Naruto: The Legend of Red Haired Shanks

"I've traveled to another world?" 

Looking at the unfamiliar face reflected in the water, along with the striking red hair, the sword at his side, and the straw hat resting under a tree nearby, the man was sure—he had crossed into another world. 

"Red hair? A sword?" 

He took another careful look at his reflection. A name instantly popped into his mind—Red-Haired Shanks. 

"No way… Did I end up in the world of One Piece? And I became Shanks?" 

At that moment, he felt a strange power inside his body. Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind, allowing that mysterious energy to spread outward. 

His vision seemed to expand with it, and in an instant, he could sense every living creature within a one-kilometer radius. 

In that moment, he confirmed his identity. 

"Observation Haki? I really became Shanks?" 

As a transmigrator, he quickly accepted the fact that he was now Shanks. But even though he accepted it, he was still in shock. 

Just a second ago, he was joking with his friends about how One Piece's story was getting worse the longer it went on, and the next thing he knew—boom, he was Shanks. 

No warning at all. Even if this was karma, wasn't it a bit too fast? 

But his appearance, the feeling he just experienced, and the straw hat on the ground—not exactly the same as he remembered, but close enough—everything added up. 

He had really crossed over and become Shanks. 

"The first thing I need to figure out is what point in the timeline this is. My Observation Haki seems pretty strong, but I have no idea how to use the other power inside me." 

"Shanks doesn't have a Devil Fruit ability, but his swordsmanship and Haki are among the strongest in the world." 

"But right now, I can't even use Conqueror's Haki or Armament Haki, and..." 

He touched his face. It was smooth—no stubble at all. That meant he was still young. 

He had probably just left his ship not long ago. 

Shanks walked over and picked up the straw hat from the ground. This hat carried so much meaning, yet the previous owner had just tossed it aside. 

Then again, it was Shanks—being so carefree was normal for him. 

He put the hat on and looked around. 

Towering trees filled the entire forest. This place was nothing like the world he came from. The trees here were bigger and denser than anything even in the most ancient forests. 

This was the world of One Piece. 

For ordinary people, surviving in this world was nearly impossible. Even for Shanks, survival wasn't easy. 

This world was full of dangers. 

Pirates, Marines, Sea Kings… even some of the strange beasts living on these islands could take his life. 

"It's risky, but with my talent, I just need some time. Once I fully master Haki, I'll at least be able to protect myself." 

Shanks sighed. 

He wasn't the main character—Luffy was. Only Luffy would just jump on a tiny boat and set off without a care. 

"If I'm at this point in time, then Roger must have just died. The World Government is still hunting down his crew. I'd better keep a low profile." 

With that thought in mind, Shanks calmed himself. 

As a transmigrator, being cautious was the most important thing. 

Come on, he had no cheats or special abilities. Even as a pirate, he couldn't just charge forward recklessly. 

Luckily, even though he didn't have Shanks' memories, his body retained all of its past training. 

"I'll settle down here for now. Once I've trained enough, I'll head out to sea." 

The fact that he could train was good news. If he had started with nothing, all he could have done was basic physical exercises. 

In this world, Haki was the most important power. 

Of course, physical strength mattered too. The people in One Piece had insane physical limits. As long as you believed in your muscles, you could become stronger. 

With that thought, Shanks looked at the massive trees around him. 

He didn't reach for his sword. Instead, he clenched his fist. 

"Haah!" 

In the next moment, all the strength in his body gathered together. A surge of power exploded from within him. 

Boom!! 

A fist filled with terrifying power smashed directly into the massive tree in front of him, which had a trunk over three meters in diameter. Cracks spread across the hard bark in an instant, and the spot where the punch landed caved in deeply. 

Crack. 

The giant tree collapsed with a loud crash. 

Shanks saw this and smirked. 

"Physical strength alone is already scary. As expected from the world of pirates. But this isn't enough. Even though this is my current limit, the body's limits can always be pushed further." 

"Next, let's test my swordsmanship." 

Shanks picked up his sword. In his memory, Shanks' weapon was a Western-style sword, but it was still too early—he hadn't gotten his hands on that sword yet. 

Holding the sword tightly, he felt no sense of familiarity at all. 

"As I thought, I don't know the first thing about swordsmanship. I'll have to start from scratch." 

He swung his blade down, but it didn't even manage to cut through a single tree. 

"I should focus on training my swordsmanship first." 

Now, Shanks knew his weakness. Everything else was fine, but his swordsmanship was seriously lacking. 

After figuring out his situation, he knew exactly what direction to work toward. 

Since he had no foundation, he had to start from the basics. 

Thrusting, slashing, chopping—these three basic moves were enough for now. 

Shanks felt helpless. None of these movements came naturally to him, so he had to take things one step at a time. 

By the end of the day, just practicing these three moves had exhausted him. 

The good news was that he had also managed to build a small wooden hut nearby. It was simple and rough, but as long as it was livable, he didn't care. 

Feeling the progress he had made that day, Shanks couldn't help but feel pleased. At the very least, he could hold his weapon properly now. 

"I'm starving. Well, I did make some progress today. But if I want to become truly strong, the road ahead is still long." 

"My talent is pretty good, but when I think about how Luffy became a Four Emperors-level powerhouse in just a few years... there's really no comparison between people." 

Shanks sighed. It had taken him nearly twenty years to reach the level of a Four Emperors, and then there was Luffy. 

He might be a genius, but Luffy was the protagonist. Some things just couldn't be compared. 

"Anyway, I should eat first." 

There was no point in overthinking it. 

Before long, a fire was crackling outside the hut, and Shanks was roasting fish over the flames. 

There was a lake nearby, full of fish—at least enough to keep him from starving. 

As for the taste? As long as it was edible, that was good enough. Shanks wasn't picky. 

---