He has even mastered Haki, and you say this is Naruto?

Now that he thought about it, Shanks suddenly realized—even if he had actually lost his arm, he still came out on top.

Not to mention… his arm was still intact.

"No wonder I'm me—already won big."

Shanks focused his mind. After all, he was someone with great wisdom. Most things, he could understand clearly just by thinking them through.

"Exactly. I at least know the plot. In terms of intelligence, I'm already far ahead. Even without a system or some golden finger cheat, my starting point is leagues above everyone else."

"In fact, the only real uncertainty for me is combat strength. That's the most unstable factor."

Shanks understood clearly—he didn't need to worry about what was happening outside.

Up till now, the only person he had encountered from the outside world was that guy named "Zhan."

"That guy's strength isn't weak, but he's definitely not strong either. Sure, he caused a few things, but come on—this is the world of One Piece. How much of a storm could one 'Zhan' possibly stir?"

"If he really could throw the One Piece storyline off track, I'd bet on him right now. What 'Overlord of East Blue' or 'King of the Coastal Seas'? Pfft."

Thinking this, Shanks relaxed again.

He knew Zhan's power level all too well—at best, around the average level of a Vice Admiral in the Grand Line.

The reason he'd caught official attention was likely because he left the Navy's assassination division and held lots of dirty secrets. That's probably why he caused such a ruckus in Water .

As for influencing the One Piece storyline? Not a chance.

Even Shanks' Observation Haki gave him a crystal-clear intuition: "Zhan" couldn't possibly affect the One Piece world.

Honestly, both Shanks' intellect and the intuition from his Observation Haki were terrifying.

Since his transmigration into this world nearly a year ago, Shanks hadn't made a single wrong call.

Anyone who knew his situation would realize how terrifying he truly was.

Here was a guy who had been holed up in one place this whole time but understood the entire One Piece world like the back of his hand—including things that had and hadn't happened yet.

If someone like this appeared in the One Piece world… forget Sengoku—even a few more like him wouldn't make a difference.

Because anyone with a working brain would use every bit of known information as setup. Either don't reveal anything, or when you do—it's a guaranteed kill move.

Not to mention, Shanks also mastered Observation Kill techniques.

With all this, it's pretty obvious who the true strategist is.

That's exactly why the Great Toad Sage reacted like he'd seen a mortal threat when he sensed Shanks.

But all of this only applies… in the One Piece world.

Shanks wasn't wrong—the One Piece plotline hadn't changed. The "No-Blade Pirate Crew" hadn't even made the slightest ripple in the seas.

Because, truthfully, they didn't even exist in the One Piece world. No waves to be stirred.

You have to hand it to Shanks—he could accurately analyze the entire One Piece world from another world.

Of course, this "great wisdom" didn't help much in practice.

Because right now, the Naruto world wasn't just getting ripples stirred—it was about to be hit with a tsunami.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Water...

Kisame and Itachi were on a boat heading toward the Land of Waves.

"Our Akatsuki… was originally the Revolutionary Army?"

Kisame was curious. He'd never known about Akatsuki's history. He'd only heard about the "Revolutionary Army" name during a chat with Kakuzu.

"I'm not sure," Itachi replied. "But investigating it wouldn't be hard. The leader never tried to hide it."

Akatsuki had existed for a while. If they really wanted to dig into the past, they could track down some of the original members.

But Itachi didn't seem particularly interested.

"I'm just curious why Zabuza knows so much about our organization."

Ever since his encounter with Zabuza, Kisame had been intensely training. Despite their differences, Kisame couldn't deny that Zabuza was the most like him among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Even their goals were similar.

So now, Kisame found himself intrigued by Zabuza.

"If you want to investigate, start with him," Itachi said, handing over a sealed scroll—their current mission.

"Shanks? You're kidding. I'm not poking that hornet's nest. Even you tread carefully around him."

Kisame wasn't dumb. He didn't even know who this "Shanks" really was, but if Itachi couldn't handle him, then Kisame wasn't going to try.

"Still, using a sealed scroll just to deliver shipbuilding materials? What kind of weird mission is this?"

He couldn't help but grumble. This was by far the strangest mission they'd ever received. Usually, they were assassinating, robbing, or toppling nations.

Now? Delivering construction materials?

But the pay was good, so whatever. Plus, the materials were for Shanks, and they were supposed to be delivered to Zabuza.

Kisame figured he might as well go and test himself against Zabuza again.

Little did the Akatsuki know… that back home, the sacred object they worshipped had already had a large chunk secretly sliced off.

Uchiha Madara—always true to his word—never owed anyone a favor.

So what if it was the "Divine Tree"? Just a little cut. No one would notice, right?

Sure, it wasn't called the "Treasure Tree Adam," and it wasn't any of those divine trees from One Piece...

But come on—it was still a Divine Tree!

Back in the Land of Waves, Zabuza had no idea that Itachi and Kisame were coming his way.

The country wasn't exactly peaceful right now, and on top of that, there were still quite a few pirates loitering offshore.

These pirates weren't targeting the Land of Waves specifically, but communication was spotty.

And Zabuza saw himself as a regular pirate, nothing ambitious.

At least for now, that's how it looked—he was just collecting protection money. What happened in the Land of Water? Purely personal matters.

So Zabuza focused his attention on the Land of Waves.

After all, the identities of Naruto and his companions were reason enough for him to stay alert. If anything happened, he'd be ready to flee.

"Kakashi is the squad leader?"

It took Zabuza seven days to gather all the intelligence he needed.

During those seven days, he never encountered Kakashi directly. But Kakashi had interacted with enough people that it was easy to gather intel.

"The squad includes Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Captain, are those kids special in any way?" Kado came running up, all smiles.

He wasn't part of the No-Blade Pirate Crew, but all the loot went through him, and he'd been paranoid ever since—worried he'd get killed for being too rich.

He was now stuck in the awkward position of both paying protection fees and working for the pirate crew.

Truly paying to work.

"Besides that Haruno girl, the other three are all special," Zabuza said.

Everyone in the No-Blade Crew had gathered, even Haku, who quietly listened.

"Kakashi has the title of 'Copy Ninja.' Most jutsu he sees once, he can use. His strength is that of an elite jonin—and he's strong enough to threaten a Kage."

Zabuza's tone was grave. An elite Leaf jonin could rival a Kage.

This Kakashi might not seem especially powerful now, but the truth was, he absolutely could threaten a Kage.

After all, some Kage had fallen silently in their own villages.

"Kakashi's father was the famous 'White Fang of the Leaf,' the greatest kenjutsu (sword) master of his era—surpassing even the Sannin."

This, more than anything, was why Zabuza took Kakashi seriously.

To the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the name White Fang was legendary.

Compared to Hatake Sakumo, the Mist's Seven Swordsmen were a joke.

Sakumo had stormed enemy bases with just a squad—or even alone—while the Seven Swordsmen ganged up on a Leaf genin and still got killed.

Utter disgrace.

"So Kakashi's real strength lies in kenjutsu?" Haku asked curiously.

They'd all seen Zabuza's swordsmanship in action. At high levels, it was terrifying.

And if Kakashi inherited White Fang's skills...

"Unclear—but very likely."

"And besides…"

Zabuza hadn't finished before everyone froze.

Wait, there's more buffs?

A famous swordsman's son. Elite jonin. Copy Ninja.

Those three buffs alone were already ridiculous.

"I mentioned the 'Golden Flash' before, right? The one Shanks called 'Kizaru'?"

"The man ranked alongside Aokiji and Akainu? Recognized by Emperor Shanks?"

"Yes. Kizaru—the Golden Flash. Like a flash of light on the battlefield. The Fourth Hokage of the Leaf… Kakashi's teacher."

Everyone fell silent.

Who would've thought this "ordinary" Leaf jonin had such a stacked background?

Kado was already thinking about how to escape. The guy was way out of his league.

Even Zabuza might not be able to handle him.

"As for Sasuke Uchiha…

The Uchiha were once Konoha's strongest clan. A few years ago, they were wiped out—likely by Itachi Uchiha, a defector."

Zabuza held up a bounty poster. Info on missing-nin was readily available on the black market.

"The Uchiha have a special bloodline: the Sharingan.

Exact abilities are unknown, but here's what I can tell you—when I encountered Itachi, even though we didn't fight, he escaped from Shanks unharmed."

"So keep an eye on that Uchiha brat too."

Zabuza didn't have specific info on Sasuke, but he clearly remembered Itachi and Kisame appearing together.

And if Itachi could walk away from an encounter with Shanks, that meant his strength was far beyond Zabuza's.

...Though what Zabuza didn't know was that Itachi never actually faced Shanks directly.

He just sent a summoning crow to observe him. Shanks noticed immediately and sliced the crow in half.

The two never even met face-to-face.

If they had, well—with that Akatsuki cloak, Shanks would've recognized him instantly.

But to these pirates, Shanks was a Yonko—someone even their captain had to look up to.