Whitebeard was seething with fury. Just moments ago, what had happened gave him a fright.

Jozu, known throughout the Whitebeard Pirates as the "Diamond Shield," had nearly been crushed by the immense water pressure of the deep sea, almost consumed by the abyss ten thousand meters below the surface.

And he, as the "old man," couldn't even lend a hand—he could only watch helplessly.

Hearing Whitebeard's voice, Jozu snapped out of it. Recalling what had just happened, his heart sank with shame.

"I... I actually got caught..."

Staring at the approaching Naruto, Jozu flew into a rage and punched forward in fury.

"Naruto, you bastard! If you've got the guts, fight me head-on! Using seawater to attack me—what kind of tactic is that!?"

With half his body turned into diamond, Jozu's punch tore through the water with a deafening whoosh.

"Bang!"

Naruto's figure was directly blasted away, slamming hard into Isobu's shell. The impact even cracked the massive turtle's fangs.

Isobu roared in pain, churning the surrounding sea currents into spiraling whirlpools.

Jozu flinched from the reaction, but seeing Naruto stumble to his feet with a black eye and teary face, he instantly burst into laughter:

"Ahahaha! What's wrong, Naruto? You're worth ten billion, and that's all you've got!?"

Hearing that, Naruto nearly burst into tears, and Jozu became even more smug.

"Hahahaha! You're actually crying!"

His wild laughter echoed through the deep sea as he turned proudly toward the Whitebeard Pirates' fleet.

"Old man, did you see that? Naruto's way too weak! He couldn't even handle one punch from me. There's no need for you to lift a finger!"

"Marco must've been caught off guard. That's the only reason he got captured so easily!"

"I've avenged him! When we get back, he's definitely buying me a drink—what a disgrace, hahaha!"

But while Jozu laughed wildly, the hundreds of pirates aboard the Whitebeard fleet stared in stunned silence.

Not a sound was made across the massive fleet, because what they saw made absolutely no sense.

From their perspective, inside the mouth of the turtle-like Sea King, Jozu had suddenly turned around and blasted Marco with a diamond punch—nearly killing him.

And then he started laughing hysterically, muttering about Naruto.

Didn't he see Marco vomiting blood!?

"Wait... Did Captain Jozu just betray us!?" a newbie among the crew murmured in disbelief.

"JOZU!!!" Whitebeard roared in fury, his Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) bursting forth in a violent wave.

"You damn idiot! What the hell are you doing!?"

Just recently, Blackbeard had betrayed the crew—killing one captain and capturing two more.

Now Jozu was suddenly attacking his comrades?

That struck Whitebeard's reverse scale directly. It triggered a stress reaction.

Under the overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, Jozu froze, blinking in confusion. Then he looked at Marco in disbelief:

"Marco? Why... Why is it you? I thought I was hitting Naruto!?"

Marco's mouth twitched.

"Calm down and listen to me. Whatever you see next, don't move. Just don't. Use your Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)... This is a type of genjutsu used by shinobi…"

"Cough cough!" Marco coughed up blood again, summoning blue flames to heal himself.

"Uzumaki Naruto is terrifying. If you don't understand his abilities, you won't even know who your enemies are…"

"Conqueror's Haki can shatter illusions..." said Izumi, startled as she watched Whitebeard.

Naruto nodded. "That's right. It directly targets the spirit—it's a pressure on the soul. So it's only natural that it can break genjutsu."

Izumi thoughtfully nodded, already deciding to learn the three types of Haki from Naruto.

Naruto pinched her cheek with a playful grin. "It'd be good for you to learn. That way you could last longer in bed."

Izumi's cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head shyly.

"...Naruto-sama…"

Before, not knowing Naruto's identity, she was fine.

But now that she knew who he really was, she couldn't help but feel bashful.

Even though... he's such a little brat...

Seeing the two casually flirting, Jozu went ballistic, glaring at Izumi with murderous fury.

"So it's you, you damn woman! You used that eye of yours to make me attack Marco!"

He turned his diamond arm toward Naruto and roared:

"I'm going to kill you, bastard! I won't let you get away with this! I'm ready now—let's see you try to control me again!"

Whitebeard: "...."

Marco: "...."

The Whitebeard Pirates: "...."

From their perspective, Jozu just glanced at Izumi, then suddenly turned around and screamed at Whitebeard as if the man had murdered his whole family.

Naruto couldn't help but sigh.

"Man, this place really is paradise. Back in the ninja world, who would dare stare into the Uchiha clan's Sharingan?"

Izumi nodded subconsciously.

She realized it too—these people had almost no resistance to genjutsu.

This world was truly a genjutsu ninja's dream come true.

Furious beyond words, Jozu clenched his fist and once again swung it downward.

"Boom!"

This time, Marco was prepared. With a resigned expression, he transformed his arm into a phoenix talon and met Jozu's punch head-on.

The impact was thunderous.

Marco was sent flying again, groaning in agony.

"Damn it... I've burned too much stamina... Otherwise I wouldn't be getting beat up like this…"

As the farce escalated, Whitebeard stepped forward, face dark with rage, and unleashed a second wave of Haoshoku Haki.

He stared at Naruto.

"Brat, are you trying to start a war with me right here?"

Naruto glanced at the now-normal, trembling Jozu and chuckled.

"Something like that. If I'm going to fight you, I'd rather do it here than on Fishman Island. That place belongs to me now."

"You arrogant brat..." Whitebeard narrowed his eyes and ordered his crew to coat him in a bubble membrane. Then he stepped off the Moby Dick.

It looked like the two were really going to throw down ten thousand meters under the sea.

Marco, drenched in cold sweat, frantically cried out:

"Wait, Naruto! Pops! Both of you—calm down! You absolutely can't fight here!"

"This is ten thousand meters under the sea! If your fight gets out of hand, the sea currents will pull us all in!"

"We can just sit down and talk like civilized people!"

"Heh..." Naruto gave a vague laugh.

"Negotiation only works when both parties are equals."

"And in the world of pirates, you don't know a man's worth until you've fought him."

"Isobu, hit him with a Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bomb)!"

(End of Chapter)

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