Chapter 53: Boarding the Fourth Prince's Ship

The red-haired man gave a chuckle, unbothered by the remark, and instead added a word of caution: "This drink is on me. Remember, once you're done, head straight home."

"Captain Shanks, all that nagging is going to make the kids hate you!" Lucky Roux, who was currently devouring a massive hunk of meat, grinned widely. The fat on his body rippled like waves, making him look quite comical.

Shanks laughed and scolded, "You'd better worry about yourself, Lucky. You're always the one talking the most."

Shortly after, Makino walked back to the bar carrying a glass of rum and pushed it toward Chuyang.

Taking the drink, Chuyang raised it in a toast toward Shanks. Shanks picked up his own glass in return. Chuyang drained the glass in one gulp before speaking: "You got one thing wrong. Even if I finish this drink, I can't go home."

The smile on Shanks' face suddenly faded, and his brow furrowed.

Chuyang explained, "I am a slave. I only recently found an opportunity to escape. The word 'home' is a luxury to me."

As he spoke, Chuyang pulled his clothes down slightly, revealing a faint scar on his chest. Though it had faded significantly, Shanks could tell from its shape that it was once a very severe, life-threatening wound.

The tavern gradually fell silent. The gazes of the Red Hair Pirates focused on Chuyang. Hearing such words spoken so calmly by a child was undoubtedly a profound shock.

Hearing about Chuyang's tragic ordeal, Shanks was suddenly reminded of the arson incident that occurred in Mary Geoise several months ago. At that time, many Celestial Dragon slaves had escaped from Mary Geoise.

Shanks instantly understood Chuyang's identity, and sympathy naturally welled up in his eyes.

If slaves in this world could be categorized by rank, then the slaves of the Celestial Dragons were undoubtedly the most wretched!

The mercurial Celestial Dragons were experts at torturing slaves; they could employ all sorts of punishments that were beyond human imagination.

Chuyang's words and the scars on his body made Makino's eyes redden, but she didn't know what to say to comfort him.

In the tavern, only little Luffy continued to act up thoughtlessly.

However, it was thanks to him that the briefly chilled atmosphere of the tavern regained its liveliness.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, Shanks once again handed Chuyang a drink, though this time he did not repeat the nonsense about "going home after drinking."

Having gone through so much, no matter one's age, one needs the solace of alcohol.

The two clinked glasses and shared a smile.

"Luffy! What did you eat!?"

A panicked shout suddenly drew the attention of Chuyang and Shanks.

Upon seeing the treasure chest beside him had been opened, Shanks' expression changed abruptly.

He grabbed Luffy by the feet and turned him upside down, shaking him violently.

He was attempting to shake out whatever Luffy had swallowed.

In his panic, however, Luffy didn't spit the object out; instead, he swallowed it directly.

*Splat!*

Little Luffy was like a stretched piece of rubber, stuck to the floor with his legs still held in Shanks' hands.

This scene terrified everyone, and the tavern instantly descended into chaos, with only Chuyang calmly continuing to drink.

At night, Makino's tavern closed. The pirates gradually returned to their ships at the port to sleep. Chuyang followed the crowd back to his own small boat.

As Shanks was preparing to board his ship, he happened to see Chuyang's small boat, drifting lonely on the sea like a piece of duckweed.

Beckman, standing beside Shanks, observed his every move and smiled. "If you can't bear to see it, just bring the kid aboard. Will you really be at peace letting him drift aimlessly on the ocean like that?"

"What a pain," Shanks grumbled, though his body was quite honest as he walked toward Chuyang, eventually stopping in front of the small boat.

Chuyang was sitting upright on the boat, meditating.

"Hey, kid, come with me. This boat of yours doesn't even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain!"

The next day, Chuyang became the youngest apprentice crew member of the Red Hair Pirates, beginning his pirate career and his journey to further study Haki.

***

The Naruto World.

In contrast to the Chuyang who had successfully joined an Emperor's crew in the One Piece world, the Chuyang here was having a rather difficult teaching career.

The idea that the young Third Hokage was shy and timid was a lie; once he became familiar with his environment, he was exceptionally mischievous—perhaps even more so than Naruto was as a child.

Not long after the school term began, he had already turned the academy upside down!

Using the Three Basic Jutsu to prank teachers had become his daily mandatory task.

Combined with Danzo Shimura—who looked honest but was actually full of schemes—the two of them worked together to leave the teachers of the Ninja Academy in a state of constant confusion and exhaustion.

With one working from the inside and the other from the outside, their cooperation was seamless, subtly showing the prototype of their future management of Konoha.

The teachers at the school found it difficult to deal with them. The biggest concern was the Sarutobi clan behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Aside from Hiruzen, the children of other major clans in the school were in similar situations. When they made mistakes, most teachers chose to settle things quietly to avoid trouble.

At this time, Konoha had just been established, and the competition between various clans was extremely fierce. The Ninja Academy was a unique entity; if anything was handled improperly, it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

For example, if a young master from one clan hit a young master from another, whichever side the school took might be perceived by the other side as the school sending a certain signal.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the Principal, Tobirama Senju, would not personally punish students, even if they committed serious violations of school rules.

But Chuyang felt that things could not continue this way.

If the excessive behavior of Hiruzen Sarutobi or other clan children was always tolerated and rarely punished, then one day, they would become increasingly extreme and easily cross the line.

The worst-case scenario would be these clan children uniting to oppress the children of commoners.

Once class status takes root in a school, it deals a devastating blow to the growth of the students, especially considering that nearly half of the students in the school were of commoner descent.

Having shared the memories of the "Magic-using Chuyang," the Chuyang of the Naruto world understood the dangers of allowing such bloodline theories to exist.

He did not want the Ninja Academy to develop organizations similar to Slytherin House.

Thus, Chuyang sought out Tobirama Senju late at night to explain his thoughts.

Being from a clan himself, Tobirama was somewhat blinded by his own perspective; it was normal that he hadn't considered this aspect.

If Chuyang hadn't reminded him, he likely wouldn't have realized the severity of the issue for a long time.

After finishing his official duties, Tobirama fell into deep thought upon hearing Chuyang's report, and couldn't help but sigh: "In this regard, you are as sensitive as my brother. If the school's attitude is not clear and resolute, it will inevitably fuel this unhealthy trend."

"But the question is, who will handle it? Ordinary teachers will likely be wary of the pressure from those clans."

Chuyang smiled. "I am the best candidate. Publicly, I am a teacher; privately, I am the disciple of the Hokage and yourself, and a member of the Senju clan. I can withstand the pressure."