Naruto: Copy System

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"The town is not big, but it's quite prosperous." Shin said, walking in Loguetown.

Loguetown wasn't big, nor was it small. Perhaps because Smoker was stationed here, it was relatively safe and prosperous.

In fact, there were pirates in Loguetown, but these pirates were very smart and wouldn't cause trouble. They disguised themselves as ordinary people.

"Is this the place where Roger was executed?"

Shin came to the most conspicuous place in Loguetown.

If he had transmigrated a few years earlier, Shin could have seen the scene of Roger's execution. When Roger was executed back then, many big shots must have come.

"It's just a regular execution platform—maybe a little taller than usual," Hancock said, studying the structure.

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"You're showing off too much—"

Smoker, with a long scar on his face and biting two cigars, walked over from a distance with the Marines.

"—One of the Four Emperors, Shin Uzumaki, showing up in Loguetown this brazenly. How bold." Smoker snarled, his face twisted with rage.

Shin's pirate ship sat anchored in plain view outside the harbor, black flag flying proudly, so naturally Smoker had spotted his arrival immediately.

Even stationed out here in the Four Seas, Smoker kept himself well-informed about the major players—especially the Four Emperors.

After all, his assignment to the East Blue wasn't permanent.

The Marines had sent him here mainly to smooth out his rough edges and stubborn attitude.

Eventually, he'd return to Headquarters once he'd matured.

Smoker was one of Zephyr's students, and among the former admiral's students, he showed real promise.

His talent was exceptional, making him one of Z's most valued proteges.

"Between the two of us, who's bolder?" Shin asked with a smirk.

Smoker called him bold, but Shin figured the Marine was the truly reckless one here. The guy knew exactly who he was dealing with, yet still had the nerve to come out and cause a scene.

Was he seriously underestimating what it meant to be a Four Emperor?

"Hmph, I don't care if you're a Four Emperor from the New World—you're in Loguetown now, and I will arrest you," Smoker declared, smoke billowing from his mouth.

Standing behind him, his second-in-command Tashigi was practically having a panic attack.

Tashigi kept up with the news and knew plenty about these monsters.

The sea emperors of the New World were so dangerous that even Marine Admirals treated them with extreme caution. These were threats that required multiple Admirals working together to handle, and Smoker thought he could just arrest one solo?

Could the man please develop some basic self-preservation instincts?

Either way, Tashigi was convinced they were all about to die. She felt utterly hopeless. Sure, she wanted to arrest pirates too, but someone like a Four Emperor was completely out of her league.

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"Not bad—you've got serious balls. I doubt even Akainu would have the nerve to tell me he's arresting me to my face. Can't believe you actually said it."

Shin laughed out loud.

Smoker interpreted that smile as pure mockery, and his anger flared even hotter.

Truth was, as a prodigy, Smoker had always been arrogant and way too confident in his own abilities. That's exactly why the Marines had shipped him out here in the first place.

With his level of power, he could've easily made a name for himself on the Grand Line.

Hina—who Shin had captured earlier—was his former classmate, and Smoker was even stronger than her.

In his mind, the gap between his strength and the Four Emperors couldn't be that massive.

Smoker had gotten a serious case of big head syndrome.

He genuinely believed he was in their league...

"<White Blow!>"

Smoker's limbs turned into smoke and then hit Shin.

"Shin might not care, but you're way out of line," Hancock said, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes.

There had to be a limit to how delusional someone could be about their own abilities.

With pathetic strength like that, he actually thought he could challenge Shin? She had no idea where he'd found the nerve.

Hancock was about to make her move when Kalifa, who'd been standing quietly behind Shin, stepped forward to stop her.

"Vice-Captain, I think this kind of garbage is better left to me," Kalifa said, adjusting her glasses.

"Alright." Hancock agreed.

She felt that getting involved would be like picking on someone helpless. Besides, he really wasn't worth her time.

Kalifa stomped her foot, and the ground erupted upward, blocking all of Smoker's attacks.

"A Devil Fruit user?"

Smoker's expression turned serious when he saw what happened. He knew firsthand how tricky Devil Fruit users could be in a fight.

But what kind of fruit was this?

Smoker's knowledge of Devil Fruits was pretty limited. He wasn't some walking encyclopedia who could identify abilities just by watching someone use them.

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"The Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit. Not particularly impressive," Kalifa observed with clinical detachment.

Her casual dismissal immediately set Smoker off.

She'd just called his Devil Fruit weak? He'd always taken pride in his abilities—after all, it was a Logia type.

Logia Fruits were universally considered the most powerful class, and elementalization alone was enough to give most enemies nightmares.

Well, that was true in the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line anyway.

In the New World, even Logia powers became pretty much worthless. Nearly everyone there had mastered Armament Haki, which rendered elementalization almost useless.

What remained was raw destructive potential.

The problem was, not every Logia fruit packed serious firepower.

What was Smoker supposed to do—suffocate his enemies with smoke? Sure, it could choke people out, but anyone with real strength could hold their breath long enough to close the distance and beat him senseless.

"<Finger Pistol!>"

Kalifa thrust her hand forward like a spear, fingers aimed straight at Smoker. Seeing the attack coming, Smoker immediately shifted into his smoke form.

He'd gotten so comfortable dominating the East Blue that he used elementalization without a second thought, apparently forgetting that Armament Haki even existed.

But knowing he was a Logia user, how could Kalifa possibly attack without coating her fingers in Haki?

Her strike punched clean through his shoulder, boring a hole straight through his shoulder blade.

"How the hell did you hit me?" Smoker wheezed, agony flaring through his shoulder while sweat poured down his face.

The pain was bad enough, but the realization that his defenses had failed was absolutely terrifying.

"You don't even know about Armament Haki? How pathetic," Kalifa said, though she caught herself mid-thought.

Actually, considering he was stationed in the East Blue, his ignorance made perfect sense.

Not knowing about Haki was pretty standard out here.

Even in the first half of the Grand Line, people who could use Armament Haki were rare. In the weakest of the four seas?

It was completely normal for someone to have never encountered it.

Standing in the background, Tashigi had been quietly observing the whole time, but now her face showed pure disbelief.

A Logia user could be hurt without Seastone? How?

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