crew recovering from the small boats impact on the deck, aside from Yuri who smiled right back at his captain. "Jheez, you'd think that you guys would be a little more excited to see us." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head

Lucy then blinked her eyes as she slowly got up off the deck from behind Naruto and removed the few planks of wood off of her body and stood up. Naruto turned around and saw her and was about to greet the navigator but was only met by an intense glare from the blond-haired girl, "Portgas D. Naruto. . .YOU IDIOT!" The lady yelled as she hit him right on the top of the head which knocked him over. Lucy then knelt down and picked up the Yonko with both of her hands gripping his cloak as she shook him violently. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN US ALL KILLED! WILL YOU EVER LEARN TO NOT ACT LIKE A GODDAMN FOOL! I SWEAR THERE'S NO BRAIN IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS, JUST EMPTINESS!" Lucy yelled as she scolded her captain, at the same time the rest of the crew began to get up

"Wow what a fantastic plan you had there captain." Reeve told him with heavy sarcasm as he rubbed his head

Rose sighed as she threw herself into a nearby chair that wasn't knocked over and she too began to rub her head, "I have to admit it wasn't the best." She broadcasted out to everyone as RIM beeped along atop her shoulder

"Okay Lucy, I think the captain has learned his lesson." The fishman spoke in a deep tone of voice as he looked on to what was left of his captain after Lucy got to him

Lucy let him go as she walked back over to Pedro to help the jaguar mink up from the small pile of wood he was stuck under. Kiji then finished brushing himself off as he approached Naruto. "I take it your mission was a success?" The fishman questioned his downed captain as the man quickly jumped to his feet and smiled

"Indeed! Rose can you hand me the paper!" Naruto told his first mate excitingly as he extended his hand towards the lady

Instead of the lady doing it herself RIM just beeped and quickly went into its makers backpack and retrieved the desired paper, presenting it to Naruto. Naruto then thanked the small robot and turned back to face Kiji with the paper in hand.

"Well that's new, but anyway I see that you retrieved it. That means that there's only one Road Ponoglyph left until we're able to track down the legendary island known as Raftel." The fishman told him

Naruto cracked a grin, "I know Kiji and I can't wait!" Naruto exclaimed with excitement as Yuri then threw his giant arm around Naruto as the two then started to celebrate as Kiji watched on with one of his rare smiles

"Hey uh Capn' who's this here guy over here?" Russ questioned as he watched Kinshiki with a questionable gaze

Naruto looked over to Russ and saw that he was referring to Kinshiki and just smiled, "That person right there is our newest crew member Russ, his name is Kinshiki and he's a real samurai of the land of Wano." Naruto explained as Yuri got a look of visible excitement on his face from realizing that they all had a new friend

Everyone looked onto Kinshiki as he bowed to everyone, "It's nice to meet you all, I'm Kinshiki, your new crew member." Kinshiki told them with a straight face

Pedro had finally gotten himself out of the rubble with Lucy's help and stood up, "We found him on Onigashima, he's one of Kaido's men but abandoned the Beast Pirates for our crew. We thought he was our enemy when we first saw him but it turns out he was only serving under Kaido to gain his trust and then attempt to kill the Yonko." Pedro explained to the crew as the all nodded along

"Are you sure we can trust a feller like him?" Russ questioned as Naruto laughed it off

"Of course we can! I put my faith in him and all of you guys should too!" Naruto told all of the crew, still sporting a smile

Kinshiki smiled at his captain, "Thank you Naruto-taichou." Kinshiki thanked the man

"Anyways Kinshiki, you've already met Naruto and his group that were in Wano, so allow me to introduce you to the rest of the crew." Kiji told the samurai as he pointed towards Yuri who was standing behind him with his thumb. "That's Yuri, our chef." Kiji continued as the giant man smiled and gave a thumbs up. "That's Russ, our marksman." Kiji said pointing at Russ which caused him to tip his had to the samurai. Kiji then looked at the floor and saw Gem sleeping at his feet and promptly kicked him with his foot waking him up, "This is Gem, our helmsman." Kiji spoke. "I'm Kiji, the first-mate." The fishman said pointing to himself. "And over there is Lucy, our navigator." Kiji finished as Kinshiki looked at Lucy with wide eyes behind his mask

Kinshiki then approached her and bent down to one knee and held her hand with both of his, "My lady you are truly the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon." The samurai spoke with passion in his voice

Lucy had a small blush on her face from the sudden words of her new crew-mate as she smiled back at him, "T-thank you very much K-Kinshiki!" She spoke nervously in response to the man

"Don't mention it, Lucy-chan!" Kinshiki spoke in a romantic voice

"Ooooookayyy anyways guys let's get back to what we were doing, Lucy, Russ, and Kiji, I need to speak with you three inside the planning room." Naruto Said, changing the conversation as everyone began to go back to work

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Minutes later. . .

"So, you needed to see us?" Lucy asked as she shut the door behind herself to see Kiji, Russ, and Naruto standing in front of her; each one of them standing around a table

Naruto nodded, "I do, it's about a few things actually, first I would like to discuss what has been going on on this island, have we learned if the final Road Ponoglyph is on Elbaf?" Naruto asked as he looked at the three

"Well no, we haven't learned anythin' yet, I've been askin' a few of those giants and they keep brushin' me off or generally don't know what a Road Ponoglyph is." Russ told his captain as Naruto brought a hand to his chin

Naruto hummed, "Do we know who the leader of this island is?" He asked with a raised brow

"Yes, we found him out to be a giant named Loki, he lives in the centre of Elbaf Village." Kiji told his captain

Naruto nodded along in understanding, "Okay so we can go and see him and see if he holds any answers to our Ponoglyph problem." The Yonko decided, but before he could speak again he was interrupted by Lucy

"Naruto, there's something that we found out while you were in Wano that we wanted to show you." Lucy told him as she picked up a newspaper

The Yonko raised a brow, "What is it?" He questioned as Lucy handed him the newspaper

BREAKING NEWS!

DOFLAMINGO HANDED OVER TO THE

WORLD GOVERNMENT BY

DRESSROSA

The Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo has been handed over into the custody of the Marine's earlier this week, and

later on the World Government commented that Doflamingo would be keeping his status as a Warlord of the sea,

however, the Dressrosan King had struck a deal with the Five Elders that prevented the return of Doflamingo or any

of his men to his Kingdom. Learning of the Devil-Fruit power that one of the youngest subordinates of the Warlord possessed, the king ordered

that her power be released, which Doflamingo had decided it was in his best interest to agree. One by one the Dressrosan toys had started to convert back

into ordinary humans, thousands are overjoyed that there loved ones are now able to return to them

and yet instead of thanking the World Government for their minimal involvement with the matter, the

people of Dressrosa thank the newest Yonko, Portgas D. Naruto for being the one to start

these chain of events which have ultimately allowed the Kingdom to return to what it once was.

SIDE NEWS

MANY GATHER OUTSIDE OF DRESSROSA

AND ASK TO JOIN HIS RANKS

...

Naruto looked at the article and was at first mad that Doflamingo had been released from the custody of the Dressrosan dungeon but then he grew some joy thinking that the people had managed to find their loved ones and rid themselves of such a dangerous criminal. "I must say that I'm happy that the people are managing to get their families back together, but I have no doubt that Doflamingo will still be a problem for us." Naruto told his crew

"What did you want to tell us Captain?" Kiji questioned as he moved the conversation away from the newspaper

Naruto smiled, "Oh yeah, I wanted to make you guys my three commanders, you're my three strongest friends and I wanted to make you my Three Heavenly Kings!" Naruto told them with excitement

"Ha Ha! You damn well know that I accept!" Russ told his captain with his hand in the air

Kiji cracked a small smile and closed his eyes, "As do I." He said

Lucy looked at the three men in front of her and smiled as well, "Me too!"

"Okay! Since that's out of the way, let's go and speak to this Loki guy and see if we can get some information on the next Road Ponoglyph!" Naruto told his Heavenly Kings as the all walked out of the room and prepared to go onto Elbaf and visit Loki, the King of the Giants.