Fisher Tiger's bounty was significantly higher than the 230,000,000 Berries he received in the original canon timeline. This alone was pure proof of exactly how devastating Chu Yang's fire had been!
The only reason the Marines hadn't immediately dispatched forces to hunt down the Sun Pirates was because the damages inflicted upon Mary Geoise were far too catastrophic. Every available hand, from top-tier Admiral candidates to low-ranking grunts, had been immediately diverted to disaster relief and reconstruction efforts.
This, arguably, was the silver lining within the tragedy. It gave Chu Yang a crucial window of time to grow and acquire the power necessary to protect his own life.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Roughly one month later, the Marine pursuit finally arrived.
By this point, under Jinbe's meticulous tutelage, Chu Yang had successfully learned the fundamentals of Armament Haki.
Somewhere in the waters of the New World, the Sun Pirates found themselves completely surrounded by five heavily armed Marine warships.
The enemy had come in aggressively. Every single crewmate on board understood that today was going to be an incredibly tough battle.
Yet, not a single person—not even Arlong—showed the slightest trace of fear. They were genuinely prepared to fight to the bitter end, ready to drag the Marines down to hell with them. Not a single Fish-Man on this ship would ever allow their spiritual leader, Fisher Tiger, to be captured.
With the massive battle imminent, Tiger suddenly walked over to Chu Yang. "I didn't expect that keeping you here would bring this kind of trouble to your doorstep. If things go south later, take a lifeboat and get out of here."
Tiger looked out at the surrounding warships. "Aside from you, everyone on this ship is a Fish-Man. They don't need a boat to escape into the sea."
Chu Yang glanced at Tiger, but he didn't agree to the captain's proposal.
If the situation truly became completely unsalvageable, he would obviously leave. But before he did, he was going to launch an absolute massacre. He might not have the power to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons yet, but slaughtering their Marine lapdogs would definitely help him vent some pent-up anger.
Standing nearby, Jinbe spoke up fiercely. "Boss Tiger, we will absolutely never abandon you to save ourselves!"
Tiger looked around the deck. Every single crew member held the exact same unyielding expression as Jinbe. Realizing that persuasion was entirely useless, Tiger could only shift his focus and begin commanding the crew for battle.
In terms of sheer artillery firepower, the Marines held an overwhelming advantage over 90% of pirate crews. As such, standard naval doctrine dictated that a devastating cannon bombardment was absolutely mandatory before any boarding actions were initiated.
The five warships had completely boxed the Sun Pirates in from all sides. At the commander's order, they fired their cannons simultaneously. The deafening roar of artillery fire instantly shattered the tranquility of the sea.
"Brace for impact! Defend against the shells, or our ship is done for!"
Jinbe roared, instantly diving into the ocean. Plunging beneath the waves, he engaged Fish-Man Jujutsu, grabbing the very ocean currents with his bare hands as if they were solid objects.
With a violent, twisting pull, Jinbe forced the ocean currents to rapidly spiral, forming a massive, thick water tornado.
Like throwing an opponent over his shoulder in a judo match, Jinbe violently launched the water tornado out of the sea. The raging vortex erupted beside the pirate ship, forming a violently churning curtain of water that successfully blocked a massive volley of incoming cannonballs.
However, the other side of the ship wasn't nearly as lucky. It was left completely exposed, without any defense whatsoever.
Several of the more radical Fish-Men actually prepared to use their own physical bodies as meat shields to block the incoming shells and protect the ship's mast.
Just in the nick of time, Chu Yang appeared on that side of the deck. Slapping his hands together, he rapidly formed a series of hand seals.
Over the past month, he hadn't just been learning Haki; he had spent every single day diligently extracting chakra and practicing his Wood Release. He was no longer the helpless rookie who had just escaped the Holy Land. He was now capable of performing several highly complex ninjutsu.
Channeling his Wood Release, Chu Yang stomped his foot.
Rumble! Massive, interwoven shields of thick wood and dense vines violently erupted from both sides of the deck, rapidly expanding to cover more than half of the ship's entire hull.
[Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall]
The cannonballs rained down upon the wooden dome like a torrential storm, erupting in violent flashes of fire and smoke. Shockingly, the wooden shields proved to be abnormally durable. They forcefully withstood the brunt of the explosive bombardment, coming away with nothing more than a few superficial cracks.
"It seems I underestimated the defensive power of Wood Release!" Chu Yang let out a sigh of relief. He had genuinely prepared himself mentally for the giant wooden dome to be blown apart by the concentrated artillery fire.
"Beautifully done, Chu Yang!" Tiger shouted, utterly overjoyed. "Brothers! Little brother Chu Yang blocked their bombardment! Let's get the ship moving! We'll break through their encirclement first, and then we fight!"
Even though the Marines had just wasted a massive volley of shells against the Wood Release, the sheer disparity in military numbers was still far too massive. Rashly engaging in close-quarters boarding combat would be highly disadvantageous. The Sun Pirates absolutely could not afford to fight the Marines while boxed inside an encirclement.
Leaping like a dolphin, Jinbe vaulted out of the sea and landed cleanly back on the deck. He glanced up at the thick canopy of wood securely protecting the ship from above, then shouted, "Boss Tiger! We can't raise the sails right now! We'll have to manipulate the ocean currents to propel the ship forward!"
Tiger nodded. He immediately joined Jinbe at the stern of the ship.
Positioned on the left and right, the two master martial artists simultaneously unleashed Fish-Man Jujutsu. By violently manipulating the recoil force of the water currents beneath them, they propelled the massive pirate galleon forward at a terrifyingly high speed.
Chu Yang didn't remain idle, either.
Pouring his chakra into the bow of the ship, he used Wood Release to grow a pair of massive, spear-like wooden battering rams right out of the figurehead.
As the pirate ship violently broke through the encirclement, those twin giant wooden horns speared directly into the hull of the Marine warship blocking their path!
The sheer kinetic force snapped the warship cleanly in half!
Just like the Titanic, the broken warship began to rapidly sink into the depths of the ocean. The Marines on board screamed as they spilled into the freezing water like dumplings being dumped into a boiling pot.
A deafening cheer erupted around Chu Yang!
Having successfully broken the siege, Chu Yang dispelled his Wood Release. The crew scrambled to re-hoist the sails, and Jinbe took the helm, using his masterful navigational skills to rapidly put distance between them and the remaining Marine vessels.
Tiger walked over to Chu Yang and affectionately patted his shoulder. He was just about to praise the boy when he noticed Chu Yang was staring blankly into space, his consciousness seemingly completely detached from his body.
In that exact moment, Chu Yang's spiritual consciousness, guided by that familiar, mysterious mist, had returned to the grand palace within his soul space.
The Naruto world Chu Yang had clearly been waiting there for quite some time.
More importantly, upon one of the previously empty thrones, a brand-new figure was sitting!
Another "me"?!
Naruto Chu Yang excitedly walked forward to stand face-to-face with One Piece Chu Yang. The "new" Chu Yang sitting on the throne immediately stood up and joined them.
In a flash, the memories of the three perfectly synchronized.
A moment later, the Naruto and One Piece Chu Yangs stared at the newcomer in absolute astonishment.
He was a Chu Yang from the magical world of Harry Potter!
Magic Chu Yang had just received his Hogwarts acceptance letter during the summer holidays. He hadn't officially enrolled yet; currently, he was just a regular kid living in a Muggle orphanage.
Magic Chu Yang smiled brightly. "To be honest, I was actually dreading going to Hogwarts. Sure, I was excited about magic, but as a Muggle-born orphan, I was terrified I wouldn't be able to handle it. But now? I'm not afraid at all."
Naruto Chu Yang nodded in deep understanding. "I completely get where you're coming from. When I first transmigrated into a chaotic, war-torn era, I was scared half to death. Sure, there are opportunities, but it's mostly just lethal danger."
One Piece Chu Yang rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You two should just be grateful! I was strung up from the ceiling and had a red-hot branding iron shoved into my chest! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?!"
Naruto Chu Yang and Magic Chu Yang simultaneously shuddered. Thanks to the memory synchronization, they had just vividly "experienced" exactly what that felt like.
Magic Chu Yang forced an apologetic smile. "Well, look on the bright side! Now that I have your physical abilities, I can safely go to Hogwarts and learn magic without any worries!"
Naruto Chu Yang sighed heavily. "I really hope the next guy who shows up brings something useful to the table. You guys can't just keep freeloading off my ninja skills forever..."
One Piece Chu Yang laughed. "Our training speed has just been tripled thanks to the third soul fragment! What more do you want? You're way too greedy."
Naruto Chu Yang grinned, throwing an arm over One Piece Chu Yang's shoulders. "I gotta hand it to you, bro, you really delivered this time! Armament Haki combined with Wood Release is absolutely broken. And the timing couldn't be better; I have a massive use for it."
One Piece Chu Yang asked, surprised, "Has the war started on your end?"
Naruto Chu Yang's eyes gleamed with intense excitement. "It's highly likely to be the very last battle before the village is founded! I'm going to personally witness the creation of Konoha!"