While the battle in the underworld raged on, Naruto had already flown over countless treetops and reached the surface.
Strictly speaking, this was the true giant country of Elbaf… the Underworld below was at most a 'abyss' for holding prisoners.
"What a waste..."
Before Naruto's eyes lay a series of massive structures, destroyed and burned.
From their architecture, it wasn't hard to guess that these were once taverns, libraries, or schools.
Now, only ruins remained.
This was Naruto's first ti in Elbaf, and the experience was far worse than he had anticipated.
However, thanks to this, Naruto could almost imdiately see the castle where the other giants were imprisoned.
The super fortress of the giant royal family.
The castle was enormous even by a giant's standards, but fortunately, Naruto's Observation Haki had an even wider range, so he wasn't worried about finding them.
Naruto blinked, his form vanished, and reappeared atop the castle walls in the next instant.
A number of demon giants were still stationed here. They hadn't joined the others in blocking roads or conducting searches.
They faithfully guarded various parts of the castle, preventing any uninvited guests from barging in.
—Of course, this certainly didn't include Naruto.
He didn't even need to fight. He simply walked straight through the main gate into the castle.
With the near-teleportation ability of Anotorifune, these giants never even had a chance to see his movents.
Using his Observation Haki to sense life forces through the architecture, Naruto pinpointed a location beneath the castle. However, when he reached that spot, he found no way down.
There must be a chanism or sothing.
Of course, this was hardly an obstacle for Naruto either.
A Truth-Seeking Ball silently materialized, then flattened and elongated under Naruto's control, forming a blade.
"...Well, I'm doing this to save people. The giants can't really bla , right?"
Muttering to himself, Naruto's hands moved swiftly.
Theoretically, these ultra-high-density energy aggregates known as Truth-Seeking Balls could be stretched to astronomically absurd cosmic scales while maintaining their stability.
This ti, Naruto turned one into a forty-ter-long blade… a length considered 'excessive' even for the bloated demon giants.
Of course, the target wasn't the giants, but the floor beneath his feet.
Swoosh!
Naruto swung the blade with incredible speed, and in an instant, the ground was sliced open, creating a passage wide enough for him.
The severed chunk of earth was then extracted by Naruto and completely annihilated using Dust Release.
Throughout this, the demon giants continued their patrols, utterly oblivious.
Flying down the long passageway, the first flicker of candlelight ca into view. Just then, a massive fist hurtled straight toward him.
Bang!
The giant elder, Jarul, winced in pain as he retracted his arm, bound by shackles. He felt like he had just punched a nail.
If Naruto hadn't sidestepped, the old man might have broken his own hand.
"Hey, hey, is this how giants treat their saviors?"
Naruto wasn't particularly bothered by Jarul's reaction. It was normal for prisoners kept in a dungeon to attack an intruder.
He brushed his wind-tousled hair aside and surveyed the prison.
Well, as he expected, nearly a hundred giants were still held here.
Among them, the stronger ones, like Jarul, were bound in shackles. Only so won and children, who didn't look like fighters, could move freely within the cells.
"Who... who are you?"
Jarul cautiously eyed Naruto, who was floating in mid-air. The lingering pain in his hand told him that the previous impact was no illusion.
"Soone here to rescue you... first, let confirm. Are all of you imprisoned here?"
Hearing this, Elder Jarul hesitated but eventually nodded.
"Yes. The others were either transford into demons or killed in their massacres. Those here are... all that's left."
As he spoke, Elder Jarul couldn't hide the pain on his face. The other giants also had expressions of grief.
"There's no ti for mourning. I need to get you all to a safe place first."
"Huh?"
Jarul was taken aback by Naruto's words, then looked him up and down, Naruto was smaller than the palm of his hand, then glanced at the over a hundred giants in the cell.
But Naruto didn't seem inclined to explain further. Confirming everyone was present, he simply got to work.
"Don't resist. Once you land, don't wander. Your compatriots will be waiting for you there."
As he spoke, Naruto rapidly 'blinked' across the room.
Each ti he moved, the giant he touched vanished instantly.
They were being transported to Amazon Lily.
Jarul was stunned. By the ti he realized what was happening, Naruto had already sent over half the giants away.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Just as Naruto sent away another giant child next to Jarul, the elder giant managed to call out.
"What is it? Ti is tight. I don't have ti for idle chat."
"Cough... unknown human. I don't know why you're saving us, but thank you regardless."
Jarul knew about the various Devil Fruits on the seas, so he didn't suspect that the vanished giants had been killed by Naruto.
As for why he didn't doubt Naruto's intentions—
—They were already prisoners. Could things get any worse than this?
Besides, Jarul felt he saw a certain quality in this man, similar to that of 'Ya-san'.
He assud that this man was reinforcents called by Ya-san.
"Alright, alright, I get it..."
Naruto waved his hand impatiently. He didn't help others for thanks.
"Wait!"
"What is it now?"
In this interval, Naruto had already sent the remaining giants away. Only Jarul and Naruto were left in the cell.
"...If possible, please save Prince Loki... He was just being controlled..."
"Got it."
In the next mont, Jarul also vanished from this place, but Naruto returned to the cell.
He floated silently in the prison illuminated by a single candle, as if waiting for sothing.
But it was quiet, with no sound at all.
"How long are you going to keep watching?"
Naruto's sudden voice caused the shadow cast by the candlelight to flicker a few tis. Eventually, a figure he knew all too well erged from it.
A bloated belly, disheveled black hair and beard, and those signature chipped teeth.
It was none other than Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach!
But this Blackbeard didn't let out his signature 'Zehahaha' laugh. Instead, he stared coldly at Naruto with those ringed eyes.
"When did you notice?"
It was strange. The voice was the sa as before, but it was distinctly clear that this was a different person.
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he glanced between Blackbeard's pupils and the shadow beneath his feet a few tis, then sighed softly as if understanding sothing.
"So, you've sunk your claws into not only Blackbeard but also Gecko Moria, huh, Imu."
His azure eyes t the deep red ringed eyes. Naruto's gaze held more pity than anything else.
He regretted not being able to kill Blackbeard himself, but he also felt sorry that Moria had t such an end.
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