Ch 4: One piece world

Chapter 4: One piece world

"I never thought… even world travel has a five-minute delay. Thank goodness I didn't try to use this ability mid-battle. That would've been suicide."

In the snowstorm, Ayaan trudged forward, muttering to himself.

He genuinely felt lucky. If he had used his dimensional travel as a trump card during a fight—believing he could escape at the last second—he'd be dead by now. That five-minute delay would've sealed his fate.

"Anyway, the real question now is… which world have I landed in?"

He looked up at the thickly falling snowflakes and then down at the vast white sheet blanketing the land. Rubbing his arms, Ayaan sighed. Though he wasn't dressed for the cold, his chakra-enhanced body granted him resistance. It was uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

"Forget it. I need to find some kind of settlement first."

Thankfully, he'd retained his tracking skills from the ninja academy. Judging from subtle trails and terrain shifts, he estimated where human presence might be and started walking in that direction.

But not long after, a giant silhouette emerged through the veil of wind and snow.

"What's that?"

At first, Ayaan assumed it was a person, but within a few seconds, he noticed the strange body proportions—too massive to be human.

As he closed the distance cautiously, the figure took full shape: a massive white bear, upright, walking with a serious expression and carrying what looked like a mattock—upside down like a cane.

Despite its monstrous size, the bear moved with a quiet dignity. Its eyes gleamed with intelligence.

"...Huh."

Ayaan froze in place, weighing his options. Summoned beasts in the Naruto world often had human-level intelligence, so he didn't inherently fear such creatures. But he reminded himself—this wasn't his world. And intelligent didn't always mean friendly.

Still, after a moment's thought, he decided to make contact—cautiously. His fingers touched the edge of a kunai inside his pouch, where a sealed explosive tag was prepped and ready.

"Excuse me," he called out. "Have you seen other humans around here?"

The bear stopped. It didn't speak—only gave him a solemn bow.

Stunned, Ayaan bowed in return on instinct. The bear then walked on, disappearing into the white fog without another sound.

"...Weird. It didn't speak, but it felt oddly familiar."

He furrowed his brow. Something about that creature stirred a distant memory, but he couldn't place it just yet.

"Well, let's keep going. I'll probably hit a town or village soon enough."

He climbed a snow-covered ridge and, at its peak, paused.

What spread before him was a vast, frozen island with tall, cylindrical snow-capped mountains at its center. Beyond them, the ocean shimmered faintly through the haze.

And just like that—his memories came rushing back.

"Pirate King… Drum Kingdom… That was a Hiking Bear!"

Now it all made sense.

Relief flooded through him. Though One Piece was far from a safe world, it had order—of a kind. More importantly, this was still the first half of the Grand Line, not the chaotic and monstrously powerful New World.

He might only be a Genin in terms of combat ranking, but here? On Drum Island? He was confident he could survive.

After all, Genin weren't weak in the broader multiverse. With chakra-enhanced strength and speed, they outclassed most normal humans. Even their basic ninja techniques—like substitution, transformation, and clones—were unmatched in non-shinobi worlds.

In Naruto's world, only the Substitution Technique retained value against elite opponents. But in other worlds?

The Transformation Technique was practically a cheat code.

Naruto-world ninjas might be able to see through transformations easily, but in the One Piece world, unless someone had highly advanced Observation Haki, they couldn't tell the difference between a transformation and the real thing.

And how many people even had that level of Haki?

Ayaan smirked. "I'd bet less than a hundred in the whole world… and none of them live here."

Meaning, with just the Henge no Jutsu alone, he could live quite comfortably.

"Now to figure out the timeline…"

He scratched his head. "Damn. It's been more than ten years since I read the manga. My memory's pretty fuzzy."

"No problem. I'll just ask around about the Pirate King—Gol D. Roger. I remember he was executed twenty years before the Straw Hats set out. That should help me anchor the timeline."

While talking to himself, he spotted cooking smoke rising from the distance. A settlement!

He descended the slope, heart lifted with hope.

But just then, a strange thud-thud-thud echoed from the snow behind him.

A massive creature burst from beneath the white carpet. A giant white rabbit—easily three or four meters tall—its bulky limbs packed with muscle. Its mouth opened to reveal sharp, carnivorous teeth.

"...Wait, this thing looks familiar too."

He tilted his head. "Is that… a Lapahn?"

The name triggered something in his memory.

Yes—Lapahns. Native to Drum Island. Massive snow rabbits known for their aggression. Definitely not friendly, and definitely not herbivores.

The rabbit growled lowly and then charged, snow exploding beneath its monstrous feet.

Ayaan didn't panic. A faint smile played on his lips as his hand slid into his tool pouch.

With a flick of his wrist, a kunai appeared—tagged with an explosive note.

"Let's see how you handle a little chakra-enhanced welcome."

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