"I heard you two are going to sea together?"
Uncle Kaido, holding a sake pot in one hand and leaning on his spiked club with the other, sat cross-legged on the ground. He looked at Naruto and Yamato standing before him and asked with interest.
"That's right!"
Yamato answered without hesitation. "Naruto and I have already agreed that once we grow up, we'll go to sea together and start our own adventure."
"Adventure? Wororororo!~"
Kaido burst into laughter upon hearing Yamato's words. He raised the sake pot in his hand and drank deeply, then violently smashed it and said coldly, "As expected—naive kids. Adventure? What do you think the ocean is? A paradise?
"No. The ocean you yearn for is a huge battlefield—a battlefield for the strong!"
After speaking, he stood up, casually picked up the spiked club beside him, and walked step by step toward the two. Stopping in front of them, he looked down and asked,
"King told me you two have grown quite a bit recently, and you want to learn Haki?"
In the sky, massive dark clouds rapidly gathered above their heads with Kaido's voice, pressing lower and lower as thunder rolled, as if even the heavens were being dragged down by the immense aura emanating from him.
"Since you've earned King's approval, I'll reluctantly guide you myself this one time."
Kaido slowly raised the spiked club in his hand, looking indifferently at Naruto and Yamato as he said,
"I'll only teach once. If you die, don't blame me!"
"We won't die that easily!"
Yamato, holding a spiked club, slowly transformed into her hybrid form and spoke confidently. She then turned to Naruto beside her and asked with a smile, "Right, Naruto!"
Don't misunderstand—Yamato hadn't forgiven King. As for the spiked club in her hand, it had been "stolen" by her and Naruto right from under King's nose.
After all, they couldn't challenge Kaido without proper weapons.
"Of course!"
Naruto clasped his hands together as orange chakra slowly emerged from his body, forming a chakra cloak over his skin. The tails swaying behind him had already increased to five.
After two months of training, Naruto was already able to perfectly control the Nine-Tails' chakra at the five-tailed level.
"Oh? Yamato's Devil Fruit ability has already developed a second form? Very good!"
Kaido's mouth curved slightly when he saw Yamato in her hybrid form. He praised her, then looked at Naruto, narrowing his eyes. "Can you consciously control this power this time?"
Kaido had seen the Nine-Tails' chakra within Naruto before, but at that time Naruto was unconscious. Now, not only could Naruto consciously control this power, but the number of tails had also increased significantly. It seemed he had indeed grown.
"Very good. Excellent!"
Kaido was clearly satisfied with the growth of the two youngsters. He began to gather strength in the hand holding the spiked club and said, "Are you ready? I'm going to attack!"
Hearing this, Naruto and Yamato immediately took up their fighting stances. At the same time, one of Naruto's tails wrapped around Yamato's body, forming a Tailed Beast chakra cloak around her. Then they both shouted in unison:
"Bring it on!"
"Wororororo!~"
Kaido laughed and suddenly swung his spiked club, imbued with Armament Haki, at them with lightning speed.
"Thunder Bagua!"
"Frost Fang: Ice Scythe!"
"Tailed Beast Rasengan!"
Yamato's spiked club was wrapped in chilling cold air, while the Nine-Tails' chakra condensed into an orange Rasengan in Naruto's hand—three times larger than usual. The two attacks met Kaido's strike head-on.
Boom!~
The three attacks collided.
In the first second, Yamato's spiked club flew from her hand.
In the second second, Naruto's Rasengan shattered.
In the third second, the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak covering them both broke apart.
Less than three seconds.
Their full-power offense and defense completely collapsed.
"Didn't you want to learn Haki?" Kaido roared. "This is it! Experience it thoroughly!"
His spiked club, still imbued with Armament Haki, continued forward and struck both of them heavily.
"Sure enough… I lost again."
Inside the sealing space, Naruto lay before the sealing gate, his expression utterly dejected.
With his physical body unconscious, his spirit had appeared here instead.
"Isn't losing perfectly normal?"
From behind the sealing gate, the Nine-Tails spoke lazily, glancing at Naruto.
"You didn't actually think you could beat that monster right now, did you?"
This time, the Nine-Tails could clearly sense the outside world through Naruto and felt Kaido's power even more directly. To be honest, it believed that even its complete form might not be able to defeat Kaido—let alone Naruto, who had only just mastered the five-tailed state.
"How could that be!"
Naruto quickly shook his head, then said dejectedly, "I just didn't expect to be defeated in one move."
Naruto had known he would lose. What he hadn't expected was that even with Yamato fighting alongside him, they couldn't withstand a single blow.
That realization was hard for his young heart to accept.
"Don't be disheartened, Naruto."
The Nine-Tails comforted him. "You're still young. As long as you train hard and fully master my chakra, you may have a chance to defeat Kaido one day. And don't forget—this world has Devil Fruits.
"If you gain a powerful enough Devil Fruit on top of my power, you could definitely defeat him."
Even in the Nine-Tails' estimation, perfect mastery of its chakra alone would only give Naruto a chance. To truly secure victory, Naruto would need another power—something as strong as Yamato's Mythical Zoan.
"Huh? You want me to eat a Devil Fruit?"
Naruto looked up in surprise. "But if I eat one, I'll become a hammer!"
"What's there to fear?" the Nine-Tails replied indifferently. "You're a ninja. Are you afraid of water?"
The Nine-Tails was also curious about Devil Fruits. The idea of gaining power simply by eating a fruit felt strangely familiar.
"When you put it that way… it does make sense."
Naruto thought about it carefully. He could walk on water with chakra, so becoming a hammer didn't really matter. And after seeing Kaido, Yamato, and Jack, he couldn't deny that Devil Fruits were tempting.
Black Maria had explained that Devil Fruits came in Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia types. Among them, Logia were said to be the strongest—allowing users to embody natural elements like fire, lightning, light, or even darkness.
If he could obtain a powerful Logia fruit, combined with the Big Fox's chakra…
Wouldn't that make him even stronger?
Then suddenly—
Naruto realized something.
His greatest trump card wasn't the Nine-Tails.
Nor some hypothetical Devil Fruit.
It was the system.
The system that allowed him to experience different lives across different worlds.
The first time he came to this world, after completing the Life Goal, he had received Infinite Physique and Observation Haki.
At the time, he hadn't fully understood those rewards—especially Infinite Physique.
But now, seeing that people in this world couldn't use chakra, yet he could still master Haki…
He finally understood.
The system's rewards were likely the true key to his future strength.
The Demon Slayer world's rewards were quietly ignored.
Naruto's thoughts returned to the current Life Goal. Recalling the sensation of Kaido's club striking him, he felt as if he had grasped something.
"That feeling… was that Armament Haki?"
Naruto slowly savored the power wrapped around Kaido's strike.
'I wonder what kind of reward I'll get after completing this mission.'
The next day.
When Naruto woke up, he found Yamato already awake, lying beside him and staring at him with a foolish grin.
"Is there something on my face?" Naruto asked subconsciously.
"Hehe!"
Yamato, covered in bandages, laughed proudly. "Naruto, I've learned Armament Haki!"
"Ah?"
Naruto was startled and tried to sit up, but the moment he moved, pain surged through his body.
He grimaced and smiled wryly. "Looks like I got beaten pretty badly. How long were we out?"
"You were out for three days," Yamato replied. "I woke up two days ago."
"Three days…"
Naruto sighed. "Uncle Kaido really didn't hold back."
"No way! I'm already fine!"
To Naruto's shock, Yamato sat up and stretched.
She looked at him thoughtfully, then suddenly said, "It must be because you didn't eat meat!
"I ate a huge meal after waking up and felt great right away. Naruto, wait here—I'll get you some food!"
Before Naruto could respond, Yamato had already run off.
"…I don't think that's the reason."
Naruto muttered.
"Is this Zoan recovery? I'm so envious."
At that moment, the Nine-Tails' voice echoed in his mind.
"My chakra can also speed up your recovery."
Orange chakra surged out, enveloping Naruto's body. He immediately felt his injuries healing at an astonishing rate.
"So amazing!"
Naruto said in surprise. "Big Fox, your chakra is incredible!"
With less than a month left to complete the Life Goal, Naruto felt far more at ease.
Even if he failed, he could just go get hit by Kaido again.
"Hmph!"
The Nine-Tails snorted. "My chakra has far more miraculous uses. You'll learn them in time."
Naruto was about to ask more when Yamato returned, balancing a bowl larger than his body on her head—overflowing with meat.
"Eat quickly, Naruto!"
She shoved a massive piece of meat toward his mouth.
"No need," Naruto said, slowly sitting up.
He clenched his fist slightly. An invisible yet unmistakable power condensed around it.
Smiling, he said, "I think… I've learned Armament Haki too."
Sure enough, after Kaido's one-hit lesson—
Naruto had mastered it as well.
---
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