As Zoro and Kuro stood locked in a tense standoff, an orange-haired figure quietly crept onto the battlefield.
Watching from the shadows, Ritter couldn't help rubbing his forehead.
Nami... why are you still sneaking around like a cautious little puppy?
Nami took one look at the disastrous scene before her.
Usopp was covered in blood, barely able to stay on one knee.
Luffy was standing upright... fast asleep.
Zoro was facing off against a man wearing strange clawed weapons.
Without wasting another second, she grabbed Luffy and Usopp by the arms and started dragging them away from the battlefield.
Dragging Luffy wasn't a problem.
Dragging Usopp, however...
The poor guy had wounds covering nearly every inch of his body. If Zoro had arrived even a second later, Kuro would have carved him to pieces.
"Ahhh! W-Wait! It hurts! It hurts!"
The moment Nami pulled him, every wound on his body screamed in protest.
His face twisted through every expression imaginable, agony, disbelief, despair.
"My wounds! Miss, please be gentler!"
Nami shot him an annoyed glare.
"Who are you calling 'Miss' like that? Shut up! If you want to live, endure it!"
Even so, she slowed down slightly and dragged the two of them behind a large tree where it was relatively safe.
She immediately examined Usopp's injuries.
Seeing the deep claw wounds that reached the bone and the blood soaking through his clothes, her brows furrowed.
"These injuries..."
She quickly took clean bandages and medicine out of her pouch, a habit she'd developed after years at sea.
"Bear with it. I'll stop the bleeding first."
Usopp watched as Nami expertly cleaned his wounds, applied medicine, and wrapped them with practiced efficiency.
She wasn't exactly gentle.
But she was incredibly skilled.
The pain gradually eased.
A warm feeling welled up inside him.
She's beautiful... maybe a little fierce... but deep down she's as kind and gentle as Kaya...
She's definitely a wonderful person...
Unfortunately...
That beautiful fantasy lasted less than a second.
It felt as though fate grabbed him by the collar, slapped him across the face, and said:
"Kid... you're dreaming too much."
After finishing the bandages, Nami turned toward Luffy.
He was still sleeping soundly.
He even had a little snot bubble inflating from his nose.
Veins instantly bulged across Nami's forehead.
"You idiot!"
She glared at Usopp.
"Why didn't you wake him up?!"
Usopp shrank back from the shout.
Then suddenly straightened up again.
Wait.
I'm right! Why should I be scared?
I'm going to become a brave warrior of the sea! I can't back down!
"I was fighting so loudly! There were explosions everywhere! He never woke up! I thought he was unconscious! Seriously injured! That guy must have some terrifying Devil Fruit power! Luffy must've suffered massive internal injuries!"
"Unconscious? Internal injuries?"
Nami sneered.
The smile on her face sent a chill running from Usopp's heels all the way to his scalp.
"Let me show you the proper way."
The next moment...
Under Usopp's horrified gaze...
Nami grabbed Luffy by the collar, lifted him into the air...
Then unleashed a merciless barrage.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Crisp, echoing slaps rang through the forest.
Ritter blinked.
"...Did New Year's come early over there?"
Nami's hands became nothing but afterimages as they repeatedly slapped Luffy's rubber face without the slightest hesitation.
Usopp stood there completely dumbfounded.
His jaw dropped so far it looked ready to hit the ground.
His trembling finger pointed toward Nami.
"Um... Miss... do you and your captain have some kind of personal grudge?"
Nami turned her head without stopping.
"No... smack smack smack... we don't... smack smack... get along badly... smack smack... Luffy and I... smack smack... are actually pretty close... smack smack..."
Usopp screamed internally.
Monster...
She's an absolute monster!!
In only a few seconds, Luffy's face had swollen dramatically.
His eyes were bruised.
His lips looked like oversized sausages.
Both cheeks puffed up like balloons.
"Wha... happened... Nami...?"
Luffy finally woke up after literally being slapped awake.
He rubbed his eyes and spoke through his swollen lips.
The moment Usopp realized Luffy had only been sleeping...
And could still talk after that brutal wake-up call...
Every trace of fear vanished.
It was replaced by overwhelming rage.
Forgetting his injuries completely, shark teeth appeared as he roared at the top of his lungs.
"YOU IDIOT!!! You were seriously just sleeping?! I nearly died protecting you! I almost gave my life while you were taking a nap! You rubber moron! Go apologize with your life!!"
Luffy looked at the furious Usopp.
Then at the bandages covering his bloodstained body.
Although his swollen face hid most of his expression, guilt filled his eyes.
Putting his hands together, he repeatedly bowed.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Usopp! I don't even know how I fell asleep..."
Nami folded her arms.
"Usopp got those injuries protecting your unconscious..."
She paused.
"...No, sleeping body."
"He almost died because of it."
"..."
The smile disappeared from Luffy's face.
Silently...
He adjusted the straw hat on his head.
The brim cast a shadow over his eyes, hiding them from view.
Yet both Usopp and Nami could clearly feel it.
A suffocating pressure spread outward from Luffy.
Zoro sensed the change immediately.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Looking at Kuro, whose expression had grown solemn, he said,
"Looks like..."
"...you picked a fight with the wrong person."
Kuro's pupils contracted.
Naturally, he felt the sudden change in Luffy's presence as well.
Still, he forced himself to remain calm.
He instinctively reached to adjust his glasses before remembering they were already in his pocket.
He sneered.
"Hmph! Stop pretending. He's just a rubber idiot."
Luffy ignored him completely.
He walked over to Usopp.
Then stopped.
He looked down at the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around Usopp's body.
At his pale face from blood loss.
At the eyes that still glistened with pain and anger.
"Usopp."
Luffy's voice was calm.
"Thank you... for protecting me."
Usopp froze.
Looking at Luffy's unusually serious expression, he forgot every complaint he'd been about to make.
Luffy gently patted the uninjured side of Usopp's shoulder.
Then he turned around.
Facing Kuro.
When he lifted his head...
The eyes beneath the brim of the straw hat were revealed.
Kuro's heart skipped a beat.
Those eyes...
What terrifying eyes they were.
"You..."
Luffy slowly raised one finger and pointed directly at Kuro.
"...hurt my friend."
Kuro instinctively took half a step backward under that gaze and overwhelming pressure.
But embarrassment quickly turned into anger.
"So what? He's just a useless long-nosed..."
"Gum-Gum..."
Luffy didn't give him the chance to finish.
His right arm stretched backward in an instant, extending to an astonishing length.
Jet-black Armament Haki flowed across his fist and forearm like liquid steel, coating them in a hard metallic sheen.
"Gun!"
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