I mean, even then One Piece was still considerably slower than Naruto
10 chapters into Naruto and you’re already fighting a top jonin, 30 chapters you’re into the big tournament arc, 100 chapters later and you’re seeing the top ninja of the world
There’s a reason why one piece fans often have to tell people to “wait till x before you quit” Naruto never had this since the pacing was relatively quick
Part 2 thought the pacing is horrendously slow. The shift is so drastic that had people complaining at the time