Chapter 53: Aboard the Emperor's Ship

The red-haired man gave a chuckle, unmindful of the retort, and instead offered another piece of advice, "This drink is on me. Remember to head straight home after you finish it."

"Captain Shanks, you'll become a nuisance if you keep nagging like an old man!" Lucky Roux beamed while devouring a large chunk of meat, the fat on his body rolling in waves, looking thoroughly comical.

Shanks laughed and scolded, "You better worry about yourself, Roux. You're always the one with the most to say."

Afterwards, Makino walked back to the counter with a glass of rum and slid it over to Chu Yang.

Accepting the drink, Chu Yang raised his glass toward Shanks in a toast. Shanks picked up his cup in return, and Chu Yang drank it all in one go before saying, "You got one thing wrong. Even after I finish this drink, I still don't have a home to go back to."

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

Chu Yang explained, "I was a slave. I only managed to escape recently when an opportunity presented itself. The word 'home' is a luxury I cannot afford."

With that, Chu Yang pulled his collar down slightly to reveal a faint scar on his chest. Although it had faded significantly, Shanks could tell from its shape that it had been a severe, fatal wound.

The tavern gradually grew quiet, and the gazes of the Red Hair Pirates' crew members all focused on Chu Yang. Hearing such words spoken so calmly by the mouth of a young child undoubtedly carried a heavy impact.

Hearing of Chu Yang's tragic ordeal, Shanks suddenly recalled the arson incident that had occurred in Mariejois several months prior, during which numerous Celestial Dragons' slaves had managed to flee.

Shanks instantly understood Chu Yang's identity, and a natural look of sympathy welled up in his eyes.

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

The capricious Celestial Dragons were exceptionally skilled at torturing slaves, casually employing all manner of unimaginable punishments.

Chu Yang's words and the scars on his body caused Makino's eyes to turn red, though she had no idea what to say to comfort him.

Only little Luffy remained oblivious, carrying on with his antics.

Thanks to him, however, the briefly dead silence in the tavern was broken, and the lively atmosphere returned.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, Shanks slid another glass of drink over to Chu Yang, though this time he refrained from uttering any nonsense about "finishing the drink and going home."

Having been through so much, regardless of one's age, one needed the solace of alcohol.

The two men clinked their glasses and exchanged a smile.

"Luffy! What on earth did you just eat?!"

A panicked shout immediately drew the attention of Chu Yang and Shanks.

Upon noticing that the treasure chest beside them had been opened, Shanks's expression changed drastically.

He grabbed Luffy by the foot, flipped him upside down, and shook him violently.

He attempted to shake out whatever Luffy had swallowed.

As a result, in his panic, not only did Luffy fail to spit out what he had eaten, but he swallowed it down completely instead.

Splat!

Little Luffy stretched out like a piece of pulled rubber, sticking flat against the floor while his legs remained grasped in Shanks's hands.

This spectacle terrified everyone present, throwing the tavern into instant chaos while Chu Yang calmly continued drinking.

That night, Makino's tavern closed its doors. The pirates returned one by one to their ships docked at the harbor to sleep, and Chu Yang followed the crowd back to his small boat.

When Shanks was about to board his ship, he happened to catch sight of Chu Yang's tiny boat, drifting lonely and aimlessly upon the vast ocean like a floating duckweed.

Standing beside Shanks, Benn Beckman observed every move he made and smiled, saying, "If your heart can't bear it, why not bring the kid aboard? Would you really feel at ease leaving him to drift alone across the open sea?"

"Such a pain," Shanks muttered under his breath, yet his body moved honestly as he walked toward Chu Yang, finally stopping in front of the child's small boat.

Chu Yang was sitting upright upon it in meditation.

"Hey, kid, come with me. Your boat doesn't even have a roof to keep out the wind and rain!"

The next day, Chu Yang became the youngest intern crew member of the Red Hair Pirates, embarking further upon his pirate journey of mastering Haki.

The Naruto World.

Compared to Chu Yang, who had successfully joined a Yonko pirate crew in the world of pirates, the Chu Yang here was having a far less pleasant career as an academy instructor.

The shyness and timidity of young Hiruzen Sarutobi were completely fake; once he familiarized himself with his surroundings, he proved to be extraordinarily mischievous, easily surpassing a young Naruto.

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

Prank-pulling teachers using the Three-Body Techniques became his daily required course.

Coupled with Shimura Danzo—who looked honest on the surface but was actually filled with a bellyful of malicious schemes—the two teamed up to leave the ninja academy's teachers thoroughly dizzy and overwhelmed.

Working in tandem, one from within and the other from without, their cooperation was flawless, faintly foreshadowing their future management of Konoha.

The teachers at the academy simply didn't know how to deal with them. The greatest deterrent weighing on their minds was the Sarutobi clan standing behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Aside from Sarutobi Hiruzen, the children of other prominent clans in the academy presented a similar situation; whenever they made mistakes, the teachers would mostly choose to sweep the matters under the rug.

Konoha had just been established at this time, and the undercurrents of covert struggle among the various clans were exceptionally fierce. The ninja academy was a unique entity, and if any incident were handled improperly, it might trigger unnecessary misunderstandings.

For instance, if the young master of clan A beat up the young master of clan B today, whichever side the academy favored might be misinterpreted by the other as the academy sending a certain political signal.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Senju Tobirama, serving as the headmaster, would never personally punish the students, no matter how severely they violated academy rules.

However, Chu Yang felt that things could not continue this way.

If the extreme behaviors of Sarutobi Hiruzen or other prominent clan descendants were constantly condoned and rarely faced punishment, then a day would come when their actions would grow increasingly outrageous, effortlessly trampling over every bottom line.

The most severe consequence would be these prominent clan youths uniting to form an oppressive force against civilian-born students.

Once class status took root in the academy, it would deal a devastating blow to the students' growth. One had to remember that nearly half the students in the academy were of commoner origin.

Having shared the memories of the Magic World's Chu Yang, the Naruto World's Chu Yang was acutely aware of the dangers of condoning such theories of bloodline supremacy.

He did not want an organization similar to Slytherin House to emerge in the ninja academy.

Consequently, Chu Yang sought out Senju Tobirama late at night to articulate his perspective.

As someone hailing from a prominent clan himself, Senju Tobirama had suffered from a blind spot regarding this issue, and it was entirely natural that he hadn't made the connection.

Had Chu Yang not brought it to his attention, it likely would have taken him a long time to realize the gravity of the problem.

Having just finished dealing with administrative affairs, Senju Tobirama fell into deep contemplation after listening to Chu Yang's report, eventually sighing, "In this regard, you are just as perceptive as my elder brother. If the academy's stance is not sufficiently clear and resolute, it will inevitably fuel the flames of this unhealthy trend."

"Yet, who should handle enforcement remains a problem. Ordinary teachers would likely hold a deep dread of the pressure exerted by those clans."

Chu Yang smiled. "I am the best candidate for the job. Officially, I am a teacher; privately, I am a disciple of Lord Hokage and you yourself, as well as a member of the Senju clan. I can withstand the pressure."